In Memory of Sarah Kirsch Last Wednesday, December 5th, we all lost a truly inspiring, compassionate, talented human being. Sarah Kirsch (long-time fixture of the Bay Area hardcore punk community, formerly known as Mike Kirsch, and member of the bands Fuel, Sawhorse, Pinhead Gunpowder, Navio Forge, John Henry West, Sixteen Bullets, Torches To Rome, Bread and Circuits, Please Inform The Captain This Is A Hijack, Baader Brains, and Mothercountry Motherfuckers) passed away last week after a long and difficult battle with Fanconi Anemia. She was someone so fundamental in shaping the way I have grown to experience the world, how to move through it and how best to use my expressive energy in confronting it, that it's difficult to imagine a world without her. Here are pieces on her passing in the SF Weekly and MaximumRockNRoll. Growing up in Arkansas in the early 1990's, my friends and I spent countless hours skateboarding and trampolining to the Fuel LP while writing and drawing our early comics efforts. That LP remains my ALL-TIME favorite album. When I sent word to one of those friends, Nathan Wilson, about her passing, I urged a listen to the album in her honor. He remarked with such simplicity and truth, "She really did create a sound that is immediately accessible whenever I think about it (even 21 years later), and probably always will be." He didn't even need to actually play the record-- the sound was so pervasive, so deeply-rooted in every fiber of our beings, that he only needed to find the space in his heart where it (and she) resides. Bread And Circuits in Memphis TN, June 1999. Sarah and I finally met at a Seein Red/ Yaphet Kotto/ Deathreat show in Little Rock in 1998, and built a friendship in the year after that as we helped book shows for each other's bands, and embarked on a short leg of tour together (with Bread and Circuits, Former Members of Alfonsin, and Soophie Nun Squad). Especially in the reactionary-PC climate of the late '90's, this pairing seemed pretty weird and incompatible to most people, but it was apparent that Sarah "got" what Soophie was trying to do with our performances, and respected our creative vision with which we tried to intertwine levity, fantasy, politics, and human interaction. Likewise, Sarah's bands used a holistic approach to their work-- building up music, performance, packaging, text, and intention to convey something much more powerful than even the already incredibly passionate music. At times we'd be a bit nervous that we falsely represented ourselves as being apolitical or disconnected, especially in the presence of older punks who had a much more pointed and serious focus to their music, but Sarah would constantly put us at ease, shedding those pretensions, costuming up with us at shows and even tucking us all into bed in Memphis one night, singing us an ad-libbed Frampton-style lullabye while wailing away on her guitar with a head-mounted miner's light casting shadows across the room. I'll treasure that forever. Sarah and her friends displayed hospitality and unrivaled generosity when Soophie embarked on our West Coast tours, showing up at her door with 12-14 people for entire weekends, at the time oblivious to how imposing our presence might've been-- she always made us feel right at home, well-fed, and ready to take in the sights and sounds of her lifelong home. I feel so privileged to've been able to spend time and break bread with Sarah semi-regularly since then, to see her last band play on tour a few summers ago, and to spend as much time as possible with her in the hospital last February. In a scene/community that generally eschews the notion of heroes, Sarah was probably the closest thing I've ever had to a hero throughout most of my life, and this was made all the more sweet and amazing as our friendship grew over these past 15 years. I don't want to write anymore about this right now, so I'll just say this: Sarah, you are missed and loved by everyone whose life you've touched, and truly by everyone who knew you. You amaze me, and always will. I would not be who I am today without you. I recommend these tracks to give a glimpse into her incredible musical vision: Skinflutes-- "Rebel Run" Fuel-- "Instrumental (2:52)", "Cue To You", and "For Lack Of Better Words (Shine)" Sawhorse-- "One" Pinhead Gunpowder-- "I Wanna" and "Hey Now" Navio Forge-- "Weaponizing" John Henry West-- "Avoiding" Torches To Rome-- "Young Arsenal" and "Numbered Days" Bread And Circuits-- "Statute Of Limitations" and "Bloodbath" Colbom-- "Prisoner Of Work" Please Inform The Captain This Is A Hijack-- "Postcards From The Future", "Transnational Vampire Killers", and "The Asymmetric Enemy" http://seemybrotherdance.blogspot.com/2012/12/in-memory-of-sarah-kirsch.html?m=1

PRANK RECORDS: SARAH ( Mike) KIRSCH, R.I.P.

