Melissa York is one of those drummers who is so effortlessly talented that one really can't imagine her doing anything else. After playing in Vitapup and Team Dresch she joined the Butchies, who are playing two shows at this week's Bent festival.
I read somewhere that you were in marching band in high school. Is that true? "It's absolutely 100 percent true. I really don't know what the motivation for it was, I guess I was just born a band fag. In third grade I started off playing flute, but I gave it up because I thought it was too girly, so I moved on to the clarinet. Then I moved on to bass clarinet, and then, this is really exciting, I moved on to the sousaphone--the tuba. I wanted to play the BIG thing, you know?"
Did you have a fancy uniform? "Completely. It was so ugly--green and gold."
So after several years of touring with the same band, do you have a policy about how to handle flatulence in the van? Is it acknowledged, or does everyone try and be discreet? "Listen, there's nothing discreet about me. I definitely admit when it's me. Actually, I just farted right now. I want to at least give them some time to roll down the window. I don't think (bassist) Alison farts. Maybe that's the reason she always wants to sit in the front seat..."
She angles herself appropriately so it just goes out the side window... "Exactly. Somehow there's some sort of invisible tunnel that leads right to [guitarist] Kaia's nose--whenever I fart she's the first one to smell it. Poor thing."
You're awfully spazzy onstage. Have you ever hurt yourself? "I've cut myself and banged my hands with my sticks, but I've never hurt myself so bad that I had to hobble offstage or anything. But last night I started banging my drumsticks on the wall and it started to crumble."
Eek. "I felt so bad. The Black Cat in D.C. had just moved into this new space and I totally destroyed the wall. I felt terribly guilty, but something was up with that wall--I just tapped it with my sticks and it started to crumble. But I guess I kinda like it when those things happen--the show must go on, you know what I mean?"
