Punk’s not dead and it never went away. It has been pushed underground for decades by the media because it speaks of the truth and exposes hypocrisy, but with the political climate of the world rapidly changing, a new female oriented punk resurgence has created a movement across the globe. One band in particular is shaking things up with their debut album titled Slit that was recorded in just two days by indie mastermind Steve Albini (Nirvana, Stooges, Pixies).
Hailing from the birthplace of Democracy, Barb Wire Dolls is a politically charged female-fronted Punk trio from Greece that combines the furious raw elements of first wave punk and grunge rock into a modern melodic sound that decimates hearts and minds. Described by Guitar World magazine as “a true-to-the-genre punk band” Barb Wire Dolls is fronted by the fiery and outspoken femme-fatale singer Isis Queen, along with guitarist Pyn Doll and drummer Krash Doll.
What music first captured your ear and got you interested in music?
My mother and father got divorced when I was three and I would find myself in the bedroom listening to music in my head phones a lot to escape. I got into Motown first because of my mother's record collection. The melodies and (usually) upbeat happier songs seemed to put me in a dream state that love did exist and that dreams could come true. Later on, in my teens, I first heard Punk and the rebellious aspect of it attracted me immediately. Pretty much everyone I went to school with listened to Rap and Hip Hop, but I never liked that. It wasn't aggressive enough for me.
How did you start working with your current band?
While living at The Ikarus Artist Commune on the island of Crete, I was surrounded by many talented singers mostly from the UK and America. Every Friday night in the commune's courtyard, we would have big wild parties until dawn and the singers in residence there would play songs that they wrote that week. Hearing every week all of the singers inspired me. Members of the band Grouplove lived there, members of Flogging Molly were there, and lots of other songwriters but it was Pyn Doll, our guitarist, who played me one night the Led Zepellin film "The Song Remains The Same". I was blown away. I made him watch it with me three times in a row and then asked him if he would write me some songs, so I could sing them. We decided to start a band and Barb Wire Dolls was born.
Who are your influences?
Apart from Led Zepellin and AC/DC, it is mostly punk bands. I sang with The Slits on stage and Ari Up, their singer, was a huge influence on me. I admired the way she empowered women in punk but yet retained her feminine sexuality without degrading our sex. Our debut record is dedicated to her, that's one of the reasons why we titled it Slit. As for other punk influences, it is mostly all of the first wave bands that I connect to. From the NYC scene with NY Dolls, Dead Boys, Blondie, Plasmatics, and of course The Ramones to London's Sex Pistols, Clash, Slits, and X-Ray Spex. The first wave scene in Los Angeles also has a huge influence on me with X, The Germs, and Black Flag. So many more great bands came out of those cities in a matter of just a few years and there really hasn't been anything else that has blown me away apart from a few in the '90's. That is why I am thrilled that there is this resurgence of punk that is coming out of every city across the globe. It seems with the desperate situations we are living in today, only punk knows how to speak for the people and to the people. Coming from Greece, we know how bad it is out there and there is no better place to take it to other than the streets and onto the stage. It's time for a new punk rock revolution and we are taking no prisoners.
Do you prefer playing live or recording?
Live 100%. There is nothing like a live show and I don't wanna waste time in the studio when I could be playing live to a real audience. That is why we recorded our debut album last month in Chicago with the fastest engineer in the world, Steve Albini. We recorded it live in one take in two nights. To me, the live show is 100% of what Barb Wire Dolls is about. That is where you get the experience that no video, no recording, and no picture can come close to. Most people are shocked when they see us live because they get so energized from the shows and that's what makes me wish to do it more and more. I love a wild crowd and a sweaty intense and spontaneous show that they will remember for a long time. I play each night like it is the last show I am ever going to play.
Where is your favorite place to perform?
Any stage I have yet to perform on. Going to a new city and playing for a new audience is always the biggest thrill. I was thrilled to play Los Angeles and San Francisco for the first time, and now New York City and London are coming up. Playing in cities where punk had origins from always has an extra electricity to the show. I am pumped to play cities where legendary punk bands came from.
Has anything crazy ever happened at a show?
Police tried to arrest me for indecent exposure when I jumped into the crowd and pulled a fan into my feminine place. In an orgasmic escapade, a riot almost broke out when the police arrested him and then tried to arrest me. The crowd went berserk and the policeman decided to let me go so as to not start a riot from the fans. Sometimes people in small towns are very controlled by their older town folk and a woman being sexual on stage is a big no-no and not permitted at all. But guns are. Sex is not a gun and will drive you wild, and a gun kills and will never get you off.
