Shiragirl

Shira Yevin forms an electro-pop punk-metal spoken-word boisterously anti-establishment fuck-you musical art group. She battles stereotypical mediocrity by pairing scandalous lyrics with driving drums and manic riffs, interspersed with turntable scratching and electronic parplay. A Vagina Monologues for the tattooed, pierced, and fierce, Shira's petulant, trod-upon everygirl voice emotes in a singsong repartee about commercialized music ("Fake Teen Anxt"), gender stereotypes ("Daddy's Little Girl"), the current administration ("Write a Song"), and anything else that happens to piss her off. If Tank Girl formed a raucous Amazonian troupe and crashed open mics, spreading fearless feminist sass, it would probably sound a lot like Shira Girl. -Kelly Marshall - HYPERACTIVE Music Magazine

When the rules don't work for you, make up your own. That's the philosophy that not only landed Shiragirl a spot in last summer's Warped tour, but also got them a stage of their own for the 2005 version that lands at Riverbend Music Center today.

"They didn't have any girl bands on the Warped Tour last year, so we crashed," sayd Shira, the mastermind and voice behind the New Jersey-based Shiragirl. "We have this big pink van and we just drove in, set up and started playing."

Rather than get upset, Kevin Lyman, the founder and chief operator behind Warped, was so impressed with their gumption that he approached them after the impromptu gig and posed the question they wanted to hear: "So you guys are on for the rest of the tour now?"

Indeed they were, and as the tour wore on, they began to negotiate their own stage to give other girl bands a chance to perform on the Warped Tour, which has proven to be one of the most successful of the mega-tours that started more than a decade ago with the likes of Lollapalooza, H/O/R/D/E/. Lilith Fair and others - none of them still around anymore.

"So we launched a search on myspace.com for girl bands," Shira said. "We have more than 100 girl bands participating. We have three bands touring with us - Paramore and singer/songwriter Gina Young - several bands going on short stretches and local bands at every stop."

She said the only requirements are that the bands be all female or at least have female fronts and that they not sound like everyone else out there.

The reviews have been great, with people telling them that they have had the most diverse lineup of the nine stages on this year's tour and their 22-song compilation is selling like hotcakes.

And now that they have a mobile stage, Shira is negotiating with Lyman about launching an all-girl Tour.

Richard O Jones, JournalNews
Friday, July 22, 2005
- Dayton Daily News

It's rare that I play a new submission two times in a row without stopping. The women of Shiragirl create music full of energy, style and groovby surprises. Vocalist, Shira, is backed by Shadows (Dj Lava) on turntables. This dynamic duo jumbles genres, adds a little scratch here and a metal guitar there, with electronic beats and an unstoppable attitude.
They collaborate with all-girl crews of ass kickiing guitarists, DJ's, skaters, artists, videographers and musicians and have accomplished an impressive amount in the mere 3 years they've been together - from conquering the Warped Tour in 2004 to recording with Tim Armstrong (Rancid/The Transplants). They've danced onstage with the mouthwatering Peaches and jumped Le Tigre's stage at Coachella. The ladies purchased a tourbus, painted it hot pink (of coarse) and are driving around rockin' this country - and even made a trip to Europe.
Shiragirl are based in Brooklyn, but seem to be living in their hot pink tour bus. Fuled by the edge, sharp and fearless Shiragirl is organizing ShiraGirlz Stage - as part of the whole Warped Tour! We want to catch it this year... this is a band who smashed a giant Barbie doll pinata with a guitar until she spilled out with tampons & candy! - Church of Girl

ORADELL, N.J. -- Shira Yevin doesn't toy with Barbie dolls, plastic or otherwise. The 24-year-old punk rock front-woman prefers playing with axes and saws.

And she is looking for like-minded chicks to add some hardcore estrogen to the mostly male Vans Warped Tour.

Yevin's band, ShiraGirl, is running an all-female stage during the annual tour of punk and alternative rock bands, which started Thursday in Maryland.

"We want to break the stereotype of women in music," said Yevin, whose group has nothing in common with the Jessica Simpsons of the world.

"We like it loud, fast, hard and offensive," she said.

Those aggressive musical tastes, dedication and a lot of chutzpah are what earned Yevin a place on the Warped Tour.

Yevin crashed the national tour in 2004 by driving her pink and black pimped-out RV onto the concert grounds in Fullerton, Calif., and setting up across from the tour's skate park as if she belonged there.

"Everyone said, ?you can't have your RV in here,'" Yevin said, adding that most bands pay a fee to play the tour.

Surprisingly, no one kicked her out and the gutsy move earned her band MTV's 2005 "Warpie Award" for the "most punk-rock move to get invited into the family."

Eventually, she befriended tour founder Kevin Lyman, who invited her to put together an all-girl stage for 2005's tour. Yevin was thrilled. There was just one little problem -- she didn't have a stage.

