Lois Maffeo: Difference between revisions

Lois Maffeo (professionally known as Lois) is an American musician and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. Although never achieving mainstream success, she has been closely involved with and influenced many Seattle-based musicians. She has been called the "indie godmother".^[1]

Maffeo, a third-generation Arizonan, graduated from Xavier School for Girls, a Catholic girls’ high school in Phoenix.

In 1981, Maffeo began attending Evergreen State College in Olympia, and soon became a popular DJ on KAOS radio, with the riot grrl-oriented show Your Dream Girl.^[2] Lois also had a noon-time talk-show on KAOS preceding "Your Dream Girl" called "Tea Party" - Lois alleges she once got in trouble for playing music at the wrong time of day.

Having picked up her second guitar in 1985 from Calvin Johnson, her first band was Lumihoops, with Sharon Berman and Jan Brock. They only played live once, at the Smithfield Cafe, but can be heard on the Yoyo Recordings compilation Throw.

Her second band, The Cradle Robbers, was formed with future The Spinanes member Rebecca Gates. They released one track on the compilation Red Hot + Bothered/Indie Rock Guide To Dating before disbanding.

She then teamed with drummer (and Yoyo Recordings founder) Pat Maley in a band named Courtney Love. There are multiple explanations for the name, but this was before Love herself became famous. The duo would release three well-regarded 7" singles and a few compilation tracks, but no albums.^[3] According to Pitchfork Media, Maffeo was an early acolyte of the indie pop movement, as women musicians traded tapes and created their own pop-oriented music culture, instead of blending in with boys in the punk or cock rock genres.^[4]

After this, Maffeo began her solo career as Lois (or, as she often says, The Lois). Maffeo lived in Mount Pleasant, Washington, D.C. from 1989-1995. She was resident in the neighborhood during the 1991 riot.

She generally appeared with other musicians playing drums and backup, but her group has changed over the years. Some may consider her an anti-folk musician, combining the ethics and politics of punk with acoustic instrumentation, though she generally disdains such simplistic labels. She has worked with musicians such as Donna Dresch, Molly Neuman, Elliott Smith, Brendan Canty and Heather Dunn. Her recordings have been produced and co-produced by artists such as Calvin Johnson and Ian MacKaye. She has occasionally sung with bands Dub Narcotic Sound System, Red Stars Theory and others.

After her return to Olympia, she joined Carrie Brownstein, now of Sleater-Kinney, in two bands. Their duo Tommy released one comp track, "Go Sonics". The Tentacles included Peter Momtchiloff, and released one single, "The Touch" (backed with "Louie Louie").

Beginning in 1999, Maffeo worked mainly as a freelance writer, submitting primarily music-related pieces to The Stranger, The Boston Phoenix, the Portland Mercury, and Salon.com, among others. She also wrote a 96-page chapbook documenting the band history for Beat Happening's Crashing Through box set.

She still lives in Olympia, where she works full-time in public relations for a coffee company. She has served as theater manager of the Olympia Film Society. Her sketch comedy performances on opening nights have become a fixture of the Olympia Film Festival. She has also served on the Olympia Arts Council.

albums

• The Union Themes (with Brendan Canty), 2000, Kill Rock Stars (Japanese release contains five bonus tracks)

compilations

• unknown track, Dangerous Business International cassette, 1985, K Records
• "My Head Hurts" (with The Go Team), Archer Come Sparrow cassette, 1988/1989, K Records
• "Cat Fight" (with Georgia Hubley), 2 Days In The Valley OST, 1997, Edel
• "Switch Shower Go!", Go! Olympia cassette, 1997, K Records
• "Shame The Bells", Projector: Another Studio Compilation, 1999, Yoyo Recordings
• "Hope" (with Internal/External), Featuring..., 2000, K Records
• "The Same As Being In Love" (with Harvey Danger), King James Version, 2000, Sire

compilations

• "Sotto Voce", Red Hot + Bothered/Indie Rock Guide To Dating, 1995, Kinetic/Reprise

compilations

• "Roman Holiday", Throw: The Yoyo Studio Compilation, 1992, Yoyo Recordings

singles and EPs

• Uncrushworthy 7" EP, 1990, K Records
• Highlights 7" EP, 1991, K Records
• Hey! Antoinette 7" EP, 1991, Feel Good All Over

compilations

• "Don't Mix The Colors", Kill Rock Stars, 1991, Kill Rock Stars
• "Spray", Throw: The Yoyo Studio Compilation, 1992, Yoyo Recordings
• "Baseball Bat", One Last Kiss, 1992, Spinart
• "Motorcycle Boy", International Pop Underground Convention, 1995, K Records

albums

• Butterfly Kiss, 1992, K Records
• Strumpet, 1993, K Records
• Lowrider cassette, 1994, Slabco
• Bet The Sky, 1995, K Records
• Infinity Plus, 1996, K Records
• Butter Yellow: A Lois Collection, 1996, Rebel Beat Factory

singles and EPs

• Press Play And Record 7" single, 1992, K Records
• Trouble With Me 7" single, 1993, K Records
• Shy Town EP, 1995, K Records
• Snapshot Radio EP, 1996, K Records
• Ship To Shore maxi-single/EP (with Dub Narcotic Sound System), 1996, K Records

compilations and [Split] singles/EPs

• "Indie", Working Holiday!, 1994, Simple Machines
• "Indie", July [Split] 7" single (with Nothing Painted Blue), 1993, Simple Machines
• "Strumpet", Yoyo A Go Go, 1994, Yoyo Recordings
• "St. What's-Her-Name", Free To Fight 2-CD/LP set, 1995, Chainsaw Records/Candy Ass Records (as "The Lois")
• "A Summer Long", Paper [Split] 7" EP (with Mad Planets, Low, and The Receptionists), 1997, Papercut
• "Davey", Yoyo A Go Go: Another Live Yoyo Compilation, 1999, Yoyo Recordings

compilations

• "Go Sonics", Selector Dub Narcotic, 1998, K Records

singles and EPs

• The Touch 7" single, 1999?, K Records

albums

• Owl & The Pussycat, 2003, Kill Rock Stars

• "Ship To Shore" (with Dub Narcotic Sound System), Boot Party, 1996, K Records
• "Thick With The Paint Swaying" (with Red Stars Theory), But Sleep Came Slowly, 1997, Rx. Remedy
• "Two Of The Same Name" (with Sean Na Na), ...And His Baby Blue EP, 1998, Polyvinyl Records
• "Washington" (with Sean Na Na), ...And His Baby Blue EP, 1998, Polyvinyl Records
• "Girls! Girls! Girls!" (with Sean Na Na), ...And His Baby Blue EP, 1998, Polyvinyl Records
• "A Sailor's Warning" (with Red Stars Theory), Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful, 1999, Touch & Go Records
• "Pathways" (with The Evil Tambourines), Library Nation, 1999, Sub Pop
• "Detour" (with Bis), Social Dancing, 1999, Capitol
• "Detour" (with Bis), Detour EP, 1999, Willija
• "2-9476" (with Sean Na Na), Troubleman Mix-Tape, 2001, Troubleman Unlimited

• Interview between Lois Maffeo and Ian Svenonius
• Lois at AllMusic
• Courtney Love at AllMusic
• Review of 1993 Knitting Factory show by the New York Times

• Profile from Trouser Press
• Owl & the Pussycat Review from PopMatters