GRRRL-NOISY
MARY
As a teenager, I bought a drum set with the money from my Jugendweihe, converted our basement into a rehearsal room, and founded the first GRRRL punk band in our sparsely populated region. Since it was already difficult to find other female* musicians at that time, the idea came up to organize a kind of regulars' Stammtische for female* musicians only. The idea developed further and GRRRL-NOISY was founded with the support of my bandmates of 24/7 Diva Heaven and our friends in November 2019. With the great support of Toast Hawaii Club as well as Dustown, the first GRRRL-NOISY jam session was born. I love my GRRRL gang and the growing community. It's just awesome to make music with so many inspiring womxn, host events and showcase the diversity of the underground music scene. It's not just about making music - it's about breaking down structural conventions and highlighting womxn role models in the music business.
KAT
Hey! My name is Kat, I live in Berlin since 2015 and play guitar and sing in the band 24/7 Diva Heaven. I play guitar since I am 12 years young and was always dreaming of an own band. I started as a guitarist in a band with boys from my school back then, but I didn’t have the confidence to write my own songs and do my „own thing“ until I met Mary - drummer in 24/7 Diva Heaven- a few years ago. She kept asking and asking - „let‘s meet in my rehearsal room and let’s jam out together“ -but I was simply too shy and not very convinced of my own skills, so it took me a long time to join her. But I did! After a few months Karo joined us on bass and we became a real band, constantly growing with our tasks. From the moment we founded the band, the creativity is bubbling out of me and I finally found a space to create - without being judged. My own story is one of the main reasons why I joined Mary to found GRRRL-NOISY: Other girls* can do it too! We need encouragement and a safe space to unfold our own good potential. GRRRL-NOISY gives us the space to try, to fail, to create and to grow. And this is very special and extremely valuable in a world that hardly forgives mistakes and a step in the right direction of a society that still holds on to old patterns and paradigms.
Merle
Hello! My name is Merle, I’m 22 and I play bass in the bands Isoscope and CHLOR. I only started playing bass two years ago because I wanted to be in a band when I moved to Berlin that same year. I knew a bit guitar but thought with my amateur skills I would have too much competition. I was intimidated by guys and felt pressure and was insecure. So I started playing bass, hoping my chances at finding a band would be better (but also because it’s the coolest instrument ever of course). Luckily I found three talented band mates. Philipp, Konstantin and Bonnie. Bonnie introduced me to Mary and the awesome idea of GRRRL-NOISY. At our Jam Sessions it’s super easy to connect with other womxn from the underground music scene of Berlin, find people to make music with or just jam and have fun in a supportive environment without being judged. Seeing how positive the feedback we get for GRRRL-NOISY is shows to us and everyone how important it is and how much we need this.
Karo
Hej! My name is Karo and I play bass in the band 24/7 Diva Heaven along with Kat and Mary. I started playing bass when I was about 14 years old. It was so much fun from the start and I knew that this was my instrument. I always loved music and wanted to have my own band so I tried to jam with some of my friends. They really kicked ass on their instruments (and they still do) but I simply had the feeling I wasn’t good enough. I think the biggest problem was a lack of self-confidence. Anyway I ended up kind of giving up on the idea of being part of a band until Kat and Mary asked me to join them on a jam session. I was fucking nervous. But it turned out so chill and the chemistry was just perfect. Also they really empowered me to keep going everytime I was doubting my skills. To me, that’s what makes GRRRL-NOISY so important and necessary: empowerment. And I think the feedback we get speaks for it’s own. So damn Grrrls, grab an instrument and get started.
PEPPI
Hi, I’m Peppi and I currently play in a garage band called CAVA. I
joined GRRRL-NOISY in April of 2020 after having some difficulties finding women* to form a band with. What I love most about GRRRL-NOISY is being able to finally find the courage to go up on stage without a plan and just start jamming with other people, without judgement.
Charlotte
Hey, I'm Charlotte aka Chux On Tour Photography and I'm a Berlin-based music photographer with a strong focus on female musicians. My happy place is at showcase festivals where I can discover up and coming artists. Before becoming a concert photographer, I worked with musicians and took care of their social media campaigns, helped out with artist & tour management, booking and promotion and even put on some shows in Berlin. And I recently founded SHOWGRAPHERS, a platform to connect musicians and music photographers. I joined GRRRL-NOISY because I love to support people & projects I believe in and I'm looking forward to meet more womxn that inspire me.
