Spread across three cities and a multitude of musical and theatrical projects, the members of Tomboy have never worked more dynamically than with Sweetie. Beginning in 2013, the album was recorded in pieces within a Western Massachusetts studio and tackles quite the range of content. In just 7 tracks the album embodies anger, empowerment and tenderness with a precision that unites in its authenticity.
We got the chance to discuss the album and Tomboy as a whole with members, Madeline Burrows (drums/vocals), Ali Donohue (guitar) and Meghan Hynes (bass) amidst the anticipation for their record release show on May 4th at the Middle East.
Allston Pudding: Some of the songs off of ‘Sweetie’ were written two years ago now. Have some of the songs taken on new meaning for you since 2013?
Madeline: Oof, yeah. The lyrics to “Sweetie” first popped into my head a few years ago when I got cat-called biking to work. And then the other night a guy followed me home off the T and tried to attack me, and those lyrics and all the rage and panic and fear that comes with constant sexual harassment came right back to me in an even more visceral way. Hanna wrote the lyrics for “Emma,” and even though I know the origins of the lyrics, the words have a new meaning for me every time I hear them. That’s the cool thing about writing songs. Even though the personal circumstances of our lives have changed from when we wrote a lyric, the song still holds the memory of that experience and that feeling. It’s exciting to me to discover how words can take on new meanings and relate to different experiences over time.
AP: There is something so satisfying about the taunting tone of songs like “Tomboy Anthem” and “Sweetie,” in particular. What do you hope listeners will take away from these songs with such a powerful perspective?
Madeline: The feelings and experiences we talk about in those songs can be so isolating and infuriating. I hope when people listen to them they feel less alone and know that there are people who have their back.
AP: You tackle topics like male entitlement and general oppressive behavior. These types of attitudes seem to be especially prevalent in pockets of the music scene. Have you seen any shift in attitudes towards all-female bands, since you started playing shows?
Ali: I think those issues exist everywhere—in mainstream society and in music undergrounds. However my experience in Boston has largely been a very positive one. It was support from other women making music that inspired me to make music and get involved. Still, it’s not hard to tell when you’re in a space or playing with bands who think of you as “less” because you happen to be female. Sadly this still happens and it still sucks.
Meghan: I’ve noticed more and more women popping up in in the past couple of years, and we may be more visible now than ever before. I think it’s awesome and benefits everyone. We are fortunate to live in a region that’s large enough where we can basically pick and choose what kind of space we want to occupy. There are more opportunities to navigate around the problematic people and institutions so that we might have it a bit easier than our predecessors, but it doesn’t mean those things don’t still exist. Those insidious people and ideas still percolate into our lives and impact our music. Perhaps the iceberg of patriarchy has thawed a bit, but it’s still there.
Madeline: There’s this amazing graphic going around the internet with big music festival posters edited so they only show the acts that include women. It’s pretty horrifying to see all that empty space and just how sidelined women are in the larger music industry. At the Warped Tour last year, only 6% of the performers were women but there are tons of women who go to festivals like that every year. The message that sends to female musicians and music fans is “you’re not good enough to be up here”. The issue is not that there is an absence of great female musicians. We play shows with them all the time. It’s an exclusion either out of laziness or ignorance or outright sexism, but I’m really glad to see more people challenging that and groups like Girls Rock and She Shreds and Tom Tom that are highlighting women in the music industry.
AP: Your music definitely sparks a certain confidence. Tomboy is definitely a band that I wish I had the chance to experience as a teenager. Is there anything that you wish you knew as a teenager that you know now?
Ali: I wish I knew that I didn’t have to wait permission to get involved in things, that I could try new things “just because” and that failing and being bad at something at first is all just part of the process.
Meghan: I agree with what Ali said. I wish I had less fear about playing music and performing at a younger age. I see lots of younger girls creating art or music in a more public way now, and I am in endless awe of them.
Madeline: I wish I had the confidence as a teenager to trust my ideas, even when they were unpopular. I learned how to play drums by playing in a band as a teenager, and all the other guys in the band were older than me and more experienced musicians. I remember I got into a huge fight with the rest of the band because during practice they were throwing around “bitch” and other sexist language, and it really pissed me off. I got really worked up about it but tried to hide how hurt and angry I was because I didn’t want them to replace me with a more experienced drummer who wasn’t so “emotional.” I really had no confidence as a musician then. Never contributed to the songwriting in the band. And part of this was that I was younger and less experienced, but I also felt so inhibited from truly expressing myself because all of my reference points in punk and indie music were men. It was only when I started listening to other women in punk that I had confidence to write lyrics or to think my ideas were valuable. I think about how painful it was to feel so alone in high school and how knowing other women artists would have made my life so much more awesome as a teenager.
AP: Looking forward to new shows with new songs, is there a past show that was particularly special for you?
Madeline: Up Yours Fest at SUNY Purchase was really special. There was such an enthusiastic, supportive, transformative vibe to the whole thing and so many other rad artists who were there to support each other, not to compete and tear each other down. Also there was an indoor half-pipe, which reactivated my childhood dream of being a professional skateboarder.
AP: You all have a hand in other creative outlets. What aspects keep you coming back to write and play as Tomboy?
Meghan: This band is more intentional about performing than many of the other bands I’ve been in. I think I just like watching Madeline and Ali on stage—in this band and in the other projects they do. They are both unapologetic maniacs in their own right and it’s endlessly entertaining and inspiring.
Madeline: I like that we’re all down to mix things up. We were sort of an accidental band in the beginning, so we didn’t establish a lot of rules of how we should sound, who should play what, et cetera, and we’ve learned a lot together by figuring it out as we go along. There has never been a sole songwriter who writes all the parts. It’s always been really collaborative and everyone brings so much of themselves to the band, so as we grow it feels like there’s endless possibilities to create together.
Ali: I’m endlessly inspired by everyone involved in Tomboy and I’ve never thought about “why” we keep pursuing this project even though we mostly all live in different cities, because doing it has just felt right.