Spitboy
Encyclopedia
Spitboy was an American anarcho-punk
band founded in San Francisco, California
in the early 1990s by four women. Within their music they aggressively criticized patriarchy
and gender roles.
Michelle Gonzales (Todd), vocalist
Adrienne Droogas, bassist
Paula and guitarist
Karin Gembus. Paula left the band before the release of the Rasana 7" EP and was replaced by Dominique Davison.
The band toured the United States
, Europe
, Australia
, New Zealand
and Japan
. Their records were released on prominent punk rock labels Lookout Records, Allied Recordings and Ebullition Records
, including a split LP with the Chicago
-based hardcore group Los Crudos
.
After the breakup of the group, Davison, Gonzales and Gembus played together in the group Instant Girl, whose sound was less aggressive than that of Spitboy. Instant Girl released an LP on Allied Recordings. Droogas was briefly a member of the group Aus Rotten before moving to Richmond
, Virginia
. She also wrote columns for the punk zine
s Heartattack and Profane Existence
. Davison is now an architect. Gonzales teaches English at Las Positas College
in Livermore, California
.
, in which a Pacific Northwest tribe's saga refers to a young woman who put all the self-hatred she felt for her own secretions (tears, sweat, mucus, menstrual blood) into fashioning a Snotboy/Spitboy, which she buried in the dirt. The young woman's journey to accept and embrace herself seems to parallel the concise social commentaries and struggle for awareness for which Spitboy the band fought.
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
band founded in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the early 1990s by four women. Within their music they aggressively criticized patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
and gender roles.
History
The band was founded by drummerDrum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Michelle Gonzales (Todd), vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
Adrienne Droogas, bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Paula and guitarist
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
Karin Gembus. Paula left the band before the release of the Rasana 7" EP and was replaced by Dominique Davison.
The band toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Their records were released on prominent punk rock labels Lookout Records, Allied Recordings and Ebullition Records
Ebullition Records
Ebullition Records is an independent record label and distro based out of Goleta, California. It published HeartattaCk, a zine focusing on independent punk and hardcore from around the world, informed by an anti-consumerist and D.I.Y. ideology....
, including a split LP with the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based hardcore group Los Crudos
Los Crudos
Los Crudos was an American hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois that existed from 1991 to 1998. The band played in the hardcore punk style, and were a popular act within the DIY underground of the 1990s. Being Latino, they paved the way for later Spanish-speaking punk bands and helped to...
.
After the breakup of the group, Davison, Gonzales and Gembus played together in the group Instant Girl, whose sound was less aggressive than that of Spitboy. Instant Girl released an LP on Allied Recordings. Droogas was briefly a member of the group Aus Rotten before moving to Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. She also wrote columns for the punk zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
s Heartattack and Profane Existence
Profane Existence
The Profane Existence Collective is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally-known zine , as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindcore music, and printing and publishing pamphlets and literature...
. Davison is now an architect. Gonzales teaches English at Las Positas College
Las Positas College
Las Positas College is a community college located in Livermore, California, United States, on . It began as an extension program of Chabot College in 1963, offering 24 classes and enrolling 810 students at three sites, including Livermore High School...
in Livermore, California
Livermore, California
Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....
.
Origin of name
The word spitboy has more than one possible origin: it might designate a turnbrooch (a type of kitchen boy). The band makes a reference to the book Daughters of Copper Woman, by Anne CameronAnne Cameron
Anne Cameron , August 20, 1938 in Nanaimo, British Columbia) is a Canadian novelist, poet, screenwriter and short story writer. Much of her work is inspired by Northwest Coast First Nations mythology and culture....
, in which a Pacific Northwest tribe's saga refers to a young woman who put all the self-hatred she felt for her own secretions (tears, sweat, mucus, menstrual blood) into fashioning a Snotboy/Spitboy, which she buried in the dirt. The young woman's journey to accept and embrace herself seems to parallel the concise social commentaries and struggle for awareness for which Spitboy the band fought.
Discography
- The Threat Sexism Impressed b/w Ultimate Violations 7" (Lookout Records 51) - 1991
- True Self Revealed LP (Ebullition RecordsEbullition RecordsEbullition Records is an independent record label and distro based out of Goleta, California. It published HeartattaCk, a zine focusing on independent punk and hardcore from around the world, informed by an anti-consumerist and D.I.Y. ideology....
) - 1993 - Mi Cuerpo Es Mio 7" (Allied Recordings) - 1994
- The Spitboy-CD (Allied Recordings) - 1995 - Contains the three singles and the LP
- Rasana 7" - (Ebullition RecordsEbullition RecordsEbullition Records is an independent record label and distro based out of Goleta, California. It published HeartattaCk, a zine focusing on independent punk and hardcore from around the world, informed by an anti-consumerist and D.I.Y. ideology....
) - 1995 - Split LP with Los CrudosLos CrudosLos Crudos was an American hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois that existed from 1991 to 1998. The band played in the hardcore punk style, and were a popular act within the DIY underground of the 1990s. Being Latino, they paved the way for later Spanish-speaking punk bands and helped to...
(Ebullition RecordsEbullition RecordsEbullition Records is an independent record label and distro based out of Goleta, California. It published HeartattaCk, a zine focusing on independent punk and hardcore from around the world, informed by an anti-consumerist and D.I.Y. ideology....
) - 1995