Violent Femmes perform in The Current studio
by Mary Lucia, Leah Garaas and Violent Femmes
July 06, 2016
"It was never really a timely sound, so there's no reason it couldn't continue to survive and it has," says Brian Ritchie.
Between two gigs at First Avenue, Violent Femmes stopped by The Current to perform live in-studio and to chat with host Mary Lucia.
Members have come and gone, but Violent Femmes' distinct discography has stood the test of time. You know when you hear a Violent Femmes song. Their unmistakable sound can be attributed to founding members Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie, who record and perform along with John Sparrow, Blaise Garza and Mike Kasprzak.
"We've all lived a lot of different nomenclatures like punk, new wave, alternative, college rock – whatever they've called this type of music. We designed the music initially to be of a timeless nature. We didn't want to fit in what was happening around us," reflects Ritchie.
The Femmes' latest full-length came shortly after 2015's Happy New Year EP. Because studio time was scheduled between sporadic gigs, most of the tracks on We Can Do Anything are recordings of the first time full songs were played through together by Gano and Ritchie, capturing freshness and excitement.
As they played a mix of new songs and an old favorite, it was extra special to have the band perform in The Current studio as engineer Mike DeMark was Violent Femmes' live engineer back in the day. (He's even rumored to have titled their 1986 album The Blind Leading the Naked, but we'll save that story for later date!)
Songs Performed
"Love Love Love Love Love"
"Rejoice and Be Happy"
"Issues"
"Love Love Love Love Love" is off 2015's Happy New Year EP; "Rejoice and Be Happy" is off 2000's Freak Magnet; "Issues" is off 2016's We Can Do Anything.
Hosted by Mary Lucia
Produced by Anna Reed
Engineered by Mike DeMark
Web feature by Leah Garaas
Visuals by Nate Ryan
