Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Brownstein | |
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Born | Carrie Rachel Brownstein September 27, 1974[1] Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
Alma mater |
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Occupations |
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Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1993–present |
Member of | Sleater-Kinney |
Formerly of | |
Carrie Rachel Brownstein[5] (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney.
During a long hiatus from Sleater-Kinney, she formed the group
Sleater-Kinney eventually reunited; as of 2023, Brownstein was touring with the band as well as in support of her new memoir.[6]
Early life
Brownstein was born in Seattle, Washington, and was raised in Redmond, Washington.[7] Her mother was a housewife and a teacher, and her father was a corporate lawyer. They divorced when Carrie was 14, and she was raised by her father.[8] Brownstein has a younger sister, Stacey. Her family is Jewish.[9]
She attended
Brownstein began playing guitar at 15 and received lessons from Jeremy Enigk.[12] She later said: "He lived in the neighborhood next to mine, so I would just walk my guitar over to his house. He showed me a couple of open chords and I just took it from there. I'd gone through so many phases as a kid with my interests that my parents put their foot down with guitar. So [the instrument] ended up being the [first] thing that I had to save up my own money for – and maybe that was the whole reason that I actually stuck with it."[12]
After high school, Brownstein attended
Music career
Excuse 17
While attending Evergreen, Brownstein met fellow students
Sleater-Kinney
After both Excuse 17 and Heavens to Betsy split up, Sleater-Kinney became Brownstein and Tucker's main focus. They recorded their first self-titled album in early 1994 during a trip to Australia, where the pair were celebrating Tucker's graduation from Evergreen[16][17] (Brownstein still had three years of college left). It was released the following spring. They recorded and toured with different drummers, until Janet Weiss joined the band in 1996. Following their eponymous debut, they released six more studio albums before going on indefinite hiatus in 2006. In a 2012 interview with DIY magazine, Brownstein said that Sleater-Kinney still planned to play in the future.[18] On October 20, 2014, Brownstein announced on Twitter that Sleater-Kinney would be releasing a new album, No Cities to Love, on January 20, 2015, and would tour in early 2015. At the same time the announcement was made, they released the video for the first single from the album. The single, "Bury Our Friends", was also made available as a free MP3 download.[19]
Critics Greil Marcus and Robert Christgau deemed the band one of the essential rock groups of the early 2000s.[20][21] In 2015, Stereogum Chief Editor Tom Breihan called them the greatest rock band of the past two decades.[22]
Other work
Brownstein and former Helium guitarist/singer Mary Timony, recording as The Spells, released The Age of Backwards E.P. in 1999.
Also in 1999, Brownstein, Lois Maffeo, and Peter Momtchiloff released a single ("The Touch"/"Louie Louie Got Married") on K Records as The Tentacles.[23]
In summer 2009, Brownstein and Weiss worked together on songs (produced by Tucker Martine) for the soundtrack of the documentary film !Women Art Revolution by Lynn Hershman Leeson.[24]
In September 2010, Brownstein revealed her latest project was the band
Music has always been my constant, my salvation. It's cliché to write that, but it's true. From dancing around to
Madonna as a kid to having my mind blown by the first sounds of punk and indie rock, to getting to play my own songs and have people listen, music is what got me through. Over the years, music put a weapon in my hand and words in my mouth, it backed me up and shielded me, it shook me and scared me and showed me the way; music opened me up to living and being and feeling.
—Brownstein in October 2010[27]
In 2011, they toured for a second time
Accolades
In 2006, Brownstein was the only woman to earn a spot in the Rolling Stone readers' list of the 25 "Most Underrated Guitarists of All-Time".[30]
Writing career
Brownstein began a career as a writer before Sleater-Kinney broke up. She interviewed
From November 2007 to May 2010, Brownstein wrote a blog for NPR Music called "Monitor Mix";[34] she returned for a final blog post in October, thanking her blog readers and declaring the blog "officially conclude[d]."[27]
In March 2009, Brownstein was contracted to write a book to "describe the dramatically changing dynamic between music fan and performer, from the birth of the
Brownstein's memoir,
In 2020, Ann Wilson, lead singer of hard rock band Heart, announced in an interview that Brownstein was writing the script for a Heart biographical film.[40]
Acting career
Brownstein has acted (what she calls a "mere hobby")
After their ThunderAnt videos, Brownstein and Armisen developed
From 2014 to 2019, Brownstein played the role of Syd in the
In 2015, Brownstein portrayed Genevieve Cantrell in the
Brownstein has also appeared as a guest on Saturday Night Live,[56] Curb Your Enthusiasm,[57] and Man Seeking Woman,[58] among other shows.