Punk rock's philosophy has always been Do-It-Yourself, and Lyman offered her little guidance or help.

"He basically said, ?Go make it happen,'" Yevin said.

So Yevin, band mate DJ Lava and friends bought electric saws and a ton of the band's signature bubblegum pink paint and transformed a $12,000 box truck into a mobile venue. The truck's side now cranks down into an elevated, 15-foot wooden stage.

Then Yevin, who has a communications degree from the University of Pennsylvania, began using the skills she acquired in college to recruit female-fronted bands.

She booked about 100 groups to play various dates on the tour -- including signed acts such as Paramore -- and the ShiraGirl stage eventually covered 200,000 miles over dozens of cities.

"There were bets that we wouldn't get through the whole tour," Yevin said. "The RV is beaten up and we're girls, so they thought we were not going to make it. But we did."

This year, Yevin hopes to book better and bigger acts. A recent visit to her parents' Oradell home revealed a wall plastered with calendars and sticky notes scrawled with band names. The living room floor was littered with press kits from bands throughout the world. (Yevin's home is her pink RV, which was parked outside her parents' house until neighbors complained, and it was ticketed by the police department.)

Financially, it hasn't been easy. Although she has received sponsorship from companies such as Bodog Music and Elle Girl magazine, Yevin gets little financial support from the Warped Tour.

"It is a labor of love," she explained. "Everything we make goes right back into the gas tank."

But all the work is raising the band's profile -- so much so that ShiraGirl opened for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in May. And Yevin plans to launch her own "Gritty in Pink" all-girl tour after the Warped Tour ends in August.

In the meantime, her band is psyching itself up to face the special challenges of being girls in a male-dominated world.

There is the shower issue presented when the tour provides the same bathrooms for guys and girls. There is the problem of living in a cramped RV for two months with half a dozen girls, who tend to pack heavy.

And there is the personal safety issue. According to Yevin, another female performer said she was date-raped during last year's tour after someone slipped a drug into her drink. The members of ShiraGirl plan to have a buddy at all times this year to avoid dangerous situations.

There's also the negativity problem. Though Yevin says most guys are supportive, there are some dudes who are again betting the girls won't make it cross-country. Yevin says that's a bet she can't wait to take.

"We are tough," Yevin said. "We are tough as hell."

-Catherine Holahan, The Record
June 29, 2006 - College Times, Ventura County Star

SHIRAGIRL
NOT RELEASED IN STORES
SELF-RELEASED
Yes! I love this album. Electro-rock is the next big thing. Who can say differently, with bands like The Transplants out there hitting it big? The two girls who make up Shiragirl make some killer fucking music - and NOT RELEASED IN STORES is proof. Although this band can easily be classified as electro-punk, the music is also filled with elements of rap (hey, don't hate); and on one of the tracks there happens to be a special guest. What guest? Well, pick up their album NOT RELEASED IN STORES this year at Warped Tour and listen to it and figure out whom the guest is yourself! I'm not going to tell you everything, but I will give you a tip on where you can pick up this album: check out the Girl Stage at Warped Tour, also known as the Shiragirl stage. "Shiragirl could not get any hotter" is damn right. Don't fucking forget it!
-Manda-Dex-Punk
June 2005 - Skratch Magazine

by EMily Woestoff

If you've ever been to the Warped Tour, there's no doubt that you saw a band on the most rockinist, DIY stage that exists: The Shiragirl Stage. If you were lucky enough, you might have had the opportunity to see the stage's namesake, Shiragirl.

Opening up for Rancid on their fourth night at NYC's Irving Plaza, the girls did not disappoint. Like a burst of energy, Shira (vocals) commanded the stage like a seasoned veteran. She was at ease on stage, and made no bones about jumping into the crowd and climbing onto the Irving Plaza speakers to look down on the dazzled crowd below. The band, equally as skilled, provided the perfect backdrop for her dynamic presence. Even though Shiragirl were enlisted to be the openers for Rancid this night, the band didn't get the memo, because they killed it like they were the headliners. A 0

They showcased songs from their forthcoming album, "Scream Spit Sing." Songs including Anthem, Days, and Tantrum are sure to leave you singing along afterwards. Those lucky enough to meet up with the band at their merch table, would have snagged a complimentary advance preview of the album as an added bonus to remember their set. Do yourself a favor and check out Shiragirl, they might be a band of girls, but they're certainly not your typical girl band.

