Show & Tell: Ari-Up of the Slits

It was pretty much inevitable that Ari-Up, best known as the front woman of the pioneer grrl group, The Slits, would be living a fairly uncommon life.

Her mum Nora Forster had some kind of home for the disenfranchised and later married Johnny Rotten. Ari-Up joined the Slits at 14, eventually touring with the Clash, recording Peel sessions and two studio albums, Cut and Return of the Giant Slits. They split up in 1981, but are regrouping with an upcoming album that offers lots more of their fucked up, experimental tribal, reggae, punky sounds.

I spent 3 manic days with the still super sexy Ari-Up, who speaks of her life in a sometimes barely decipherable German/Patois accent.

So can we start off with the Slits being reunited?
Well the Slits aren't being reunited, its more like a new Slits, but it is a continuation of the old Slits, so we are mixing old school with new school obviously, because me and Tessa are the old original Slits, and then we have new girls. Basically it's just a continuation of where the Slits left off. And then we are doing a third album now.

What kind of sound is the new Slits?
Well obviously with Slits, the sound was always hybrid, it was always a mix, it was experimental, putting lots of flavors together. We are recording a new sound basically by being who we were. In the old days there was only dub reggae and culture reggae, and we integrated it into all the punk and all this stuff, the funk and whatever. And the tribal rhythms. We would do that now, but include of course electronic sounds and all the things that are going on now. The reggae that's dance hall music now, and ragga.

How important is it that you were a female group?
Well we have always never been segregated. We have always collaborated with boys and worked with boys. At first we were an original female band, but later on there was a boy drummer too and boys played on tour with us and on a couple of records. And our mentality was not to be segregated from men.

Did you feel you had some kind of social responsibility because you were seen as the first iconic girl group?
No I didn't feel pressure, but I feel somewhat frustrated about it, because we were so ahead of our time. People got a lot of influence, but maybe not enough in one way, and in other ways they got too much, and in the wrong way.

How has being in Jamaica affected your outlook on music?
Well, it's never really changed because I already had a lot of influences in England, there was such a big connection with reggae, and the rebellious movement going on at the time, amongst West Indians, Jamaicans and reggae music, but also with punk, so I mixed it back there, and going to Jamaica was just an extra step, it takes it deeper. It's just a continuation really of the natural circle of life of the Slits.

In the beginning how did you get into the Jamaican sound?
Because there was no music that we could relate to, and the only thing we were doing at the time was bashing out our punk stuff or whatever you want to call it, we didn't even call it punk, but that's what they called it, and there was no punk records to listen to, if there were bands, no one was signed. So reggae was one of the few musics that was around to listen to, so that's how we got into it.

How about now? What aspects of reggae are important now?
I find that the modern revolution of reggae is very important, how it's done, the high tech, computerized, crazy, punky kind of dance hall rhythms, totally nuts in a way. That very high energy, raw, rebellious sound, so that's really something I can relate to.

So what exactly is your lifestyle? Because you seem to flit around Jamaica, then NY and also the UK.
I'm a gypsy in a way, not just that, it's in my blood, growing up as a gypsy, moving around, but also in my bloodline from my mother's side, my grandmother. I'm very free spirited; I'm really the true essence of an untamed spirit. It seemed like it's fun and easy to talk about, easy to live, but it's a fight, every day, every fucking day, especially as a woman. I don't think women are come that far, because when you are being a free woman, it's very hard.

With the early Slits days, how did it all come about, when you were 14?
Well, I was with my mum going to all the places and she was basically keeping a kind of home for all the punks to go to. So we went to all the shows, and I was going to school with this. I met Palmolive, and she said, "Let's do a band, I want to do a girl band, come to rehearse tomorrow." And I said OK.

Are you still in touch with her?
No…a little bit, but I mean they all have their own lives now. So…

How about touring with the Clash?
Well, there was more than one tour, we went on another one with them as well but the White Riot tour is the only one that anyone seems to remember! We did lots of gigs with them too…gigging around. We were like in a college, they were more like colleagues, so I don't see it from a fan point of view, I see it from a peers. Listening to them everyday, learning from each other, about life and music on tour.

For other people it was like,…oooh! These rebellious people, but for us we were normal. I was a kid, doing what I wanted to do, and having a good time, doing it with them. And just really isolated from the rest of the world, because the world just wanted to see us dead basically.

The driver was a problem, because the driver wouldn't take the Slits on the bus, so the manager of the Clash had to bribe him. We weren't the rude ones, like the Clash--they were much ruder, but just because we were girls, it was too much for their driver, because he was a really straight, typical guy, chauvinist pig, type of person.



I'm sorry, you probably get asked this to death…but can you comment on that album cover for Cut?
Well we were never trying to be controversial. We were in the country, doing the album, then we heard that someone is going to come and take pictures, maybe possibly for an album cover, so we thought, ok, let's just roll around in the mud, and we wanted something tribal, something to represent how we were feeling at the time, so we thought that was great, certainly not to be controversial. That's why it's controversial.

All real controversial bands are never trying to be controversial, because then it becomes pretentious. They all be who they want to be, and express themselves, and then for some reason people say it's too much for them to handle...

What kind of person are you? Who is Ari?
I'm too many things as one, I like the music and art and clothes, I like animals and children, being young and being old, and being natural and traditional, but being modern...so all of that is in me. The most important thing in my life is my children, the Slits, and the music--that includes everything, the dancing, music...to get it out there and be global…

Some day I want to be a producer, getting involved, discovering artists and helping them get out, and I would like to be a film director one day, I would like to make the movie of the Slits.

Ari-Up is on tour with The Slits through November in the US.
Check her homepage for details.

MAQI is a freelance writer who covers topics usually relating to the arts, culture and travel. She has contributed to about 20 publications, from fashion, travel and inflight magazines to Japanese newspapers. She also does Tokyo correspondence for UK's Bizarre magazine and Skin Deep Tattoo magazine. She likes sushi and cake.