I will admit I was not the most professional interviewer with Allie. Though I had an organized list of questions, mostly about their new EP Doll Parts, which is out now, Allie’s chill, positive, punk rock personality made for immediate comradeship (a dangerous thing in an interview). We spoke for two hours. This article is long.

We covered everything from growing up Catholic to queerness. Granted, both of those elements are very present in Alenka’s lyrics, so I suppose we didn’t swerve too far off track. 

Our conversation was a blast, and I can’t wait to support them at a live show. Their music is really fun. The EP showcases subtle elements of hardcore that weave throughout a melodic punk foundation. Bandmates Kevin (drums) and Talon (bass) provide catchy hooks and a solid  musical backbone upon which Allie’s lyrics shine. 

The lyrics do feel like the centerpiece on most tracks, but because they started out as singer-songwriter pieces, it doesn’t feel forced. Her lyrics dive into everything from feminine frustration to her experiences with classism – simply put, Allie has a lot to say. 

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Tell me about the band. What is Alenka? 

Alenka was my bedroom project for many years. I was just a little kid writing songs, and then I [got] Ableton. I decided to start recording some of it. I would rehearse and play in my car because I was living in apartments at the time and I was too loud. 

Eventually, my ultimate goal was to find a band – a punk band. I wanted [to collaborate with] other musicians. The punk band actually came about via Tinder. I was looking for a drummer, and I met Kevin there. We are not dating – that’s just how we met! 

That’s hilarious. 

Yeah, I actually ended up getting banned, so I wanted to be called “Band from Tinder,” but everyone thought that was kind of stupid. It’s a dad joke. 

Once I met Kevin and we started playing together, a friend of his became our bassist – then I ended up moving in with them this year. I live in a house with five guys, four of whom are musicians. It’s a very creative environment. 

Anyway, my old Bandcamp describes [my music] as a “deranged campfire singer,” but now that I have a band, I think I would describe us as pop punk, with some weird edges. 

[To Talon: How would you describe our sound?]

He said there are elements of hardcore in our music – a sprinkle of it – because we think it’s fun. So I would describe it as [melodic] punk with a little pizazz. 

You’ve got a new EP out called Doll Parts. 

Yes! The single [came out] on July 17th, which is a Barbie song that I wrote. And the EP [came] out on the 21st. I made a crazy music video for the Barbie one, which [came out] on the 17th [also].

Do you want to talk a little about that track? You keep calling it the Barbie track – which is a name that’s not on the EP. 

Oh yeah! It’s called “Out of Stock”! I just [think of it] as my Barbie-sets-the-Dream-House-on-fire song. 

Speaking of dolls, let’s talk a little about Hole. It inspired the album name, right? It had to have. 

Oh my God, yes. I found all these baby dolls that I took photos of, and I was like, why don’t I just call it Doll Parts for her, for Courtney, and for all the other women who just feel strange? 

I fucking love [Hole], though neither of the guys are into them yet. I’ll get them there. Live Through This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Hole really inspires me – she writes about themes of motherhood and being a woman – things like that – but in an abstract, poetic, and dark way that really speaks to me. It’s her energy. 

When I was getting into them, I remember being so offended that on [Courtney’s] Wikipedia it says she’s a musician, but also [focuses on her being] Kurt Cobain’s wife! I get so frustrated that she’s defined as another musician’s wife, because they’re such different bands. Before Nirvana, before she met Kurt, Hole was making scary grunge music that was just, really fucked up. Pretty on the Inside is a record I wish I made the album art for. 

I’m just inspired by their whole aesthetic, but we do a little bit of a more…fun vibe. I don’t really write songs that are very dark, and if I do, the music is still pop-punky. 

I noticed that. So beyond Hole, you’ve got to have a laundry list of other influences, right?

Oh yeah. I was a classic rock girl growing up thanks to my dad. I was into Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, and The Who. But then when I became an angsty teen, I found The Clash, The Ramones, The Misfits, The Buzzcocks, I was like “oh, they’re pissed. I want that.” 

Then I guess Hole happened, then Green Day. I just love the classic shit. Then there were bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater Kinney, and that movement just transformed me. I [thought], I want to do that so bad. 

That’s when I was determined to find a band. 

People aren’t mad enough [in music] anymore. 

Yes! I’m trying to bring that. 

