FORMED: 1994, Olympia, WA
in 1994, corin tucker (ex-heavens to betsy) and carrie brownstein (ex-excuse 17) began practicing and writing songs together at a rehearsal space on sleater-kinney, a road just outside olympia.
after a single and some compilation tracks with seattle native misty farrell on drums, the pair visited australia, where they recorded their debut album, sleater-kinney with lora macfarlane. the following summer, macfarlane briefly visited the u.s. to tour and record call the doctor. when the album was released in the spring of 1996, toni gogin occupied the drum seat for live shows. later that year janet weiss filled the position on a permanent basis.
the band's involvement in and inspiration from olympia based bands such as bratmobile and bikini kill gave the lazier critics an easy way in. however, whilst the band state quite clearly that they would not be playing music without the example of those bands, they deliver so much more.
the release of the band's stunning third album, dig me out, in the spring of '96, brought huge acclaim in the u.s. and was further consolidated by the band's blistering live performances, earning sleater-kinney an immediate reputation as the most astonishing new band of that year. this translated into intense interest in Eeurope as well where the album was the band's first domestic release.
indeed, the transition of sleater-kinney from the underground scene of the american northwest to the pages of time magazine and a place in spin magazine's list of most important musicians in the world today has meant that their latest album, the hot rock, was one of the most anticipated albums of 1999.
the hot rock was recorded in three and half weeks (twice as long as the time spent on dig me out) in between the band's various side-projects (drummer janet is one half of quasi whilst corin's other band, cadallaca, released their debut record in spring 1998).
tucker and weiss currently reside in portland, oregon; brownstein in olympia, washington.
