This Tiny Desert Concert is all about the ladies — Sturdy Ladies, that is.
Dana, Chela and Amy — first names only, Madonna-style — are longtime friends and local musicians.
The trio gathered in the lounge at Crescent Ballroom on a steamy recent Saturday afternoon to play a few songs for us and talk about the band’s origins and goals.
Full conversation
DANA: All three of us have lived in this town for a pretty long time, and Amy and Chela have been friends forever. I knew who they were. I think they knew who I was, but our paths kind of never really crossed until, jeez, it’s been a hot minute now.
More than 10 years ago, I guess I ran into Amy at like, a get-together, and we just started talking and really hit it off. Chela and I started talking, maybe at shows, and realized we had a lot in common and just kind of organically, we just all kind of started hanging out together, and it feels like we’ve known each other since birth at this point, which is great.
We’ve all been in different bands over the years. So at one point, there was a band that I was asked to be in with an Alice Bag, and we needed more people in the band. And I thought, what better opportunity to hang out with my friends — who happen to play the instruments we need — to say, “Hey, come be in this band.” So that’s what happened.
And we were in a band together called the She*Riffs that didn’t last too long. We recorded an EP and did a bunch of shows here in Phoenix, and then played some in California, and then everybody kind of went their separate ways with that band.
However, the three of us were like, “Well, this is fun. Why don’t we keep hanging out and playing?” Because we really like each other, and playing together is just an extension of that. So here we are with Sturdy Ladies.
GILGER: I love it. It’s punk influenced. I can tell that much. What are some of the things that go into this musically? How do you approach it?
DANA: Oh, that’s a great question. Jeez, we kind of write about things that we like really, or think are funny, or think are important. We like things that are catchy. So we have songs about pinball games that we like or things like that. But we just kind of approach it from — a lot of times, I’ll write something and take it in and build on it. Sometimes Chela has an idea, and we build on that, and it’s a lot of we’re very we very much encourage each other in terms of, like, “that sounds great,” and we just try to keep it light and catchy. But it’s also pretty fast and furious at times too.
GILGER: Yeah. It seems as if sort of your love of it, though, and the focus on the music, the playing, the enjoyment of it, really comes through in what you do and watching you play, and what audiences are going to experience if they come to see you.
DANA: Yeah, thanks. I mean, I think so too. I think we’re not afraid to look at each other and have a little laugh while we’re playing. We don’t take ourselves seriously, even though we do take what we’re doing seriously. We want things to be as good as they possibly can be, but we’re also just people having a good time and, yeah, thanks.
I think that when people come to see us play, it seems like they have a good time. We see some dancing. There are a couple songs we have that people definitely recognize when we play them, and they’ll say, “I love that song,” which is — what else can you ask for? You just kind of make something up one day and play it in front of people and they like it. Perfect!
GILGER: All right. That’s great, yeah. OK, so you have a song you’re gonna play for us. This is called “Ladies’ Choice.” Tell us about this one.
DANA: “Ladies’ Choice” is, well, for one, when I wrote it, or when I came up with the idea, I thought, how funny that we’re called Sturdy Ladies and we don’t have a song called “Ladies’ Choice.” Obvious, but it was just kind of about, you know, something we all believe in: that ladies can do whatever they want, and we want younger girls to know they can do whatever they want, be, anything they want to be.
[Sturdy Ladies play “Ladies’ Choice”]
GILGER: This idea of women in rock and roll, right? Like, I think it used to be sort of, counter-cultural, or at least counterintuitive, and I think it became less and less so. And now we live in this world where gender fluidity is a big thing, and feminism doesn’t seem to mean the same thing it did even just a couple years ago. Do you think that there’s sort of something to be said for that, or what is the role you think of women in music? Or should it be that specific anymore?
DANA: Honestly, I don’t know that it should be that specific anymore. And some people might disagree and say, like, as women you have a responsibility to have this message. And I think just doing it is the message. I think just being there and doing it and being part of things is sending that message.
And we’re friends, obviously, with a lot of musicians who are men, and never have we been treated as kind of second-class citizens, or less than at all. I highly doubt that’s the case for everybody, which is unfortunate. But I think there’s room for everybody.
And it’s true: feminism is a different beast a couple of years ago. Things are definitely different now. And I know for some people, for some women, it’s a great platform to get a specific message across. And I think that’s hugely important because although I think that for us, just doing it is like, “Hey. Here we are. Here’s our message.” It’s just us with our guitars and our drums, but that doesn’t always play. Things are a little regressive and what have you.
So it’s hard to say. I think it’s a conundrum at times, and I think everybody has a different answer for that, really.
GILGER: OK, so you have a song you’re gonna take us out on here. Tell us what this one’s called and a little bit about.
DANA: I believe it’s “Arawak Forever.” And this song, unlike “Ladies’ Choice,” is about something, probably reasonably meaningless in a way. It’s actually about a movie that I really like, called “Sleepaway Camp.” It’s an old slasher movie from the 80s, and it’s the best-worst slasher movie.
[Sturdy Ladies play “Arawak Forever”]
GILGER: That is Dana S. of sturdy ladies. Dana, thank you for coming on and thanks for playing a show for us. I appreciate it.
DANA: Oh, thanks for having us. It was wonderful.
