It’s easy to make the assumption that Erin Minihan and Jamie Ludwig of The Tease are pretty serious. After sitting and chatting at Espresso Royale, it was obvious that the assumption was right, but they want to have fun, too.
Ludwig and Minihan dreamed up The Tease after meeting in the class Women in Power: Comparative Perspectives at MSU. Both have backgrounds in music. Ludwig plays piano and Minihan was a music major. But they didn’t start playing electric guitar and bass (respectively) until May, though I was shocked they’d only been playing for six months or so. And both are serious feminists, but that wasn’t the plan for the band – to have a feminist message.
“We’re taking the stance – because it’s women writing the songs – it has that perspective,” Minihan said. “Basically we’re trying to write whatever we feel as human beings who happen to be women in this society.” Some of the band’s lyrics, however, have drawn questions at the end of the night. “It is different – things that we sing about, if a man sung about wouldn’t be as shocking or considered as strange,” Minihan said. “We get a lot of jaws dropping at our shows,” Ludwig said, followed by a story of one show when members of the audience wanted to know more about some of the lyrics.
Why?
“Some of it is very overtly sexual,” she said. “Things that my grandmother probably wouldn’t want to hear come out of my mouth.” “I guess ‘Three Times a Day’ is probably kind of a feminist song,” Minihan added. “It’s about masturbation, basically.” “A lot of our other songs are about wanting to get laid, things like that,” Ludwig said. But they don’t set out to be sexual or in your face. “Erin and I are both feminist, and we do most of the songwriting,” Ludwig said. “So even if it’s not conscious — part of having a creative outlet is to empower ourselves as people. Hopefully that comes out in our music.”
It’s not just the lyrics that draw reactions. Ludwig said that just showing up can cause a stir. She told a story about The Tease’s last show at The Elbow Room in Ypsilanti. The opening band didn’t want to take them seriously, Ludwig said, and sat right in front of the stage making obscene gestures, and I don’t mean the finger. More like stroking their air dongs, like air guitar.
“Maybe I’m being a little paranoid, but when they are standing right in front of us …” Ludwig said.
The Tease is made up of three women and two men. There’s Ludwig on electric guitar, Minihan on bass, Jennie Knaggs on electric guitar, Jon Christenson on electric guitar and Andy Lucas on drums. Three guitars? “It’s just how it worked out for us,” Ludwig said. She had a guitar already, they needed a bass player, Knaggs already played, and Christenson was a friend of Minihan’s. The Tease hasn’t recorded anything yet, but Minihan and Ludwig said they hoped to get something out, maybe a 7-inch or an EP, this winter. When asked what bands they’ve been compared to, Ludwig said it ranges from Sleater Kinney to Black Sabbath. Quite a gap. It’s definitely rock ‘n’ roll.
So far the band’s relied on word of mouth to get people to come to shows. It’s working. A show earlier this month at Mac’s Bar was packed and it was only the band’s fifth or sixth show. The vocals could have been stronger, but with the determination of Minihan and Ludwig kinks won’t last long. The band rehearses at least twice a week for six hours total. The next local show they have scheduled is Jan. 4 at Mac’s Bar. Both Minihan and Ludwig have dreams of supporting themselves as musicians. “Why wouldn’t we want to make a living doing what we love?” Ludwig asked. But they’re living for the moment, both finishing classes at MSU.
“Being in a band is unbelievable self-therapy,” Ludwig said. “I always wanted to be in a band. I’d tried a few times but nothing ever got out of the basement. That’s why we started The Tease. We are both musically inclined and have some things to say.” For Minihan, it’s just another creative outlet. “I’ve always been involved in creative projects,” she said, “in choir or dancing. I’m into photography. With music, this is one outlet that I get to explore a whole different side of myself. That’s really exciting to me."
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