Trashing Violet’s Marisa Bloom – Continually Crushing Preconceived Notions

Back in December of 2018, Marisa Bloom put an ad on CraigsList looking for bandmates who possessed three specific qualities, “I was like, listen, you have to like women, punk, and you can’t hit on me.”

And just like that, Trashing Violet was born.

Already with a guitar player on board, the band quickly rounded out, and within six months they had their name, original songs, and they’d booked their first gig.

The Connecticut-based rock band, which consists of Marisa on vocals and guitar, lead guitarist Niles W, drummer Nick D, and bassist Doug E (men in photo L to R), has only seen one member change over the years, with the original guitar player leaving, and the addition of Niles.

Creating the band was the realization of a dream for Marisa, but unlike many musicians, the dream wasn’t from childhood. This is because Marisa didn’t pick up a guitar until she was 18 years old.

“I would just play when I went to school at University of Maryland,” she remembers, “I spent one year, my junior year, at Loyola, and I remember playing in New Orleans on the rooftop of my dorm.”

An ex-boyfriend, however, created problems for her. He was also a guitar player, and she says, “When I started getting good, he actually would get really jealous. He’d be like, ‘Where did you learn that?!’ and he actually said, ‘You ought to stick to poetry.’ That really set me back.”

Marisa developed a chip on her shoulder. “I suddenly felt like I was an imposter in his world, and this is when I’m like 20, 21, 22. I wish I could shake that girl, because I should have been in a band much earlier.”

Despite becoming adept at playing, and joining a number of bands, she says, “I felt like an imposter a lot of the time, probably until I was about 30, honestly.”

Now fully confident, and knowing she’s the real deal, Marisa and her Trashing Violet bandmates have a very different hurdle to contend with – being middle aged parents in a scene obsessed with youth.

“We know the scene,” she says, “we know the scene does favor people who don’t have kids, and who are younger. It always has. I benefited from that when I was younger, but I feel like I’m bringing more artistry, I’m bringing more good quality material, and a lot of experience to the stage.”

I caught up with Marisa over Zoom, and she discussed the benefits of maturity, as well as writing an anthem for girls who aspire to rock, and how music became the unlikely catalyst for motherhood. She also discussed what it was like opening for one of her childhood favorites, ‘80s icon Tiffany.

The first question I have to ask is the obvious one – who is Violet and why are we trashing her? 

Oh my gosh, that is hilarious. Violet is sort of the alter ego of the band, which is made up of young Gen X / elder millennials who celebrate ‘90s music, and ‘90s culture, at a high level.

Violet Beauregard (from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory), we all love her.

We love Hole’s “Violet.”

It’s a name that’s sort of emblematic of a feeling.

Trashing … I don’t know. I don’t know why we’re trashing her.

People ask us about our name as if it’s some kind of deep revelatory thing that we came up with, but literally we were sitting there with a whiteboard, just shooting around ideas. The minute we landed on Trashing Violet we were like, we kind of like it, but our spouses were like, no, nuh-uh.

And that made you like it more? 

Of course. Then we’re like, yes, this is our name, this is who we are.

Now I’m like, yeah, I love it. We’re Trashing Violet. We’ve been Trashing Violet for eight years. Well, three of us. Niles joined two years ago.

What makes Trashing Violet different from all the other projects you’ve been a part of? 

I guess that I’m a fucking adult.

Am I allowed to curse? I just did.

I started playing guitar at age 18, and, of course, I joined a lot of other bands, and I would be having shots before I sang, and I never warmed up. I was like, I’m punk rock.

Now that I’m a grown up, and I know how to communicate with people, I know how to be a good listener, and a good leader, I show up sober, and I play sober.

I’m at a point where I appreciate my time. I have two children. I don’t think I had that kind of maturity in my 20s.

I’ve always been a nice person, and a decent bandmate, but to really know how to maximize my time, bring a balance of maturity and fun to a situation, and just have confidence in myself as an artist, that’s what I bring. That’s why this is different.

Who were some of your original influences? 

Growing up, I had a variety of influences, as people do, right? 

here was the pop. Tiffany, and Debbie Gibson were big when I was in elementary school, and George Michael was my first concert, so of course, I loved all that. But once I really discovered rock at like age 14, 15, it really changed my trajectory.

Of course, I liked pop rock, like Def Leppard, and my dad gave me the Guns N’ Roses album when I was like 11, even though it had some seriously awful, violent depictions in it, but discovering women in rock, punk rock … In Washington, D.C., where I’m from, there is a huge crossover of political punk, and art. There was the station, 99.1, it was WHFS, alternative rock that was actually alternative. That exposed me to a lot of new bands, Sonic Youth, Shakespeares Sister, all of this music that I hadn’t heard before. Then I found myself falling in love with punk. Even though it was a little bit macho, I loved the aggression of the D.C. hardcore scene. I really loved Black Flag. I loved Bikini Kill. I loved the Violent Femmes. I remember when I was 15, secretly listening to the Violent Femmes at the playground.

