The Gits

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The Gits
Origin Seattle, Washington, USA
Years active 1986–1993
Genres Punk Rock
Labels Broken Rekids
C/Z Records
Empty Records
Big Flaming Ego Records
Members Mia Zapata
Joe Spleen
Matt Dresdner
Steve Moriarty

The Gits were a Seattle punk rock band active from 1986 to 1993. They were known for their fiery live performances and retained a dedicated following both during and after their existence. The band split up in 1993 following the brutal rape and murder of singer Mia Zapata, a crime which remained unsolved until the arrest and conviction of her murderer in 2004.

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[edit] History

[edit] The Gits

The Gits were originally formed in 1986 while attending Antioch College located in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They initially called themselves the Snivelling Little Rat Faced Gits but soon shortened the moniker to just 'The Gits.' In 1988 they recorded and self-released their "unofficial" debut album entitled Private Lubs with the help of friend Ben London (later of Alcohol Funnycar and solo). These recordings did not see widespread release though until 1996 when the album was reissued by the Broken Rekids label as Kings & Queens. After finishing up school in one way or another, they packed up and headed to Seattle, Washington in 1989 in search of greener pastures.

After arriving in Seattle, the band set up shop at the now infamous 'Rathouse,' a Capitol Hill district house where the band rehearsed and lived. They quickly earned a following on the local scene and gained many friends, particularly in the city's punk rock community. Their first 'official' release surfaced in 1990 in the form of the "Precious Blood" single, released by the local Big Flaming Ego Records. This single was quickly followed up by two more single releases ("Second Skin" on Broken Rekids (1991) and "Spear And Magic Helmet" on Empty Records (1991)) as well as the Bobbing For Pavement compilation (Rathouse/Broken Rekids, 1991) which featured The Gits alongside some of Seattle's best up and coming punk bands.

In 1992 the band recorded and released their debut album Frenching the Bully on the local C/Z Records to rave reviews. By this point Seattle had become the next big thing in mainstream music with several of its better known bands gaining national and even international attention. The Gits themselves had gained quite a bit of noteriety by this point, thus allowing them to not only tour outside of Seattle but also in Europe, despite the fact they had no permanent record label or other professional services to support them.

By 1993 it became clear that the Gits were on the verge of making it big with the band gaining the attention of major label record companies. Production began in mid-1993 on the band's second album entitled Enter: The Conquering Chicken, an album which was planned to be their breakthrough. The Gits seemed to be well on their way when, on the night of July 7, 1993, tragedy struck: the group's charismatic singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered while walking home from a friend's house late at night. Both the band and the Seattle rock community were horrified when they received news of Mia's murder the next day.

[edit] Related Projects

Following the death of Mia Zapata and posthumous completion of Enter: The Conquering Chicken, several projects featuring ex-members of the Gits were formed. First were the Dancing French Liberals of '48 which featured all of the remaining Gits as well as longtime friend and guitarist Julian Gibson. Their music was, as expected, much in the vein of the Gits although with a more hardcore punk attitude. Together the Liberals issued an EP (Scream Clown Scream) and a full length album (Powerline) on the Broken Rekids label before disbanding in the late 90's.

While simultaneously playing with the Dancing French Liberals of '48, Spleen, Dresdner and Moriarty also involved themselves in the Evil Stig project which featured rock legend Joan Jett. The project came about after the band discovered that Jett had long been a fan of the Gits. Following Zapata's death, Jett and Bikini Kill/Le Tigre frontwoman Kathleen Hanna co-wrote a song (entitled "Go Home") inspired by Zapata's death. Jett also included a message at the end of her video for the song asking for any information anyone had in regards to Zapata's murder. After seeing the video the remaining members asked Jett to be part of Evil Stig (which is 'Gits Live' spelled backwards). The band toured in early 1995 playing a mix of Gits and Joan Jett songs with a majority of the profits going towards Zapata's murder investigation. A self-titled album was issued later in the year, again with a majority of the profits going towards the investigation.

Moriarty later appeared in the punk rock band St. Bushmill's Choir as well as the more acoustic based Pinkos while Spleen briefly served as touring guitarist for Portland, Oregon legends Poison Idea.

[edit] Band Members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles/Eps

[edit] Compilation/Sountrack contributions

  • "Here's To Your Fuck," "Ain't Got No Right" on Bobbing For Pavement: The Rathouse Compilation (Rathouse/Broken Rekids), (1991).
  • "Drinking Song" on Power Flush: San Francisco, Seattle & You (Broken Rekids), (1993).
  • "Guilt Within Your Head," "Social Love (Live)" on Home Alive: The Art Of Self-Defense (Epic Records), (1996).
  • "Second Skin (Live)" on Hype! The Motion Picture Soundtrack, (Sub Pop Records), (1996).
  • "Another Shot Of Whiskey" on Wild And Wooly: The Northwest Rock Collection (Experience Music Project/Sub Pop Records), (2000).
  • "Whirlwind" on Girls Kick Ass (Vitaminepillen), (2001).
  • "Absynthe" on Whatever: The 90's Pop & Culture Box (Rhino/WEA), (2005).
  • "Another Shot Of Whiskey" on Sleepless In Seattle: The Birth Of Grunge (LiveWire Recordings, 2006).

[edit] External links

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