Greatly Sadden by the news Yesterday of one of the Bay Area's most prolific Punk Musicians, Sarah ( Mike) Kirsch's passing after a long fight with a rare bone Marrow disease.

When I moved to the Bay Area in 1992, Three years after the 1989 Earthquake that shook and emptied out a lot of San Francisco, the Bay area still had retained it's role as beacon for the United States Punk culture from the 1980's - the dotcom boom hadn't transformed the city so rent was cheap and people congregated here from all over the US to work at punk Institutions like Maximum Rock'n'Roll ( Where Sarah reviewed records under the moniker "Mick Krash"), see and Make bands and play at 924 Gilman Street have their records distributed by, volunteer time or just hang out at Blacklist Mailorder and Epicenter, and maybe try to get a job or record deal with Lookout Records or Mordam Distribution. Sarah's Bands touched on and were part of the evolution of all of those Bay Area standbys and were a constant within them, and later her bands became a cornerstone, if not part of the foundation of Goleta, California's vital Ebullition Records Label and distribution who released Sawhorse, Torches to Rome, Bread and circuits, and most recently a retrospective of one of her most short lived, but most loved projects, the frenetic 1990's hardcore band John Henry West.

One thing: Posting a bunch of Youtube clips of Sarah band's fails to capture is the lyrical intent of the bands Sarah did never waivered, it grew more political, it grew more emotional and meaningful in that intent with each band. That something that MP3's and grainy live video don't often carry over- the impact of the lyric sheet and artwork that conveys that and seals that deal. In the past ten years or so, a lot of punk has sloughed off it's 90's political impact, I think Sarah's projects retained an as fervent fanbase as much for great music as it's unwaivering committment to it's progressive ideals.

If you read MRR every month for years before moving halfway accross the country, there's something comforting about the familiarty of " Oh yeah, I've read that person's name in the shitworker column of MRR" when meeting a whole new slate of people, and Sarah was always very welcoming and incredibly friendly in a way the Apparent anger in his bands might not suggest. As years went by and people from that 90's scene faded into having real lives, moving away and moving on, there was always respect and joy when I'd run into her. "Yeah still at it." The Bay Area Punk scene has changed a lot since that time, but it's still gigantic enough to support a wide variety of compartmentalized micro-scenes that can go a year or two without criss-crossing.

Sarah worked Organizational Service jobs to get by ( Hilariously, One of the things I remember was going to his place in the Mission in the mid 90's and seeing the way she neatly folded and stored her t-shirts band design out- so they could be easily chosen for wear, and it's how I've folded and stored my band T-shirts ever since.), but the more important focus was she always had new band projects going, records coming out.

A brief stint on 2 Ep's of the Aaron Cometbus envisioned "Pinhead Gunpowder" is one of the first things people have mentioned in rememberances, and indeed the gruffness of Mike's vocals and searing guitar was obviously absent as a contrast and counter balance to Billie Joe from Green Day's vocals/ Playing once she left the band. Really, the Second Pinhead Gunpowder "Fahizah" 7" is one of the greatest Gilman Street era / Lookout Records ( even though I don't remember ever seeing the band around the time it came out), because the Scruffy punkiness of the early "Gilman Sound" of Crimpshrine and Monsula gets cleaned up and filtered with pop-punk sheen of Green Day but is then cut with Mike's abrasive and assertive vocals which gave Aaron's lyrics great resonance.

I regret Not seizing more opportunities to see Sarah's more recent bands of the last ten years- Please Inform the Captain This is a Hiijack, Baader Brains and the Mothercountry Motherfuckers, who's musical motifs retained a lot of the classic Kirsch moves but the scale grew more ambitious with video projection, interesting Devo / men's recovery project-styled costumes and more of a live "show" that the bands seemed to play a little less frequently, and as I said, scenes can go years without crisscrossing, shows of different scenes end up conflicting with each other. Baader Brains Just had a new record " New Era Hope Colony" 12" finally released on Ebullition / Clean Plate in October.

Sarah left such a huge legacy and enormous wealth of recorded Material, But the huge loss for the Bay Area and world Punk Community is really hard to express, as it's lost a special and unique person who offered one of it's most prolific and constant voices.R.I.P.

