Sta-Prest was a multi-racial

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically ...

and

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

band from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

that was active in the 1990s. The group members included Aloofah (Iraya Robles) and D.M. Feelings (Gary Fembot).

Musical career

The band first made its appearance on the queercore record label

Outpunk Records Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first record label entirely devoted to queer punk bands. The label was run out of San Francisco and began as an extension of Matt Wobensmith's fanzine, ''Outpunk''. ''Outpunk'' ran for seven issues, fro ...

in 1994, on its compilation ''

Outpunk Dance Party Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first record label entirely devoted to queer punk bands. The label was run out of San Francisco and began as an extension of Matt Wobensmith's fanzine, ''Outpunk''. ''Outpunk'' ran for seven issues, fro ...

''. Soon afterwards they released their first EP, ''Vespa Sex'', also on Outpunk, followed in 1996 by the 7-inch single "Let's Be Friendly With Our Friends/You Are The Company Spy". Like other bands influenced by the nascent

scene in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

, New York

no wave No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and r ...

, and European

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

, core members of Sta-Prest - Aloofah (Iraya Robles), Dudley Manlove a.k.a. D.M. Feelings (Gary Fembot), and Professor Swish (Mark Bishop) - adopted

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s, swapped instruments between songs, and practiced a consensus-based approach to song composition. A revolving membership included Tetley, Twi Tybat, Clutch-y-Spun, and Scout. Their avant-pop sound and combination of male and female vocals were unique in the Queercore scene. After

ceased to exist, the band recorded for the label

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

, releasing their final 7-inch single "Form Fitting/Diffy Peeps". In 2002, Aloofah, (Iraya Robles) and Dudley Manlove, (Gary Fembot), appeared in

Maximum Rocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly online zine of punk subculture and radio show of punk music. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and ...

's "Queer Punk" issue, featured in a discussion with the queer-identified musicians

Martin Sorrondeguy Martin Sorrondeguy (born December 3, 1967) is the singer of American hardcore punk bands Los Crudos and Limp Wrist, the founder of the DIY record label Lengua Armada Discos, and a prominent figure in both the straight edge scene and the queerco ...

of both

Los Crudos Los Crudos is an American hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois active from 1991 to 1998 and from 2006 onward. Comprising all Latino members, the band paved the way for later Spanish-speaking punk bands in the United States and helped to ...

and

Limp Wrist Limp Wrist is an American punk rock band, who formed in 1998. Featuring members of Los Crudos, Hail Mary, Devoid of Faith, By the Throat, and Kill the Man Who Questions, the band plays short, fast hardcore punk, hardcore music, and covers them ...

and

Aaron Detroit Aaron Detroit is an American musician, zine writer and music journalist. He was first recognized as a zine writer during his mid-teens in 1992. Musical output Detroit's musical career began in the No Wave and Hardcore punk scenes of the mid-1990 ...

The Little Deaths The Little Deaths was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, San Francisco, California in 1997. The band was associated with the 1990s Queercore movement and became part of the San Francisco Bay-Area's late-1990s ...

. Spin-off bands from Sta-Prest include

Feelings On A Grid According to the '' APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations, thoughts, or images evoking them". The term ''feeling'' is closel ...

, with Dudley Manlove a.k.a. D.M. Feelings (Gary Fembot) and Le Grid, a.k.a. Stanley Lamontagne, both heavily influenced by the sounds and aesthetics of the

electropunk Electronic rock (also known as electro rock and synth rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock b ...

bands

Suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

and

The Screamers The Screamers were an American electropunk group founded in 1975. They were among the first wave of the L.A. punk rock scene. The Los Angeles Times applied the label "techno-punk" to the band in 1978. In the documentary '' Punk: Attitude'' ( ...

. Professor Swish, now Mmothra, privately released a recording of

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

digital loopscapes after the style of Nurse with Wound and :zoviet*France, entitled ''Neurotic Styles''. Gary Fembot played keyboards and sang with the band Puce Moment. The band's name was taken from

Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927 – May 11, 2023) was an American Underground film, underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and writer. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost 40 works beginning i ...

's film

Puce Moment ''Puce Moment'' is a 1949 short subject, short 6-minute film by Kenneth Anger. Summary The film opens with a camera watching 1920s-style flapper gowns being taken off a dress rack. The dresses are removed and danced off the rack to music. A long- ...

. Dudley Manlove (Gary Fembot) and Professor Swish (Mark Bishop) recorded as The Swishin' Duds, and are included on the soundtrack of the 2008 movie ''

The Lollipop Generation ''The Lollipop Generation'' is a 2008 Canadian underground experimental film written, produced, and directed by G. B. Jones, whose previous films include '' The Troublemakers'' and ''The Yo-Yo Gang''. It premiered as the Gala Feature presentati ...

'' by

G.B. Jones G. B. Jones (born 1965) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines. She is best known for producing the queer punk zine '' J.D.s'' and her ''Tom Girls'' drawings. Career Music Jones' musical career began as a young child, ...

, in which Gary Fembot appears in a cameo role.

Films

In the mid-1990s, Robles co-wrote the script for Jill Reiter's film ''In Search of Margo-Go'', which co-starred Reiter and

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pio ...

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. She is the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill and fronted the electropunk band Le Tigre ...

. The film was considered a lost riot grrrl film for many years, until it screened in 2014. In 1997, Sta-Prest appeared in performance in the seminal documentary film ''

She's Real, Worse Than Queer She or S.H.E. may refer to: Language * She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English Places * She County, Anhui ** She Prefecture, 589-1121 * She County, Hebei * She River, or Sheshui, Hubei * She ...

'' by

Lucy Thane Lucy Thane (born 1967) is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK'' (1993) and ''She's Real (Worse than Queer)'' (1997). Early life and edu ...

. As well, they produced a video for one of their songs for the Kill Rock Stars video compilation, ''Kill Rock Stars Video Fanzine'', which also included a short movie by member Gary Fembot, called ''The Oners''.

Discography

*"Nelly Strut/Suspiria" on ''

'',

OUT12CD, 1994 *''

Vespa Sex Vespa () is an Italian brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy, to a fu ...

'' 7-inch EP on Outpunk Records OUT15, 1995 *"Let's Be Friendly With Our Friends/You Are The Company Spy" 7-inch single on Outpunk Records OUT19, 1996 *"Form Fitting/Diffy Peeps" on

Mailorder Freaks Singles Club 7-inch single, 1998 *Kill Rock Stars Video Fanzine No. 2

References

External links

Kill Rock Stars Sta-Prest pageGary Fembot at ZineWiki
at

Fales Library New York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South (off of Washington Square Park) between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwi ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

{{Authority control Punk rock groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco Riot grrrl bands Queercore groups