ORIGINS: Western Sydney, NSW
GENRE: Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 2003-2007
MEMBERS:
- Michelle 'Mixie' Catanzaro - Vocals
- Clare Hampshire - Guitar (2003-2004)
- Cherie Taylor - Guitar, Violin (2004-2006)
- Cassie - Guitar (2007)
- Susie 'Sooz' Jones - Drums, Cello
- Bron Dawes - Bass (2003-2007)
- Ruth - Bass (2003)
- Lauren Marsh - Keyboards (2004-2005)
RELEASES:
- Live at the Vic on the Park (2004)
- 1. Oxygen
- 2. Bruised
- 3. Ruth Song #1
- 4. Ex
- 5. Messenger
- 6. Prossies
- 7. Mickey's Clinical Depression
- 8. Dickhead
- Demo (2004) - Download Here.
- 1. Oxygen
- 2. Fat Cats
- 3. Female Circumcision
- 4. Flatline
- 5. Ex
- 6. Bruised Diaphragm
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- Self-Titled (2005) - Download Here.
- 1. Scarred
- 2. Flatline
- 3. 302
- 4. Female Circumcision
- 5. Oxygen
- 6. Alone
- The Minx Effect (2005)
- Oxygen
- Live at The Marquee (2006) - Download Here.
- 1. Flatline
- 2. Scarred
- 3. Bruised Diaphragm
- 4. E-M-O
- 5. Ex
- 6. Female Circumcision
- 7. Taste of Salt
- 8. Alone
- 9. Fat Cats
- 10. TNT
- 11. Oxygen
- 12/ 302
SUMMARY: Forming after Catanzaro and Hampshire began jamming together, Violent Minx quickly established themselves on the scene as dynamic and energetic performers. First bassist Ruth only played the first show as she then moved to Western Australia. The band moved through a couple of guitarists while playing solidly across the years in Sydney and Canberra, and undertaking a regional NSW tour with the Cadence Method. As they developed over time, they began to demonstrate their talents in a range of instruments and arrangements, making use of keyboards and strings. Eventually, after a 5 year run of gigging with some recordings in between, the band decided not to start again after parting ways with their third guitarist.
SHOWS:
- Vic on the Park, Enmore - 28th February, 2004
- PCYC, Penrith - 19th March, 2004
- Newtown RSL, Newtown - 23rd April, 2004
- Bat 'n' Ball, Surry Hills - 28th May, 2004
- Backdoor, Panthers Leagues Club, Penrith - 6th June, 2004
- Leeton Hotel, Leeton - 27th March, 2005
- The Cat and Fiddle, Sydney - 17th May, 2005
- Quakers Hill Community Centre, Quakers Hill - 4th June, 2005
ORAL HISTORY:
CLARE: It was originally me and my friend Ruth - her on bass and me on guitar/vocals. We used to work together and then she moved to Perth. Another work friend's girlfriend played drums and her housemate played bass, so I started jamming with them and then Michelle, who was the sister of my boyfriend at the time, joined in on vocals and we went from there.
Clare Hampshire (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: Claire Hampshire was my brother Joey's girlfriend at the time. She and I just started jamming at their house. I think they were living with Tommy D from Bagster in Petersham and her and I started writing songs together. We were inspired by bands like Sleater Kinney, Dance Hall Crashers, Le Tigre, Less Than Jake. I cannot play an instrument and had never even really been in a band before the Minx. Clare and I just clicked musically. We wrote a few different songs in different ways, and Clare wrote some from scratch on her own, but when we would jam on something together she would put guitar under melodies and lyrics I'd just pulled out of thin air.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: Our first show was at Vic on the Park with Ebola Goldfish and Unpaid Debt. Having watched both my brothers play in bands for years, it felt like a pretty flash venue for a first gig (as opposed to a Penrith Community Hall). I was super nervous. I remember Marty from Speckled Foam saying to me just before we went on stage, "You look sick, you are going to be sick on stage..."! I was terrified. I am not sure at what point I realised I could 'scream' in a fashion
that suited our music but I do remember the look on a bunch of faces as
the first scream I let rip on stage came out... I thought I was pretty fierce but saw photos after and I looked like a shrieking rat, haha.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
SUSIE: We spent so much time together rehearsing, gigging and just hanging out! It was equal parts an artistic group project and a collection of friendships, some of which have outlasted the actual band by decades.
