At first listen, Shiragirl comes off as in-your-face, fearless, true to her art. Shira is all those things…what do you expect from a protégé of Tim Armstrong, Joan Jett and other punk rock legends? Yet Shira is smart…and her honest, hard-hitting brand of music is only one of the many layers to Shira. Shiragirl has shared a stage with Rancid, NOFX and Donita Sparks, among many others. Shira sees something she wants, and doesn’t hesitate to go after it.

Shiragirl is perhaps best known for literally crashing the Warped Tour in ’04, which won her an MTV Warpie Award and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Warped Tour Time Capsule). “We drove our pink RV into the gates of Warped Tour and set up right opposite the skate ramp. Doors opened and everyone came running over to see what all the pink was about. We played a fun and raucous set with our lo-fi sound sys-tem. Then Kevin Lyman walked by and we figured we were done for. So I walked up to him to say hello, and he smiled and said, ‘Shira! So you on for the whole tour now?’ He was impressed with our moxy. From there I put together a proposal for a whole all-girl Shiragirl Stage. I wanted to provide a platform for girls to play on the tour, since there weren’t many at the time. The next summer we hosted over 200 female-fronted bands all over US and Canada, including Paramore. The following year is when Joan Jett graced our stage. Running the stage was a LOT of work, but it was for a good cause.”

Shira’s background is not the typical story of the front woman of an NYC all female punk rock band. Shira got into music through dance. She began training at the age of three…ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop. “I’ve always felt most at home on stage, performing. Then I got into songwriting. I hooked up with a producer in London to record some tracks and before long, I was singing and performing my songs live with a DJ. That evolved into putting together a full-fledged all-girl band.

Shira’s musical heroes are as eclectic as Shira herself. “Since I was a young girl I always admired Madonna. Not only is she a great dancer and performer, but she always makes a statement… Kathleen Hanna and Bikini Kill really drew me to feminist riot grrl punk culture.

“Joan Jett is the ultimate…we opened for Joan in ‘06 and toured with her on Warped Tour ‘06. I actually had the honor of singing “Bad Reputation” with Joan, while she played guitar and sang back-up. It was surreal. Joan helped me get thru that tour. While running the Shiragirl Stage we had a couple girls drop off the tour. Joan Jett herself came to my RV, sat down, looked me in the eye and said, ‘You have to keep going. You’re doing a great thing. Girls like that make girls like us look bad, because they can’t hang. Stick with it.’

“Tim Armstrong totally changed my life. Tim is by far the most down-to-earth rock star I know. Tim approached me on Warped ‘03 when I was working for the Truth. It was right after he worked with Pink... Tim wanted to work on music with me which was amazing. I love Rancid and the Transplants. In fact, Tim helped write a couple of songs on our lat-est album: “Tantrum” and “Battles.” Armstrong says, “Shira is multi-talented, beautiful, and has a great spirit. I’ve always had her back and I’m behind her all the way. She defi-nitely has that star power. She’s really evolved as an artist.”

Shira loves to perform live, and all the songs she writes are autobiographical. “It depends on the show…sometimes it’s scary as hell to perform onstage, like standing naked in front of a crowded room. Sometimes it’s incredible, it feels like I’m on top of the world. Those are the times when I’m truly able to connect with the audience. And when I get feedback…positive or negative…that’s the best, because that’s how I know people are actually listening. Our live show is a lot of fun; untamed, aggressive, and sexy. At the same time we try to change it up and throw in some vulnerable moments.”

With prodigy drummer Raine Palladino leading the all-female band as musical direc-tor, Shiragirl’s live sound is stronger than ever. Shira is ready to conquer: “I want to take over the music industry with my all-girl band and show that we can do it BETTER than the big boys.” Shiragirl is releasing Scream! Spit! Sing! this summer. New single and music video “Sick Day” is out now, and the download can be purchased exclusively through Conquer Entertainment.

CLICK TO WATCH VIDEO

Released in September of 2009, with an official high class, all out, Yacht Party premiere sponsored by Nuvo, and produced by Parris of GoReela films, “Sick Day” depicts Shira waking up late and deciding to skip work or school for the day, while playing a diverse mix of characters; the girl on the beach with her friends who had gotten out of work or class (depending on your perspective, she is both simultaneously), the school nurse, the naughty school-girl acting up in class, the teacher, the working slave, the slave-driver boss, and the rock-star singer. The video ends up with a rock concert party scene in a live performance. It is a hi-fi, hi-def video, with elaborate sets and nine costume changes, and was shot, directed, and produced by Parris of GoReela films.

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