For the members of the Milwaukee trio Red Lodge, the importance of being a band comprised solely of women cannot be understated. It’s a very specific bond. “This is what I wanted all along,” guitarist/vocalist Addie Skillman said. The other members were inclined to agree, even though it took years for that idea to come to fruition.
Drummer Laura Gravender and Skillman met over a decade ago, attending many of the same Riverwest punk shows. Gravender relocated to Oakland, Calif., for a few years before returning to Milwaukee in 2016. Upon her return, a chance meeting led Skillman and Gravender to discuss forming an all-girl band. “I was very fortunate to play in bands with some excellent musicians when I lived in Oakland, so my goal was to keep that momentum and energy going,” said Gravender. “I was very happy to find two ladies that wanted the same thing and worked well together.” It took another year of chance meetings and chatter before the band got off the ground.
Skillman met bassist/vocalist Amy Upthagrove while they were both counselors at Girls Rock Milwaukee. As volunteers at the summer camp, they were both responsible for aiding girls aged 8-16 in their journey to join a band, learn an instrument, and write a song. Skillman cited her time involved with Girls Rock and its adult counterpart, Ladies Rock Milwaukee, as a motivating factor to push herself to try something new.Tired of “writing pop songs and singing pretty,” Skillman sought something more aggressive. After six months of molding their riot grrrl-influenced feminist punk sound, Red Lodge made their live debut in the fall of 2017. They released a single, “Judith,” in time for this year’s Femme Fest. Inspired by the painting Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi, the song depicts a woman and her maid decapitating her rapist. “The song is written from their perspective,” said Upthagrove. “It’s a very cathartic song to sing.”
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With a single and numerous shows to their name, the band has been prepping for the release of their debut EP. The seven-song cassette opens with the raucous punk of “I Hate,” which nods to classic riot grrrl bands like Bikini Kill and The Frumpies.
“I Hate” flows seamlessly into mid-tempo rocker “Concern Troll,” a song about tackling the coded language of online pot-stirrers. “I follow a lot of plus-size bloggers and fashion women on Facebook and Instagram,” said Skillman. “A lot of the comments concern trolling, like ‘You’re so unhealthy, shouldn’t you be worried about diabetes?’”
Over the remaining five songs, the EP retains a steady punk flow. Occasionally the songs veer from their aggressive punk core, but never far enough to lose track of their central sound. The EP’s cohesion is a credit to well-crafted songs.
As the band awaits the release of their EP, Red Lodge is hopeful for the future while feeling awed by the journey so far. Skillman beams, “I decided that I wanted to be in a band with women only and it actually worked out!”
Red Lodge play an EP release show at High Dive with Future Plans and Lint Trap on Friday, Aug. 24 at 9 p.m.
