Original American riot grrls Sleater Kinney reunite after a decade to tour Australia where it all started

SHE was one of the pioneers of the feminist punk riot movement in the nineties and now Carrie Brownstein is going back to where it all began with a new Aussie tour.

22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - Arrivals

FROM original riot grrrl to acclaimed actor and writer, Carrie Brownstein is a renaissance woman for the hipster set.

As co-founder of the revered indie trio Sleater Kinney with Corin Tucker — drummer Janet Weiss joined in 1996 — Brownstein inspired a generation of women to pick up guitars and rock.

She continued to pursue music when they announced an indefinite hiatus in 2006, forming another band Wild Flag in 2010.

But it has been the raft of other artistic endeavours which have brought her to the attention of those who haven’t followed the rise and fall of indie rock over the past 20 years.

Brownstein paired with Saturday Night Live cast member and actor Fred Armisen as the comedy duo ThunderAnt before developing the cult television series Portlandia.

Her acting career, which began as a “mere hobby” with roles in short films in the early noughties, has broadened into a regular gig in the transgender comedy series Transparent and a part in the Cate Blanchett film Carol.

Comedic actor Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein scored a cult hit with their show Potlandia. Picture: AKM-GSI / Splash News

Brownstein also released the memoir Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl last year having been a regular interviewer and blogger throughout her career.

Sleater Kinney reunited in 2014 and released the acclaimed No Cities To Love last year and will return to Australia in March for their first tour here in a decade.

It brings the band full circle to their formation when Brownstein and Tucker formed the band and recorded their self-titled debut album in 24 hours in Melbourne at the tail-end of an extended holiday in Australia.

“We were staring down a deadline of 24 hours left in the country and we wanted to document our time there,” Brownstein recalls.

“We had written a series of songs and our drummer at the time was in Australia. We had no idea what the future held for us beyond our imminent departure for the US so it was very hurried and raw.

“It felt very much like a snapshot of a whole trip which was whirlwind and exciting rather than an artistic statement of any kind.”

Sleater-Kinney pictured back in their early days. Picture: Supplied.

The tone of the record certainly set the stage for the band to become one of the defining punk voices of their generation.

Their sound was loud and urgent, their message strident and clear. Even in the love songs.

From the ecstatic reviews which greeted their reunion shows throughout America and Europe last year, they remain as potent as ever.

“It’s the nature of the band, those characteristics of irascibility, vitriol or passion. I think we wouldn’t have come back if that wasn’t the music we were going to play,” she says.

“In some ways there is such an innate chemistry, it’s almost too easy to fall back on and the challenge for us was to take it further and make it sound new, almost like the material could have been on our first record.”

The aesthetics of touring has changed dramatically in the intervening years and being older, wiser and in the position to make certain concessions to curb the rigours of life on the road.

Brownstein’s acting and writing commitments also require some deft juggling of schedules with Weiss also involved in the Portlandia production team.

Sleater Kinney played the Big Day Out in 2006 before taking a 10-year break. Picture: Supplied.

“We made touring easier for ourselves; I think we are all well aware of each other’s vulnerabilities surrounding touring,” she says.

“We made it kinder, going out for a couple of weeks at a time. I really enjoy performing and I think I am more aware of how I need to take care of myself on tour.”

Sleater Kinney were regarded as one of the pioneers of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement of the 1990s and No Cities To Love demonstrated they had lost none of their passion.

The treatment of women in the modern music industry has been a lightning bolt topic in the past year and reached a tipping point a few weeks ago when Amber Coffman, a member of American band Dirty Projectors called out publicist Heathcliff Berru for sexual harassment.

Berru resigned from his company as more women joined her to publicly accuse him of offensive behaviour and assault.

Brownstein said she was “very supportive” of Coffman’s brave stand.

“I think it’s always disappointing, although not necessarily surprising to realise that within the realm of our work, none of us are immune to sexual assault or harassment,” she said.

“It is an important conversation to have and continue.”

Sleater Kinney perform at Piaf Festival Gardens, Perth, March 2, HQ Complex, Adelaide, March 4, Triffid, Brisbane, March 5, Sydney Opera House, March 6, The Croxton, Melbourne, March 9 to 11 and Golden Plains Festival, Meredith, Victoria, March 12 to 14.

Originally published as Original American riot grrls Sleater Kinney reunite after a decade to tour Australia where it all started