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Meredith Graves

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Meredith Graves
Meredith Graves at the Pitchfork Festival 2014
Background information
Born (1987-09-05) September 5, 1987 (age 37)
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active2006–present
LabelsCaptured Tracks

Meredith Graves (born September 5, 1987) is an American musician. She fronted the punk rock band Perfect Pussy. In addition to making her own music, she runs independent music label Honor Press and serve as director of music for the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. Graves is also a writer and music journalist, and has served as an anchor at MTV News.

Early life

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Meredith Graves was born on September 5, 1987.[1] Graves began playing piano and guitar at age 11, and touring by age 19; their mother is also a performer, in musical theater.[2] Her father is a journalist.[3]

Graves learned to sew in high school and worked as a seamstress during and after college.[4]

Career

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Early in her music career, Graves led a band called Mouse and the Love & Light Orkestra.[5][6]

Shoppers

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Graves was a guitarist and vocalist for Syracuse noise rock trio, Shoppers. The A.V. Club described their 2011 release Silver Year as "a short, intense breakup album about the terrible things we’re capable of when our feelings are hurt;"[7] Punk News called it "top notch noise-rock."[8]

Perfect Pussy

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Main article: Perfect Pussy

Graves next became frontwoman for the hardcore punk band Perfect Pussy, founded in 2012 in Syracuse, New York.[9] After Shoppers disbanded, film director Scott Coffey asked Graves to appear in his movie Adult World, shooting in upstate New York. Graves assembled a "fake band" and wrote a song for the film, but even after filming, the group continued performing together, and posted their first demo I Have Lost All Desire for Feeling to Bandcamp in 2013.

In Billboard, Reggie Ugwu described the demo as "purpose-filled, bone-rattling and brisk, the kind of electrically charged debut that can shock a jaded blogger out of his torpor."[10]

Ugwu noted "Graves’ hyper-literate, rapid-fire prose" on Perfect Pussy's 2014 LP Say Yes to Love.[10] Say Yes to Love's release included a limited edition vinyl pressing of the record mixed with Graves's menstrual blood,[11] which quickly sold out.[12]

Perfect Pussy dissolved in January 2016.

Honor Press

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In 2015, Graves founded a music label called Honor Press.[13] Though Graves's own background is in hardcore, Honor Press is not an exclusively punk label;[14] instead Graves describes the label's priorities as "No snobs, no phonies and no shitheads."[15] She told New York that her positive experience making music for the label Captured Tracks had been the inspiration for Honor Press.[16]

Honor Press's first release was Sacramento band So Stressed's The Unlawful Trade of Greco-Roman Art.[17] Released in May 2015,[18] Spin reviewed Unlawful Trade as a "strikingly sour premiere effort [that] comes courtesy of Meredith Graves' Honor Press label...one of the most potent post-hardcore assaults in recent memory."[19]

Graves has indicated plans to publish books through Honor Press as well as music.[20] The label's second signee is Los Angeles rapper Busdriver, also known as Regan John Farquhar, to produce a book and a 7".[21] The book will be a poetry collection called Hat: A Movie.[22]

Honor Press is located in Brooklyn, New York.

Writing

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From 2015 to 2016, Graves was a columnist for the Village Voice, writing a food and music series called Recipe for Disaster.[23] She has also written for The Guardian, Pitchfork, Rookie,[24] and Talkhouse;[25] Racked praises her as "an incredibly honest and thoughtful writer."[26] Graves has drawn particular notice for commentary on topics like authenticity and double standards for women in music.[27][28]

Other projects

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In 2014, Graves announced she would put out a solo record, as well as a split with Kevin Devine.[29] She debuted the solo project's first song, "Take the Ghost to the Movies," in 2015.[30] Stereogum called it "one of those songs that you want to blast in your headphones when the world feels like it’s too much, and you want to block everything out, a noise dirge to silence the cacophony of the outside world."[31]

In 2016, Graves was featured as the vocalist on the House of Feelings song "Avatar"; in Pitchfork, Philip Sherburne described her performance as "channel[ing] the stunned demeanor of someone who’s just clocked into her first day at work and is already numb to the grind."[32]

In 2016, Graves became an anchor for MTV News.[33]

In May 2018, Graves became director of music for crowdfunding website Kickstarter; the position was previously held by Molly Neumann of riot grrrl band Bratmobile (Neumann left Kickstarter to join digital music rights platform Songtrust).[34]

