The Dynamite Chicks is my character Skye Wright’s punk band. In my book series Skye and her old bandmate Annie get together and reform their band and start playing shows again.
The Dynamite Chicks are a hard rocking, hard driving and raunchy rock and roll band. This fictitious band’s sound and style have been inspired by the following singers and bands.
Amy Taylor
Amy Taylor is the non-stop explosion who fronts the band Amyl and the Sniffers. I saw her perform at Burger Bugaloo years ago as she danced, jumped, and simply went wild on stage. Her voice is enough of a presence, but her non-stop energy makes her a knockout punch of a singer and performer. If you ever get a chance to see this woman in action, do not pass it up!
Her energy and attitude are prime inspirations for what The Dynamite Chicks represent in their stage presence and performance.
Taylor frequently posts pics
of her stage diving and pit injuries,
oftentimes with a big bloody smile!
Olga Svetlana
Olga is the singer for the Svetlanas, and is definitely the dynamo of that band. She not only has the kind of spirit and drive that I have envisioned or the Dynamite Chicks, she actually sings in the way I imagine The Dynamite Chick’s singer Molly Mix to sound like. Her singing and wild style are the kind of unapologetic in-your-face attack that inspires my idea of Skye’s band.
All you have to do is check out the below video to get an idea of what Olga is like as a performer. Just brace yourself!
Babes in Toyland
Lately I’ve gotten obsessed with this band, even though I’ve known about them and listened to them for years, I have rediscovered them and have just started fanboy flailing over them once more. I’ve been especially focused on singer Kat Bjelland, who is one of my favorite rock and roll singers. This band plays hard driving rock and roll with an unapologetic bent with their music and lyrics. As much attention as this band has gotten, not nearly enough people know about them.
I’ve seen plenty of videos of their live performances. Every time there’s a crowd shot, everyone is smiling and dancing or jumping up and down or moshing, but the looks on the womens faces show just what the presence of a trio of hard rocking women can do for the ego and energy of their female fans, as they’re reveling in it with a collective verve you don’t always see, even in rabid rock and roll fans.
Brody Dalle
One of the best rock and roll screamers, a woman who sings her heart out and takes female-driven rock and roll to another level. Not content with just rocking out, but also screaming swear words and hard driving lyrics in a wall shaking punk band. Not rock and roll, Maximum rock and roll!
Brody Dalle is one of my favorite singers, period. Her voice is right up there with so many other iconic rock and roll singers.
Bikini Kill
This list could not be complete without the lead band of the Riot Grrrl movement. Straight ahead rock and roll with a punk attitude and an in-your-face feminist message. Carnival, Suck my Left one, and Double Dare Ya have been staples in my songlist for decades.
Only recently has this band revived itself and is now touring. Their singer Kathleen Hanna has made herself not only a punk icon, but an activist icon as well. Hanna’s at first mysterious hiatus from music was a dark time for many fans, not only of the band, but also for fans of punk and rock and roll, up until her absense was was fully explained.
L7
Not just a main musical inspiration for Skye’s band, the members of this band look like characters from my books. I quote the band’s lyrics several times in this book series, the only source that I quote more than once in this work. They have many killer songs, but my favorite song of theirs is Stuck Here Again, a song that is an anthem for my wild and crazy life. “It starts all over just when it should end”. L7 is a pure and basic rock and roll band, as good as it gets!
Marian Anderson
The wild singer for The Insaints, Marian is the only person on this list who I personally knew. No one came close to embodying a wild and out-of-control rock and roller as Marian. Her wild stage presence and performance went beyond what any other band or singer on this list has ever done. She was a meteor who lit up her short-lived sky but unfortunately burned out too fast, dying of a heroin overdose in the early aughts. This is a woman who could have become just as iconic and famous as anyone else on this list.
I’ve already written about Marian. If you want to know more about her wild and crazy life, our friendship, and the dramatic influence she’s had on my writing, you can find the article here.
To give you and idea of Marian energy
An Insaints show at thee famous Gilman Street.
Joan Jett
The Queen of Rock and Roll, the original G who showed that women can be true denim and leather rock and rollers. From the Runaways to The Blackhearts, she defied the cultural maxim that girls could not play rock and roll. She didn’t break any glass ceiling, she took a sledge hammer to the male-dominated rock and roll wall and broke out in a way that inspired every female fronted and girl group after her. No one had to tell me that she inspired everyone on this list to take a shot and make their mark in the music world, and this list would simply not be complete without her.
There are so many other bands that could be on this list, but then this thing would have to turn into an infinite crawl. Possibly another blog post. Bands such as Red Aunts, Spitboy, Naked Aggression, Die Spitz, Fabulous Disaster, The Eyeliners, Seven Year Bitch, The Donnas, The Devotchkas, Betty Blowtorch, Maid of Ace, and many other bands and performers.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3WBDZP2
Stella Maris is the sequel to my previous novel. Even though it can be read by itself, check out what Skye was up to before her adventures in Stella Maris!
https://www.amazon.com/What-Hell-Ever-Happened-Rozhenko-ebook/dp/B08WC4DK6G/
