Lesbians on Ecstasy is a Canadian dance music group made up ofwell lesbians. But besides lesbianing it up, their band plays a mixture of hardcore breakbeat and house party music inspired from lesbian artists like kd lang and the Indigo Girls. I got a chance to speak with their frontwoman Bernie Bankrupt.
Check out the website of Lesbians on Ecstasy
Daniel Robert Epstein: Lets start off with an easy question; where are the real lesbians on ecstasy and will they let me watch?
Bernie Bankrupt: [laughs] Weve been asking ourselves the same thing. I think you can find them on the internet.
DRE: The what?
BB: The internet, its pretty good stuff.
DRE: I read that when you thought of the name you were all high on pot.
BB: Thats the rumor. Its possible we were. Its a very literal name; this is what would happen if lesbians took ecstasy. Were not saying they do or should take ecstasy; were just doing what they would do if they did.
DRE: I saw some pictures of the band so if I had to guess, lesbians.
BB: I think thats the confirmed rumor around town.
DRE: I read that youve only been doing this band for about a year and a half. How much did you know one another before the band?
BB: Yeah. There were two of us that started it, then we needed a drummer and there arent a lot of girl drummers in the scene around here so we found one who also happened to be a sister. Then we also found a bass player about six months later.
DRE: Was it important for the band to be all women?
BB: I guess thats just the idea of the band. Were doing lesbian music by lesbians for lesbians. Its a lesbian oriented project.
DRE: But straight people can like it!
BB: Straight people have been known to like it on various levels.
DRE: So the music is all remixes?
BB: Yes, its sample based. Its kind of a typical approach to dance music. Its samples of previous recorded material but we dont actually use recordings. We replay everything ourselves so we sample peoples ideas and not their recordings. Then we make dance hits out of it.
DRE: Do you get legal permission?
BB: [laughs] We should get legal permission but we dont. Were crossing our fingers. Some songs we use one word then the songs where we use a lot we pay out.
DRE: So the concept is very important to you all?
BB: Yes its a highly conceptual project. Were highly conceptual people.
DRE: Did you ever expect it to become as popular as it is right now?
BB: No [laughs]. We totally never thought anyone would listen to us at all. But now everyone has been so enthusiastic and its been a major rollercoaster ride.
DRE: Its not like dance music isnt a commercial idea.
BB: Well the thing we do thats different from other dance artists is that we actually play live. We dont use any CD playback or sequence. Were like a band when we play because we sing and the drummer plays live electronic drums and keyboards. Its a bit of a crossover between an indie band and dance music.
DRE: Are you all from Canada?
BB: We are and we are still present in Canada.
DRE: Have you played anywhere else yet?
BB: Were been down to New York City a few times and then in the summer we were in Olympia Washington to play at a festival called Homo A Gogo. Thats about it and now were hoping to go to Europe.
DRE: Do you have European distribution for the album?
BB: We sort of do but at the same time we are looking for a more dancey label. The label we are on is really experimental in Europe. But were just going to play shows anyway because we like to play live. Weve been playing shows for ages without an album already so were like a wedding band. Like a gay wedding band.
DRE: Have you played any weddings?
BB: Not yet. In the beginning we really wanted to play weddings but no one ever took us up on it. We also wanted to play on this lesbian cruise ship and no one took us up on it.
DRE: What was going on in your life when you first decided to this?
BB: We were just looking for something fun and new to do. Where we live in Montreal there is a lot of electronic and dance music but its all dudes. It was kind of reactionary because we wanted to shove it into some boys faces.
Also for a little while here there were a lot of producers doing remakes of songs and getting a lot of attention. We were just observing this and we felt like it would be fun to do something that was all about the girls. Thats why we started out remixing bands like the Indigo Girls because we knew no dude was ever going to do a dance remix of them. That was the funny part then people really got excited about it. Weve had so many girls that come up to us and say I used to listen to this when I was a teenager and Ive always been so embarrassed. This is the first time Ive ever felt cool for knowing all the lyrics to an Indigo Girls song. It turns those things around on their heads.
DRE: Were you also looking for a niche?
BB: The niche seems to have found us. Gay people love to party and dance but there isnt a lot of dance music made for lesbians. There is a bunch of that gay boy house music but none for lesbians. They are thrilled to have something to put on the turntable at parties.
DRE: How was touring with Le Tigre?
BB: A lot of fun. Those venues they do are big but Le Tigre was very generous with their time. When we first played with them we were overwhelmed because it was ten times the biggest show we played.
DRE: Le Tigre isnt worried that you might remix one of their songs?
