Q&A
Bruise Violet BY LIV MARTIN Emily Schoonover (18), Danielle Cusack (21) and Bella Dawson (18) have been involved in the Minneapolis punk scene since they were ages 14, 17, and 14 respectively. These three dynamic women are the members of Bruise Violet, a progressive-minded and unabashedly feminist local band. Read on to learn how they feel about the closing of the Triple Rock Social Club, how they discovered their sound and how they inspire young girls at their shows.
: How did you come up with the name Bruise Violet? Why is it significant? Danielle Cusack: It’s a song by the band Babes in Toyland that I really loved when I was 18. I thought it was a cool juxtaposition between something bruised, which is like violent, and something pretty like a violet. Bella Dawson: Which is just us in a nutshell.
: What music groups have inspired you? BD: I say this every time, but I had nothing to do
with Riot Grrrl or anything like that. I was raised on R&B like Erykah Badu and India.Arie… and then extremely heavy metal.
Emily Schoonover: That’s the combination of a
DC: We straight up had a song that sounded like a My Chemical Romance. It goes like [singing] “I don’t wanna be here any moooore.” : How would you describe the type of music that you make? ES: Punk.
DC: Well, it shows, because we have pretty melodies and then a harsher aspect.
BD: It’s kind of weird, when you think about it.
rock music until I got involved with Bruised Violet.
DC: I call my three favorite bands “The Holy Trinity.” So, it’s Bikini Kill, Sleater Kinney and Babes Image courtesy of Bruise Violet
ES: I started out with more classic punk, like The Ramones. Then, I graduated to Emo music—as one does—and then I graduated to more modern punk. And then also Riot Grrrl. I feel like you can see all of them come into play. I write some Emo shit. I like all of the angst.
dream, honestly.
BD: I didn’t get into more female fronted punk-
16
in Toyland are my three main influences. I just love punk, and a lot of hardcore punk, too. As far as local bands, I’ve loved Kitten Forever from the moment I saw them.
DC: We’ve been put on metal shows. We’ve been put on pop-punk shows… grunge shows. When we first were playing on the scene we were pretty much thrown around to whichever scene would take us. But, somehow we fit with everything.
NOV 6—19