Are there any other creative mediums you work in?
I create my own outfits and I love shopping at thrift stores and making over the clothes with basic things like safety pins, spray paint, and rips. Nothing original, but each piece I make is unique!
What do you like to do for fun?
Surf. That is always on my mind. If there is anything I could be doing other than singing on stage, it would be camping on a tropical beach and surfing all day and hanging by the campfire watching the stars dance. I spent six months like that in Mexico before the band took off and back home in Crete, that is all we did. On this next tour we are making sure we get some stopovers at surf spots, so we can all surf.
What music first captured your ear and got you interested in music?
Classical music, definitely. From the very beginning, as a child, I knew I was meant to be a violinist, and a musician in general. It was very apparent that my brain was set up in just the right way for that to be the dominant force in my life, and a future career.
What was it about the violin that made you choose it as your instrument?
Honestly, I saw it in a shop window and thought it was a very pretty thing. I had to have it, and I haven't put it down since. It was like finding my voice. I was very shy and antisocial and had a difficult time talking to people, but through this piece of wood, I could express everything.
Where are you from? How does living there affect your songwriting?
I'm originally from Malibu, California. It's an intensely beautiful place, and, while it doesn't have any direct influence on anything I do, I suppose that it would have had at least an affect on my sense of aesthetics and love for nature. There is also a certain sort of poetry in living by the sea, and also a definitive sense of melancholy that I have always been characterized by, since the day I was born and brought home from the hospital. My mother said, "This one sings in a minor key." And how right she was.
What's the song you're most proud of writing?
I've always felt it was "The Art Of Suicide," from my "Opheliac" album. While I still feel that this is the most personal and truthful representation of me and my way of looking at life and death, I would have to add the song "Girls! Girls! Girls!" from "Fight Like A Girl," my new album, to that list. It's a complete farce, a Vaudevillian comedy piece in a true Broadway style, that involves me taking on the character of a male host in an insane asylum selling tickets to gawk at the abused female inmates. It's one of the most fun bits to perform that I've ever created, and it's all hilarious because it's true. This really happened back in the day (the 19th century), and it's a perfect showcasing of the absolutely absurd views on women at the time that are in fact creepy when you realize that those views are not even close to obliterated in 2012.
Are you working on any music right now?
Always. With "FLAG" being readied for release, the real work is only beginning...the album is actually part of the soundtrack to the Broadway musical that my book, "The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls" will soon become, and the completion of this musical is a massive project, and one that will be consuming me for some time to come.
Have you played any great live shows lately?
Being presently on N. American tour, every show is a wonderful experience, each a unique opportunity to tell this crazy story and to raise my rat claws in unison with all the Plague Rats in every city. It's something I will never not be honored and grateful to do with my life.
You've worked with many talented artists, what has been your favorite collaboration?
Otep. She is a marvelous musician, a true artist, and a strong woman with true power and a true purpose. No one else I've collaborated with even comes close.
You're also an accomplished writer, how does the experience and process of writing text differ from writing music?
It doesn't really. It all comes from the same place.
What do you have planned for the future?
Everything. The world dominating rise of my tea company, The Asylum Emporium, the launch of "The Asylum..." musical, and a million other impossible dreams that I will deny sleep to make into realities.
What is your favorite movie?
I'm extremely fond of psychological thrillers from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, the Hitchcock era...it's difficult to choose just one...but "The Dark Crystal" is pretty far up on my list as well.
What do you like to do for fun?
Be alone, talk to trees, bake muffins, and curl up in the back of my tour bus with the Crumpets and touch each other inappropriately.
Well my mother was a professional ballerina, as well as my aunt. So, dancing is in my blood. They both studied all over the world, and I grew up getting an eyeful of what the human body was capable of, and how much training it took to make dance look so effortless. So, my mom enrolled me in dance when I was 3 years old. I got serious about it almost immediately. Within a few years I was competing and professionally dancing. Getting paid for gigs and winning scholarships to studios all over America. I began to teach dance in high school, but shortly after I got hired to be the dancer in my dad’s show... and as we all know that is a full-time job!
And how did you transition from there to a career in performing?
