Julia Cafritz (born May 5, 1965) is an American musician and guitarist who was a member of Pussy Galore and Free Kitten. She is regarded as a cult figure from the New York City noise music scene of the 1990s.

Early life

Cafritz was born in Washington, DC, the daughter of Jennifer (née Stats) and Conrad Cafritz, a real estate developer with a personal fortune of over $100 million. She has a younger sister named Daisy von Furth, and two brothers, Eric and Matthew Cafritz. Her grandfather was the multimillionaire real estate developer and philanthropist

Morris Cafritz Morris Cafritz ( - June 13, 1964) was a Washington, D.C. real estate developer, and philanthropist. As CEO of the Cafritz Company, he was Washington, D.C.'s largest private developer from the late 1920's to the early 1960's. Early life and educa ...

. Cafritz has a B.A. and M.A. from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

, having dropped out of Brown University after forming Pussy Galore.

Pussy Galore

In 1985, guitarist Julia Cafritz and fellow Brown University classmate, Jon Spencer on vocals and guitar, and John Hammill on drums, formed the punk noise band Pussy Galore. In May 1986 they moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

STP

In 1989, Cafritz left Pussy Galore and formed the short-lived all-girl group STP. STP released one single and toured with Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Cafritz joined fellow CBGBs Record Canteen clerk Ned Hayden's group, the Action Swingers.

Free Kitten

In 1992, she formed Free Kitten, a musical collaboration with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, drummer Yoshimi from the Boredoms and Pavement bassist, Mark Ibold. They released records and toured on and off through 1997. In 2008, Cafritz, Gordon and Yoshimi recorded and released ''Inherit'' on

Ecstatic Peace Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by American musician Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. The label name is borrowed from a line in Tom Wolfe's 1968 nonfiction novel '' The Electric Kool-Aid ...

Records after a ten-year hiatus.

Free Kitten discography

Albums: * 1994: ''Unboxed'' (

Wiiija Wiiija was a British independent record label founded in 1988 by staff from the Rough Trade Shop in Notting Hill, London. The name Wiiija is a corruption of W11 1JA, the postcode of the Rough Trade Shop in Talbot Street. The label was notable fo ...

) * 1995: ''Nice Ass'' ( Kill Rock Stars) * 1997: ''Sentimental Education'' ( Kill Rock Stars) * 2008: ''Inherit'' (

) EPs * 1992: ''Call Now'' (

) * 1996: ''Punks Suing Punks'' ( Kill Rock Stars) Singles * 1992: "Yoshimi Vs. Mascis" split ( Time Bomb) * 1993: "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" ( Sympathy for the Record Industry) * 1993: "Lick!" (In The Red) * 1993: "Special Groupie" (SOS) * 1994: "Sex Boy" (Radiation) * 1994: "Harvest Spoon" (

) * 1997: "Chinatown Express" ( Kill Rock Stars) * 2008: "Seasick" (

)

Solo work

In 2012, Cafritz released a track called "dash dash dash" on a Thick Syrup Records Comp Called '78 LTD.

Julie Cafritz solo discography

* 2012:
dash dash dash
on ''Album '78 LTD'' ( Thick Syrup Records)

Personal life

Cafritz is married to Bob Lawton of Labor Board and Twin Towers Touring, who was a booking agent to bands like Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and Superchunk, among others. In 2000, Cafritz and Lawton relocated to Florence, Massachusetts, where they ran a furniture store called Artifacts 20th Century. They have two children, daughter Alice and son Ollie. While still playing music, Cafritz has taught English at Holyoke Community College.

Notes and references

External links

Julia Cafritz
at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafritz, Julia 1965 births American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Cafritz family Living people Singers from Washington, D.C. Brown University alumni Pussy Galore (band) members Noise rock musicians 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Women rock singers American rock guitarists 21st-century American women singers Free Kitten members 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers