Pink Flag Plays Girls Rock Girls Rule Tour

Durham's own Pink Flag is taking part in a major benefit this Sunday at Local 506. PF fills us in on the details.

D: Tell us about the Girls Rock Girls Rule tour. It looks like seven bands performing. Isn't that a lot to fit into a single evening?

PF: GRGR is sort of a dual purpose tour. On the one hand, GRGR is a showcase for local bands like Pink Flag and PATC, which allows them to play at a larger local venue with more seasoned touring acts like G-Spot, Loki the Grump, RewBee, Marisa Mini & The Underage Hotties and America's Sweetheart and in front of A&R reps from label. GRGR also provides all of the artists with pretty valuable promotion packages, subscriptions and publicity opportunities. On the other hand, it places a spotlight on women in rock and helps to highlight the beneficiary of the show: Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, a New York City-based non-profit summer day camp serving girls ages 8-18. The program offers girls the chance to learn how to play musical instruments, write songs, perform and generally "rock out" in a supportive environment that fosters self-confidence, self-esteem, creativity, tolerance and collaboration.

PF: Seven bands might seem like a lot, but when it's only six tax deductible dollars, it seems like a bargain. Every band plays exactly half an hour, so when the show starts at 7:30, it starts at 7:30, and when it ends at 12:00, it ends at 12:00. It's a good way to get a real taste of what's out there over the course of four and a half hours.

D: How many dates are on the tour?

PF: There are 11 dates on the tour, and at least two amazing local bands on each one. Pink Flag is really honored to be representing North Carolina on our home turf. The full list is:

Oct 3 2008 7:30P The Red and The Black Washington DC
Oct 4 2008 7:30P Hershee Bar Norfolk, VA
Oct 5 2008 7:00P Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC
Oct 6 2008 7:00P Ground Zero Spartanburg, SC
Oct 7 2008 7:00P The Stage Door Tucker, GA
Oct 8 2008 7:00P 3rd & Lindsley Nashville, TN
Oct 9 2008 7:00P Dirty Jacks Cincinnati, OH
Oct 10 2008 7:30P Smiling Moose Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 11 2008 7:30P Sidebar Tavern Baltimore, MD
Oct 21 2008 7:00P Trash Bar – CMJ Brooklyn, NY
Dec 6 2008 7:00P Ace of Clubs – 7th Annv. New York, NY

D: I saw your MySpace mention that Pink Flag is more a cult than a band. How do I join? Would I have to get an operation?

PF: For us, it was almost as if when we got together, there was a magic between us, like we'd known each other forever. We travel in a pack, we have our flag names, we have little rituals and traditions around practice and shows. We've recently started "initiating" new members--giving them flag names and sort of bringing them into our fold. There are no operations necessary to join the cult! All you have to do is pledge allegiance. In truth, I think when people are really happy doing something together, other people automatically want to be included in the joy and we are more than happy to include people who are positive and supportive.

D: What are your influences?

PF: We took our name from Wire's debut album. Post-punk does have a large influence on our taste, but we love riot grrl, top 40, reggae and pretty much anything you'd have heard growing up in America in the 90s. One of the best things about the band is that we've got three very different personalities with varied tastes. Individually, Lucky loves to get compared to Sleater-Kinney, Dork is happy to sound like the Slits or Ted Leo and Sick would take a comparison to Travis Barker as the highest of compliments.

D: How did the band come together?

PF: Lucky answered Dork's ad to start a girl band on craigslist and then mentioned it to Sick, who expressed interest. We snapped her up because she's the sickest drummer around.

D: Are you planning to record more?

PF: We just finished our first EP, which will be released on a full-length split with our friends The Homewreckers on November 22 at the Duke Coffeehouse. We've just informally released a bootleg recording of a live show and plan to do a Session at KNC in the near future. We're headed back into the studio early next year, because we've already got about 10 new songs, dying to get recorded.

D: How do you write new material for the band?

PF: We write new material like it's going out of style. Everyone in the band writes songs, brings them in and then lets the other girls write their own parts. We usually try to have those songs ready to play out within a month.

PF: Thanks again and please come out to see GRGR on October 5 at Local 506.

Pink Flag will be releasing a split album on Break Yr Heart Records with The Homewreckers on November 22nd at the Duke Coffeehouse.

Also appearing this Sunday with Pink Flag is Princess and the Criminals, from Greenville, North Carolina.