Seattle six-piece Fatal Femmes make music that’s “confessional, confrontational, classic”, with songs about abuse, debt, love, rebellion, shitty men and finding the strength to turn difficult experiences into something powerful. Ahead of their Colorado debut at LOUD WOMEN Fest, we caught up with vocalist and guitarist Zoey Gulotta to talk reclaiming the femme fatale, shaking up Seattle bills, weaponising student debt into rock ’n’ roll and accidentally helping facilitate a queer engagement.
Why Fatal Femmes?
I chose it because I liked how it felt to say and how it looked on paper. It gives a clear view of our aesthetic, and it inverts a term created by men, “femme fatale”, and repurposes it into a plural term about what we are: fatal.
Who are Fatal Femmes?
Zoey Gulotta on vocals, rhythm guitar and bass; Lincoln Rasmussen on lead guitar; Cassius Foote on bass, rhythm guitar and backing vocals; Andrew Atkison on synths, keyboards and backing vocals; Jameson Sanborn on drums; and Rogan Kahale on baritone saxophone.
We call Seattle home.
Tell us about the debut album.
We’re in the process of recording our debut album with Ken Stringfellow and Howie Weinberg as engineers. We’ll be putting out four singles, each with narrative music videos, leading up to the album starting early next year.
The album is about my life, with themes of childhood abuse, love, financial struggle and rebellion. It doesn’t ask for pity. It tells listeners that you have the strength to overcome anything and turn it into something beautiful.
We’re also fundraising to help us finish the record, with unreleased music and signed physical copies available as rewards.
What’s happening in Seattle?
The scene here is truly incredible and supportive. Everyone is an active moving piece of it. The people putting on DIY shows and festivals are the same people playing each other’s events. Every local show kind of feels like an extended family gathering where everyone is your cousin.
When I moved to Seattle last September, I made it a priority to book as many femme-rock bands as I could for our shows. That stirred the pot a bit compared with the primarily male bills I’d been seeing at shows and festivals. Femme rock is everywhere now.
We also produce our own events. I put on Fool’s Fest at Quality Flea Center in April, a clown-themed independent festival with seven rock bands, art vendors and skating. We got sponsorship from local businesses and sold more than 250 tickets.
You’ve already had a particularly romantic gig…
Two queer people got engaged at the end of one of our sets because “our bassist made her girlfriend gay, and then they got together.”
Let’s go Cassius!
Your songs cover quite a lot of ground.
There’s a really wide range of things for people to connect with.
‘Sally May’ is about struggling with student loans and existential angst. ‘Concept’ is about men never truly knowing you and situationships. ‘Fight’ is about people treating you differently for doing the work they don’t want to do. ‘Backstabber’ is about childhood abuse. ‘Spite’ is about how sometimes spite gives you strength.
And ‘A Gentle Warning’ is about all the uncomfortable feelings that come with love. The chorus is: “if you ever leave me, I’d have to kill you.”
It goes on!
There’s a Lou Reed reference hiding in ‘Sally May’, right?
There’s a lyric in the second verse, “Got my calamine lotion, do it again Sally May”, which is a direct reference to Lou Reed’s ‘Foggy Notion’.
The musical context is so different that most fans don’t even catch it.
Our ‘Sally May’ is named after my private loan distributor, Sallie Mae, spelled differently and personified as someone abusive to me. That’s why I’d say, “I got my calamine lotion.”
What’s made you proudest so far?
Fool’s Fest is up there, but more recently we played Fremont Fridays in Seattle.
We were on one of the smallest stages, an outdoor smoking deck attached to a bar with a fence surrounding it, and we still rocked that stage like it was the main stage. We ran around the fence interacting with the crowd, climbed on top of it and used the weird space to our advantage.
We left with loads of new fans and fantastic energy in the air. It felt good knowing that wherever we’re playing, and whatever the conditions, we can still tear the house down.
What’s the dream tour?
Fatal Femmes + The Velveteers + Mannequin Pussy. National tour. Make it happen.
What’s next?
In 2027 we’re looking forward to some as-yet-unannounced shows on the biggest stages we’ve played so far.
We’ll start rolling out our debut album in February with singles and music videos, followed by a West Coast run in July, and we’re hoping for plenty more festivals and showcases across the US next spring and summer.
Find music, socials and more from Fatal Femmes here, or head to fatalfemmes.com.
Catch Fatal Femmes at LOUD WOMEN Fest Colorado at the Fox Theatre, Boulder, on Saturday 7 November, alongside All Thicc + Bitchflower + Blankslate + Brokentear + Dressy Bessy + GUNK! + I, Doris + Tarah Who? + The Dollheads. Get tickets here.
