Biography
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Years Active
2013 – present (10 years)
Inspired by a lack of intersectionality in the U.K.'s D.I.Y. punk scene, Big Joanie formed in an effort to redress the balance. Marrying '60s girl group melodies with riot grrrl attitude, the London-based trio brought Black feminist punk to a predominantly white male arena with their 2018 debut Sistahs and 2022's Back Home.
The foundations of the band were built after a 2013 post Stephanie Phillips put online, seeking like-minded women to start a Black feminist punk band to address the lack of diversity in the D.I.Y. movement. Kiera Coward-Deyell joined on bass and Chardine Taylor-Stone on drums, with Phillips taking lead guitar duties. Taking their name from Phillips' mother Joan, the trio played their debut gig at the cooperatively run D.I.Y. Space for London's First Timers. That same year the band released their first single, "Out in the Country," a lo-fi instrumental track that offered little indication of how the band would later develop. 2014 saw Big Joanie put out their more expansive four-track debut EP Sistah Punk, but it was 2016's Crooked Room, released on their own Sistah Punk Records, that marked their biggest development. From the sparsely arranged build of the title track to their discordant take on TLC's "No Scrubs," Big Joanie asserted their unique character. In 2017, Coward-Deyell moved to Scotland and was replaced by Estella Adeyeri on bass. The year also found the group supporting American punk band Downtown Boys on their U.K. tour. In 2018, Big Joanie built on their wider exposure, releasing their debut long-player, produced by Margo Broom (Fat White Family) issued by Thurston Moore and Eva Prinz's Daydream Library. Sistahs honored the legacy of bands like X-Ray Spex against the whitewashing of punk's heritage, and the feminist purview of riot grrrls Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, with a collection of rhythmically curious and melodically rich songs. Following touring with the likes of Parquet Courts, Sleater-Kinney, and Bikini Kill, as well as their own headline dates, the trio released a cover of Solange's "Cranes in the Sky" in 2020 before inking a deal with Kill Rock Stars for U.S. releases. Their first effort for the label, a split single with Charmpit, followed soon after. Returning to the studio again with Margo Broom, they started work on their sophomore release, with the resulting album, Back Home, issued at the tail-end of 2022.
Biography by Bekki Bemrose
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