But when I saw Courtney Love in 1994, when I saw Hole for the first time, and I saw her put her little Mary Jane heel on the monitor, it was September 28th, 1994, I was like, “I want to play guitar.” It was Courtney Love.

People get disappointed when I say that, but she is my sun, moon and stars in terms of her musicianship.

I have often said she’s one of the most underrated women in the history of rock, and one of the most underappreciated, so you’re preaching to the choir. Now, one of the songs I heard you play earlier this year at Black Rock PorchFest that I loved was called “Girls Play Instruments.” Other than you playing guitar, what inspired the song, and what have been the reactions you’ve had to it from both girls, and their parents? 

“Girls Play Instruments” is a rallying cry for women to just pick up instruments, to do their thing.

The song started as a rambling of memories of me playing guitars in different scenes. In the first verse I talk about playing guitar in a basement with an ex, a former lover. Then there’s a scene with me trying to get my band a spot at this overpacked, hardcore show. They overbooked it, and they were giving all the men in the scene a spot.

The impact of the song, though, is much bigger than that. What started off as just sort of this rallying cry, “Girls rock, girls rule, girls play instruments,” really caught on. Like you’re a girl, you don’t have to sit there while your husband is in a dad cover band, you can learn to play your own songs. You don’t need a man, or a woman, or anybody. All you need is yourself. I wish I had been told more of that at a younger age.

What’s the most interesting door music has opened for you over the years? 

What doors has it opened? I’ve met some incredible people. I started my blog (rockmommy.com). It’s given me my friendships, and quite honestly, it’s a sense of purpose.

Probably most importantly, it opened the door to motherhood.

I’ve never actually articulated it that way, but let me explain. I wasn’t convinced, or I didn’t even think I wanted to have kids. When I started playing guitar, I remember reading an article about the first rock and roll camp for girls in Portland, Oregon and I wrote to them. It was a volunteer job, and I got it. I started coaching these girls, and I was just like, this is amazing. Teaching them how to play, and be confident, these little eight year olds, it’s a dream.

When I moved to Brooklyn after graduate school in 2005, I got the opportunity to teach guitar at the Willie Mae rock and roll camp for girls, and that was amazing, too. I met a lot of great women, including Bikini Kill’s current touring guitarist, Sara (Landeau).

Because of that, (I was offered) an opportunity to teach guitar at the Brooklyn Guitar School. I was like one of two women who taught there. That’s when it just hit me that not only did I want to play, and teach, in addition to writing, and participating, I wanted to be a mom. So I would say that’s probably the biggest door it opened for me.

That’s amazing. And now you have two kids. Do they realize you're cool? Have they figured that out yet? 

Oh, they don’t think I’m cool. They only think I’m cool when I doing things for them.

You’re the frontwoman of your own band! 

They’ve come to see me when my band opened for Tiffany. They were right there in their little Trashing Violet merch, but now that they’re teenagers, it’s not quite like that.

You opened for Tiffany, which means you opened for one of your childhood favorites. 

I did. Oh my God, I was trying to be normal, but obviously for a month before I couldn’t sleep.

We practiced like a hundred thousand hours to make sure we were completely set, and I was literally listening to Tiffany songs all throughout.

It was cool because District Music Hall in Norwalk used to be Wall Street Theater. My friend Vicki F, who was friends with the owner there, she got me the opportunity.

(Tiffany) was late for soundcheck, and I’m still freaking out inside, but she comes in, and she’s like, “Hey.” I was like, OK, be normal, you know? But then I was filming a video, putting on my makeup, like, “Here we are. We’re going to open for Tiffany,” and Tiffany walks in. I was like, oh my God.

She was super nice. She let me bring all my friends backstage, and take pictures, and I tried to have like a quiet moment where I was like, “Listen, I know this is like just another gig for you, but this is a big deal for me, and I think you’re fantastic.”

People don’t know this about Tiffany, but she’s not just like the pop queen of the malls, she has a rock star, or total rock and roll edge. She’s so cool. She had members of L.A. Guns playing.

I love Tiffany as a person, and as an artist. I think she’s more than meets the eye.

Finally, what projects do you have in the works? Are there music videos on the way? Singles, EPs, albums? 

Well, my music blog, Rock Mommy, recently had a massive redesign. That is my focus by day.

Trashing Violet, we have a single coming out later this fall. That’s going to be the title track to our new album. I don’t want to tell you the name because we might change our mind. We recorded it at Tiny Bunker Studios, and we’re so pumped about that.

And yeah, power to parents and bands. Power to music and motherhood, and to you.

For more Trashing Violet, check out trashingviolet.com, and to read Marisa’s blog, head on over to rockmommy.com.