Musician, activist and analog recording artist
Kathleen Hanna
Born 1968-11-12
Portland-born riot-grrrl architect who turned a four-track cassette recorder into a revolution. Bikini Kill frontwoman who later built Le Tigre and Julie Ruin from analog scraps, proving bedroom gear could change culture.
Achievements
Co-founder of the riot grrrl movement; influential albums with Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and as Julie Ruin; archived her zines and tapes at NYU; ongoing performances and advocacy.
Birthday: Birthday November 12
Recent successes
- Continued archival and performance work. Her analog recordings and zines remain in active circulation and academic collections; she continues to perform and speak on feminist analog practice.
Happy moments
- Julie Ruin bedroom recordings. Late-1990s period when she bought an analog 8-track and made an entire album alone in her Olympia apartment, inventing a new intimate sound.
