Excerpt from transcription, audio
recorded on Saturday, July 19, 2025
Rae: Hello, my name is Rae. I'm the vocalist of Hissy Fit. (left of photo above)
Alex: Hi, I'm Alex. I'm the bassist. (Right of photo above)
Andie: Hi, I'm Andie, and I'm the drummer of Hissy Fit. (Middle of photo above)
Ameer: How did the band get started?
Andie: Oh my God. Okay, so there's this all-girl punk rock band in Austin called Die Spitz, and I love them. I went to see them with my friend Roni, who plays guitar in Hissy Fit. This was our second time seeing them, which was last year, so Hissy Fit has barely existed for a year now. We played our first show in November, so we've only been performing for a few months.
Anyways, I went with Roni because we were in a band before, but it only lasted a few months and ended recently. I missed it and wanted to be in a band again, so I was like, “Roni, we gotta meet some gay people tonight.” Then we went to Die Spitz, and I saw these two Gaylords (Rae and Alex) behind me, and I was like, exactly as I suspected. [Laughter]
In the merch line, I turned around to Rae and was like, “I like your hair. I like your shirt. I like your piercing.” That was our first interaction. Later, Roni and I were at the front, and they were somewhere in the middle, and Alex came up to us.
Alex: So Rae and I met in December of last year because I had a friend who wanted to start a band, and we started the band formerly known as Dog Water. It was bad, it was discombobulated. No one really knew what they were doing, and it ended on bad terms. Rae was the vocalist, I was the bassist, and we had been hanging out that summer. We were like, “We need to find people to start a band with.”
Rae: I was posting on my Instagram story, like, “Who wants to start a band?”
Alex: We were like, “We need a drummer and a guitarist.” Then we went to Die Spitz. The only reason Rae came with me was because one of my friends canceled, gave me their ticket, and I took Rae.
So Rae and I are in line for merch, and then we run into Andie and our guitarist, Roni.
Andie: Exactly. Then we meet in the corner, and Alex is like, “Can I put my stuff with y'all?” because we were standing in front of the stage. So Alex was like, “Can we put our stuff on the stage?” Then we get to talking, and Alex goes, “Oh, I was in a band, blah, blah.” And we go, “We were a band.” Then Alex was like, “Oh, actually, I was in a band with them,” and then went, “Rae! Come here!” Probably verbatim.
We're talking about how we want to be in a band again. I think it was Alex who said, “All we need is a guitarist and a drummer,” and Roni and I turned to each other and were like, “I'm a drummer, and Roni’s a guitarist.” All we needed was a bassist and a vocalist, and that was the first time we ever met.
Then we’re talking: “Do you all go to shows?” “Yeah, we're in the scene. We go to shows at House of J, we go to shows at Ojeman.” All four of us are very active in the scene. So we were like, “Let's have a jam sesh and see where that takes us.”
Alex: Yeah, and we wrote a song immediately.
Andie: Yeah, the first song we wrote together in that jam sesh was turned into Cat Scratch Fever, literally my favorite song to perform. We only had that one song for the longest time, and then Gary's Garage happened, and I was like, I want to play Gary's Garage (venue in Pearland), we need to write songs now. We took one from their old band, wrote another one, and learned a bunch of covers, and Hissy Fit was born.
We decided on the name Hissy Fit maybe a few weeks before our first show.
Alex: I had made a post on my zine account, and the caption was like, Don’t pitch a hissy fit.
Andie: Oh! It was like, Don’t have a hissy fit. Countercall will be vending at this.
And then it literally clung to my mind. We already had really good chemistry as friends—like, whenever we met, it was non-stop talking. I had gotten the setlist for Die Spitz, and I was skipping out of there, and then I saw them talking, and I made a beeline for them. I said, I told you I would get the setlist. And then we got to talking.
And we were like, oh, we'll see you at Tatsfest, and then we did. And we saw each other at shows, and we hung out. Then we jammed, and we had really good chemistry as friends, as a band, and we were like, well, let's do this.
Alex: It was a perfect union.
Andie: Because I'm crazy, I was telling them, guys, this feels so fated. This band starting is like fate. You guys are going to be some of my closest friends for a long time. [Laughter]
Ameer: So, how did each of you individually get into the scene?
Rae: So my friend who's here, actually, Guppy—I met them through somebody I used to do musical theater with. One day she messaged me and was like, Hey, do you want to come do this thing at Guppy's house? And I was like, yes, I'd love to. So I showed up, and then Guppy and I started forming a good friendship. At the end of this filming production process we were doing, they were selling art here (House of J), and they asked me if I wanted to go. I was like, yeah, and that was the first time I'd ever gone to a show.
I got there and thought, This is what I've been looking for. I've been looking for a bunch of gay music people. Everyone's so politically active as well. I just felt like I was trapped before, and here people were on similar wavelengths. We all agreed that certain things are bad, and we all liked this kind of music.
Andie: Yeah, like queer, everyone here is politically active. Everyone is so artistic and creative. I'm not in school, and I had this fear that I wasn't going to be part of a community, let alone find a creative or queer community. I always found that through school or clubs—I did theater and choir, and that's how I found my people—so I was happy to find this scene.
I couldn't drive until I was 18, so I didn’t start getting into the scene until then. One thing it made me realize was how accessible performance was. I was always a singer my whole life, and I wanted to be in a band, but I couldn't find the right people. Everyone I knew who did art wasn’t into this. So being a part of this community helped me find the right people who were on the same wavelength, who were also very musical and committed to doing the same type of events we’ve been doing. And I think that's so beautiful.
