Rape Revenge

 

Hello and thank you for doing this interview with me.

Who is answering this questions ?

My name is Samantha and I do vocals for a band called Rape Revenge.

Can you please tell me some stuff about your band ? How long do you play

together and who is in the band? Where are you mostly from ?

Rape Revenge has been around, in varying incarnations, for about 3 years? It’s

hard to keep track. All members are currently living in Calgary Alberta,

although I am from Edmonton Alberta, Canada.

Can you tell us a lil' bit about your local scene ? Many vegan edge

people around ? Many shows ?

The local scene here is… interesting. We are not really well liked in our

own home town. We are the pc fucks that everyone find annoying I guess? We

do have some people who support us and who are really awesome. The scene

is really fortunate to have a lot of young folks coming out, which is great.

There are a few vegan edge folks, but we are dwindling in numbers. Shows

are hit or miss. One month we have 7 venues running and everything is

awesome, and then the next month we are down to the hot dog restaurant and

a dirty run down skate shack.

Where have you played 'till now ? Any favourite locations or places you

realy enjoyed ?

We were really lucky to get to tour the western coast in US last summer,

it was amazing. Honestly, I was surprised how much I loved LA. The folks

we met down there is Cudahay are such strong, bad ass, latino punks and

they inspired me to no end. I also really liked playing in Peterborough

Ontario, sometimes small town punks blow my mind, because they have to

fight to have anything happen there, to bring anything cool, and it often

results in really humble, hard working and dedicated people.

Can you explain how you are conected with straight edge. How important is

it four you as a band ? And what do you label as drugs ?

I cannot speak for the other members, but for me personally straight edge

is really important to me. I love my body and I love the challenge of

learning to love and accept myself without numbness. It is not always fun,

I feel nerdy and left out, and I feel nervous in social situations

sometimes. My own insecurities are sharp and in clear view without a

drink in hand. But I value the learning that comes from that.

I would rather not answer your second question, because I think that kind

of hair splitting is really divisive and shitty. What fits for me as a

straight edge individual may not be the same for you, and that is ok. I am

not a rock star, but I possess a certain level or priviledge or power being

someone in a band. I would rather not use that ‘power’ to make rules and

regulations.

Do you watch TV ?

Sometimes. My job is really stressful and I deal with heavy shit. Sometimes

I want to just turn my brain off for an hour. I love XFiles (the show, but

the band is also rad). I also am a sucker for sketch comedy. If you watch

tv you are still cool and punk. That said, we are able to watch tv online

now without all the bullshit commercials, so I think it’s a lot easier to

stomach these days.

How is your veganism conected with your other believes ?

Being against the oppression of others as a feminist and as an anarchist,

is undeniably connected to veganism.

What do you think about D.I.Y ?

I think it's awesome and really important. I am also a zine writer, so I

can really relate to the joy of creating something powerful and awesome

with your own hands (and the stolen services of a self-serve copy shop

chain).

In my opinion it's great to see a vegan edge band, that's into queer and

feminist politics. What do you think about the male domination in the

hardcore and punk-scene ?

It's a total bummer, but it's also not a surprise. Being a punk doesn’t

mean you are exempt from misogyny, from rape culture, from male privilege. In

fact sometimes hardcore seems to me as a just a big macho celebration of

male rage and anger. I find this aspect boring and tired. Say something I

haven’t heard before. I wanna see more guys writing songs about the

challenge of always fitting the masculine role, or of guys struggling to

stand up to their friends when they support rape culture of homophobia. Men

have a really important and challenging role to play in the fight against

patriarchy.

Can you please explain to someone, who is not very into feminist and/or

queer struggles, why there is still need for a radical feminist attitude.

Honestly I could, but I am not sure it would be worth my time. If someone

doesn’t want to hear what I have to say I don’t really need to waste my

energy trying to fix or change them. If they want to learn about the

experience of women and queers they should take the initiative themselves. The

facts are out there for why we need to continue with the feminist struggle,

you just need to look. I guess the most important reason I can think for

feminism is that everyone is miserable under patriarchy, including men. We

are all fucked over by rigid gender roles, in fact men may experience more

of that then women. It's ok for a woman to be like a man, because men are

awesome, but for a guy to wear make up or like cooking or just express

emotion is shunned intensely because then he is a woman, and a woman is the

worst thing you can be in a patriarchy.