It was a pretty easy transition. His shows are so wildly theatrical that my brand of physical slapstick comedy, and the dramatic nature of the way I dance fit like a glove. Once directors and filmmakers saw me in the show, I started to book horror movies (which is also in my blood), and then it branched into comedy. That’s what I have the most fun doing. Making people laugh.
You've toured extensively with your father Alice Cooper, what is that experience like?
I would not have been the same person I am today if I had not said "yes" to his offer 12 years ago. He just wanted me to try it out for the summer. But I took to it so fast that I knew it was what I was supposed to do. I had no fear of huge crowds, I could live on a bus with all the boys, I looked cute in a nurse’s outfit, and I could take a punch in the face. I was a shoe in! I have seen the entire world 12 times over, met all my heroes, and I have seen and experienced things that most women my age could not even dream. But most of all, I got to work and form an unbreakable bond with my dad. That is the priceless part.
Often, it's difficult to work with family, do you have any of those problems?
We are not family on stage. Not at all. We are characters. When I look into "Alice" the character's eyes on stage, all traces of my dad are gone. His eyes seem colder, more villainous. It allows my characters to have a healthy fear of him. And vice versa. I punch and push and pull and spit on him as hard as I can. We are both people that get REALLY into character. The only thing that has ever broken both of our characters on stage is when the other one does something funny on accident. Then it’s impossible to not turn from the audience and laugh your head off. You’re like "I’m dressed like a bloody corpse in a tutu and that’s my dad over there pointing a sword at me.... HAHAHAHAHA!"
The show you put on has a lot of theatrical and special effects, what kinds of skills did you have to learn to pull it off?
Well the dance background certainly helped immensely. I had to train in all types of dance, so the acrobatics helped me pull off certain stunts that look really difficult. My mom did the show originally, so I just took the characters she created and made them my own. A little grittier, a little crazier. She had to teach me to use a bullwhip for the song "Go To Hell". I was 16, and just starting to figure out that I had a sexual appeal just because I was a young girl with a weapon. But I looked like a ringmaster with the whip rather than a bad ass guardian of the gates of hell that I was SUPPOSED to look like. She taught me how to sneer, to crouch down, to crack that whip like I was actually defending myself, and POOF, a character was born. Each and every person I play on stage, whether it’s a gang member, or cold ethyl, or Nurse Rosetta has had a special skill I had to figure out on my own. When we decided to shoot sparks off my crotch with a metal plate and an angle grinder in Nurse Rosetta, I have to admit, I was like, "you want me to put WHAT WHERE?!!?"
You're also an accomplished actress, how do acting and touring compare?
Nothing compares to a live audience. Nothing. Live feedback is indescribable. Hearing an audience gasp, and scream, and hate you, and love you, and cry for you... you get to see the results. With film, you get time to really dig into a roll. There is less spontaneity to it, but it is a more difficult art form for me personally. To do a scene over and over and over, and still hold a genuine emotion is exhausting. But when you do it right, and if you’re brave enough to watch a movie you’re in with your friends, and they cry or laugh when they are supposed to, you feel really accomplished.
And how do you balance the different worlds of acting and touring?
I try and do both. I’m really working hard on my film career because there are very few women in comedy that are Jim Carrey/ Chris Farley like comedians. I think I have that. I have been doing way more acting work lately, and I miss the tour. I miss being dirty, I miss being injured... I miss the free beer.
You're obviously multi-talented, do you have any other hidden talents we don't know about yet?
I’m great with kids. I know. Weird right? I think when you are in the music business; part of you never grows up. I think kids can see that in me and identify with it. As far as it being a talent, I don’t know.... maybe I'll make a movie called “The Kid Whisperer”. Oh, and I'm really good at sprinting. And I love to race people. I’m like a cheetah. My dad was a runner too, but he was a long-distance runner. Not me, I just run as fast as I can for as short of a distance as I can. I think I just like to beat people. lol
What projects are you currently working on?
Well I am studying improv with the comedy groups The Groundlings and The Upright Citizens Brigade. I’m training to be on Saturday Night Live. It’s always been a dream of mine. I just did a cameo on the new Farrely Brothers movie called Hall Pass, I just did another film called City Of Jerks where I take a dive in a giant pile of poop. And I also just wrapped a film I star in called disintegration. It’s about what happens when you do what your instincts tell you, and it backfires immensely. It’s a brutal movie. You will laugh, you will cry.... you will probably pee your pants. It’s great.
