Kira Roessler (born June 12, 1961) is an American musician who was the bass guitarist for the influential hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1983 to 1985. Since the mid-1980s, she has been a member of the rock duo Dos with her ex-husband Mike Watt.
Kira Roessler | |
|---|---|
 Roessler before her time with Black Flag | |
| Background information | |
| Born | June 12, 1961 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Punk rock, hardcore punk, alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, dialogue editor |
| Instrument | Bass |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | SST, New Alliance, Kill Rock Stars |
| Member of | Dos |
| Formerly of | Black Flag |
| Website | Dos' homepage at Mike Watt's Hoot Page |
Roessler also works as a dialogue editor. She was on the sound editing team for Mad Max: Fury Road, which won a 2015 Oscar. She was also on the teams that won Emmy Awards for the John Adams episode "Don't Tread on Me" and on the series Game of Thrones.
Early life
editBorn in New Haven, Connecticut,[1][2] Roessler lived there until age eight when her family moved to the Caribbean until she was eleven[2] and thereafter in California, mostly in Los Angeles.[2] Her brother is Paul Roessler, a keyboardist known for involvement in several Los Angeles–area bands including the Screamers.
Career
editMusic
editRoessler began studying piano when she was six[1] but quit at age eleven.[2] At fourteen she picked up the bass guitar and committed to learning the instrument.[2] Her first band was called Waxx and she played her first gig at age sixteen at Whisky a Go Go.[1] Other early bands were Sexsick, The Visitors, and The Monsters.[1] She then joined with a post-Germs Pat Smear to form Twisted Roots.[3]
Members of Black Flag heard her playing while she was sitting in with L.A. punk group DC3. This led to her being asked to join Black Flag in 1983 to replace founding member Chuck Dukowski.[4][5] Vocalist Henry Rollins later reported that Greg Ginn, Black Flag's leader, guitarist and primary songwriter, had grown frustrated with Dukowski's failure to progress as a musician beyond the band's hardcore punk roots and was drawn to Roessler's more nimble and sophisticated playing.[6] Roessler was majoring in applied engineering at UCLA, and Black Flag's subsequent tours were scheduled around her classes—a condition of her joining the band. Her bass playing was featured on five of Black Flag's studio albums and two officially released live albums. During her early live performances with the band she was sometimes mistaken as male due to her androgynous appearance, and she subsequently dressed in more feminine garb.[6] She remained in the band until completing touring behind their album In My Head in the autumn of 1985. She graduated from UCLA in 1986.
After Black Flag, she formed the twin-bass duo Dos with Mike Watt (to whom she was married between 1987 and 1994).[7] Dos' most recent album was released in 2011. She wrote or co-wrote songs for what would be the Minutemen's final album, 3-Way Tie, and contributed lyrics to Watt's post-Minutemen band Firehose. She later contributed artwork to Watt's first solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat?.
She appeared as a backing vocalist on the tribute album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three in 2003 along with other musical artists, including other Black Flag veterans.[8]
In December 2018, Roessler joined with Devin Hoff to form the twin-bass band AwkWard and released their first album In Progress.[9]
On August 13, 2021, on the Protonic Reversal podcast,[10] Kira revealed that an album of solo material would be released on October 19 on Kitten Robot records.[11]
Film work
editRoessler works as a dialogue editor on theatrical films in Los Angeles, sometimes credited under her full name, sometimes simply as kira. She has worked on productions including Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), and has also appeared onscreen in the documentaries We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen, American Hardcore and What Drives Us . She won Emmy Awards for her work on the John Adams episode "Don't Tread on Me" and on the series Game of Thrones.[5]
Roessler was on the sound editing team for Mad Max: Fury Road, which won an Oscar in 2016.[5][12][13]
Discography
edit- Twisted Roots (with Pat Smear)
- Pretentiawhat (1981)
- Family Man (1984)
- Slip It In (1984)
- Live '84 [Live] (1984)
- Loose Nut (1985)
- The Process of Weeding Out [EP] (1985)
- In My Head (1985)
- Who's Got the 10½? [Live] (1986)
- dos (1986)
- numero dos [EP] (1989)
- uno con dos (1989)
- CD compiling the first two Dos releases
- justamente tres (1996)
- dos y dos (2011)
- AwkWard (with Devin Hoff)
- In Progress (2018)
- Other
References
edit- ^ a b c d Leach, Ryan (May 1, 2014). "Kira Roessler Interview: Originally Ran in Razorcake #26, Now an Ebook with New Introduction By Ryan". Razorcake. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Interview with Kira Roessler". This Is Fubar Productions. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Felt, Hunter (May 20, 2004). "Twisted Roots: self-titled". PopMatters. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Prindle, Mark. "Kira Roessler – 2003". markprindle.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c Hartmann, Graham (February 29, 2016). "Former Black Flag Bassist Kira Roessler Wins Academy Award". Loudwire. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ a b Henry Rollins. Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag. 2.13.61 Publications, ISBN 978-1-880985-24-3
- ^ Cohen, Alex (July 22, 2011). "Dos: Veteran Punks With A Low-End Theory". NPR. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "HENRY ROLLINS Says He Was 'In A State Of Shock' After Learning Of West Memphis Three's Release". Blabbermouth.net. September 1, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Cohan, Brad (February 14, 2019). "Bass Wars: A spiel with Devin Hoff and Kira from AwkWard". Rock & Roll Globe. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "Protonic Reversal Ep262:Kira Roessler". Protonic Reversal. August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ Sacher, Andrew (September 27, 2021). "KIRA (ex-Black Flag) releasing debut solo album (watch the video for "The Ghosts")". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
- ^ "Former Black Flag Bassist Thanked For Mad Max: Fury Road's Oscar". Stereogum. February 29, 2016.
- ^ "Former Black Flag Bassist Kira Roessler Won an Oscar Last Night". spin.com. February 29, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2021.