To catch the Shiragirl bug for yourself, you can see them in NYC at ABC No Rio on September 6th and opening up for NOFX on October 15th at Irving Plaza.

with photos:
http://www.readjunk.com/livereviews/shiragirl-irving-plaza-new-york-ny
- READJUNK.com

And now, in honor of Warped's 10th anniversary, we present the inaugural Warpie Awards:

Most punk-rock move to get invited into the family: The Shira Girl stage. Founder Shira Girl bum-rushed last year's Warped with a guerrilla stage setup outside the tour and this year she had her own stage, which added some much-needed estrogen to the mostly male affair. - MTV News

1) You ladies are quite a ballsy group, crashing the warped tour a few years ago with your very own makeshift stage in parkinglots. And now here you are, actually on the bill in 2008 for the Warped Tour and playing on your very own Gritty in Pink stage. For those of us a little out of the loop, can you briefly explain the incidences that led up to you actually being part of the '08 Warped Tour?

"We didnt settle for playing parking lots, we actually drove our pink RV right into the venue and set up across from the skate ramp! After we crashed the Warped Tour, we got the greenlight from Kevin to run an all-girl stage.It was a huge undertaking and we showcased over 200 female fronted bands from across the US and Canada in 05 and 06, including Paramore and a special guest appearance by Joan Jett!

I took last year off to regroup, and with a new lineup and a new record we knew we wanted to return for Warped 08. So we approached Kevin about bringing our stage back for the West coast and East coast, and even got some dates added on the skate stage as well."

2) And you've gotten to pick the bands in the all-girl stage that you are performing on right? Tell us a little more about that.

"Yes, this year the stage includes our friends Blameshift, who we are touring with all summer, in addition to Civet, Von Iva, Me Talk Pretty, Kelsey and the Chaos! and many more. This year we kept smaller so we could focus on developing our own band. But it is still an honor to be able to bring more females to the stages of Warped Tour, and to have our own space to provide a platform."

3) What are the challenges you have faced while on the Warped Tour this year? I read that you had to share your RV with another band.

"Haha, NO we did not share our precious RV with another band! But we did have to share it with our gear when our trailer tire popped off in the middle of the Pacific Coast. She was in the shop, for a week- luckily our tour schedule took us back to LA to play Key Club."

4) Coming from a background in traditional theatre and ballet, and admitting your influences are Madonna, Pink and Gwen Stefani, tell me, what drew you to the punk scene? It seems like your tastes run from one extreme to the other - but also, fuse together well.

"Thank you. Honestly what drew me in was hanging in the scene and becoming friends with girls who were making music. I've been dancing all my life, even competitively and professionally (thus the love for dance and pop music) but I didnt start singing until I was 20, while studying abroad in London. The all-female post-screamo band Morgan Storm was a huge influence. Growing up Sublime was my shit, but when I went on Warped Tour working for Truth I got exposed to a lot of new alternative music and met Tim Armstrong (Rancid), who changed my life."

5) " Not Sold in Stores" was self produced and distributed, yet it still got you airtime with the music video "Kill It". You started out in Jersey/Philly then it just blew up from there. Where do you feel the turning point took place for Shira Girl?

"I feel the turning point is now, getting a complete new lineup together and writing all new music heading in a new direction. Showing staying power and growth, musically. Collaborating with my drummer/musical director Raine Palladino. Kill It was great and definitely in line with my theatrical roots. Now I am focusing more on singing and delivery and mastering my craft of music performance!"

6) And now you've played with Joan Jett, Rancid and your new CD "Play-A-Grrrl" is being produced by Joey Z. How do you think the success of your first cd is influencing "Play-A-Grrrl" or is it influencing it at all?

"Yes, it is influencing our current tour because it's great to have the old fans come out after a break! While we are mostly focusing on playing our new music we always try to include Go Go Go or another oldie in the setlist ;) Play-a-Grrrl is my DIY production/record company. Our new CD "Scream Spit Sing" is influenced by Not Sold In Stores in that it's still me, lyrically it has similar themes and it's still my voice but musically, I really think we grow in a whole new direction."

7) You have a couple of newcombers to your band too in addition to Joey Z. Is the 2nd album going alot smoother for you than the first now that you have more people involved?

"Yes it's amazing! Writing as a band has been very cool. Everyone is a lot more invested into the music, emotionally. It's defiinitely a group effort."

8) You also have your very own Play-a-Grrrl Productionz and fronted the fund raiser, all girl event "Girlz in the Hood" in Brooklyn. Please tell us about both Play-a-Grrrl Productionz and the benifit "Girlz in the Hood" and the success / turnout "Girlz in the Hood" had for the fund raiser / shows.

"Girlz in the Hood is our event in Brooklyn showcasing female-fronted bands, artists, DJs and bartenders! We did a fundraiser with GO! Magazine and raised money for a local health center for women's cancer. It was a huge success and even Theo and the Skyscrapers played for the cause.

Play-a-Grrrl Productionz is my own event production/record company. We've had 4 releases so far including our most recent CD sampler "Coming Soon" (featuring 4 tracks from the forthcoming full length recored.) We've also done a couple of all-girl stage compilation CDs, one of which was a collaboration with Blackheart Records and featured a rad unreleased Joan Jett song!"

