Flea ThunderPussy is a punk chick who has been playing bass and guitar in bands since the early 1990s. Her musical genre is punk.
Feeling inspired by the Riot Grrrl movement that was taking place in the USA, and wanting to focus on what was taking place in her own backyard, Flea created her first fanzine titled 'Grot Grrrl' in the early 1990s, a spin on the name 'Riot Grrrl'. Flea had written to Kathleen Hannah from Bikini Kill, asking if she could subscribe to her fanzine , but instead Kathleen inspired Flea to create her own fanzine. The whole theme of Grot Grrrl was to put a focus on women in bands in Australia, and as a musician herself, it was also great opportunity for Flea to network with other Australian female musicians and get to know which bands existed. This knowledge would also assist Flea with organising her own gigs and events. Two issues of Riot Grrrl were produced.
After Riot Grrrl, Flea created her second fanzine titled 'ThunderPussy'. Flea wanted to create a fanzine that allowed her to have her own take on things, and after realising that the the two words Thunder and Pussy looked good together, she created the Thunderpussy Fanzine. The focus of the fanzine was on women's safety, protocols and personal stories from women who had a lived experience of violence. Four issues were created in the mid 1990s.
Flea then hosted her own radio show on community station 3CR called 'Bitterness Barbie', which was on alate shift from 11pm - 1.30am. The show was named after a Luna Chicks track. The show ran for six years, into the late 1990s and the content was 99% women in music, punk, spoken word, and everything in between. Unfortunately Flea's car died, so she couldn't get to the station anymore, late at night on public transport with her cases of music.
Flea also had a brief stint at Rock'n'Roll Highschool in the mid 1990s, where she joined a couple of other rock chicks, Duana and Inka, as their guitarist, and together they formed a band called GoFukya and played shows around Melbourne.
By now Flea was ready to live and breathe everything that had gotten her to this point in her life and walking her own feminist fanzine talk. It was time to start a band with good punk energy, so, Flea formed an all-female punk band called The Homewreckers in 2000. Punk at that time was all about the male experience and Flea wanted to be able to relate to other female musicians. Flea wanted to start the first real female punk band in Melbourne in the early 2000s. It would be the punk sound, but with a female twist....The Homewreckers played many gigs until around 2003.
In 2003, Flea created a Melbourne event called Ladyfest, which was part of a broader global Ladyfest movement. Flea had heard about the Ladyfest festivals that were happening in the USA and she wanted to bring one of the Festivals to Australia, so she created the first Australian Lady Fest event - a four-day festival showcasing female artists in all genres and consisting of music, the arts, spoken word, and a short film festival.
As part of the festival, Flea he had engaged female acts from all over Australia and some overseas artists as well, in order to showcase the world what we could do in Australia. Lots of people attended, even from overseas. Another Ladyfest followed a few years later (around 2009), as the music and art scene had changed and there were new people to bring into the fold.
Flea's bands are as follows:
Ragewar and Shrieking Violets - Bass
Sea Haggs - playing industrial percussion and bass. 1995
GoFukya - Guitar
The Homewreckers with ? on vocals, Annie on guitar, Jasmine on drums and Flea on bass - The Homewreckers are an all-girl spiky haired old school punk rock band from Melbourne. They have attitude and style, but most of all they can rock the old fashioned way. 2000 - 2003
Deathbird with Paula Damnzal on guitar, Lisa 2 Million on drums, Flea on bass. 2007-2008
Cherry Bangers - Bass. 2009
Liquor Snatch - Flea Formed the band after listening to a song of the same name by a band called Broadzilla, about stealing alcohol, and Flea thought it would be a great name for a band. The theme of the band was punk/dyke music and their acronym was MCHD or Melbourne City Hell Dykes, although she also liked the acronym NDWA or Nasty Dykes with Attitude. The band went from a 5 piece to a 4 piece and finally to a 3 piece, with Flea as the remaining original member on bass. That band lasted from 2010 until 2015.
“There's a lot of girls in Melbourne doing stuff; they tend to be a bit more positive then the guys. They tend to encourage bands more. I think the punk scene in general is a bit apathetic, it's like they want to be entertained but they don't want to put anything in. Being in a band I know that the more you put in the more you get something out of it and it's so fucking rewarding. If you sit back and say there's no gigs, no zines, no nothing well of course there's not because you're not doing anything about it. You got to make things happen for yourself.” 2004
Flea has played gigs at St Kilda music venues including: Prince of Wales Hotel, The Espy, Greyhound Hotel.
Liquor Snatch video @ A Day By The Green #17, St Kilda Bowlo (2016). FILMED BY CARBIE WARBIE! http://www.carbiewarbie.com Source: https://vimeo.com/179624536