R.I.P.R.I.P. Sarah Kirsch, Admired Bay Area Punk Musician and Activist
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2012/12/rip_sarah_kirsch.php#more

Sarah Kirsch, a prolific Bay Area activist and punk musician in the groups Baader Brains, Fuel, Pinhead Gunpowder, and others, died on Wednesday, Dec. 5, after a lengthy battle with Fanconi Anemia. She was 42.

Kirsch's struggle with Fanconi Anemia, a rare genetic disorder that often causes leukemia or bone marrow failure, began shortly after she came out as a trans-gender woman in recent years. Previously she was known as Mike Kirsch. A grass roots effort to fund the mounting costs of healthcare expenses was in place for more than a year.

Steve Stevenson, owner of the record store and label 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, expressed his sadness at the news of her passing and his disappointment regarding a benefit gig scheduled for next season, at which high-profile acts were slated to reunite for Kirsch's aid.

The influence Kirsch left upon musicians and activists in the Bay Area and beyond is staggering. Appreciation for her life and accomplishments continues to mount, and an effort to fund her memorial is imminent. Kirsch had been an extremely active member of the Bay Area punk scene since the mid-'80s, performing in at least 15 groups including Fuel, Pinhead Gunpowder (with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong), and Baader Brains, many of them revolving around the early years of all-ages venue 924 Gilman St. in Berkeley. Her lyrics were marked by incisive political and personal ethics that were dutifully reflected in her life up to her passing.

Besides her prolific musical involvement, Kirsch was an active member of the collectively-run Suigetsukan Martial Arts Dojo in West Oakland since 1996. Mike E., Sensae of Suigetsukan, expressed his admiration for Kirsch's dizzying achievements as well as her humility. "In spite of her accomplishments... she was one of the most understated people I ever met," he said. "While her accomplishments could have put her in the limelight, she preferred to just quietly keep doing the work, effortlessly demonstrating the humility that many of us strive for, but fall short of." In addition to her involvement with the greater Dojo, Kirsch was a teacher at Girl Army, an Oakland collective offering affordable self-defense training for women and trans-people.

Kirsch helped politicize and inspire many people she knew. A sentiment expressed nearly universally by friends was that despite her unwavering conviction, Kirsch was able to be confrontational and effectively raise awareness of ethical issues in and outside of the music scene without passing judgment or belittling those she disagreed with. Punk is fraught with contentious political posturing, but it is rare to find a member of the community who addresses the issues with the grace, poise, and ascetic dedication that Kirsch did.

Jesse Townley, manager of the Alternative Tentacles label and member of East Bay punk groups Blatz, The Criminals and others, upon the mention of Kirsch, immediately recalled lyrics she wrote in the late 80's for a Fuel track called "The Name Is." "It's about screwed up jokes," Townley says. "It's such a concentrated blast of intelligence... It was blunt, sly and snide at the same time. Political and ethical considerations in our music scene would be further advanced if people were more like [her.]"

Kirsch's passion for radical politics was echoed by the memories of Jose Palafox, a member of Baader Brains with Kirsch. Palafox recalls first meeting her in the mid-'90s while on tour in San Francisco. Their initial meeting had a profound impact on his own political development. "She said, "Hey, the revolution is not some event over there where we get rid of these motherfuckers that we hate, the revolution is an everyday practice," Palafox remembers. He is now a professor and politically focused academic.

Spencer Rangitsch, a member of Kirsch's two most recent musical projects, Baader Brains and Mothercountry Motherfuckers, had the following to share in an obituary posted to the blog of punk zine Maximum Rocknroll:

"Sarah was ahead of her time, almost as if from another galaxy: her talent, vision, creativity, empathy, values, compassion, dedication, and unrelenting passion for life -- all were truly unsurpassable and there is no one who I could ever even imagine having just one of those qualities in greater quantity."

Many of Kirsch's friends contacted for this article were too distraught to offer their memories for remembrance at this time.

Palafox recalls his last memory of Kirsch two weeks ago at her partner's birthday party as one of hope and positivity. She was still making plans for the future, elaborating on artistic and educational ambitions. "She was visionary. She really embodied the idea that another world is possible. We have it on our shirts and our posters, but she really embodied it in her life."