I think there’s a Clash lyric that says “anger can be power,” and that’s good. It feels exhilarating for me to channel frustration into exciting music. Do you know what I mean? 

Definitely. 

Then I started to get into more [electronic] stuff like 100 gecs and Death Grips – people who kind of push the boundaries really excite me. 

There’s a catharsis that needs to happen and has always happened with music. We’ve got to keep making that type of music to help people heal, whatever that is, or express [themselves]. Going to shows can change a person, I think. People have started moshing at our shows. It’s so exciting to me, except for when one guy at Porchfest hit his head on concrete. 

That’s on him.

There were like, children in the crowd. It’s Porchfest, it was 4 p.m., and he was this drunk guy. But still, that energy was exciting. 

I get that. Ok, so hard left, but we’ve got a Kennedy mention. 

“Jackie O,” yeah. That’s my Mom’s favorite song I’ve written. 

Really? 

I don’t know what it is. She just likes the chorus, but yes. So I’m not from Eastern Mass, I’m from Western Mass, which is a different culture than you’d imagine. I would imagine Western Mass to be a little more like [the Midwest]. 

I feel like the Jackie Onassis thing was just [about] me moving from Western Mass, which is more like the woods, where people have a pretty relaxed attitude. There’s definitely some backwards thinking, which is hard for a queer young person. I think it’s gotten better. But I moved out here and started working in a wealthy town.

I’m a teacher, so I was at a school where I didn’t really relate to the people because they had like, Vineyard Vines and Sperrys and talked about boats. It’s about class, that one. 

Jackie had it kind of bad – she went through her horrific trauma – but [to me] she was more of an emblem of the WASP from Cape Cod, or wherever the WASPs come from around here. It’s the idea of the Kennedys being a prominent family out here. 

I felt isolated and lonely, and I was struggling to make close friends with people I didn’t relate to. I hadn’t found the punks yet. There were a lot of homophobic comments they would casually drop, and toxic relationship things that I would be like, “what is that? What is your marriage?” 

I wanted to ask because she’s obviously a public figure – would you consider delving into a more political sphere lyrically, or are you going to keep it more personal? 

I think when we do the political stuff, it’s more light. There’s a song I wrote called “Claws” that’s on the record, and it’s a little more personal, but I believe that the personal can be political. I was trying to unionize my school but I was facing a lot of backlash. And also things like being queer. I have a lot of gay songs. 

A lot of where it’s political it’s just through my personal experience. But I recently threw a big benefit, a Pride show here at our house, and we donated all the funds to a trans organization in Mass. That was really cool. And why aren’t we doing more of that? I’m trying to think of a more holistic way the bands can participate in politics, if that makes sense. 

So [our band] can provide a fun dance party, a little silly song about fucking a ghost, but then do something with that that’s important [like the Pride show]. Community is so important. 

Totally agreed. Beyond “Out of Stock,” which song would you pick as a second single? 

“Claws,” which is the short punky one, just to be like, this is who we are. This is our ethos and our aesthetic and we’re fast and loud some of the time – we want you to hear it. Basically, we wanted to put out a power track, so “Claws” would be the second single. 

It’s short, too. So as an intro to a band, it’s digestible. The runtime is a minute-forty or something. I just love the idea of a two-minute power song. 

Me too. I want to touch on the recording process a little, if that’s ok. What was that like?

My drummer, Kevin, is an audio engineer. It’s pretty legit. He’s extremely nerdy about recording stuff, so he has a whole setup in our basement. This one we recorded isolated to be brighter [than recordings of a live session], so we were more conscious [of the sound]. We used a metronome, which I actually never used before. This is baby’s first metronome. 

I thought it would be distracting, but this time it was helpful. So the three of us just sat and Kevin directed the recording process. I think we did it in two days – just a couple of sessions. 

That’s fast. 

We’ve been playing live for a little while now, so we’ve got them down pat. And I also don’t believe in doing a lot of takes. I don’t think we did more than three [takes] for a lot of them. Because the first one, you’re nervous, the second take, you’re maybe in it, and the third take might be your best. 

Makes sense. And it’s awesome that your bandmates were the ones on production. 

We’re all very involved in that part, but yeah. Working with them feels very safe to me. I never, ever feel condescended to, [even though] they’re in other bands and have a lot of technical experience. I came in rogue and I often play a lefty guitar upside-down, and I don’t know what the chords are called, sometimes. 

Yeah – what’s going on there? I saw that on your Instagram.  