9) Are you interested in being signed by a major record label or would you rather stick to the creative freedom of being on your own indie label?

"It's everyones dream to have the best of both worlds. Would love to have the financial support and reach of a large label but still have the comfort of creative control. Right now we are at the beginning of our journey to find the right team to take us to the top, no matter what label. We wont stop until we get to the top!"

10) What are your expectations for this years tour and Shiragirl as a band?

"As a band with a new lineup we are ironing out the kinks on the road. Every nite's show has been getting better and better! It's been awesome to be out on the road, see the country and live out our dreams onstage every nite. We get to wrap this tour with an opening slot for Murphys Law and Rancid. What could be better?"
- Movement Magazine

Shiragirl, the punk rock 4-piece from Brooklyn were all decked out in pink, white, and black attire for their single release party for “Sick Day.” Held last Thursday on the Utopia III Yacht for an exclusive event featuring family, friends, and music industry folks, it took off from the Chelsea Piers in NYC to host a rockin' night. The band premiered the video for “Sick Day” and performed on the top deck of the yacht. Lead singer Shira commanded the deck like it was a party hall. The event was an opportunity for media professionals to see the band and enjoy a good time. It was a time to let loose on a Thursday, because of course the whole idea was to take a “Sick Day” on Friday. Cruising down the Hudson watching the band play their anthemic grrrl punk songs of living in the moment, doing your own thing, yet sticking together with your crew made for a fun night. Shiragirl blended old, new, and current jams into their 25 minute set that had the crowd jumping, singing along, and raising their fists. They kicked it off with "Reklys," and also played the oldie "Go Go Go," along with a Ramones cover and the heavy "Lights Out," which closed the set. Of course they played the new single to.

“Sick Day” takes you through the morning struggle of getting up for school or work. It’s the perfect time for the song as school has recently started and new jobs began. It’s a quick, rebellious anthem of not caring about school or work and wanting to do something better. The delicious guitar flavor, head bopping beat, and hip-hop vibe of the song comes together strongly for a fun, fall jam. The compelling, repetitious, “Sick day everyday,” and “I don’t wanna go” lines in the the song is the fuel you need to get through work or school. Sometimes we just need to take a “Sick Day.”

The video was directed by Parris (Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beatz, Joe). You get the single on Conquer Entertainment here. The band also launched a new website. Their second album, Scream! Spit! Sing! was released earlier this year.
- Star Beat Music

Who? A punk-influenced rock band from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Sounds like? Not too many bands can write "crashed the Warped Tour" on its resume, but Shiragirl showed up in its pink touring RV and created its own stage specifically for all-girl bands.

The stage developed a life of its own after being introduced on the tour, showcasing appearances by icons such as Joan Jett and the then up-and-coming Paramore.

By attempting to pick up where the riotgrrl movement left off, Shiragirl serves as an inspiration to show girls that rock isn't a boys-only club and you don't have to be a Disney diva to be a musician. Shiragirl's mantra of "do it yourself" retains the rebellious ethos of punk rock while reinforcing a challenging, fun and positive attitude.

Lead vocalist Shira's gifted dual vocals round out the band's diversified sound. She's as light and sassy as Gwen Stefani but can instantly turn into the female equivalent of Rancid's Tim Armstrong at the drop of a hat.

The band's influences are many, but it manages to combine them all without ever collapsing under the weight of so much music.

For example, the song "Recklys" starts off as a straightforward street punk song, leading up to the hip-hop influenced delivery of the first verse. A pop-rock chorus tops off the track and wraps everything together in what could have been a complete disaster in less capable hands.

This stylistic smorgasbord works because of the band's authentic approach. Shiragirl isn't showing off. Rather, the band genuinely applies its influences to the creative process. Shiragirl's lyrical approach is relatively straightforward, making what could be overworked, complex music into a perfect blend.

With eclectic melodies and a fistful of catchy punk-themed lyrics, Shiragirl plays music fun enough for everyone to party to but contains a bite that only a few will fully appreciate.

Shiragirl is headlining Escape the WinTOUR before releasing its second full-length album, "Scream! Spit! Sing!" sometime early this year. The band will be playing at Ground Zero at 8 p.m. Tuesday along with Screaming Mechanical Brain and gONNA gET gOT. You can stream Shiragirl's music at www.myspace.com/shiragirl.

Latest release: "Not Sold in Stores" - Oct. 3, 2005

Download this: "Recklys," "Fake Teenage Angst," "Anthem," "Never Not Ever"

Rocks like: "Luxury Problem" by Lunachicks, "Life Won't Wait" by Rancid, "MFZB" by Zebrahead

- Spartanburg Herald-Journal