Thick: Making the Riotgrrrl Movement Accessible
Since its inception in the underground clubs of Washington in the early 90s, the Riot Girrrl genre has harboured some of the greats of punk and helped make it more accessible to everyone other than the blueprint fans of straight white males, with one of the latest additions being Brooklyn-based trio Thick. Since forming in 2014 the band have triumphed in turning some of the deepest cutting topics that women today face into upbeat cathartic punk songs, and with the release of their sophomore album ‘Happy Now’, they are looking to bring the revolution to the masses. They took the time from their relentless release cycle to chat with us about everything Thick.
“When I was in college all these male dominated bands were so much fun to watch but it was all just men on stage and I was like ‘I want to be up there, I want to do this’,” says vocalist and guitarist Nikki Sisti. “I remember watching Mannequin Pussy and I just really enjoyed it. Marisa (Dabice) had such a presence, and I was like ‘wait, if she can do this then I can do this’ and I love that we’re a part of this whole thing. That’s what we want to be to other people. We want younger people to watch us and think ‘I can do this too’. We’re not shredding a Les Paul; we’re playing some simple stuff. It’s very approachable and relatable – ‘anybody can do this’ is the vibe we try to give off. I love that we’re a part of this movement.”
Drummer and vocalist Shari Page shares a similar sentiment. “I used to see a bunch of guys on stage, and I would snore. I was always on Craigslist and MySpace as a teenager because I wanted to play music so badly and it was hard. A lot of posts at the time said, ‘you must be a male drummer; you must be a male singer’ and to see the uprising of all different Riot Grrrl artists is awesome. So is going to local shows and seeing that there isn’t just dudes on the bill. If we can contribute to the Riot Grrrl movement then that’s awesome.”
Like most other women in the industry, Thick are not without their experiences of blatant sexism or discrimination. The punk industry is infamously dominated by straight white men, so unsurprisingly they took apparent offense to ‘Mansplain’; a single taken from Thick’s debut album ‘5 Years Behind’. “‘Mansplain’ tore us a new asshole!” says Nikki. “It was definitely a rough one. I did not think that many people would be angry about mansplaining! Like, hello, it happens! Everyone on this new release cycle has been so nice in the comment sections – everyone is a lot more chilled out.”
Bassist and vocalist Kate Black uses this opportunity to chime in; “I think that it was an interesting experience putting something out on Epitaph Records when it’s a very different vibe in the comment sections on our YouTube versus our social channels. At the end of the day punk, historically, is not progressive in a lot of ways for people like us, so when you’re blasting something out to fans of bands like Parkway Drive, they’re not going to be into it. It’s hard because you have to learn that you don’t care, but when you immediately get a lot of negative feedback it feels personal and weird, but we were like ‘okay, this is not in any way shape or form meant for you. That’s okay, but I’m kind of proud that you’re annoyed by this,’ so I think that’s a pill we’ve had to swallow and I feel much more comfortable and confident now.”
Like every other band, the last few years have been majorly disrupted by the dreaded C-word. For Thick, this meant celebrating their debut album’s release in lockdowns with no real way of getting it out to the masses aside from social media campaigns. While feelings of isolation may have inspired many other artists, Thick have found themselves on the other end of the spectrum. “Yeah, COVID inspired us but there’s no way I could write all my songs about being trapped in my house! They’re so boring; no-one wants to hear about it,” says Nikki. “I’m not trying to minimise anyone else’s stuff but Thick writes very in the moment. Honestly, when I’m biking around the city is when I come up with melodies or lyrics, but when we were trapped in the house, I had nothing to write about and talk about. Now I’m, just oozing stuff – it’s like we’re all living again.
“A lot of artists are actually introverts at heart, so I think those types of people had an easier time in COVID because they got a lot of time to themselves that was forced and so they were able to create a lot, and we’re just on the opposite side of that spectrum so it was really challenging just to feel excited and energised,” chimes in Kate. “So we thought a lot about our pasts and voila, we got an album.” The rest of the band agree, nodding along until Nikki adds, “a lot of these songs are odes to the past.”
Thick is an extremely unique band that completely owns the simplicity of their creative process and its outcomes. While many outside of the music industry see a job within it as an unattainable goal, Thick are determined to prove that anyone can make it. Writing about deep-cutting topics and experiences and somehow managing to make it sound upbeat and cheerful, they aim to prove that it is possible to deal with heavy situations and grow from them in a way that doesn’t have to hold you down. They truly are one of the most exciting forces in punk and are turning an otherwise unwelcoming and non-progressive genre on its head, for the benefit of the minorities that feel cast aside.
