grapefruits fanzine, issue #05: punk

featuring: Bärchen und die Milchbubis, Burka Band, Gudrun Gut, Haru Nemuri, Östro 430, Radamel, SIKSA We are happy to release the fifth issue of grapefruits, presenting seven female*-led bands and artists – and their understanding of Punk. Starting with an introduction about Punk, Feminism and Archives this issue contains an article about Bärchen und die Milchbubis, featuring Annette Simons, their lyricist and singer, and sheds light on her influences and networks with other female band members. On the premise that their album is a milestone of BRAVO-Punk, the text also briefly attempts to address the negotiation of gender roles in music magazines and fanzines in the early 1980s. A game, but a serious one: Despite the difficult political circumstances, Burka Band express themselves musically, without giving up on their humor. Gudrun Gut, founder of the Berlin-based label Monika Enterprise and the collective Monika Werkstatt, has just released M_Dokumente together with Bettina Köster and Beate Bartel, including a book, a record and a fanzine about their bands Mania D., Malaria! and Matador. Poetry rapper Haru Nemuri, who calls herself a singing lethal weapon and Riot Grrrl, creates multi-faceted sound-worlds from Post-Hardcore to J-Pop. Östro 430, formed in 1979, captivated the Düsseldorf’s Punk scene with their provocative attitude and tough lyrics about sex and self-determination, but they never let themselves be pigeon-holed as certain movements, such as Neue Deutsche Welle or as a feminist band, as they simply couldn’t care less. Radamel is a Colombian band from Bogotá formed in 2018. The relatively clean and – mostly – very danceable grooves accompany the vocal interplay between the two singers. By screaming, they humorously deal with themes like drugs, murder, football, police brutality and partying. Alex Freiheit’s feminist lyrics for her Punk duo SIKSA are breaking boundaries. Her music is a mashup of spoken word, heavy distortion and potty-mouth language, and the result is poetic provocation. Enjoy reading! grapefruits is a fanzine about female* composers and sound artists, originating from students of the master programme Klang und Realität at the Institute for Music and Media at the RSH Düsseldorf. The title refers to Grapefruit, a book by Yoko Ono published in 1964, who saw grapefruits as a hybrid of lemons and oranges, a metaphor for her own identity — always being in-between. Appearing twice a year, the first issue was released in summer 2019. The authors, varying from issue to issue, choose the artists they are going to interview and write about by personal interest, always having in mind different genres in the art and pop context as well as a broad international spectrum, including contemporary artists as well as early pioneers. For each issue the authors define a topic which combines the diverse characters, in the same time emphasizing the different understanding each one has on that specific topic. grapefruits focuses on women*, or people who identify as female*, because we, the authors of grapefruits, feel that they are affected by a lack of visibility – historically and at present. Using the gender asterisk, we want to make other genders and gender identities visible and include them typographically, representing inter-, non-binary and trans people.