Alice Bag never felt like an outsider in L.A.’s punk rock scene — after all,she helped shape it into what it is today.
As cofounder and frontwoman of the Bags and the Alice Bag Band in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, the pioneering Chicana icon has served as inspiration for generations of women in rock music.
Bag joined Times editors Fidel Martinez and Suzy Exposito on the latest episode of “The De Los Podcast” to reflect on her nearly 50-year career .
“Latinos were not visitors or newcomers to [punk rock]. We were there at the inception,” Bag said. “As a queer Latina woman, I want every queer Latino and woman to feel like, hey, my history is here. I have permission to also do this because we were there from the beginning.”
In the interview, Bag pointed to the Chicano Moratorium, the 1970 massive anti-war protest, was her first brush with the search for identity and politics.
“I felt excited as I saw these marchers who looked like me, who I really connected to, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s who I am, I’m a Chicana,’” Bag said.
Although she initially felt excluded from Chicano groups for her loud style, Bag described punk rock as a sanctuary, one that gave her the freedom to embrace who she was.
“I never had a sense that I didn’t belong [in punk rock]. I just knew I belonged there. I guess I never felt like there was any other option,” Bag said. “Then, as I got further into punk, I realized, nobody can keep me out of something. I don’t need somebody’s permission to be [Chicana].”
Unpacking the “revisionist narrative” that punk rock began as a “white genre,” Bag described the California punk scene as diverse from the start. Latinos, like herself, Margot Olavarria of the Go-Go’s and Kid Congo Powers of the Cramps, built its foundation.
“We were inventing what punk would look like in Los Angeles and what it would feel like,” Bag recalled. “We were so immersed in our punk identity that we didn’t notice we were different.”
Bag also said she felt positive about the next wave of young punk rockers, citing L.A. bands the Linda Lindas and the Iron Orchids as examples.
“I meet very young kids, like even elementary school kids that come out to punk rock shows. That’s what keeps it fresh for me, and exciting.”
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