The Mary White House experience

One of the upsides of spending evening after evening decorating is that I'm getting the opportunity to catch up on some great podcasts - such as Damian Abraham's chat with Mary Timony for a recent episode of Turned Out A Punk.

The former Autoclave, Helium and Wild Flag guitarist and current focal point for the most excellent Ex Hex speaks about her formative years, including her childhood acquaintance with the MacKayes, how Rites Of Spring played at the first show she saw, and the experience of growing up in hardcore heaven Washington DC ("its own universe", one that left an indelible mark on her - particularly in ethical terms).

Yet she was also classically trained, and so felt rather confused and conflicted. There certainly can't be many DC hardcore heads who were raised on Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmstein, who found themselves jamming with a drummer who was an ardent Rush fan or who had a friend who insisted on taking bongos wherever she went, even if it was a Fugazi gig...