"What? You guys don't have anywhere to sleep? Come stay at my house."
Screaming Females is a small rock band from a small town with a small girl who happens to sing and play guitar. Now that we've established that, the only other thing you need to know is that there's nothing else small about this Jersey trio.This past Labor Day, the New Brunswick, N.J., natives pulled up to the Trunk Space parking lot in a white cargo van and quickly shuffled into the quaint venue. Touring in support of their latest release, "Castle Talk," the rock 'n' rollers blazed through an energetic and fun set.
Anchored by burly, curly-headed King Mike’s bass line and backed by the grimacing Jarrett Dougherty on drums, frontwoman Marissa Paternoster viciously shredded her guitar and crooned to the crowd with vocals ranging from wavering vibrato to screaming banshee. All together, the product was very Jefferson Airplane meets the White Stripes.
As the night ended and they packed up their white cargo van, it quickly became apparent the band didn’t have anywhere to sleep — and I still needed my interview. With that, I found myself host to the Screaming Females for the night.
The band, along with their sound tech Keith, packed into my 600-square-foot guesthouse and talked about working in an industry dominated by men.
“I think it’s silly that people think it’s so sensational,” Paternoster says, peering behind raven-colored bangs. “Whoa, there’s a girl,” referring to the first thing she always reads on the Internet about her band.
Dougherty attributes that sentiment to what he calls "latent sexism."
“I mean, no one's giving us the finger, but it’s definitely ingrained in their thoughts," he says.
Paternoster, obviously, is the only female in Screaming Females. As it turns out, the decision to name the band was based solely on aesthetics.
“After a show we just wrote it out in big bubble letters and decided it looked cool,” Paternoster says. “Most people interpret it differently, but if everyone wanted to take band names literally you could name any number of them ‘four skinny dudes in skinny jeans.’”
“And it just sounds good,” King Mike adds.
I fell asleep that night to the sound of laughter as the band watched "Step Brothers" on DVD.
While the Screaming Females may not be trying to pave the way for little-girl rockers everywhere, the band definitely doesn’t go out of its way to hide Paternoster’s femininity. Androgynous as her haircut may be, the singer is renowned for her soft girlish banter between songs and for rocking doll-like dresses before every Screaming Females show.
In the morning, the bandmates loaded up their belongings and began the long trek to Austin, Texas. As the white cargo van turned the corner, I realized there may not be anything sensational about a girl being in the band, but that band is definitely sensational.
Contact the reporter at jose.sandoval@asu.edu.
