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Evil Stig Press Kit, 1995
The following is the original text and photos from Blackheart Record's Press Kit for "Evil Stig" sent to media outlets in 1995:
Evil Stig
Matt Dresdner - bass
Joan Jett - vocals, guitar
Steve Moriarty - drums
Joe Spleen - guitar
EVIL STIG
EVIL STIG backwards is atapaz.
EVIL STIG is GITS LIVE, as in GIVE.
EVIL STIG is the Gits with Joan Jett, and the musicians would prefer to be mentioned as EVIL STIG, not as Joan Jett and the Gits.
EVIL STIG is Joan Jett singing the music of murdered lead singer Mia Zapata.
Mia Zapata was raped and murdered two years ago in Seattle
Mia Zapata's murderer is still at large (Webmaster note: Mia's killer was eventually found and convicted in 2004).
Mia Zapata's murder inspired "Viva Zapata" by 7 Year Bitch.
Mia Zapata's murder inspired the founding of the Seattle based Take-Back-the-Night style/women's-self-defense group Home Alive.
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Mia Zapata's murder inspired Joan Jett and Kathleen Hanna to write "Go Home."
"Go Home" was on Joan's last record Pure and Simple (great video).
"Go Home," performed by Joan and the Gits is on the new Home Alive benefit album spearheaded by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters on Epic Records.
After "Go Home," The Gits asked Joan to help them raise money to hire a private detective to continue the search for Mia Zapata's murderer. The Gits suggested that Joan become the catalyst for a benefit concert, as Nirvana had successfully done (on Mia Zapata's behalf), and that Joan join the Gits' for a couple of their songs at the event.
EVIL STIG began as a song or two and turned into a set, an incredibly inspired set.
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EVIL STIG, the album, is the document of that incredibly inspired set.
EVIL STIG was recorded in Seattle beginning the last week of March.
EVIL STIG will be unleashed nationwide the week of August 22.
Warner Bros. Records, 3300 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505-4694 (818) 953-3223 / 75 Rockefeller Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10019-6979 (212) 275-4600 / 20 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203-4344 (615) 748-8000
March 24, 1995
THE SEATTLE TIMES
Zapata's death inspires Jett to lend her voice to the Gits
Club and concert preview
THE GITS, JOAN JETT and the DANCING FRENCH LIBERALS OF '48, 9 tonight, RKCNDY, with the POSIES, OVARIAN TROLLEY and MICRON 7: and 8 p.m. tomorrow, King Theater, with the PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES, HATER, CHAGRIN and KATHLEEN HANNA; $10 at the door, each show.
By Tom Phalen
Special to the Seattle Times
Evil Stig.
That's the name Joan Jett and Gits members Steve Moriarty, Joe Spleen and Matt Dresdner tagged their recent collaboration. Read backward, it's Gits Live. And despite the loss of lead singer Mia Zapata, The Gits do.
When Zapata was murdered almost two years ago, her surviving friends and band mates of eight years were devastated, unsure if they could continue. But they knew they wanted Mia's murderer found, even if they had to hire their own investigator, which they did. The band persevered, and with the help of others like 7 Year Bitch, began putting on benefits to pay the bills.
But there was no replacement for Zapata to be found. Spleen took over the vocals, guitarist Julian Gibson signed on and The Gits became the Dancing French Liberals of '48. They wrote all new songs. They'll release the album "Powerline" in May. But on stage, there's always a spotlight that belongs to Zapata.
Joan Jett learned of the Zapata fund and the subsequent formation of the self-defense group Home Alive from Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna, when the two were collaborating on Jett's last album. Jett dedicated the video for "Go Home" to Zapata, noting at the end that the killer had never been caught. She told her fans about it in her fan club newsletter, dedicated "Go Home" to Zapata at live shows and put a Home Alive sticker on her guitar. Moriarty got in touch with Jett last August.
"I could have just written them a check," says Jett, "but it didn't feel right. I never knew Mia, but there was something about her I felt. I wanted to do a benefit or something. I wanted them to get to play Mia's songs again."
When the group debuted before a sold-out crowd at the La Luna club in Portland three weeks ago, Jett could see how much it meant to everyone involved.
"It was very, very emotional. It worked on so many levels. I could see the faces in the crowd, people were crying, people were singing. And the guys in the band seemed so happy to be doing these songs again. I was just humbled by it."
Moriarty agrees. "I didn't think we could ever do those songs with anyone. But we've felt right about this with Joan from the very beginning. It just came together so naturally. Like it had to be."
Proceeds from tonight and tomorrow's performances will go to the Mia Zapata Investigative Fund, Home Alive and Seattle Rape Relief.
FORMAT
College/Alternative/Rock
In July 1993, Mia Zapata, lead singer of the acclaimed Seattle band The Gits, was murdered. As of this writing, the killer remains unidentified. The tragedy of her death inspired a series of benefit performances designed to raise funds for the ongoing murder investigation.
Among the highlights of those shows was the performance of Joan Jett, joining forces with the surviving members of The Gits as Evil Stig ("Gits Live," backwards) to perform a selection of Gits songs. This live album is the result: with Jett filling in for Zapata on vocals, the band powers through an emotional set of The Gits' finest moments.
In addition to such Gits standards as "Spear & Magic Helmet, " "Another Shot Of Whisky" and "Sign Of The Crab," Evil Stig includes "Last To Know"--a new song co-written by Jett and the surviving Gits--as well as Jett's own "Activity Grrrl," "Got A Problem" and, as a hidden track, "Go Home," co-written by Jett and Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna in response to Zapata's death.
The Evil Stig concerts have already received considerable publicity in Rolling Stone and other national publications. Expect more press keyed to the release of this album.
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