What do you think about moshing ? Isn't it an expression of our machismo

culture ? The typical behaviour of men ?

Who knows man. I try to figure out my stance on this all the time. I love

freedom and expression and all that, but I also am a small woman who can’t

participate sometimes. I guess just do what you want but don’t fuck up

other people’s ability to do what they want?

What do you think about the hardline movement ?

It's a bummer dude. A bunch of white straight dudes telling other people

what to do with their lives? Sounds familiar…. Oh yeah, it’s just another

reincarnation of capitalist patriarchal bullshit.

In your song „Stunted“ you scream „All that has kept me here is made of

air.“. Can you explain this verse.

This was a lyric collaboratively written by myself and the ex guitarist of

RR, Jesse. He is a really strong individual who wanted to express how we

are all heald back by insecurities, but a culture that teaches us to hate

ourselves. These restraints are not due to our own shortfalls, but

entirely created by our socialization. This could relate to the guys that

feel a need to be macho and unemotional and thus suffer in isolation, or

the woman who feels a need to dumb herself down or cater to others needs

and thus is dissatisfied and frustrated. This can relate to kids of color

who receive sub par support from teachers in schools, to people with

disabilities who are denied a sexuality. These are all social constructs.

These are chains made of air.

What's your feeling about prostitution and the porn industry ?

My current job is actually as a counselor for sex workers. It's taught me

a fucking ton about sex work. When I got into feminism I was totally

interested in „the sex work question“ of whether or not it was feminist and

ok or not. So I decided to listen to sex workers. I read books and zines

and blogs by sex workers, and they were all telling me that it was a lot

more complex than just a yes or no answer. We love to have concrete

stances on things, because we think that is was makes us strong, but that

is just no how life works.

Sex workers are an incredibly diverse group of people working in an

incredibly diverse field. There are street level sex workers, and yes

these folks often struggle with addiction and poverty and experience a lot

of violence. But did you know that only represents about 10% of sex

workers in north America? The other 90% are escorts, working indoors,

usually meeting clients online or through an escort agency where they do

intense screenings of clients. These ladies are making thousands of

dollars a week, they are doing well, they are managing their money and

living it up. They are living outside of the 9-5, often able to better be

home for their kids of pursue their studies or make art because they only

have to work a fraction of the time while making way more money than they

ever could working in a mall of at a bar. And if you told these women they

were oppressed they would tell you to give your head a shake.

I guess what I am trying to say is that sometimes sex work sucks and

sometimes it rules (maybe like any other job). One factor that makes it

suck more, and makes it more dangerous is criminalization. Sex work in

Canada is technically legal, but talking about it, doing it in your own

place, and hiring a bodyguard or driver aren’t (this is mostly the case in

America too). This means sex workers on the street can’t talk to their

potential clients because they could be arrested, so they have to jump into

their cars and THEN talk about condoms and prices, while the dude has her

in his car and is driving. Not safe.

But even if these laws changed, stigma still does so much damage. So many

sex workers die each year and no one gives a fuck. Sex workers are seen as

asking for it, and this is bullshit, hurting everyone.

Do you give speech on your shows ? Do you explain your lyrics ?

I do talk a lot at shows. I try to be humble. I try not to rant and use

up people’s times. When I talk at shows, I want it to be an offering. I

am offering you my viewpoint, my experience, my story, and you can take it

or leave it. I am not here to change anyone, people can only do that for

themselves. But I am saying things that are not always heard in the

mainstream, and I am outing myself so all the other outsiders know they are

not alone, and I think that is important. This act of speaking at shows is

really scary and draining. I struggle with my own mental health, with my

own insecurities, so sometimes I just don’t feel ok to talk at shows, but a

majority of the times I can do it. It is not always well received, but it

is not really about the reception. It is an act of occupation, for a queer

metis woman to speak at a show filled with straight white men. I am taking

space that we all just assume is theirs, and they can fucking deal with it.

Thank you for your time. Any shout outs ?

Thanks to everyone who still gives a shit about us. We are sort of at a

standstill right now, lacking members and motivation. We will make another

record soon and tour again, but while we are doing nothing we still get so

many rad emails and letters. It's fucking awesome. Thank you.

Also, support the grand jury resistors in Portland, they are inspiring as

all fuck and going through a lot of unfair shit right now.