Rae: Yeah, the first show I ever went to was here at House of J. It was a summer art show. It was awesome, and it was cool to see everyone vending art.
And then I was like, oh my God, now they're playing music. Are you serious? This is everything. That was my introduction, and then I was like, I'm going to a show every week. I love the people.
Andie: It was so inspiring. I just wanted to take inspiration from everything and meet these people. I needed to hang out with them. I was following Instagram accounts that posted shows, but I couldn't drive. My first show was Femfest, back in 2023, and I was like, wow, this is the shit I only see online. I didn't know these communities were so accessible, but then I became part of it and just kept rolling with it.
Alex: I started going to shows in 2021. I went to a couple. I had a friend very in the scene, and he would take me. It was fun at first, but I stopped for quite some time because I had some bad experiences, especially with men. I kind of got the impression the scene wasn’t really for queer women, or for me specifically, because a lot of the spaces I encountered were male-dominated and commercial. I've always been into alternative music and that kind of scene, but I had never really found a safe space for it. So I was disappointed, but I tried again in 2023, and I never stopped. I think there are a lot of niches in the scene. It's been better this time because I've found more community, art, and creativity in it.
Ameer: So, what are your goals with the band?
Andie: We would love to see how far it takes us. We wanna record and have our music be accessible outside of the three venues we perform at. I love how the Houston scene is in such a politically fucked state. I love how we're able to present our frustration through our music, and I want that to be heard. I wanna be the band that came out of the Houston scene. Y’know, Hissy Fit, Riot Grrrl band came out of the Houston scene. I want our frustration to be shown with that context, and I want it to be accessible to people and go to other cities. We wouldn't mind going out of state for a little tour, but we're like babies. Oh, another goal—this is the first of many events like this (Lezfest 2025). We wanna create a more welcoming community towards fem-aligned people, because I feel like Houston has a really crazy hardcore scene.
Alex: I was gonna say this too. This is why I'm tired of hardcore. I'm sorry. I don't hate hardcore, but there are just so many big bands where a lot of their sound is very similar, and they don't always stand for what they speak on. There are some fem-oriented bands that make the kind of music we do. I think PinkyPromise is a good example of a band that's gotten big making similar music. But I want there to be more of that. I don't think any of us are like, “Hissy Fit’s gonna hit the market, we’re gonna be big.”
Andie: I want to throw shows where girls feel comfortable being in the pit.
Alex: Yeah, and this is a good example—facilitating a space for women where they have been historically excluded. Because you can say what you want, but a lot of the scene excludes women. It'll be the same people who are like, “Oh, we're feminist, we stand for women,” who will not protect a woman in a difficult situation. Women at shows specifically are so targeted.
Andie: We wrote a song called Stop, White Boy, Stop. And there's this lyric I wrote—I always quote it: “I'll find my own way, create my own space. The world's my oyster, and here you have no place.” Because literally, the space for fem-aligned people and queer people, we always play shows with other queer people. They're just not valued by others—even venues that only host certain types of shows. We wanted to create a band where people see our name and go, “Oh, this is a show I wanna go to. This is a show I'll feel safe at. This is a show I'll have fun at. This is a show where my friends will be. This is a show where I can meet people like me.”
Alex: We've had experiences before where we played with other bands, and it's all men. We're the only girls, and they're like, “Oh, the girls are here, the girls are here.”
Andie: And people won't be in our audience during our set, and I think that's fucked up.
Alex: When other bands play, we’ll watch their set. And then when our set comes on, they're not interested in hearing our music because it doesn't apply to them, which I think is crazy.
Andie: It's stupid. There's value in other types of art. But yeah, that's our goal. Honestly, slowly but surely, we've been making it happen. Today I have such a big smile on my face because of today, and it's not even over yet.
Rae: I’d go to a lot of hardcore shows because I do love how deep and heavy it is. It's great music. But whenever I go, I would hear snide remarks, little comments here and there. I think it's just one of those things where we aren't taken as seriously. And with our music, we keep it political because it's what we stand for. We have our shit to say.
The other thing is, I feel like there's a lot of weird misogyny in the scene.
Andie: In music, period.
Rae: Honestly, at the end of the day, we're all in the same scene, and respect goes both ways.
Alex: My biggest thing is I just want people to hear our music, and I don't wanna hear, “This is good girl music,” or, “This is music for girls.” It's not music for girls. It's music for everybody. And the fact that you think that because we're women says a lot. So I would love to get to a place where people in the scene are more respectful of female bands in general.
And honestly, if Hissy Fit does that, I'll be happy.
Ameer: So, my last question: any future plans you can share with the public?
Andie: We wanna write one more song, then record our music and post it. This is the first lesbian event out of many in the future. I'm so glad this one's successful so far because it shows me there’s a market for it and people wanna be part of it. Honestly, just continuing to build that community is the goal.
Alex: I would love for us to record our music, because every day somebody is in our DMs. Are you guys on any streaming platform?
Rae: Pull up to a show. We'll have music out soon. It's also a good way to advertise—like, hey, we have this music. Listen to it. You like it?
Andie: Yeah. I just wanna connect with more people. Not everyone lives within driving distance of Houston. People are coming to shows once a month because they live an hour and a half away, and it makes me so happy when people go out of their way to see us. I would love to share our lyrics and our art and connect with our community that we've curated, even if not in person.
