Grrrl Drummers to the Front

When I was in high school I was deeply attracted to the Riot Grrrl movement, which was a bunch of girls and young women playing really loudly and unapologetically on their instruments and scream-singing lyrics that mattered to them. For the first time in my life I felt like I could be a musician. I played the drums for almost a decade, seeking out other women and girls to play with…

I started Tom Tom Magazine in 2009 to pay respect to existing drummers and to pave the way for new drummers, specifically female and GNC (gender non-conforming) drummers, percussionists, and beat-makers around the world.

Eleven years later, it’s 76 pages, full-color, and distributed globally. My desire in 2009 was to rekindle the Riot Grrrl spirit but I wanted to do it above ground and use the male dollar as part of my activism. I wanted the drum industry to recognize us as actual drummers. I’m still working on it.

From the Lilith Blog, May 2022. Read the full article here.