June.2003

[indie chicks] file

Music Genre: Spoken word.
Discography: Built Like That, 2U02 & Independence Meal, 2003

Musical Background: The political background is that I was always being carried from protest to protest. My parents were poor hippies turned radical political science professors, who were dedicated to raising me gender-neutral, thus my name, Alix, and boy outfits — and with a commitment to speaking truth and challenging authority. In that way, I was extremely lucky. I always understood my outlook upon the world to be fringe, and always felt a desire to add to political dialogue.

I learned and played Suzuki method violin from the time I was three years old until I was about 14. I was begging to do community youth theatre at the Pennsylvania Youth Theatre at around 10 years old; that's where I fell in love with the rush of performance, the smell of the theatre makeup, the backstage bustle, the hum of the audience. I was accepted into a five-week scholarship theatre program at 16, which was probably my first experience with true art activism, having a circle of queer-ish friends and teachers engaged at grassroots levels of theatre. I came back to my high school and directed Our Town and we staged little scene "sneak previews" in front of the local grocery store.

At Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, I was heavily into performing. By this time, I was also heavily invested in writing short stories, poetry and one particularly significant class called "African-American Women's Poetry." That was my first exposure, I think, to spoken word, where I first began to perform my pieces to the class. I was also coming out as queer at this time, and embracing this new part of my identity, so a lot of my first spoken word focused on queer-feminist activism. I put together a feminist art night in our college café, and that's the first time I performed my poetry. I was playing really bad guitar, and would accompany my spoken word.

I moved to New York City after graduation to pursue political theatre, but I really had no idea what that meant, simply that I was invested in it. One night, September of 1997, I ended up at the Nuyorican Poets Café, performed in an open slam, won the slam that Friday night. That's when my New York City team won the National Slam Poetry National Finals in 1998 and began touring shortly thereafter.

When and how did you start in the music business? I've been performing spoken word poetry for about four years full-time. I went to the Nuyorican Poet's Café when I graduated from college, with a few poems tucked in my jeans pocket, having heard about the café from my African-American Women's Poetry professor. I had directed a women's performance evening in college and performed my first poem then. It was an incredible night. I connected with the art form immediately — the community, the politics, the embracing, the New Yorkness of it all. Keith Roach, who ran the café, came up to me that evening and whispered in my ear, "You're gonna do something with this art." I later found out he was a former Black Panther. He became a formative mentor and ally in my career and life.

Band Members: Me, with varying musicians on tour from time to time. The current CD, Independence Mean, features Pamela Means, Lyndell Montgomery, Chris Pureka; my first CD, Built Like That, featured Catie Curtis, Pamela Means and Chris Pureka. I guess I get attached to my musicians, but they also happen to be some of my best friends, and are the type of players who get how to do poetry.

When and how was the band formed? The Nuyorican team went to the National Slam Poetry Competition in 1998 and won. From there, we started touring. Eventually I quit my waitressing and bookstore jobs (at the Oscar Wilde LGBT bookstore in New York City, which has since closed) and began touring full-time. Now. I employ two booking agents, a booking manager, two publicists and an intern. I have no apartment anymore, but a big van named June that we live in, along with hotels. It's pretty surreal to me.

Musical Influences: Everyone from Adrienne Rich to Michael Moore to Howard Zinn to Ani Difranco to Mother Jones magazine: I look to all types and styles of words, not just music or poetry.

Upcoming projects: A video featuring life on the road of the grassroots artist. (Me, as well as lots of artists we travel and converge with)

Website information: www.alixolson.com