Hilken Mancini (born February 5, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, author, and aerobics teacher, best known as the co-founder of Punk Rock Aerobics and Girls Rock Campaign Boston. She has been a member of the bands Fuzzy, The Count Me Outs, Shepherdess, The Monsieurs, and Band of Their Own. She also directed the music video for the

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

song “Here Comes the Shock”, which features her doing her Punk Rock Aerobics.

Biography

Early years

Hilken was born and grew up in

Syracuse, NY Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13th-most populated municipality in the state o ...

Fuzzy

Hilken formed the rock band Fuzzy, with Christine Toppin and Winston Braman in 1992. Fuzzy was signed by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

for whom they released two albums. Their 1994 debut, ''Fuzzy'', attracted attention thanks to its lead single ''Flashlight''. The video for ''Flashlight'' was directed by

Jesse Peretz Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968) is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band that form ...

. In August 2016,

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

named ''Flashlight'' as one of top 50 songs of the 1990s. Two years later, Fuzzy released '' Electric Juices''. Fuzzy supported ''Electric Juices'' by touring with

Juliana Hatfield Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area. She was formerly a member of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. Hatfield also fronted her own band, The Ju ...

Belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, ce ...

Buffalo Tom Buffalo Tom is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz who also sings the majority of lead vocals, bassist and singer Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginn ...

Velocity Girl Velocity Girl was an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in College Park, Maryland, and active in the Washington, D.C., area. The band released three albums before splitting up in 1996. The band reunited for a one-off concert in 2002 and f ...

and

The Posies The Posies were an American rock band. The band was formed in 1986 in Bellingham, Washington, United States, by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. Their music has its origins in Merseybeat and the Hollies. They are influ ...

. In the months following the tour, Fuzzy was dropped by Atlantic Records. David Ryan left to attend grad school and was replaced by Nate Darden in 1997. In 1999 Fuzzy released their final album, ''Hurray For Everything'' on the independent Catapult label.

Punk Rock Aerobics

In 2001, Mancini and Maura Jasper founded Punk Rock Aerobics (PRA
Punk Rock Aerobics
a DIY exercise program providing an alternative for those disenchanted with rigid body-image based gym culture. The pair ran exercise classes in rock clubs, employing “rock star” DJs such as

J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist a ...

(

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, the band was forced to change their name because of legal issues. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter) ...

) and

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

(

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...

) to spin punk records for each session. In 2004,

Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional offi ...

published their exercise book, ''Punk Rock Aerobics''. In February 2021 Hilken starred in a Green Day video “Here Comes the Shock” doing her Punk Rock Aerobics.

2000s

From 2001 through 2005, Mancini played guitar for The Count Me Outs, fronted by Mark Perretta (

Folk Implosion The Folk Implosion is an American band founded in the early 1990s by Lou Barlow and John Davis. It was initially a side-project started by Barlow to explore different territory than that which was being canvassed with his primary band at the tim ...

) with Winston Braman on bass and Mike Savage on drums. Hilken contributed the story ''Biker Babe'' to '' That Takes Ovaries!'' published by

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprin ...

in 2002. While Fuzzy were on hiatus, Mancini co-produced and released an album on Kimchee Records in 2005 with bassist/vocalist Chris Colbourn of

called ''Hilken Mancini And Chris Colbourn'' with Winston Braman on bass, drummer Mike Savage from Fudge and Cherry 2000, and guest guitar work by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. In 2006, Mancini formed Shepherdess, again with Savage on drums and Braman on bass, adding Emily Arkin on violin. ''Shepherdess'', their eponymous debut album was self-released in 2007. By 2008, Savage and Braman moved on and were replaced by Alison Murray on drums with Arkin playing baritone guitar

Girls Rock Camp

After volunteering to run Punk Rock Aerobics sessions at

Girls Rock Camp The Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls is both the original Rock n Roll Camp for Girls non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United States, and the common name associated with the Girls Rock Camp movement of List of youth ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

from 2007 to 2009, Hilken founded Girls Rock Campaign Boston with Nora Allen-Wiles and

Mary Lou Lord Mary Lou Lord (born March 1, 1965) is an indie folk musician who started out performing as a busker in Boston. Life and career Mary Lou Lord first gained attention playing acoustic guitar and singing in and around Boston's subway stations, pa ...

in 2010 with seed money from Cambridge-based rock entrepreneur Billy Ruane. Girls Rock Campaign Boston (GRCB) is a member of the Girls Rock Camp Alliance, a foundation created to empower girls to believe in themselves by providing a supportive community that fosters self-expression, confidence, and collaboration through musical education and performance.

2010s

In 2012, Mancini formed “The Monsieurs”, a garage punk band, with Andy Macbain (Tunnel of Love) and drummer Erin King. The Monsieurs have released two full-length albums (''The Monsieurs'' and ''Deux'') and several singles on the Slovenly label. On July 21, 2018, The Monsieurs were asked to open for the

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

at Boston's

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

. Hilken also works as a back-up vocalist, doing sessions with

Tanya Donelly Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England. She came to prominence as a co-founder of the band Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the altern ...

(

), Juliana Hatfield, Buffalo Tom, and several projects with David Derby (

The Dambuilders The Dambuilders was an indie rock band that began in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, in 1989 and later relocated to Boston. They released seven LPs (six studio albums & one compilation) and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. Members have gone ...

, Grammercy Arms). In 2015, Mancini was asked to join “A Band of their Own” (BOTO), an ad hoc group of women musicians including

Kay Hanley Kay Hanley (born September 11, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known as the vocalist for the alternative rock band Letters to Cleo. Life and career Hanley grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, across the street from the ...

(Letters to Cleo), Belly's Tanya Donelly and

Gail Greenwood Gail Greenwood (born March 10, 1960) is an American musician and illustrator most notable for performing bass guitar and vocals with the bands Belly and L7. Career Greenwood grew up in Rhode Island. She became a vegetarian at age fourteen and h ...

Jen Trynin Jennifer Trynin (born 1963), is an American singer-songwriter and author from Boston, Massachusetts. Career She recorded her debut album '' Cockamamie'' in 1994 while running her own desktop publishing business. The track "Better Than Nothi ...

, Magen Tracy, Jenny Dee and Hilken's bandmate in Fuzzy, Chris Toppin. BOTO performs at

Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root ''Theo-'' derive from the Ancient Greek word (), which means God, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, Theophano and The ...

and Paul Epstein's “Hot Stove, Cool Music” for the benefit of the Foundation to Be Named Later in both Boston (in February 2018) and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

2020s

In February 2021, Hilken was asked by the acclaimed punk band

to produce a video for their upcoming single, " Here Comes the Shock". The single was previewed at the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

's Outdoor Hockey game in

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

. The video, featuring Hilken performing a Punk Rock Aerobics routine to the single, was released in the US on February 21. The video received over 160,000 hits in its first 16 hours on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Hilken is married to songwriter-musician Andy Macbain (Tunnel of Love, The Monsieurs, Andy California ) and is the guitarist in The Monsieurs, the drummer for Andy California and vocalist for The Mardi Kings. She is also the proprietor of 40 South Street, a Jamaica Plain Mass. vintage clothing boutique.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancini, Hilken 1970 births American women singer-songwriters American women rock singers Living people 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Musicians from Syracuse, New York Singer-songwriters from New York (state)