Style Rider: For Grunge Rockers Potty Mouth, Comfort Is Key

Photo by Jesse Riggins

With a DIY ethos and a nostalgia for 90s-inspired pop-punk, Potty Mouth makes raw, unpolished music that’s pretty contagious. Comprised of Abby Weems, Victoria Madanas, and Ally Einbinder, the trio makes music you want to rock out to. In August, Potty Mouth released their self-titled EP, a follow-up to their 2013 debut record Hell Bent influenced by 90s guitar rockers Nirvana and Veruca Salt. You may have even caught the band on tour with Perfect Pussy, Waxahatchee or Swearin’ throughout the past few years.

While the Massachusetts natives are on the road, they choose to be comfortable, well-read and silly. The band really seems to have the most fun distorting their faces with apps because… why not? And they find feminist music writing pretty necessary on tour. Basically, we’d love to hang out with them anytime in a tour van.

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Pillow

Victoria: “I simply cannot do without this pillow. It suctions right onto the window so you can rest your head in a moving van without it going anywhere."

Comfy shoes, socks, and a journal

Abby: "These are my tour essentials: my most comfortable shoes, tube socks (because my socks always fall down), and a tour journal."

Music writing

Ally: "I love reading any kind of music writing, especially while we're on the road because that's when music, and the general experience of what it means to be a musician, is most on my mind. My favorite book of music writing is Rock She Wrote, which is an anthology of essays and personal journal excerpts from women—some of whom are musicians, some of whom are journalists, some of whom are scholars—all writing about music. I bought this copy while we were on tour last year at a used bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina, and I couldn't put it down for the rest of tour. My favorite piece in it is collection of excerpts from Kim Gordon's 1987 tour diary in which she writes, 'The most heightened state of being female is watching people watch you.' That line gives me chills every time I think about it."

Photo manipulation apps

Victoria/Ally/Abby: "We're all really silly people, and we kill a lot of time on tour laughing over stupid photo manipulation apps. One of our favorites is 'Face Juggler,' which—as the name suggests—is an app that swaps the faces of the people in the photo. Ally actually paid the extra $1.99 for 'Face Juggler Plus,' which allows you to swap an unlimited number of faces in any photo. This is a face-juggled picture from a house show we played last year in Harrisonburg, Virginia. WHO'S WHO?!"

Follow Ilana on Twitter and find out where to catch Potty Mouth live this CMJ weekend below.