Riot Woman with Katy Otto

In this episode I catch up with Katy Otto, a drummer, writer, activist, and parent who hails from the Washington DC area and currently lives in Philadelphia. She has played in bands such as Del Cielo, Trophy Wife, and Bald Rapunzel and currently plays in the band Rainbow Crimes. She has also run the independent record label Exotic Fever for 20 years. Katy currently works as Director of Communications for Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia and has worked at a number of organizations dedicated to social justice issues – reproductive health and rights, sexual violence prevention, intimate partner violence, homelessness, and veterans’ issues.

During our conversation we discuss how Katy fell in love with drums at a Hole concert, being a girl drummer who “hits hard,” the administrative work of creativity, DIY touring, punk and sobriety, talking a “both and” approach to political liberation and reform, and punk, feminism, and the act of parenting, with bonus parenting advice by way of Ian MacKaye. She also discusses the importance of support from other women when she was starting out, especially Kim Coletta of Jawbox and DeSoto records.

Featuring the song “Half Lie” by Taleen Kali. Riot Woman artwork and logo by Aurora Lady. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.