CAROLINA SANCHEZ FOR CHICAGO READER
T h e p u n k m u s i c i a n
Jill Lloyd Flanagan
the
PEOPLE issue
16 CHICAGO READER - NOVEMBER 10, 2022
Interview by MICCO CAPORALE Photos by Carolina Sanchez
Jill Lloyd Flanagan is a punk provocateur. For more than 20 years, she’s been a staple of the Chicago DIY punk and noise scenes, not only performing in bands (Coughs, CB Radio Gorgeous) but also organizing events such as queercore festival Fed Up Fest. Her best-known project is Forced Into Femininity, which for nearly ten years used uncompromising noise and performance art to explore the nature of femininity and personhood and the real or perceived threats to them. Flanagan is a punk oral historian and an embodiment to radical ideas and aesthetics.
I
grew up in Chicago. As a kid, I was very in my own fantasy world, and music was a way to live out my fantasies. I was into 90s thrash metal, grunge, punk—stuff with exciting characters. In high school I started to learn bass. My friend played guitar, and I wanted to be in a band with him, so it was a very utilitarian choice at first. But once I started learning, I loved it. I like how big the strings are. Once I learned bass, guitar strings started seeming tiny and painful. And I like the sound. It’s a beautiful instrument. It’s rarely used in a way where it’s allowed to be beautiful, but it really is. There’s this cool song by Pungent Stench
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