Susie Jones (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
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| Setlist from Violent Minx's first show. |
CLARE: Our songs... there was a lot of anger at the patriarchy, the system, some mental health stuff, and also, like, boys. There weren't many girls in bands at this time so we were a bit of a novelty.
Clare Hampshire (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: We had a pretty hilarious repertoire of songs. One may have originally had another name but in the end it was called 'Bruised Diaphragm' because it was so guttural. Some of our other titles were 'Female Circumcision', 'Fat Fats', and 'Dan the Dickhead' (affectionately named after Micky, who'd played in Red Distress). We also used to do this thing where we opened every set with an acappella cover for like 20 seconds and would then break into one of our songs. We'd use heaps of stuff for this opening quirk - Pat Benata's 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot', 'I Will Survive', 'Bang Bang, You Shot Me Down'.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
CLARE: We played shows with Unpaid Debt, The Disables, Ebola Goldfish, The Shirkers. The show I remember most was playing a Hellfire Club event at the venue that's now the Urban Hotel on Enmore Road. We had a huge stage with a catwalk and there was jelly wrestling and S&M demos going on while we played.
Clare Hampshire (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: Once at the Channel Cafe we played with Strength Within and, as a classic lead singer, I often got swept up after we played and was shit at helping pack up. But this one time I was lending a hand and I helped Sooz pack up her kit... a while later, everyone was frantic as Nathan Scutts (Strength Within) had an expensive pedal stolen, like who would do that... Turns out I accidentally 'stole' it whilst trying to be helpful. I'd packed up the wrong gear and had to fess up. It was so awkward.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
SUSIE: For a Halloween show at the PCYC we got wedding dresses from Vinnies that we ripped and spray-painted.
Susie Jones (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: One gig at the Penrith PCYC we all dressed up - I think it was Halloween - and we got bridal dresses from the op shop and ripped them up and splattered them with paint and stitched them back together. I think it was our EP launch, but we didn't call it that.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
CLARE:
I left the band after about a year and they went on for a while after
that. I'd just started tattooing and I didn't have the time or creative
energy to do both.
Clare Hampshire (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
CHERIE: I was studying music at UWS and my uni bestie was the one who encouraged me to join Violent Minx on guitar. He was in a mod pop band at the time and just took my whole anxiety about it so incredulously. Like, 'Why is this even a thing, Cherie? It's just playing in a band, mate'.
Cherie Taylor (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
BIO: Never afraid to mix it up, the Minx is the embodiment of the New York riot girl movement in Australia. With the essence of NY hardcore, front girl Mixie unleashes her mighty voice at unsuspecting punters. Spine-jarring drumbeats from Sooz and skull-rattling bass lines by Bron compliment the walls of guitars and four-part harmonies that assault the ever-growing legions of Minx fans across Sydney. "This band is proof that more women should form rock bands," states Sydney stress press Drum Media
Blurb from Triple J Unearthed page, 2006
 |
| Review of show at the The Cat and Fiddle, 17th September, 2005 |
CHERIE: I remember going to a gig at Vic on the Park, maybe to watch the girls prior to the previous guitarist/vocalist departing, and thinking - there's no way I'm gonna be able to match that anger and energy on stage. But after some intensive rehearsal sessions I realised the girls were realistic and in fact open to a new member bringing a very different element to the lineup. So I found my groove after not too long. Not being the actual front person helped. Mixie was a brilliant front person, which meant I just got to do what I loved which was sing... and I guess play guitar too, haha. My first show with Violent Minx was at Panthers supporting Magic Dirt. I adored Magic dirt at the time - to share the same stage as them was mental to me.
