Genie Molkentine, musician
Killer Blow head Genie Molkentine will be playing Friday, Dec. 7 at Sweatshop Gallery for their Arm Wrestling Armageddon (details below). She shares with LFF about her background in opera, how she started Killer Blow and got into rock'n'roll, feminism and more...
Tell me about your background/from NE? Do you think NE is a good place for women in art?
As a Nebraskan my roots go deep. My family homesteaded in western Nebraska when it was a territory. I'm from Lincoln and having lived really far away for a few years I know how to hanker for that barren Nebraska expansiveness. It just seems really romantic and poetic to me. I love Nebraska. I love the extremes. something about this place has brought a lot of great musicians here from all over. we're really lucky to have the musical community we've got. I think Nebraska loves women and its a great time and place to be a musician!! Equality before the law, that's our motto.
How'd you get into music?
I started getting serious about music a long time ago. Actually, I was a vocal music major at UNL and was in several operas there. I really got into rock 'n roll after meeting my husband Todd VonStup when he was in the Shanks. It was this insane art damage punk band a few years ago. I think music saved his life, or his friends did, or both. I met so many amazing guys in that crew and got an outrageous musical education from them. Shows, records, tours, for better or worse i feel like they're my brothers now.
Tell me about your work/style/inspirations.
Liz Hitt is the woman behind the Boom Chick scene and she will always be one of my favorite music and feminist heroes. Just raw pure energy. That's how she played. And lived. There's this song called Ritual on a record called TCB by the Terminals that really sums it all up for me. Shes wailing on guitar and vox, doing this double time punk thing cover of a 60s pop song that is misogynistic as hell. I loved how she took that and turned it on his head, took on the man role and spat it back out. With vicious teeth, not bows. That's what I strive for. That really inspires me. When she said she liked our band Killer Blow it meant the world to me. I guess the whole reason I am inspired to play rock n' roll is cause of that.
Tell me about Killer Blow and how that came about.
I kinda dreamed about having a band for a couple years. Killer Blow is my band, by the way. Todd gave me creative control of the thing from the beginning as it was my idea. I love him so much for that. He is a total feminist too. SO, at first I didn't think I could sing and drum at the same time. i knew it had to be standing up cause I couldn't get everything I wanted to out of my voice sitting down and I've never been into the whole kick drum thing. It was kind of like being a virgin at sex. I mean, a lot of fumbling around, you ask your friends how they do it, and try different positions until finally, ZAMMO! it felt right and really exploded into stars crashing around my head. the whole feminist thing for me is about overcoming that voice that says 'you cant do this'. for me it was an internal voice. I didn't think I could actually do it. so i got real stubborn and was like, fuck you, self-doubting self, I'm gonna do it!!! once I made up my mind to do it all it took was some practice. I can't really think about much other than being in the music when I play like that. You get in a zone, you know--like a runner or something. It feels so good that nothing can touch you. I want to inspire other people shed their self doubt and make art--whatever kind of art they've got inside them.
What's your next gig you're excited about?
The next gig I'm really excited about is at the Sweatshop Gallery in Benson for first Friday on December 7th. Were calling it a night to live in infamy. All in all I'm just really grateful for the warm reception Killer Blow has gotten so far. its great to have people come up to you after a show and tell you they love what you're doing.
Does feminism play a role in your work?
If I can be called a feminist for being a woman in music and pushing back at boundaries set before I came along; its a title I will proudly wear--tattoo it on my heart.
Catch up with Killer Blow at www.killerblow.bandcamp.com and
www.facebook.com/killerblow666. See Killer Blow live Dec. 7, 8pm at Sweatshop Gallery, 2727 N. 62nd St. in Benson for Arm Wrestling Armageddon. Details here.
