Wild Flag is made up of some of the most respected punk-slash-indie musicians of the 90s, with a lineup that’s sort of a late-period riot-grrrl who’s who: Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney), Janet Weiss (Quasi, Sleater-Kinney), Mary Timony (Autoclave, Helium), and Rebecca Cole (the Minders). In Wild Flag they take the ethos and attitude of their previous bands and infuse it with an irresistible pop sensibility. Representing Washington, D.C., in this bicoastal supergroup is Timony, a veteran of the Dischord scene. She formed Autoclave in 1990 and shortly after went on to front Helium, who released several records on Matador. For this week’s Artist on Artist she’s interviewed by Chris Thomson, who used to run in the same circles—in fact Timony’s first band was with Thomson, as part of Marion Barry’s Summer Youth Employment Program. “The job was you got paid minimum wage to play music all day at Murch Elementary School,” she told the Washington City Paper last year. Thomson sang for several excellent D.C. bands (Circus Lupus, the Monorchid, Skull Kontrol) before finding his way to Chicago, where he fronted Red Eyed Legends. He currently sings for local punk revivalists Coffin Pricks. Wild Flag plays a sold-out show at Metro on Thu 4/5. Coffin Pricks open for Joan of Arc at the Double Door on Sun 4/22. —Luca Cimarusti
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No, I’m just singing. When I’m a singer and guitar player, I— It’s so hard! To actually do both well? Instead of just doing both medium? I totally hear you. That’s awesome. Well, I love your vocal stuff, so that’s really exciting. I’d love to hear it.
What’s it like being a guitar teacher and being on the other side? It was really, really hard to transition back to thinking of music in that way, like analyzing and explaining it. But I’ve gotten a lot of good energies from it, messing with the kids. But I was also getting kind of burned out doing it full-time, and I wasn’t able to focus on my own music at all. This band has been really good in that way. It’s given me a chance to focus on being creative, which I was really missing a lot.
Did you have a hollow-body or something? I did—it’s like an Epiphone, actually. I still have it. It’s fucked up now.
I remember one time I was like, “Take your pick and, like, scrape the strings!” Oh really? I don’t remember!
