You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.

I'm Rishi Kesh Hirway.

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Could I just get you to introduce yourself?

Yeah. I'm Kathleen Hannah from the band's Bikini Kill and La Tegra. I also did a solo record

called The Julie Ruin, and I'm really happy to be here.

Before we get into La Tigra, I wanted to ask you about Bikini Kill and the Jewelier Ruin.

I thought it might be helpful to have some context as to how you got to La Tigra.

Because all three of these projects have kind of really different, distinct sounds.

Yeah, because Bikini Co is kind of a really typical four-person punk band.

Why do you go? was kind of a really typical four-person punk band. I was the lead singer,

let them go.

I was the lead singer and we were very associated with like feminist punk.

And it became actually really kind of an albatross because it was like,

just constant criticism. There was a lot of like, you're a sellout because you played with

the go-goes and it was sponsored by Mickleove or whoever and you're not doing feminism right.

And then the constant chorus of you're a man hater, it got really exhausting after seven years.

And we hadn't really dealt with our relationships with each other because we were constantly dealing with pressures from the outside world.

And the band was kind of not practicing.

...