Team Gina
The Seattle duo discusses how it infuses feminist and queer politics into its blend of old-school hip-hop and electro music
By Bess Korey
Published: May 21st, 2007 | 4:11pm
Gina Genius and Gina Bling, a.k.a. Team Gina, are fierce, femme Seattle lesbians whose musical goal is to make their audiences dance — and think. Raised on riot grrl feminist electronic tradition and old-school rap and hip-hop, Genius and Bling meld together divergent musical and political influences to create over-the-top songs and live performances. The duo throws monthly ’80s electro parties at Seattle’s Wild Rose Bar — which they unashamedly label “political.” A mix of drag, camp, matching outfits, and good times, Genius and Bling describe their shows as “performance magic.”
Their EP, Gina Gina Revolution, was released January 2007 on Dont Stop Believin’ Records, and can be previewed on their MySpace page. The band is currently working on videos of their performances and will be playing at Atlanta’s MondoHomo Dirty South Cultural Festival on June 30, 2007. Venus Zine was able to catch up with Bling and Genius via phone in late April 2007, where they chatted about their music, their influences, their politics, and future plans for the Team Gina Revolution.
When you first met, how did you know that you wanted to be in band together and do a mix of both modern and retro sounds?
Gina Bling: We met through a friend, musician Maddy Boom.
Gina Genius: In the beginning we had no idea that that was what was going to happen. We bonded over the fact that we both liked synchronized dancing, that we were going to be back-up dancers for Scream Club [in Olympia, Washington], and that we wanted to tour the world as dancers. It kind of accidentally evolved.
Bling: We both definitely have a love for things from the ’80s and from our childhood. And when we started Team Gina, that aesthetic was really hot. I felt like we found My Little Ponies everywhere: the retro throwback was a great reminder of how fantastic all the elements of the stuff we grew up with was, and we wanted to make music about it. We also wanted to make music that was smart, political, and funny at the same time.
People often think that politics can’t be fun, but it seems as though you’re doing your best, through music and performance, to prove that theory wrong.
Genius: We definitely incorporate political elements into our performance: queer rights, feminism, anti-war…
Bling: …We like to call it a “political party.”
Genius: We try to create the world as we’d like to see it, rather than reacting in a negative way to all the things that are wrong with the world right now. We’re trying to create the world that we want. When we throw a lesbian party, we imagine how things could be. It’s diverse, and there are all different kinds of performances, and we just all have a really good time. We’re united around these common ideals.
You have a song on Gina Gina Revolution called “Straight Boys,” which talks about how they like to hit on you. Have you noticed a lot of straight boys in your audience? Do you think your audiences are a mix of people?
Bling: I would definitely think that the majority of our audience is queer. But we have a ton of straight boys and straight girls that are like, "I love you guys! That was fun. That was great. I danced, I had a great time." And I think it really makes a difference that we are dealing with all these things (like being hit on by straight guys all the time) with humor. I don’t think we're doing it in a negative way. People can pick up on our themes, because they’re so universal. Nobody likes being harassed — whether you’re gay or straight — nobody’s really into that. In our songs, we can deal with those themes in a way that is funny and accessible to everybody.
As much as getting hit on by straight guys can be a drag for you, it seems that at least the straight men who come to your shows are better behaved than the ones who used to go see riot grrl bands back in the early to mid ’90s and heckle and/or sexually harass bands.
Genius: Kathleen Hanna really paved the way for us. We come out of the riot grrl tradition. Sexism is still a huge issue, of course, but I definitely think we owe so much to riot grrl bands and all of that, because they paved the way for us, and the climate has definitely changed.
Bling: I’ve never really felt harassed by anybody while performing. I’ve never felt threatened by anyone while performing. We did have a moment while on tour — in Nashville — where we played a total metal bar, like a dude-metal line-up. We got up there, did our set, did it in 40 minutes, like a whirlwind. Afterwards, a lot of the guys there were like, "That was really great."