References

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  1. ^ Graves, Meredith (September 5, 2018). "yes it is my birthday, happy 31st birthday to me..." Twitter. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  2. ^ Iseman, Courtney (March 28, 2015). "The D.I.Y. Empire of Meredith Graves". i-D. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  3. ^ "Meredith Graves Interviews Her Dad About Radiohead". Stereogum. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  4. ^ Snapes, Laura (April 28, 2014). "Rookie » Theme Song: Perfect Pussy". www.rookiemag.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Mouse and the Love & Light Orkestra — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at Last.fm". Last.fm. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  6. ^ "Mouse and the Love & Light Orkestra | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace. Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  7. ^ Rytlewski, Evan (6 December 2011). "The best music of 2011: The Ballots". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  8. ^ Pelone, Joe (March 2, 2012). "Shoppers - Silver Year [12-inch]". www.punknews.org. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  9. ^ Minsker, Evan (October 30, 2013). "Perfect Pussy". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  10. ^ a b Ugwu, Reggie (March 18, 2014). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Talks Life in the Hype Machine & Debut Album: Q&A". Billboard. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  11. ^ Lindsay, Cam (March 11, 2014). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Talks Blood-Infused Vinyl and Debut LP". exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-01-28. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  12. ^ Bowe, Miles (2014-02-14). "Perfect Pussy Announce Vinyl Box Set Made With Meredith Graves' Menstrual Blood". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  13. ^ Hughes, Hilary (25 February 2015). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves on Her New Label, Honor Press: 'No Snobs, No Phonies, No Shitheads'". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  14. ^ Garland, Emma (June 3, 2015). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves: taking the feminist fight to punk's patriarchy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  15. ^ Renshaw, David (June 16, 2015). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves On Her New Label Honor Press: "No Snobs, No Phonies And No Shitheads"". NME. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  16. ^ Kaplan, Ilana (April 30, 2015). "Meredith Graves on Powerful Punk and Her Own Label". New York Magazine. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  17. ^ Joyce, Colin (5 May 2015). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Kickstarts Her Solo Career With 'Took the Ghost to the Movies' | SPIN". Spin. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  18. ^ Joyce, Colin (February 24, 2015). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Launched A Label Called Honor Press". The FADER. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  19. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (19 May 2015). "Stream So Stressed's Post-Hardcore LP, 'The Unlawful Trade of Greco-Roman Art' | SPIN". Spin. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  20. ^ Stanley, Sean (February 25, 2015). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves announces new label Honor Press". DIY. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  21. ^ Innis, Charles (4 November 2015). "Busdriver – "Much" Video (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  22. ^ Gillespie, Blake (November 4, 2015). "Busdriver, "MUCH"". Impose. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  23. ^ Sifton, Sam (2 December 2015). "Baking Season". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  24. ^ Miller, Bridgette. "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Is A Rockstar For A New Generation". Bust Magazine. No. June/July 2015. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  25. ^ Maine, Sammy (December 15, 2014). "Person of the Year 2014: Meredith Graves". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  26. ^ Iseman, Courtney (August 28, 2015). "A Perfect Saturday in Greenpoint With Punk Rocker Meredith Graves". Racked. Archived from the original on July 4, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  27. ^ Ratliff, Ben (14 September 2014). "The Basilica Soundscape Festival Features an Eclectic Lineup". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  28. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (September 15, 2014). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Discusses Andrew W.K., Lana Del Rey, Authenticity, Sexism in Essay | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 26 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  29. ^ Claymore, Gabriela Tully (December 11, 2014). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Preps Solo Debut". Stereogum. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  30. ^ Goble, Corban (May 5, 2015). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Shares "Took the Ghost to the Movies"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  31. ^ Rettig, James (May 5, 2015). "Meredith Graves – "Took The Ghost To The Movies"". Stereogum. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  32. ^ Sherburne, Philip (September 27, 2016). ""Avatar" [ft. Meredith Graves] by House of Feelings Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  33. ^ Petski, Denise (20 April 2016). "MTV News Unveils Podcast Slate Featuring Amy Nicholson & More". Deadline. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  34. ^ Schneider, Marc (May 14, 2018). "Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves Joins Kickstarter as Director of Music". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
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