Christina Billotte

Christina Billotte is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, known for her involvement in the punk music scene in Washington, D.C., as a performer and organizer.[1] She is included in Venus Zine's list The Greatest Female Guitarists of All Time.[2]

Christina Billotte
Born (1969-05-04) May 4, 1969
Washington D.C., U.S.
GenresPunk music
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar

Musical career

Billotte and Melissa Berkoff initially began playing together in a Washington, DC band called Hazmat in 1989, but then joined up with Nikki Chapman and Mary Timony to form Autoclave in 1991. Autoclave became known for their math rock styling and released a single on the Diskord label - a joint effort between Dischord and K Records - before splitting up in 1991.[3]

In early 1991, Billotte and Washington, DC artist Jen Smith joined Pacific Northwest band Bratmobile (Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman) when they temporarily relocated to Washington, DC. Wolfe and Neuman created the fanzine Girl Germs.[4] Though never formally a member of Bratmobile, Billotte played an occasional live show, and guitar on the cassette tape entitled Bratmobile DC.[5][6] The Bratmobile girls were zine writers. It was during this time in Washington, DC that Jen Smith came up with the idea of a "girl riot" and Molly Neuman conceived the riot grrrl mini-zine that gave the movement its name.[4][7] Erin Smith then joined Bratmobile on guitar, replacing Billotte. By end of summer 1991, Wolfe and Neuman returned to Olympia, Washington, with Erin Smith remaining in DC.[8]

In June 1992, Billotte formed the all-female punk trio Slant 6 which released two albums on Dischord Records. The band toured widely, before breaking up in 1995 whilst on tour in England.[9]

In 1997 Dischord released an Autoclave compilation titled Combined.[3]

The same year Billotte formed Quix*o*tic, along with her sister Mira on drums and Brendan Majewski on bass. The band released an album Night for Day on their own Ixor Stix label. Majewski was replaced by Mick Barr and the band released a second album, Mortal Mirror, on Kill Rock Stars in 2001. The band broke up in 2002 with Mira moving to NYC to form White Magic.[10]

In 2002 Billotte joined the Casual Dots with Kathi Wilcox (Bikini Kill, the Julie Ruin and the Frumpies), who released a self-titled LP through Kill Rock Stars in 2004 and a second LP in 2022 entitled Sanguine Truth.[11][12]

Artistic career

Billotte moved to Los Angeles, CA in 2003,[13] and received a BFA in Ceramics from California State University, Long Beach. She received an MFA from the Mount Royal Interdisciplinary program at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland in 2013.[14][15]

References
  1. Anderson, Mark (2003). Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. Brooklyn: Akashic Books. p. 338. ISBN 1-888451-44-0.
  2. "The Greatest Female Guitarists of All Time". ISSUE#35. Venus Zine. March 1, 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  3. "Autoclave". bio. Dischord records. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  4. Barton, Laura (March 3, 2009). "Grrrl power". The Guardian.
  5. Gentry, Brandon (2014-11-10). "Christina Billotte Of Slant 6: 'I Wanted To Make A Record Where Every Song Was Good'".
  6. Huff, Chris (2018-07-10). "Riot Grrrl and the true spirit of rock n' roll".
  7. Hannon, Sharon M. (2020-04-20). "A Riot Grrrl Primer: Revolution Girl Style Now". Please Kill Me. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  8. Anderson, Mark (2003). Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. Brooklyn: Akashic Books. p. 312. ISBN 1-888451-44-0.
  9. "Slant 6". bio. Dischord records. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  10. Prato, Greg. "Quix*o*tic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  11. Serra, David. "Casual Dots". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  12. "Dusted Reviews: The Casual Dots - The Casual Dots". www.dustedmagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  13. Jenkins, Mark (2004-03-12). "Connecting the Dots: Christina Billotte and her bandmates like gumdrops, dog walking, and vintage rock 'n' roll. And oh yeah: Once in a while, they like playing music together, too". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  14. "Christina Billotte". bakerartistawards.org. Baker Artist Awards. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  15. "MFA Thesis Exhibition II". mica.edu. MICA. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
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