Cherie Taylor (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
LAUREN: I knew Mixie as our brothers were best mates. She asked if I'd be interested in playing in Violent Minx. Since I had no other band commitments and wanted to play again, I went to a rehearsal and ran through some songs with them. The first show I played might have been at Vic on the Park... I remember being really nervous so I had a few drinks beforehand. We went on to play at DNA, Great Western Bar, Backdoor at Panthers, the PCYC, the Bat 'n' Ball, and Newtown RSL. That last one sold out because of the jelly wrestling.
Lauren Marsh (Keyboards), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: We played a lot of shows with Ebola Goldfish and Unpaid Debt but 'cause we were a chick band, we were put on all kinds of crazy bills that our style didn't necessarily match with. We played a Fair day one year (part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras) where Sophie B. Hawkins was headlining (you know, that 'Damn, I wish I was your lover' chick?) It was super hot on the trailer and the backstage was filled with the most amazing collections of performers and queens. On the other end of the spectrum we played Blaxland Tav with hardcore metal bands or the Backdoor with Magic Dirt, or once at a pub in Western Sydney where they wouldn't turn the footy off while we played! We never had a manager or really did anyting to drum up shows but we had a pretty solid streak of playing most weekends for what felt like a long time. We kinda said yes to everything. It was all super organic and just good times. As a grown up now, it is weird to look back on how little organisation or bureaucracy was involved in making things happen.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
CHERIE: I remember some incredible shows at the marquee - that was a favourite venue to play. Once again, knowing that I was playing at the same venue as Billy Corgan just blew my mind. The live music culture in Sydney was amazing in the 2000s. So many incredible venues and incredible opportunities. Also getting to record was awesome. At the time I had zero understanding of the technical process of it all, so it was a huge learning experience for me! I feel like it was one of the first times I'd ever had to listen to myself sing while I was singing, which was offputting but definitely the start of adoring the process. Learning about how fun it is to make simple guitar riffs thicker and richer, the way tracks are all laid down and pieced together... I'd always been a live player, spending my youth in musical theatre where there's no retakes. There's no perfection. Recording opened up a whole new world to me.
Cherie Taylor (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: We had this one song that Cherie wrote where she played violin and Sooz played the cello. We would play this rat punk dirt music and then pull out cello and violin and Bron would switch to guitar and we would play a super slow song and, in general, it was silence from the audience whilst we did.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
LAUREN: The band were ramping up their gigs, lining up TV appearances, and wanted more commitment from all the members. And because rehearsals were in the city and I lived and worked full time in Western Sydney, I couldn't manage the extra hours.
Lauren Marsh (Keyboards), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: One hilarious memory was headlining Manly Youth Centre and Cherie got lost on the way there and didn't make it. Ebolagoldfish were supporting us and instead of us not playing, their drummer stepped in and played drums while Sooz played the guitar and I did, like, hand signals to the drummer to hurry up or slow down or stop. Was fucking wild in hindsight.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
MICHELLE: Cassie wasn't in the band long, to be honest, maybe a year. She ripped but I lost contact with her over the years. Our very last gig was at the Sando with Ebolagoldfish. I moved overseas and we'd gotten a bit sick of changing guitarists and starting again. Sooz and I lived in London together and played a few gigs in Camden and stuff. Just acoustic stuff.
Michelle Catanzaro (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
SUSIE: Violent Minx was my one true love. When I think back on that time it was just fun! We had fun hanging out together for hours/days, writing music, and playing shows with our friends. I felt connected to the venues and bands in the Inner West and Western Sydney... My bandmates and other bands I saw around us put in countless hours honing their craft, which as inspiring and motivating. We pursued a passion project (without a doubt, our gear/costs far exceeded any earnings) just for the pure joy of it. Glad I got to live it and enjoy it, fair to say I miss those times a little bit. Being in a band is fuckin' amazing fun.
Susie Jones (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
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