This post was submitted by Zack Rosen

Of all the ways that I find out about new bands, my introduction to pansexual Jewish rockers The Shondes was by far the best. I got a package from my mom one day and in addition to the usual gummy bears and eclectic postcards was an article clipped from the pink pages of The Jewish Daily Forward, a newspaper which covers all things Semitic. The Shondes are in a unique position among indie rockers in that they have strong roots in both Jewish and queer identities.

I pointed this out in a column I wrote once, coming to the conclusion (not always politely) that such sexual and religious commonalities weren’t necessarily enough to make me like their music. Miracle of miracles, their genderqueer member Temim Fruchter actually used that article as a chance to reach out to me, saying she appreciated the honest criticism and find more ways to work together. So Temim, you are a great sport and a talented musician. Thanks for being nice.

And DC residents that want to check out the Shondes live can do so tonight at Phasefest, Phase One’s lesbian music festival. Have fun!

The New Gay: The first and most obvious question is why you were so proactive about reaching out to me after I wrote a bad review of your band. Lets start there.

Temim Fruchter: We’re interested in connecting with writers who are connected to the community we’re already connected to. It just seems like we have all these connections to the queer community, why not make this in to a conversation versus just saying ‘Aw crap, we got a bad review, see you later.”

TNG: Do you think the queer press is inclined to treat you better or just be nice to you for the sake of sexuality?

TM: They are more inclined to be nice, but I think it’s also a mix. We’ve definitely gotten some mixed reviews. We’re in a moment where there is a lot of new queer press cropping up, and a lot of new queer bands, so the intersection generally helps make positive buzz. For whatever else we are queer, a band, political, feminists and we’re doing what we’re doing. This makes some press outlets inclined to like us, but I do find it more interesting when someone takes a second look and says “What’s happening in the music?” Plenty of other bands feel that we are very connected to our identities, or political works and our communities, but we’re also a band. We make music.

I don’t actually want to be touted just because some members happen to be queer. I want someone to say “What do we think about this music?” We always like it better when there is a criticism mixed in. It means someone is actually listening.

TNG: One positive thing I mentioned in my review is that you all show obvious Sleater-Kinney influences. What is your relationship to their music?

TF: They were definitely an influence in a certain way for me. I’m a late bloomer, I missed early Riot Grrrl, I came out into a world where Sleater Kinney was old news. I said “Oh my god, a queer band that crossed over and made it in the indie rock world!” Most of the Sleater-Kinney references are other people comparing us to them, either because of the female lead vocalist with the powerful voice or the fact that we’re a queer feminist band, but also because we do live in a queer community but we are trying to be more expansive than that in our reach as a band. In that way there is definitely some parallels and we are flattered by the comparison.

TNG: Is crossing over into the mainstream a priority for you, or are you happy just having a queer fan base?

TF: “Crossing over” is a misnomer. It’s not a binary. There are plenty of queer indie rock fans and it goes both ways. I think that what’s more important is that we’re a band, we’re not a political organization, not trying to be celebrity gays, just trying to make really fucking good music that moves people. We’re really ambitious. It means reaching as many people as possible. If it means we get to talk to communities that wouldn’t normally be thrilled about a queer band that’s even better. A constant need to connect with as many communities as possible, that’s a priority for us.

TNG: What are some of your personal influences, and some of the band’s influences?

SF:My personal music tastes are anachronistic to the music we make. I grew up Orthodox Jewish. I missed out on most things, including rock. I was like “I like The Beatles, I don’t know much else,” but eventually by way of of show-tunes and classic rock and country music I found my way. Basically, whatever music would make me heart-stringy and would make me feel something, I gravitate to. I tend to like really dramatic stuff, I think other people in the band, at least our singer, come very strongly from Riot Grrrl. She went to see Debbie Gibson when she was four, she loves Bikini Kill, that influence comes from her. Eli was a classical violist all his life. There are classical influences in what we do. l think it’s really a mix for us, but the one thing we do share is dramatic music in the broadest sense. Music that can’t really fade into the background.

TNG: My mom me to your band via an article in [Jewish newspaper] The Forward. How often does your Jewish life intersect with your rocker life?

TF: We do get coverage in Jewish papers. It’s cool to be able to talk about the fact that I grew up in Yeshiva and I’m now doing this super left political punk band. We went to LA on tour and Eli and I got to speak at a pluralistic Jewish high school, with orthodox and conservative kids, about what it meant to be in a queer political rock band as people who are Jewish. The band is made up of so many different identities. That doesn’t get coverage as much in music press, but its cool to use the platform to say you totally have a voice in ways you may not realize. I know when I was in high school it would be awesome see some formerly orthodox person say “I’m an activist, I make music.”

TNG: Speaking of identities, do you think there is a lot of visibility for genderqueer contemporary musicians?

TF: It’s hard to say because we’re based in New York and because we’re so networked to a lot of queer bands that have trans and genderqueer members. It makes my perception a little skewed. But in the bigger sense there are not too many. It’s cool, we know that queer bands and genderqueer bands and trans bands are all networking in different ways. We’ve stayed with different queer bands on tour, there’s something super cool about that. It’s important to feel supported and it’s important to me that, being a band that has queer and genderqueer members, we don’t just section ourselves off in a queer music community or a political music community. What is awesome about being a a band with queer members is that we get to play benefits like the Silvia Rivera Law Project in New York, which is a trans legal project that provides all kinds of support for the trans community. I think we’re constantly thinking about what it means to be so visible because there aren’t too many bands that look like us and have our makeup. We use that strategically to talk about being feminist and engage in a conversation about what it means to be a queer band and queer community. TNG

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