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Barb Wire Dolls’ Bio

BARB WIRE DOLLS Biography

Barb Wire Dolls a girl-fronted New Wave Punk band from Greece have arrived to shake and wake up the world of Rock and Roll with their tintillating and bombastic live show and self-released debut EP "Punk The Fussies!". Queen Isis, the young sex godess and singer of Barb Wire Dolls, has come to start a new revolution with her band; to uproot the boring state of the present Pop Music world and to re-energize audiences with classic, balls-to-the-wall rock and roll.

Going back to the roots of Punk and DIY by recording all live in the studio, and in one take (band including vocal), the Barb Wire Doll's 6 song EP "Punk The Fussies!" could be the most refreshing music since Blondie, No Doubt, and Hole brought their female fronted rock prowess to the masses.

With Sex Pistols inspiration and power, the punk anthem "Street Generation" is absolutely invincible as the opening track on the radio-friendly EP, calling all punks to get out and stand up to the hypocrisy of the world. If you were'nt into punk rock, this song will convert you instantaneously. Queen Isis showing her passion for surfing and with a Nirvana-esque riff, "Drown" becomes the perfect soundtrack for a pre-surf session that any surfer would blast on his car stereo upon arriving at the local break. On the third track "Sung Heroes", the band takes you to the rock show and grooves so hard that you can't help but sing along, wishing you were on stage cranking it out to the sold-out crowd.

Having spent time hanging with the legendary Z-Boys of Dogtown while on her visit to Los Angeles, Queen Isis (a surfer and skateboarder) ups one on Courtney Love's "Malibu" with her own authentic version of her experiences in Los Angeles and San Diego. "California" is the result, a soothing and melodic pop song that captures the epicness that is simply California. Queen Isis pulls out her Aussie roots on "So Hot", an ACDC inspired song that is so sexy and dangerous that she makes the young boys hide secretly under their sheets (with a smile) while she gives exotic dancers and lovers the perfect song to heat things up to. The sixth and last song "Punk The Fussies!", and title of the Barb Wire Dolls EP, shows the bands' punk roots borrowing inspiration from Black Flag, Sonic Youth, and The Distillers while Queen Isis yells with alarming clarity "aren't you bored yet?!". The song is an instant classic, saying what needs to be said with convincing power and real punk attitude.

The 'must-have' Barb Wire Dolls "Punk The Fussies!" EP is causing a musical riot in Punk and Pop circles, echoing beyond Greece's music borders,and giving these Greeks a big buzz and shot at their rock and roll dream.

Queen Isis (vocals), Johnny Warhol (guitar), JB Krank (bass), Stix (drums)

The extended biography:

Queen Isis, an ex-model with a passion for designing and making her own clothes, started working illegally at age 13 in the nightclubs of Athens, Greece when she moved there after growing up in Sydney, Australia with her Greek mother. Queen Isis also spent time living with her Latin father in Los Angeles, but going back and forth between her two divorced parents was too much chaos for her as a young teenager and she became a serious problem child, rebelling against everything that came her way. Her only refuge was in listening to rock music and being independent from her parents.

Nearing the end of her teenage years while working on the island of Crete one summer, she met Tas of the Greek grunge/punk trio Black Ocean and they hit it off immediately. She moved in with him at an artist commune that he was part owner of there and she got exposed to the many musicians her first year there. The artist commune had musicians from all over the world doing residencies, and she listened to them perform and record on a weekly basis for over a year until finally she realized that she also wished to be a singer. Within two months of making the choice to be a singer, she had a full time band, joining up with other musicians from the commune.

The newly formed band chose the name Barb Wire Dolls since Queen Isis, a "bad Barbie" type, had a big thing for Blondie, Sex Pistols, and New York Dolls and after only a few rehearsals, they recorded fourteen songs in three nights that were to be a demo of sorts. As soon as the songs were heard by Los Angeles music executives, she was flown to California to negotiate a record deal. After multiple lunches and courting with record execs, she opted to sign an international publishing deal with Warner/Chappell instead. Her reason for not taking a record deal immediately was that she wanted to return to Greece and get more live experience under her belt with her band before she commited to hitting the world stages. "It was all coming too fast for me. Just starting a band and not even playing a real show yet, and big execs are buying me dinner and taking me to shows on the Sunset Strip promising me the world. Way too fast, and I needed to be the real deal first" says Queen Isis in one of her interviews in the Greek press.

With the money she received from the publishing contract, Queen Isis stopped working and put all of her energy into the band back in Greece. The four members kept getting better by rehearsing constantly and playing to packed crowds every weekend. The band quickly became the most popular girl-fronted punk band ever in Greece, with exposure on MTV, multiple national tv performances, headlining festivals, and amassing new fans at every show from young teenagers to old punks re-living the music that first inspired them.

With months of performances now under her belt, a line of stage clothes and merch inspired by her facination with fashion and punk rock, and with over fifty new original unrecorded songs, Queen Isis and her band finally decided they were ready for the big leagues. It was time for Barb Wire Dolls to get a record deal in the US and to start touring beyond their homeland, something no rock band from Greece has ever done in the US. And with invites to tour with The Raveonettes, The Slits, and The Subways, it looks like the imaginary magical doors have been broken down specifically for Barb Wire Dolls to bust on through to the other side.

Influences:

Blondie, Dead Boys, Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, X, The Germs, Siousxie Sioux and The Banshees, Generation X, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Slits, The Vibrators, The Go Go's, Concrete Blonde, The Distillers, The Knack, Missing Persons, The Motels, Social Distortion, Black Flag, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant, Circle Jerks, PJ Harvey, Toilet Boys, Toni Basil, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Bangles, The Runaways, Film, New York Dolls, The Stooges, MC5, The Jam, The Who, Luscious Jackson, Mudhoney, Talk Talk, Tracy Bonham, Pirate Casino, Crass, Velvet Underground, Flesh For Lulu, The Auteurs, D Generation, Andy Warhol, Patsy Cline, Angwish, The Cars, Devo, Fastlane Roogalator, Neil Young, Heartbreakers, Eurogression, The Romantics, YAZ, Circle Jerks, Belly, Gutterboy, Rancid, Kalomoira, Sugarcubes, Hanoi Rocks, Lunachicks, Til' Tuesday, Good Ol' Boy Vinny, Lone Justice, Gene Loves Jezebel, REM, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Romeo Void, Throwing Muses, Scrawl, The Godfathers, Dead Kennedys, AC DC, Bad Brains, Fugazi, Madonna, Hole, Black Ocean, Cyndi Lauper, Mary's Danish, Breeders, Stevie Nicks, Cat Power, Liz Phair, The Subways, Ronald Koal and The Trillionaires, Flogging Molly, As If, Plimsouls, Led Zeppelin, Avril Lavigne, Throbbing Gristle, Wipers, Dramarama, Pat Benatar, 7 Seconds, Go Betty Go, Pepper, Tears For Fears, The Sundays, Minor Threat, Sleater-Kinney, Big Black, Veruca Salt, Slightly Stoopid, No Doubt, Stiff Little Fingers, Squatweiler, The Smiths, GBH, Squirrel Bait, Xipoliti Stratia, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Bad Religion, Shoegazer, Pixies, Moving Targets, Minor Threat, L7, Transvision Vamp, The Toll, Sonic Youth, Dark Arts, The Police, Sublime, Jane's Addiction, Nirvana