I think it’s because we’re not very threatening in our physical appearance, we’re both small. And there’s also the “fun” element [in the way we deal with] serious topics that makes it accessible. Nobody feels like they’re being yelled at or preached to or reprimanded. But, we’re dead serious about the things we talk about in our songs.
After that set, the most harassing thing that happened to us was that the sound guy, who was setting up for that show, had been super, super nice and easy to work with, but when we finished our show, he turned on the most homophobic rap ever, a song that was pretty much a gay-bashing song. We were just like, "Wow, that’s your response to our set?" That was the only thing. He didn’t come up and talk to us. He didn’t say he had a problem. He just passive-aggressively flexed his testosterone-filled muscle.
Genius: What was pretty awesome, though, was that we toured for over a month — we toured the entire United States, including the Deep South — and that was pretty much the only incident that we had. To have everyone be so wonderful, including straight guys, was so enthusiastic and welcoming. It was really cool.
Bling: To be on the road for three and a half weeks, and to play a show pretty much every night, and for that to be the only thing that was unsavory, I think that’s a pretty successful tour.
Sampling a song like Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” — which you very cleverly put your own twist on in the lyrics of “Butch/Femme”— brings a nostalgic feel to your music. People love nostalgia, so having elements of that in your music can definitely help bridge the gap between them.
Bling: That song is really feminist! It celebrates women’s bodies. I will always love that song. Sir Mix-A-Lot is from Seattle, and we’re really proud of that. I’m from Seattle, and it was crucial to my development as a feminist in middle school. I would latch on to any artist saying anything other than you have to be skinny. It was revolutionary to hear him talking about women’s bodies, and them being bigger, and that being ok. It was like, “Oh wow, really, you think?”
Genius: And he comments on white culture with the valley girl talking in the beginning and all the way through: “So Cosmo thinks you’re fat.” I think it’s all a very pointed critique at whiteness and how women are expected to be thin to be beautiful. But that’s really white culture. A lot of people don’t agree with that. We reference Milli Vanilli, we reference A Tribe Called Quest — we’ve got it all in there. I think we really do it to situate ourselves, to let people know this is what we grew up listening to; this is what we see ourselves coming out of. We have one song, “Bling’s Lament,” that references so many different things, from Ace of Base to Le Tigre.
What do you think about the recent controversy with radio DJ Don Imus and the sexist and racist things he said about Rutgers’ female basketball players? Specifically, what do you think about it in relation to how people are now questioning rap and hip-hop culture because of it, since your music is influenced by rap and hip-hop?
Bling: I think that certain radio DJs are there to shock people. A lot of it is shock radio, and they’ll say whatever. I’ve listened to the radio in Seattle: they say homophobic things, they say sexist things, they say things about women’s bodies. They pretty much say whatever they want because they can, and because people want to listen to shocking things.
I think that rap and hip-hop music comes out of a really different tradition of parties, and good times, and having fun, and that it’s just a small part of that hip-hop music that’s gotten major radio airplay, and that’s sexist and homophobic — things that I don’t agree with. It’s shock value, and things that are shocking and sexist are unfortunately what sells in our society. Making music that alienates based on race or sexual orientation … its not for me, it’s not my popular music.
Genius: I love that you just used the word “alienate,” because it’s what I was thinking. We were going to see a Seattle hip-hop group at the Bumbershoot Music Festival last year [2006], and I was totally excited to see them. I went up and got in the second row, and their first song was like, "ladies, take your bottoms and tops off." I was like, “Hmm … alright, leaving.”
They totally alienated me with their first song. We didn’t stay for the rest of their set. Sure, there wasn’t a mass exodus of people leaving their show, but they alienated potential fans like Bling and I, who are huge hip-hop fans. We love all sorts of stuff, and they lost us. And I think that’s what’s going to change the world and the music climate: when people feel alienated by something, they actually start acting with their money, and their energy, and just moving away from it. If everyone stops supporting artists that are sexist and starts going to Team Gina shows, that will completely change the climate of the music industry.
Additional stories by Bess Korey
Kerry Davis Interview
Nina Antonia Interview
Issue #36
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