When you create your own lane, people are bound to take notice. That’s why pop punk group Shiragirl has defied easy definition for the past decade, bouncing between speedy guitar-based anthems and sugary bops while earning the appropriate title: “Punk Rock Madonna.” Lead singer Shira is a veteran of the New York punk and hardcore scene who loves Rancid and the Ramones, but is also an unabashed dancing queen who’s not mad at Pink or Charli XCX.
The singer (born Shira Yevin) and her band — drummer/musical director Raine Palladino, bassist Leanne Bowes and touring guitarist Moa Munoz — exercise their dual musical muscles on their upcoming EP, Brooklyn Goes Hollywood, released in June, which was co-produced by Rancid singer/guitarist Tim Armstrong (Pink, Jimmy Cliff) and former Dust Brothers member John King (Beastie Boys, Beck).
“I’ve always been about doing things differently and blazing my own trail because all legends blaze their own trail,” Shira told Billboard. “That’s why it’s hard for artists like me because people want to put you in a box, but I’ve never let that stop me and I’ve always done my own thing.”
The latter includes the time Shira famously crashed the Warped Tour in her Barbie pink tour bus in 2004 and set up her own bootleg stage outside in an effort to get more girl band representation on Kevin Lyman’s annual traveling punk rock festival. Since then, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Shiragirl is something of an icon to the Vans Warped Tour. It’s been 14 years since Shira Yevin and her band first crashed Warped Tour in that pink RV to set up her own stage and play her brand of female-centric electro-punk. She might’ve been tossed out of the venue if she was at any other show, but “surprise punk show” is one of Warped’s MOs, so founder Kevin Lyman invited her back to host her own stage. Even on this year’s final cross-country run of the iconic festival, Warped Tour’s Shiragirl stage served as a launching pad for female-fronted acts as it has for over 200 other bands.
Shiragirl “Get Em Hot” – Official Music video
Shira Yevin’s girls-to-the-front activism may have forever changed Warped Tour history – she broke into the boys club, is profiled in the book Misfit Summer Camp: 20 Years On The Road With The Vans Warped Tour. She also received an MTV Warpie Award, and a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Warped Tour Time Capsule Exhibit. But that’s not the only way she is changing the punk rock scene. Shiragirl went on to rocked stages across North America, including support slots for Rancid, NOFX, and Juliette Lewis. In 2017, Shiragirl shot a music video for her single “RESIST” at the Women’s March, and was invited back to play the 2018 Women’s March. Recently, Shira’s original one-woman show, Hot Dates, won the Producer’s Encore Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Hot Dates details memorable moments in the life of a Bisexual Jewish American Ivy League Punk Rock Pothead Princess.
The recently released 6-song EP Brooklyn Goes Hollywood was produced by Tim Armstrong (Rancid, The Transplants, Pink) and John King (Dust Brother, Beastie Boys, Beck). The lead single, “Get Em Hot,” is featured on the official Vans Warped Tour Compilation for the tour’s final cross country run. The EP has been described as “[challenging] the punk rule book [and embracing] solidarity between female musicians” by Alt Press. Billboard‘s review mentioned that “Shiragirl has defied easy definition for the past decade.”
Shiragirl travels far and wide, but her soul will always be Forever Warped.