We Need More Sick Kid Anthems
DISABLED FRONTWOMAN AND ROWDY GUITARIST LOOKING FOR DRUMMER
by Rybecca Quinn (she/her)
I’m Rybecca Quinn, a doing-whatever-it-takes to pay the bills freelancer who has worked across the multiple entertainment and media industries. On Monday, I’m photographer; Tuesday, I’m writer; Wednesday, I’m a business student; Thursday, I’m running a networking group for disabled creatives on the internet; Friday, I’m rocking out; Saturday, I’m a YouTuber and streamer known as Emotastic for the channel the Glitch Ghouls; and Sundays, I f—ing rest.
As a passing cripple, I’m trying to expand the idea of what the public thinks when they hear someone is disabled. While I can pass through a door or some stairs, that whole “passing” thing becomes quickly false when people see how bad I shake from nearly decades of having tremors. I was lulled into the punk community when I was in middle school by Green Day leader singer Billie Joe Armstrong, one of the first modern artists I had heard who let their voice shake freely. After years of never fitting the mold as a tremor-y mezzo soprano, I found fellowship in the punk community.
My younger years were riddled with mental illness, bullying, unfortunate events beyond my control, but I found peace in music. Some of the singers who helped shape the musician I became include Armstrong, Geddy Lee of Rush, David Lee Roth, Steven Tyler, Mary Hopkins, Stevie Wonder, and Danny “Sexbang” Avidan of Ninja Sex Party.
I put every ounce of emotion into what I sing like Armstrong and Wonder, long to take listeners on a journey like Lee and Hopkins could, start a party like Roth and Tyler, and create self-confidence while also being able to laugh at myself like Avidan.
Nowadays, I spend my time catching local punk shows at the Star Bar and working on an upcoming album without even naming my work-in-progress band. This is where we’re gonna need that drummer, so my lovely and elusive drummers hear me out.
My lovely guitarist Ian Rich and I have a dastardly dream, a musical mission, a goofball goal; we pose to you, dear drummer hopefully located in Atlanta, Georgia, We Fixed It, Phil. A “tribute” album where we can create an image and sound ourselves while updating an honestly (maybe just a teeny, tiny bit) dated catalog.
The perfect long-term drummer for our nameless band (that you have the chance to help name) is someone who understands the struggles of being disabled, someone who has a burning passion for all things rock ‘n’ roll. Many of rock music’s best drummers are disabled, Rick Allen of Def Leppard and Robert Wyatt of Soft Machine.
What the punk community has always excelled in are what my friends and I like to call “sick kid anthems”. Did you hum Blood by My Chemical Romance every time you had to get your blood drawn? How about 21 Guns by Green Day when a medication was kicking your ass? Or what about Death Dance by Palaye Royale when the pain was blending into that numb agony that’s been eating you alive?
To our future drummer, we can’t wait to write the next generation of sick kid anthems alongside you, homie. You’ll probably get so sick of me both ironically and unironically calling a homie or homeslice, but we’ll be great friends if you can laugh at misery, like anime and other nerdy shit, and prefer animals over people. We’re gonna steamroll those ables, all while being loud, jittery, and chasing down our next gig like a pack of hungry piranhas.
To contact me about the drumming position, please email me at rybeccaquinn@yahoo.com . Those who want to keep up with how the drummer search is going, feel free to follow me on Instagram and Twitter (if you still use that) at @rybeccaquinn
Originally published in print in Cripple Punk Mag 3, March 2023.
Want your work featured in Cripple Punk Mag? Submit at merlin.sabal13@gmail.com
PS follow the People’s CDC for information on the Covid Pandemic, which is very much still ongoing