What kind of music do you like?
I’m really into emo punk. Alkaline trio. The Descendants. The Marked Men. I have to admit, I loved blink 182 in Jr high...and I still do to this day. But without sounding dorky, I love my dad’s music. I love it. He spans so many different genres that it’s hard to NOT find something you love in his catalog. My favorite record is from the inside. It was an amazing album.
After we had made the song called “We Are The Sinners” we felt that we worked so well together that it ended up with me being one of the All Stars. This band is really not like most bands and being part of the Chaos All Stars means a lot of creative challenges.
What is different about working with this band than your previous collaborations?
I think it was the concept of the band which made everything easier. You don’t come into the band and feel like you will step on someone’s toes. But still I think all of my collaborations have been great in different ways! I enjoy working with different artists, taking on new approaches. It’s like my modeling, I like a good challenge. This one though happened to end up with me in the band due to a number of reasons.
Your new single is a theme song for the film “The Iron Sky” how did that come about?
Oh my. That film seemed very interesting, so we made a song based on it. Then they wanted to use it for the Director’s Diary, and who can say no to that!?
How is it different writing a song for a film than just purely as music?
When doing something for a film you have a story, a theme to begin with and most of the times also some kind of visual concept. With Iron Sky you knew that it’s a comedy about Nazis who have lived on the moon since WWII and now they return to earth for a new world war or something... We just thought of what a song that would suit the movie would be like. It’s an anthem sort of and – just to be clear – it’s not a celebration of war, rather the opposite.
You recently opened for Front 242, what was that experience like?
Very fun! They are nice down-to-earth blokes with a sense of humor. They were also very fascinated by my latex outfit. When one of my band mates were rubbing me in with shine one guy called out “I love Sweden”! But… when I told them it was the guys turns to rub each other in… they didn’t like Sweden anymore. Well, to be more serious, opening for legends like Front 242 of course was a blast, we had fun and even though I’ve played alongside quite many famous bands it’s always fun to meet great artists, artists that one listened to when young and now seeing them in the audience
What is it about Latex that intrigues you?
What’s there not to like? Well... ok maybe that the material is very heat sensitive so if it’s cold out it… really gets cold! But what can I say, the shine, the tightness and the fact that it’s glued and not sewn together. It’s a material that makes me feel naked and beautiful. The way it sticks to your body….
Oh my… I need a moment!
You both perform on stage in Latex and model it, how do the two different mediums compare?
Being on stage in latex makes me feel so gorgeous but damn it gets hot and wet at times! ;) I enjoy the material and feeling, same goes regardless if I’m on stage singing or on the runway. I guess that it’s all about performance.
Read any good books lately?
Oh my, if I had time to read books… lately I’ve only been reading things for the magazine I’m editor for.
What's your favorite movie?
There are many movies I like so it’s hard to pick one. But I think I always will be weak for The Nightmare Before Christmas… it has a special meaning for me. Tim Burton is a great director… who wouldn’t want to work with him!
What music first captured your ear and got you interested in music?
Musicals my mother took me to see, Led Zep, Sabbath and the Police which my older brothers were listening to, Toyah and Adam and the Ants.
What is it about the bass in particular that attracted you?
I started playing it out of necessity. We were auditioning bass players in my first ever band, I picked it up to have a go, the light bulb flashed on and I’ve been playing ever since. I like that it puts me right at the center of the music, it’s intrinsic to our sound, and what makes us function as a unit as opposed to me being solely the frontperson.
Do you come from a background of training in the arts?
My mum’s a classical pianist and my older brothers had a band while I was growing up. I did grade eight piano and then clarinet too. Everything else I’ve learnt by ear. I went to Chelsea School of Art in London and have a degree in fine art. It was during this time I started up a band seriously.
How did you start working with Die So Fluid?
By a series of progressions. My first ever band was a three-piece called Flinch, I became friends with Mr. Drew at this point and he even managed the band for a bit. We were NME magazine darlings. Then we had interest from EMI and made a few adjustments forming the band Feline, bringing in Mr. Drew on guitar and making it a fuller sound as a four piece. He’s my best buddy in the world and Feline didn’t survive all the A&R shakeups going on at record companies during that period, so we went away to mastermind our next venture, which was to become Die So Fluid.
