Teri Gender Bender, vocalist of the powerful punk rock band, Le Butcherettes, is arguably an iconic musician. Her lyrical prowess, and the way in which she articulates herself are unlike any other, and she possesses the ability to inspire everyone. “We all choose to use the pain to create, refusing to die timid and blind,” she states, when asked what message she hopes to convey through her music. “In short the message is, be a rebel. Rebels make history. Be a fighter. The age-old chant of what does not kill will make you stronger. Just take a look at historical figures, individual stories through out the world. You can either serve your people or serve yourself. To do the latter will not get you very far. One needs a purpose and intent… when one has no purpose of looses focus and “searches for a reason to die young”. Yes… I am that asshole who has quoted a song off their own record. Ha!”

Le Butcheretes’ 2015 album, ‘A Raw Youth’, which despite being their most refined effort to date, captures the assured urgency of her message. “On a technical level, a different and far more superior console was used,” she reveals. “On an over all ground, a tight and embrasure oiled machine of a team was part of the magic. On a spiritual level, having the tranquillity and freedom of being able to experiment with new sounds and going back to the technical, being able to work with engineers and a producer that work with great vintage analog gear.”

“The studio team is small yet tight,” she continues. “There were two studio engineers, which includes Chris Common, my drummer for ‘A Raw Youth’ who also mixed and mastered the record. Jamie Aaron Aux recorded the bass parts in a matter of days and touring with her for the record was great. Omar (Rodriguez-Lopez of At The Drive In, The Mars Volta etc), our dear friend and producer who did an exceptional job adding flare and fire to the songs. Most importantly, I feel like we all were there to serve the music and the story telling of these songs.”

Along with the forward-thinking nature of ‘A Raw Youth’, Teri tells us how some of the songs on the record were in fact inspired by previous experiences, writings, and personal situations. “Two songs on that record are actually part of the time I started my band in a surreal envelope of my country, Mexico,” she explains. “’They Fuck You Over’, and another one called ‘Reason to Die Young’, except I re-wrote the song and the arrangement so the carcass of the original version is left inside a box of old cassettes. Sometimes you have to use old elements for present situations. Sometimes songs don’t age well but the key themes of my old songs still managed to hold a current position in my world. I really like that the new record can be very dynamic. Some songs are straightforward while others are straight up bizarre. It’s all about finding balance. The instinctual feeling of using from the past withstood the reasoning.”

Throughout her career so far, Teri has been surrounded by inspiring musicians, and is also a member of the psych-rock band Bosnian Rainbows, alongside the aforementioned Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. She has teamed up with noise-rock legends, The Melvins, and for ‘A Raw Youth’ was lucky enough to work with Iggy Pop. “It was a gratifying and absolutely wonderful experience, and it felt at ease and within my element,” she says, looking back on working with such artists. “Iggy has the bluest, most vivid eyes. They are like portal to an unknown universe. You don’t want to stand in his way and you feel sorry for all the foes who have tried to stop him at one point in his life. The Melvins have a very dark and enlightening sense of humour, as legendary as they are, they are kind human beings and are endlessly giving they people they consider family. Aside from the musical connection we all have to each other, I feel we all have in common that similar type of past of constantly overcoming demons from imposed hell by others. Be it, having authority, trying to stop someone from succeeding, homophobic rednecks, territorial women (especially the ones who keep each other down) possessive ex band mates, obstacle after obstacle, death, society, etc…”

“I feel like I can relate to them,” she continues. “Melvins and Iggy, despite coming from different cultures, we have a similar background of struggle…like, people struggling to understand our purpose from some form or another. By having the lovely opportunity of being able to collaborate with Iggy and The Melvins, I feel I gained a new understanding of love and an ever-morphing perspective. In the end, our journeys make us who we are.”

Teri admits she doesn’t want to stop there. She has ambition to work with other musicians, namely Turkish folk singer-songwriter, Selda Bagcan. “Her music, her voice, her meaning, her messages, and her story are inspiring,” she says with adoration. “I would love to not work with her… but to be able to live with her for a year. See how she thinks, breathes, how she reacts to bad news, how she handles herself in times of personal turmoil… people tend to talk about a person’s performance or the end result of someone’s art but what interests me is what caused it all? What time period? What were the customs? The land that surrounded her life? What was the family like? Was there any rivalry with her and her brothers? etc.”

She then opens up about her own upbringing in great detail. Teri has not had the easiest life, and has looked to both music and spirituality to guide her through. “Coming from Mexico, music has always been an escape for me and the family since I can even begin to remember,” she explains. “Music is a saviour. That is music with an empowering message. Overcoming traumatic life changing episodes and using that energy to make something tangible, to be able to connect with people from different parts of the world. It is a purpose that keeps us from drowning. I would have to be an ungrateful pseudo asshole (which I can be, oh yes, indeed) to say this album did not achieve anything at all. We all put everything into it yet without strangling the songs to death. There was urgency, literally. It was recorded in a matter of 2 weeks because we were hungry, angry. There is so much going on in the world yet it is nothing…or is it?”

While growing up, Teri’s parents were incredibly influential in shaping her worldview. She tells us about her childhood, and how once again, music helped her through and how she has been surrounded by it from an early age. “My Father was a man of silence and mystery,” she reflects. “Hardworking yet fucked over throughout many stages of his life. At soul he was a philosopher, a writer and a poet and he loved to sketch. He drank heavily when he was at home, trying to enjoy the little free time he had from his job as supervisor of a prison. My mother was living in a country (USA-middle America) from her native Mexico, where she detested the language and the cultureless monotone of a cold snowy state. The jobs she managed to keep, she had to work harder than the white male, eventually quitting because of constant berating and harassment.“

“My parents fought, and my parents loved,” she continues. “They had intense political debates. They were intelligent and swallowed their frustrations only to be lashed out on my brothers and I when we were acting like savages. Music helped us. Especially back in the day where there were no devices for simple-minded entertainment. My whole life as a child, it was filled with shame and love. Embarrassed of speaking in front of people so I would go to an extreme opposition like resorting myself to Beethoven and Mozart; my father was to blame.”

“My daddy would drink and the more he drank the louder the volume through the speakers would blast. Causing more conflict in the home nest,” she reveals. “Though none of us ever felt at home, we felt full of opportunity because of more availability in the USA but torn of our roots that were scattered all over the world. Music erased all doubt. United my father and I. Mother was a theatre actress when she was young. She carried it in her blood passing her histrionics on to me in a very unconscious matter, through the vessel of a melody, as she would lullaby me to sleep. My family was and remains to be my influence. They destroyed me yet birthed me into art. The environment I was raised in injected in me the urge to create my own world, to be able to ironically hide from everyone.”

Notwithstanding all of this, Teri remains positive, and admits she is eternally grateful to be able to share her music with the world. “Despite having gone through a series of never ending obstacles in my life resulting in trauma and being overly sensitive and nihilistic, I still can’t believe that such great people are open to me,” she says, humbly. “I still can’t fathom my luck. I truly think that lately God has been on my side… but of course this can change in a matter of seconds. Her mind can differ from planetary change to sea movements. I gain different perspectives. I get the chance to hear new stories from different times. It is the real school of not just music but of anthropology.”

‘A Raw Youth’ is available now through Ipecac Recordings, and Le Butcherettes will be on tour in the UK in October, which you can see the dates for below.

OCTOBER
14 LONDON The Black Heart
15 COVENTRY Kasbah
16 BIRMINGHAM Hare and Hounds
17 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
19 DUBLIN The Workmans Club
20 BELFAST The Black Box
21 GLASGOW King Tuts
22 MANCHESTER Night & Day Cafe