Take a listen while you read!

Screaming Females have shared their world this year touring the northeast and releasing a new EP, ‘Chalk Tape’. As a band who only participates in projects that elaborate deeper into their gritty down-to-earth perspective, Screaming Females have built up a stronger devotion to their ways. Anticipating their show on September 13th at The Middle East Downstairs, I had the chance to chat with Screaming Females’ Marissa Paternoster and Jarrett Dougherty about this past year and good things to come.

This past July you guys played one of the last shows at Maxwell’s. I hear you were playing some new material?

Marissa:  We have been writing new songs for over a year now, I think.  We’re trying to figure out when and where we want to make our next record.

When/what were each of your first experiences at Maxwell’s?

Marissa:  I don’t remember what my first show at Maxwell’s was.  A lot of people have been asking me this question.  I think it was probably a Dirtbombs show.  Mike and I used to go see them whenever they were in town.

Jarrett: I also can’t really remember my first experience at Maxwell’s. It seems like it was just always there. One of the first things that Marissa, Mike, and I did after forming Screaming Females was to go see a Brain Jonestown Massacre show there. We had to leave before the end because Mike had high school the next day.

How did Maxwell’s influence the New Jersey music scene and what does its
closing mean for New Jersey’s future?

Marissa:  Maxwell’s was a terrific venue.  The staff was amicable, they treated performers with respect, and they were professional and bright.  I’ll miss going to see bands at Maxwell’s a lot.  However, all good things must come to an end…and I’m confident that someone will take up the reigns and start up a new spot that’s just as good, if not even better.

Jarrett: In some ways it was the NJ music scene. I mean if you are under 21 there are very few venues that allow you to enter. Maxwell’s was always all ages. Of the options for people under 21 most of the other ones are either huge arenas or illegal basement shows. Maxwell’s was a place where everyone was welcome and could feel comfortable.

What is usually going through your head as you are on stage performing?

Marissa:  I suppose it’s best when nothing much at all is going through my head.

Jarrett: It is a very weird head space. The easiest thing to say is “nothing” but that doesn’t quite describe it correctly. It is kind of quiet and slow. Details become important. Am I holding this stick a little to hard? Is my cymbal at a slightly different angle than last night? If I start thinking about anything more complicated than that it means things are going to go downhill quickly.
If you could play in any venue right now, what would it be?

Marissa: Maxwell’s!

Jarrett: Madison Square Garden.

You seem to be very loyal and proud of your label mates at Don Giovanni.
What does Don Giovanni mean to each of you?

Marissa:  Our relationship with Don Giovanni Records, namely the fellas Joe & Zach who run the label, is based on friendship and mutual respect.  They come from the same community we come from, so they understand our band in a way that others simply cannot.  We’re all very close friends, and although that can sometimes make business tricky, we all seem to be relatively good at sorting out matters of business and matters of play separately.

Jarrett: Don Giovanni Records is what happens when you get the best of a collaborative effort. Joe and Zach’s only motivation is to get the music of their peers into the world.

Marissa, what inspired you to release a book of drawings, ‘My Body Is A
Prison/My Mind Is A Disease’?

Marissa:  Joe from Don Giovanni Records really wanted to try something new with the label and put out a book of my artwork akin to the SST Ray Pettibon releases.  I had a lot of my work lying around, so I organized a little collection and sent it on it’s way.

You’ve also been playing shows as your solo outfit, Noun, this past year. How did that come to be?

Marissa:  I began recording as Noun before I had a band.  I was around sixteen or seventeen years old.  I really wanted to have band mates, but no one seemed interested in playing with me.  I decided that I’d just play everything by myself.  A lot of the older stuff is pretty embarrassing, but I learned a lot about song writing.

Does your perspective of a Screaming Females song change over time?

Marissa:  Yeah, I mean, I guess it ebbs and flows in a way that one’s perspective does in any long term relationship…but Screaming Females has always meant the world to me since we first began playing.

Jarrett: Definitely. Sometimes a song you aren’t too hot on will in a single night become your favorite one. Sometimes there will be a song you never want to play again and then the next year you want it on the setlist every night. Having such a large catalog of songs allows us to rediscover old material.

What song would describe your year so far?

Marissa:  “Every Single Night” by Fiona Apple

Jarrett: Napalm Death – “You Suffer”