It’s kind of insane, but I learned on a properly-strung lefty, but I realized I can’t go into any room and pick up a guitar because no one owns a lefty. So I was like, I’ll learn power chords on the righty and now I just play power chords. 

The guys actually have another band and I call us a polycule. We’ve played a lot of shows together. Their band is called Fracture Type, but they’re more emo. They’re heavy. Very heavy music. Very intense. 

That’s great. I’ll definitely shout them out. 

Awesome. 

Anyway, let’s talk about art. I have a feeling that the album cover [photo] was taken by you. 

It was! I make all the art for the music, and I consider myself to be a pretty laid back person, but for some reason I’m an asshole when it comes to the art aspect. I just want to do it myself. I don’t know what it is. I just get in my zone. I learned about synesthesia recently and I think I have that. [It makes me] want to oversaturate people’s brains with colors and weird images. 

The art for this one – I was driving in Quincy and I saw a box on the side of the road [with] dolls in it. They’re weird British dolls. I came home at two in the morning, ripped them all up – which was really weird to do because I work with children – then I painted them. It felt very cathartic. [It felt like I was addressing] the pressures of being a mother, the expectations for a woman in their thirties.

I wanted to destroy them, do something fun and kind of insane and a little bit violent. Graphic. I’m not against babies, but that was the whole idea. Then the rest of the images are my clothing because I want to start making collages with real materials. 

Does your art extend to your live performances? 

I keep trying to get the boys to wear crop tops when they perform. 

They’d look great in them. 

They are so handsome! They could pull them off! I tell them, all right guys, tonight’s show vibe is goth slut princess. And they’re like, you tell me that every show’s vibe, but I don’t care. We’re doing it. 

[Audibly alarmed noises from Talon] 

He said, “we’re working on it.” You should’ve seen his face during that. 

I just liked Billie Joe Armstrong when I was a kid. I loved him, and I heard he was bisexual, and I was probably ten. I learned about that, and I wondered if I’d ever be like that one day. I was questioning my crazy crushes on Meg from Hercules. 

And now we’re here. 

Yes! I think it’s so important for queer artists to just talk about it so other people can pick up on that, to be like, oh, same.

Agreed. I love being queer. 

It’s punk rock in itself. And I sing a lot about it, man. It gives it a community and a language to express how we feel. We have one song, it’s on the EP, called “I Bic’d Your Sister.” 

I was in front of a hot crowd, and I just remember two queer people when I was singing it. They were getting into it, because they understand that queer desire, whatever that is, and it made me want to write more of that. I needed that. When I was coming out, I was listening to a lot of gay pop stars – any gay shit I could find. 

I’m trying to think about how to incorporate [more of] that energy, because I still want to sound raw and gritty and fuzzy, but I want that gay quality, that toughness mixed with joy. I think that’s the queer experience. Toughness and joy combined. 

Meanwhile, I’m singing about having sex with a ghost. Like, we’re having deep convos but I also just have a silly, silly song. 

But I think that’s part of it. We have to be able to laugh at ourselves. It’s part of that joy you were talking about.

Thank you for saying that! That’s something I didn’t realize I needed to hear articulated out loud. “I Bic’d Your Sister” is about a silly queer experience, but it feels validating, because [some of our experiences] are confusing and weird and crazy.

It’s punk rock. 

It’s punk rock. That’s why I’m so obsessed with the genre, even though I listen to all sorts of music. I like punk because it’s fast and I’m hyperactive, but it’s also expressive. It can express a variety of emotions, it’s cathartic, it can be celebratory or angry. I like that hardness, that intensity. 

That ethos really shines through your lyrics. When I was listening to the record, I could tell that the lyrics were given a lot of attention.

Yes. I think it’s because I started writing poetry [before music]. Poetry is extremely inspiring. I love Pablo Neruda, Alen Ginsburg, Walt Whitman – all those guys. People using words in a creative way. That shit rules. I don’t want to lose touch with that ever. 

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For the sake of your time and my sanity, I’m going to wrap it up here. This was the moment when I realized we’d touched on every question I wrote down prior to the interview and then some. The rest of our conversation was about frozen pizza, a rat she saw on the street, and a short but intense discussion about our favorite poets. 

It was fabulous. 

You can find Alenka’s new EP Doll Parts on most streaming services, and a music video for ‘Out of Stock,’ their first single, on Youtube.