Suzanne Gardner (born August 1, 1960) is an American musician and creative director best known for being a guitarist, vocalist, and co-founder of the rock band L7.

Early life

Gardner was born in

Altus, Oklahoma Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 18,729 at the 2020 census. Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air Force training base for C-17, KC-46 and KC-135 ...

on August 1, 1960 to Anne B. Gardner. She had an older brother, Bob, and grew up partly in Citrus Heights, California. Gardner moved to Southern California in 1977. She attended

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a Public college, public community college in Costa Mesa, California, Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Ar ...

in 1978 and studied physical anthropology and guitar. In 1980, Gardner moved to Los Angeles.

Career

Before playing with L7, Gardner held a number of jobs in Los Angeles and had worked at ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

''. She was writing poetry and music at the time she met

Donita Sparks Donita Sparks (born April 8, 1963) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter most notable for being the co-founder of the band L7. Sparks also initiated, performed, and released original material with her solo project, the band Donita S ...

in 1984. They had each worked at ''LA Weekly,'' although at separate times, and met through mutual contacts still connected to the publisher. Gardner co-founded the punk rock group L7 with Sparks by 1985. When they began to write music together as L7, Gardner and Sparks were active in the creative

Art punk Art punk, or artcore, is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and ...

DIY scene of musicians, poets, and performance artists in the

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

/Silverlake area. Gardner is a primary songwriter for L7 and is credited with the tracks "Bite the Wax Tadpole", "It's Not You", "Snake Handler", "Cat-O'-Nine-Tails", "

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

", "Stuck Here Again" and "Freak Magnet". Along with appearing on all seven of L7's studio albums, Gardner also provided guest vocals on the Black Flag song "Slip It In" on their 1984 release of the same title. With her L7 bandmates Donita Sparks and

Jennifer Finch Jennifer Finch (born August 5, 1966) is an American musician, designer, and photographer most notable for being the primary bass player of the punk rock band L7. Active in L7 from 1986 to 1996, Finch also wrote music and performed with her ban ...

, she was also featured on the

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

album ''

Suffer Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, may be an experience of unpleasantness or aversion, possibly associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the basic element that makes up the negative valence of a ...

'', released in 1988, where she provided additional guitar with Sparks on the song "Best for You". Gardner and L7 formed a

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

organization called Rock for Choice, which staged many benefit shows featuring popular bands such as

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

and

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

. The first Rock for Choice concert was in 1991. In a 1993 article for ''Spin'' which featured L7 on the magazine's cover, Renée Crist described L7 as "four of the funniest, meanest, strongest, coolest, most pissed-off women I know" and as "wild, rambunctious, spontaneous" with a stage show that "is a wash of buddy love, crowd working, and acrobatics". In 1994, Gardner appeared in the

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

film ''

Serial Mom ''Serial Mom'' is a 1994 American satirical black comedy crime film directed and written by John Waters and starring Kathleen Turner as the title character along with Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, and Suzanne Somers. It tells the story of a housew ...

'' as part of the fictitious band "Camel Lips". Gardner, in 2000, became the first woman to have her breasts plaster-cast by

Cynthia Plaster Caster Cynthia Dorothy Albritton (May 24, 1947 – April 21, 2022), better known by the pseudonym Cynthia Plaster Caster, was an American visual artist and self-described "recovering groupie" who gained fame for creating plaster casts of celebrities' ...

, the artist who had spent decades casting impressions of rock music's most famous phalluses. Original video and consolidated interviews with Gardner are included in the documentary L7: Pretend We're Dead, released in 2016 and directed by Sarah Price. The film was nominated for a VO5 NME Award for Best Music Film. Gardner continued to perform internationally with the original line up of L7 in 2015 – 2017 and co-wrote two new songs with Sparks: ''Dispatch from Mar-a-Lago'', 2017 and ''I Came Back to Bitch'', 2018. On the latest L7 album '' Scatter the Rats (''released in 2019 to generally favorable reviews), Gardner wrote several songs including "Fighting the Crave", "Proto Prototype", and "Cool About Easy". Gardner and the band announced a 6-week nationwide tour with a start date of May 10, 2019. ''Spin'' reported that Gardner appeared at the Roxy Theatre on January 11, 2020, and "delivered a blistering rendition of 'Keys to Your Heart'" by

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...

at a tribute to

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

Discography

With L7

*'' L7'' (1988) *'' Smell the Magic'' (1990) *'' Bricks Are Heavy'' (1992) *''

Hungry for Stink ''Hungry for Stink'' is the fourth studio album by L7, released in July 1994 by Slash Records. The album peaked at number 117 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, as well as number 2 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. "Fuel My Fire" was based on the ...

'' (1994) *'' The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum'' (1997) *'' Slap-Happy'' (1999) *'' Scatter the Rats'' (2019)

As guest musician

* Black Flag – ''

Slip It In ''Slip It In'' is the fourth studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1984 by SST Records. ''Slip It In'' is an extension of the sound Black Flag utilized on its second album '' My War'': heavy, cathartic, intens ...

'' (1984): backing vocals *

– ''

'' (1988): additional guitar *

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...

– ''

Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities ''Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities'' is the sixth studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks, released June 20, 1995, by Mercury Records. It is the band's last studio album to date. ''Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities ...

'' (1995): backing vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Suzi Living people 1960 births American punk rock guitarists American feminist musicians L7 (band) members Musicians from Sacramento, California Singers from California Guitarists from California 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists People from Altus, Oklahoma American women punk rock singers