Sta-Prest (band)
Encyclopedia
Biography
The band first made its appearance on the queercore record label Outpunk Records, on its compilation Outpunk Dance Party. Soon afterwards they released their first EP, Vespa Sex, also on Outpunk, followed later by a 7" single. Like other bands influenced by the nascent Riot GrrrlRiot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
scene in Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, New York No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
, and European post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, core members of Sta-Prest - Aloofah (Iraya Robles), Dudley Manlove (Gary Fembot), and Professor Swish (Mark Bishop) - adopted pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s, swapped instruments between songs, and practiced a consensus-based approach to song composition. A revolving membership included Tetley, Twi Tybat, Clutch-y-Spun, and Scout. Their avant-pop sound and combination of male and female vocals were unique in the Queercore scene.
After Outpunk Records ceased to exist, the band recorded for the label Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
, releasing their final 7" ep. As well, they produced a video for one of their songs for the Kill Rock Stars video compilation, Kill Rock Stars Video Fanzine, which also included a short movie by member Gary Fembot, called The Oners.
In 1997, the band appeared in performance in the seminal documentary film She's Real, Worse Than Queer by Lucy Thane
Lucy Thane
Lucy Thane is a documentary filmmaker.One of her most notable works is It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill In The UK in which she followed the 1990s riot grrrl band Bikini Kill while they were on tour in the UK with Huggy Bear....
.
In 2002, Aloofah, (Iraya Robles) and Dudley Manlove, (Gary Fembot), appeared in Maximum Rocknroll
Maximum RocknRoll
Maximum rocknroll is a widely distributed, monthly not-for-profit fanzine based in San Francisco, USA. It features interviews, columns, and reviews from international contributors...
's "Queer Punk" issue, featured in a discussion with the queer-identified musicians Martin Sorrondeguy
Martin Sorrondeguy
Martin Sorrondeguy is the singer of hardcore bands Los Crudos and Limp Wrist, the founder of the DIY record label, Lengua Armada Discos, documentary film director and a prominent figure in both the straight edge scene and the queercore scene....
of both 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...
and Limp Wrist
Limp Wrist
Limp Wrist is an American hardcore punk band featuring members of Los Crudos, Hail Mary, Devoid of Faith, and Kill the Man Who Questions. Playing short, fast hardcore punk-styled music, the band touches upon themes concerning the LGBT community in their live performances and lyrics. They identify...
and Aaron Detroit
Aaron Detroit
Aaron Detroit is an American musician, zine writer, and music journalist. He first came to be noticed as a zine writer during his mid-teens in 1992.-Musical Output:...
of The Little Deaths
The Little Deaths
The Little Deaths was an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1997. The band was associated with the 1990s Queercore movement and became part of the San Francisco Bay-Area's late-90's musical renaissance which spawned bands like Subtonix, The Phantom Limbs, Erase Errata, The...
.
Spin-off bands from Sta-Prest include Feelings On A Grid, with Dudley Manlove a.k.a. D.M. Feelings (Gary Fembot) and Le Grid, a.k.a. Stanley Lamontagne, both heavily influenced by the sounds and aesthetics of the synthpunk
Synthpunk
Synthpunk is a music genre combining elements of electronic music and punk rock. The term was coined by Damian Ramsey in 1999 as an attempt to retroactively identify a small sub-genre of punk music from 1977 to 1984 that involved musicians playing synthesizers in place of electric...
bands Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
and The Screamers
The Screamers
The Screamers were a punk rock group active in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1970s. The Screamers were pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk," and can also be classified as art punk....
.
Professor Swish, now Mmothra, privately released a recording of ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
digital loopscapes after the style of Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...
and :zoviet*France, entitled Neurotic Styles. Gary Fembot now plays keyboards and sings with the band Puce Moment
Puce Moment
Puce Moment is a short 6 minute film by Kenneth Anger, author of the Hollywood Babylon books, filmed in 1949. Puce Moment resulted from the unfinished short film Puce Women. The film opens with a camera watching 1920's style flapper gowns being taken off a dress rack. The dresses are removed and...
.
Dudley Manlove (Gary Fembot) and Professor Swish (Mark Bishop) recorded as The Swishin' Duds, and are included on the soundtrack of the 2008 movie The Lollipop Generation
The Lollipop Generation
The Lollipop Generation is the first feature film by G.B. Jones.The Lollipop Generation premiered as the Gala Feature presentation of the Images Festival in Toronto on April 3, 2008....
by G.B. Jones, in which Gary Fembot appears in a cameo role.
Discography
- "Nelly Strut/Suspiria" on Outpunk Dance Party, Outpunk Records OUT12CD
- Vespa Sex EP on Outpunk Records OUT15
- "Lets Be Friendly With Our Friends/You Are The Company Spy" on Outpunk Records OUT19
- "Form Fitting/Diffy Peeps" on Kill Rock StarsKill Rock StarsKill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
Mailorder Freaks Singles Club, 1998 - Kill Rock Stars Video Fanzine #2