BB: [laughs] I wish we had done a Bikini Kill song but I bet they would secretly love it if we did.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the website of Lesbians on Ecstasy
Daniel Robert Epstein: Lets start off with an easy question; where are the real lesbians on ecstasy and will they let me watch?
Bernie Bankrupt: [laughs] Weve been asking ourselves the same thing. I think you can find them on the internet.
DRE: The what?
BB: The internet, its pretty good stuff.
DRE: I read that when you thought of the name you were all high on pot.
BB: Thats the rumor. Its possible we were. Its a very literal name; this is what would happen if lesbians took ecstasy. Were not saying they do or should take ecstasy; were just doing what they would do if they did.
DRE: I saw some pictures of the band so if I had to guess, lesbians.
BB: I think thats the confirmed rumor around town.
DRE: I read that youve only been doing this band for about a year and a half. How much did you know one another before the band?
BB: Yeah. There were two of us that started it, then we needed a drummer and there arent a lot of girl drummers in the scene around here so we found one who also happened to be a sister. Then we also found a bass player about six months later.
DRE: Was it important for the band to be all women?
BB: I guess thats just the idea of the band. Were doing lesbian music by lesbians for lesbians. Its a lesbian oriented project.
DRE: But straight people can like it!
BB: Straight people have been known to like it on various levels.
DRE: So the music is all remixes?
BB: Yes, its sample based. Its kind of a typical approach to dance music. Its samples of previous recorded material but we dont actually use recordings. We replay everything ourselves so we sample peoples ideas and not their recordings. Then we make dance hits out of it.
DRE: Do you get legal permission?
BB: [laughs] We should get legal permission but we dont. Were crossing our fingers. Some songs we use one word then the songs where we use a lot we pay out.
DRE: So the concept is very important to you all?
BB: Yes its a highly conceptual project. Were highly conceptual people.
DRE: Did you ever expect it to become as popular as it is right now?
BB: No [laughs]. We totally never thought anyone would listen to us at all. But now everyone has been so enthusiastic and its been a major rollercoaster ride.
DRE: Its not like dance music isnt a commercial idea.
BB: Well the thing we do thats different from other dance artists is that we actually play live. We dont use any CD playback or sequence. Were like a band when we play because we sing and the drummer plays live electronic drums and keyboards. Its a bit of a crossover between an indie band and dance music.
DRE: Are you all from Canada?
BB: We are and we are still present in Canada.
DRE: Have you played anywhere else yet?
BB: Were been down to New York City a few times and then in the summer we were in Olympia Washington to play at a festival called Homo A Gogo. Thats about it and now were hoping to go to Europe.
DRE: Do you have European distribution for the album?
BB: We sort of do but at the same time we are looking for a more dancey label. The label we are on is really experimental in Europe. But were just going to play shows anyway because we like to play live. Weve been playing shows for ages without an album already so were like a wedding band. Like a gay wedding band.
DRE: Have you played any weddings?
BB: Not yet. In the beginning we really wanted to play weddings but no one ever took us up on it. We also wanted to play on this lesbian cruise ship and no one took us up on it.
DRE: What was going on in your life when you first decided to this?
BB: We were just looking for something fun and new to do. Where we live in Montreal there is a lot of electronic and dance music but its all dudes. It was kind of reactionary because we wanted to shove it into some boys faces.
Also for a little while here there were a lot of producers doing remakes of songs and getting a lot of attention. We were just observing this and we felt like it would be fun to do something that was all about the girls. Thats why we started out remixing bands like the Indigo Girls because we knew no dude was ever going to do a dance remix of them. That was the funny part then people really got excited about it. Weve had so many girls that come up to us and say I used to listen to this when I was a teenager and Ive always been so embarrassed. This is the first time Ive ever felt cool for knowing all the lyrics to an Indigo Girls song. It turns those things around on their heads.
DRE: Were you also looking for a niche?
BB: The niche seems to have found us. Gay people love to party and dance but there isnt a lot of dance music made for lesbians. There is a bunch of that gay boy house music but none for lesbians. They are thrilled to have something to put on the turntable at parties.
DRE: How was touring with Le Tigre?
BB: A lot of fun. Those venues they do are big but Le Tigre was very generous with their time. When we first played with them we were overwhelmed because it was ten times the biggest show we played.
DRE: Le Tigre isnt worried that you might remix one of their songs?
BB: [laughs] I wish we had done a Bikini Kill song but I bet they would secretly love it if we did.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
*I stole that joke from Steven Colbert.
I can just say that they're simply GREAT!
And now I have my arm full of autograph..
Warmly raccomended
V