We went back to the three piece, streamlined what we were doing, and wooed Al away from another outfit to complete the picture. After a few experiments under different names we hit on what felt right. Basically, after throwing out any ridiculous ideas or suggestions of going more ‘pop’ or doing this or that to be fashionable, we realized this was our opportunity to make the music we would love to hear with no one to please but our own desire to make music of value and meaning.
What was the inspiration for your album “The World Is Too Big For One Lifetime”?
To me it’s a reaffirming theme. As usual with our titles there’s positive within the negative. We’ve all been through the kind of changes that make you ponder the different paths you could have chosen in life. What would have happened if you perused a certain relationship, different career route, said something different that night……. You can’t do every single thing in the short time you’re given but you can damn well do your best to make a difference with the talents you have. It’s been said that to be a rock musician is a selfish pursuit, I beg to differ! Boy have we worked hard, all to leave something of worth behind. Within the band we’ve recently experienced marriages, family deaths, I took the decision to relocate to America. We’re blood brothers in DSF, it’s one thing we won’t sacrifice, and when we see each other go through some new personal development it just renews our respect for one another.
You've also worked with Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne, what was that experience like?
That was a long time ago now, I had fun. Most memorable were the nights at Knebworth supporting Robbie along with Moby, Ash and The Darkness in front of 127000 people. I guess what sums up that time for me though is when Kelly heard my band and said, ‘why aren’t you guys really big’. The irony almost choked me given that hardly anyone back then would give us a leg up, but everyone wanted me as a backup. I’d ended up playing piano for the ‘Changes’ duet single on Top Of The Pops for Ozzy and Kelly, and for charity on Pall Mall for the Olympics Torch Ceremony. Ozzy really liked me, and Al when he met him, but Sharon wouldn’t help us out with an Ozfest slot. It was all that session work that paid for the first DSF album to be made and kept us afloat. Today I’m proud of what we’ve achieved purely on our own merits, ingenuity and the strength of our material and live performance. Times have changed because thankfully now we have management, independent investment, and a label who believe in us, and while I smile graciously when everyone says ‘I always knew you could do it’ I will be remembering clearly who didn’t give a shit back in the day.
Do you prefer playing live or recording?
I love both, as long as I get to perform. In the studio the audience is always with me in my mind-because that’s who will hear it in the future. Recording has the added enjoyment of being able to perfect your performance. We push ourselves hard. I love that process and become more and more perfectionist all the time.
Where is your favorite place to perform?
London homecoming gigs rule. We filled the Scala last UK tour and the vibe was amazing. Having said that I enjoyed performing at Tavistia in Helsinki recently. It had that perfect combination of great lights, great sound, great audience, great night!
Has anything crazy ever happened at a show?
Oh several…. Played a festival in Italy once and just as the sun was setting this biplane swooped down and flew really low across the audience which was kinda hair raising. Stuff happens like my heel got stuck in a hole in the stage, so I got rooted to the spot for a song. Fans do stuff like show me their tattoos by exposing their bare-naked ass on stage. The worst was when I got a full on electric shock that halted the show in Wales.
What projects do you have planned for the future?
Mucho touring of this album, as it’s out now in the UK and Finland, but it comes out November 5 in Germany and the rest of Europe. We’re in some interesting discussions about the US for early 2011. In between we’re writing new material for the next album, because we’re going to get very busy.
Are there any other creative mediums you work in?
I am Miss Creative, some would call it Miss Fidget. I’m constantly writing, melodies and lyrics, and I’m in ‘The Back And Blue Orkestre’ with Tom DiCillo (film writer/director) and Will Crewdson, on bass and some backing vocals. We record via e mail as I’m in LA, Will’s in London and Tom’s in New York! When I’m not doing that I design and make clothes (I make my own stage outfits) I customize clothing and furniture. I draw and paint. I’ve just made a slinky snake-lady catsuit and I’m currently working on a new tattoo design.
What do you like to do for fun?
I’m lucky because I enjoy what I do. I know I’m lucky, so I just do it a lot. On top of that I go to quite a few shows to check out bands, and also art exhibitions/weird museums-I’m slowly turning my house into one. I love film, most genres if it’s good, in particular horror. I like to have adventures, see new places. I’m learning to drive California style right now and then I’m looking into bikes. I don’t drink anymore because I had pancreatitis, so I have more energy to do the types of things that at one time would’ve remained pipedreams.
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