I was just trying to hold my own with the bass guitar, hoping the strings wouldn’t snap, that the audience would have a good experience. I wasn’t conscious of being a woman, and over the years I can honestly say I almost never think of “girliness” unless I’m wearing high heels, and then I’m more likely to feel like a transvestite. When I’m at my most focused onstage, I feel a sense of space with edges around it, a glow of self-confident, joyful sexiness. It feels bodiless, too, all weightless grace with no effort required. The need to be a woman out in front never entered my mind at all until we signed with Geffen. But in the beginning, I was just trying to make it through. No one in the band ever thought about being on a major record label. None of us were thinking that far ahead. Thurston was the one who often came up with what to do next. What do bands do after making a record? They go on tour. It seemed like the right thing to do, and somehow we got ourselves a gig at the Walker Art Center, a progressive museum in Minneapolis.
