Grunge rockers Sassy Come Home will play the Sept. 23 festival at The Frequency.
For the past five years, Madison musician Dave Bonson has organized Grrrls Kick Ass Fest, an annual celebration of women who rock. But when the setup work is done and the first bands take the stage, he takes a step back and finds a seat in the back of the venue.
“I don’t make this festival about me,” he says, “because this festival is not for me.”
Bonson, who plays drums in the band Sassy Come Home, fell in love with riot grrrl music and culture as a kid growing up in Rhinelander, a small town in northern Wisconsin. Bands like Bikini Kill, X-Ray Spex and Bratmobile were a “huge influence” in his style as a musician, and the political attitude and creative ethos of the movement were inspiring. “It’s a way to express yourself without caring what people think,” he says. “It’s a way to be standing up for something.”
When he moved to Madison six years ago, he had the idea to start a riot grrrl festival — there was a strong local scene and a growing national interest in the genre that first became popular in the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. He connected with bands and booked the first showcase at the now-defunct Dragonfly Lounge, later moving the festival to the High Noon Saloon and the Frequency.
“Female musicians are becoming more front-and-center than they were five or six years ago, and it’s nice to see that they’re starting to get that attention,” says Bonson, who has played in bands since he first started out in music. “People are starting to recognize their talent.”
The Sept. 23 show at The Frequency features performances from locals Stephanie Rearick, HellMuff and Sassy Come Home, plus Milwaukee acoustic duo The Upside and Chicago band Dot and the Additions. “This year I tried to stick a little bit more local,” Bonson says. The event is also a fundraiser for the Malala Fund, which promotes education for girls in developing nations.
Bonson prefers to work behind the scenes, but last year he got some pushback from people who questioned whether a man should be organizing a festival devoted to female musicians. “Some people seem a bit cranky that there’s a guy organizing it,” says Samantha Franzen, a friend of Bonson’s who helps with the festival. “But I think it’s great that he’s being supportive of women in a non-traditional career or hobby.”
Franzen, who goes by Sam, is sometimes mistaken for a man in online correspondence, which adds to the ire when people assume two men are putting on the festival. Bonson has also heard from male musicians who feel excluded from the event. But he brushes off the criticism. “You can’t make everybody happy all the time,” he says.
In November, Bonson is moving to Los Angeles, where he hopes to advance his career as a musician. He spent time on the west coast this winter, when he toured with Vanessa Silberman, an artist who performed at Grrrls Kick Ass Fest last year. He’s interested in putting on riot grrrl festivals in LA and other parts of the country, and he hopes the Madison event will continue — with or without his involvement. “Madison is my home, and I would love to keep [the festival] here,” he says. “I’ve been watching it grow year every year, and I’m hoping to see it grow every year after I’m gone.”
