Amy Klein: folk/ rock musician, feminist, & writer releases new album

For Day 4 of our Women's History Month homage to artists and bands, I present you Amy Klein. A musician, writer, friend, feminist, and all around beautiful being, Amy is a true inspiration. I first meet  her in April 2010 outside of Maxwell's after seeing Los Campesinos and just before Titus Andronicus was loading into the venue to play a night show. She spent several minutes talking with me and was quite nice. Amy just self-released a digital solo album of folk tunes. 

There's the rock and punk side of Amy Klein that comes in the form of Titus Andronicus and Hilly Eye and then there's the folk side of Amy Klein that comes in the form of Solanin. Then there's the folk and psychedelic rock side of Amy Klein that comes in the form a new solo release called, I Know What You Want. Her songs simply put are pleasant, poised, and pretty. With this release Amy gets more musically involved, stretching her playing to include not just guitar, but piano, organ, and percussion, which I was told from her includes tambourine playing. Accompanying her on drums is Nick Shuminsky of Free Energy, a band she toured with in Titus Andronicus' last summer. The lovely sounds coupled with the natural imagery of the lyrics make it easy to get lost in the music.She cites influences like Joanna Newsom, Stevie Nicks, and Nick Drack, but I'm not familiar with these musicians. I can only compare her music to what I know and what I've heard. And though this may be odd to compare a self-described folk artist to a Celtic artist I will say that Amy's music reminds me of Loreena McKennitt. The comparison is mostly in the vocals and how calm and happy I feel after listening to the music. Amy Klein has a strong, delicate, and controlled voice that  is quite a surprise if you know her vocals from Titus Andronicus and Hilly Eye. I'm happy to say that I know this wonderful musician. A personal friend and fellow group member and founder of feminist group Permanent Wave, Amy is a true inspiration and I recommend checking out her awesome writings and posts here and familiarizing yourself with her musical work. On her blog she writes about her tour experiences with Titus Andronicus, thoughts on feminism, provides links to articles that touch on the human experience, and keeps you up-to-date on her music. One piece she wrote, which I found insightful and in-depth was on the Japanese punk band The Suzan, who play Santos Party House this coming Monday. Read it here. She writes about her own album here. I hope you enjoy.

Listen to Amy Klein here: http://amyklein.bandcamp.com/
Listen to Solanin here: http://solanin.bandcamp.com/
Listen to Hilly Eye here: http://hillyeye.bandcamp.com/
Listen to Titus Andronicus here: http://titusandronicus.net/videos

Amy Klein: starting a feminist movement, playing w/ Hilly Eye & Titus Andronicus

Amy Klein is not only a musician but an advocate, a voice for females in a world that says they are less than.  In a world nearing 2011, we still have to fight for our rights, proper treatment, and respect among others, including guys and other girls, too. Her experiences touring with Titus Andronicus, including seeing a sexist advertisement in Southern Ireland and a male college student touching her boobs, just two examples she writes about in her blog, have angered her to the point where enough is enough and something needs to be done. She's stepping up for all women who have ever been touched inappropriately or seen sexist ads and haven't done anything about it. She's a voice for the voiceless, the fearful. It's hard to write about this sort of experience the way she does, but it's relevant to us. Yes, it's her experience but we can all learn from it. We can learn that we can't be quiet about it and we must learn to voice our opinions. As a woman of color who identifies as egalitarian, humanitarian with D.I.Y. punk ethics who rejects the mainstream what Amy is speaking out about it quite exciting to me. It makes me feel like there's a pool of individuals who can unite to do things about the shit that brings us down on a daily basis. How can we feel more connected to the world and how does music play a role in this?

This takes a lot of courage. I haven't gotten this personal in my writing for Star Beat but there comes a time when it's important to put yourself out there, share your thoughts, and explain why you're writing about what you're writing about, instead of just putting it out there. It's most impressive that Amy's taking the initiative to create a conversation about what feminism is (and broadly and openly) and what we should be doing in this day and age to keep things right. It's easy for me to lose focus  given my rejection of mainstream (I don't watch TV, I don't watch movies, I don't read magazines, I don't know what's popular), so I've been kept unaware of the wrongdoings going on- what the USA and even the world is selling to woman about what we should be, about who has power. It's disgusting to think that we are told to stay mute, be a certain way, or we won't succeed. In my eyes, people are people. It's so fucking simple. Humans are humans. Can we all just get some respect. In the end, we as woman have to work harder than our male counterparts for acceptances into this world that jokes like we are equal when in reality we are not. We're too scared to be free thinkers, who make our own decisions, because society and the media is telling us we can't. We have to fit into this box, in this certain way. Well, it doesn't work that way. We can't let that happen. So here we have Amy Klein, 25, sticking up for all girls and women to be recognized, respected, and rebellious. Something needs to change. She goes on at length about the current state of affairs to bring "A New Feminist Movement for the New Millennium." She's organizing a meeting on Dec. 9th to discuss these things. Woman (in the broadest sense), male allies, and supportive guys are welcome. A diverse pool of people will create a wide range of thoughts and what I hope will turn out to be an interesting conversation and starting point for something greater to come.

Here's an excerpt from Amy's Tumblr about the initiative:

I want to see a world one day where girls and women of all shapes, sizes, religions, races, ages, sexualities, and abilities can be the heroes of the day, the heroes of the story, the heroes of their own lives, without facing a backlash of hate and criticism and jealousy and violence and anger. I want to see a world where all girls are powerful and can succeed, and so that’s why I’ll support those women around me who are seizing the spotlight, and making it shine a little brighter on them. Because maybe, just maybe, the spotlight might shine on every girl one day, and that would be a good thing for all of us, and for the principle of equality, and for the entire world. 

All girls who are ready for change should come to our first NYC meeting at 8:00 p.m. on December 9th. Send me a message by clicking on the Ask Amy Andronicus button and include your name and email address in the message. You will then receive an email telling you the meeting location. If you are not in NYC, but are interested in having a meeting too, why not have your own meeting in the city or town where you are! (via post)