MARA
I’m Mara. I’m half-English and half-Croatian, but I have been living in Berlin for a few years now. Between playing the guitar and singing, I have been trying out bands, and am still trying to find the perfect one! After having drunkenly but (hopefully) charmingly jammed at one of the jam sessions earlier in the cursed year of 2020, I joined GRRRL-NOISY in hope to go to more fun concerts, discover more local bands and female* musicians and perhaps even collaborate with some. Of course, this hasn’t been physically possible, so I decided to join the GRRRL-NOISY team and assist them in whatever they might need from social media to content production. Now, I am just patiently waiting until real life GRRRL-NOISY events can happen again, so that I can meet, jam and have a drink with all the friendly faces I have been working with until now!
Merle
hi, my name is merle. i'm a newbie at GRRRL-NOISY but i'm super happy to join this witchcult. i grew up in the punk scene in berlin. i've been screaming in different bands for a long time now. mostly in the hc punk genre. a lot of macho attitude and elbow mentality made it difficult for woman* to find their place there. changing that has always been important to me. my political life and my love for music can flow together at gn and to be able to offer women* a stage, to push bands and to work together with such great women* is a dream come true.
Renata
Hi! Im Renata!
From Hell de Janeiro, originally, but orbiting in Berlin since 2013. I started playing acoustic and electric guitar at the innocent age of 12. I had a couple of bands as a teeny but I let other people’s opinions get the better of me and gave up entirely. Then 16 years passed without touching the guitar. As sad as I used to think that was, losing all this time when I could have improved techniques and such, I matured the idea that it all comes when it must. It wasn’t after my blessed 30´s that I knew I couldnt run away from making (heavy) music again. Cliché or not, I know that I was ready and fully aware when the opportunities came. First, I found 3 women who embraced me and all our dreams and visions kinda of mashed together in the form of our sludge/classic metal band Aptera. Second, when Mary first brought the idea of GRRRL-NOISY. There’s some kind of commitment and engagement that you only fully picture after it all happened, but even then, I knew she meant it and so did I! And now look at us, all of us creative women, having a home, a place with no boundaries, that we made it ours. I (mostly) overcame my fear of stage and went for this crazy noisy ride with this rad women!
Lana
Hey! My name is Lana, I sing and play guitar. I have been active as a vocalist in a few amateur jazz ensembles in my life, but garage rock is my true love. I’d moved to Berlin to start a band, by the pandemic had other plans for all of us, so I ended up teaching myself some production basics and was able to release my first EP with electric guitar and home-produced drums in November of 2020. Next steps? Practice, practice, practice with my drummer (whom I found largely thanks to GRRRL-NOISY) and make ourselves heard! So stoked to be part of the team, looking forward to welcoming all of the wonderful women, trans- and nb-folx at our monthly jam sessions.
ISA
Hey friends! My name is Isa, an 80’s loving glitter guitar enthusiast with a lot of plants, melodies to sing and colors spilling out of me. I’m also a singer-songwriter, creative, and MA Gender studies student. I was born and raised in Berlin and have been around for most of my life, except for a year I studied in New Orleans and a year I lived in Melbourne. Both places are still my home and taught me so much about how deeply music and community are intertwined. I’ve always been a musical bean with a lot of fire in my heart to make a change. When I was five, I started to play the piano and began writing my first songs. My musical taste is all over the place and reaches from Sharon van Etten to ABBA, the Cure, Beyoncé, Norah Jones, Parcels, Etta James and Angel Olsen. Avril Lavigne was certainly one of the reasons why I discovered my enthusiasm for playing the guitar. But it’s taken me years to consider myself a “proper” musician – let’s be honest, we’re far from where we should be in terms of representation and valuing FLINTA* musicians, songwriters, producers in the music industries. I’m forever grateful that I stumbled upon my GRRRL-Noisy friends during my MA research and that I can be part of this wicked collective shaping the Berlin music scene. We make noise as a practice that allows us to explore ourselves as music-makers and -lovers, unapologetically! It takes a lot of courage to defy all the voices telling you you’re not good enough – in music or other fields. If you feel like that, just know that I’ve been there, likely all of us have, you’re not alone! That’s why we’re looking out for each other. To remind ourselves: this is not about competition! There’s enough space for all of us. Music as we know it exists because of community. So let’s connect 😊