Brownstein starred in and wrote the screenplay for The Nowhere Inn, a 2020 tour mockumentary thriller, with Annie Clark (St. Vincent).[59]
Personal life
Brownstein was
In 2006, The New York Times described Brownstein as "openly gay."[61] In a November 2010 interview for Willamette Week, she stated that she identifies as bisexual. She says, "It's weird, because no one's actually ever asked me. People just always assume, like, you're this or that. It's like, 'OK. I'm bisexual. Just ask.'"[62] In a 2020 article, the Los Angeles Times noted that Brownstein and Annie Clark (who performs as St. Vincent) "dated years ago."[63]
Since working together on ThunderAnt, Brownstein and Fred Armisen developed what Brownstein has called "one of the most intimate, functional, romantic, but nonsexual relationships [they have] ever had."[64] According to Armisen, their relationship is "all of the things that I've ever wanted, you know, aside from like the physical stuff, but the intimacy that I have with her is like no other."[65]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Getting Stronger Every Day | Various | Short film |
2002 | Group | Grace | |
2003 | Fan Mail | Jo | Short film |
2007 | Girls Rock | Herself | Documentary |
2009 | Light Tiger Eye | Woman | Short film |
2010 | Some Days Are Better Than Others | Katrina | |
2011–2018 | Portlandia | Various characters | 77 episodes; also co-creator, co-executive producer, writer and director Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series (2014) (2015)
Nominated—Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series |
2012 | Vancouvria | Photo extra | Episode: "Big City Survival Class" |
2012 | The Simpsons | Emily (voice) | Episode: "The Day the Earth Stood Cool" |
2012 | Saturday Night Live | Cameo as herself | Episode: "Martin Short/Paul McCartney", "What Up with That?" sketch |
2013 | Saturday Night Live | Cameo as herself | Episode: "Ben Affleck/Kanye West", "It's a Lovely Day" sketch |
2014–2015 | Transparent | Syd Feldman | Recurring character Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2015) |
2015 | Carol | Genevieve Cranell | |
2015 | Man Seeking Woman | Doctor at Chill Acres | Episode: "Branzino" |
2015 | Archer | Doctor Sklodowska (voice) | Episodes: "Drastic Voyage: Part 1" and "Drastic Voyage: Part 2" |
2016 | Saturday Night Live | Cameo as herself | Episode: "Fred Armisen/Courtney Barnett", "The Harkin Brothers" sketch |
2016 | The Realest Real | — | Short film; director and writer[66] |
2017 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Mara | Episode: "Foisted!" |
2018 | Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot | Suzanne | |
2018 | Tag | Therapist | Uncredited[67] |
2018 | The Oath | Alice Button | |
2019 | Mrs. Fletcher | — | Director: "Parents' Weekend", "Invisible Fence" |
2019–2021 | Shrill | — | Director: "Date", "Ribs", "Will" |
2020 | The Nowhere Inn[59] | Herself | Also writer |
2022 | Minx | — | Director: "Mary had a little hysterectomy" |
Irma Vep | Zelda | Miniseries | |
Reboot | — | Director: "New Girl" | |
TBA | Fairy Godmother[68] | — | Director |
See also
References
- ISBN 9780743201209. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (August 6, 2014). "Carrie Brownstein Finishing Nora Ephron Screenplay Lost In Austen". Stereogum. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ Braxton, Greg (January 14, 2015). "Carrie Brownstein bounces between 'Portlandia' and punk rock". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ Weil, Elizabeth (December 29, 2011). "Carrie Brownstein, Riot Grrrnup". The New York Times. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ASCAP. Archived from the originalon January 10, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ Phillips, Amy (October 20, 2014). "Sleater-Kinney Return! New Album No Cities to Love! 2015 Tour! "Bury Our Friends" Lyric Video!". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ Zeichner, Naomi (January 19, 2011). "Interview: Carrie Brownstein on Portlandia". The Fader. New York City: The Fader Media Group. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: The Seattle Times Company. Archived from the originalon March 5, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Meet Carrie Brownstein: A Triple Threat". JWA.org. Jewish Women's Archive. March 28, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- Seattle Times Company. p. 9.
- Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Times Publishing Company. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
- ^ a b Levin, Hannah (May 2005). "Rock of the Decade". The Stranger. Seattle, Washington: Index Newspapers, LLC. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2011 – via Sleater-Kinney.Net.
- Pitchfork. New York City: Condé Nast. Archived from the originalon March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
- ^ Brodeur, Nicole (November 2, 2015). "Carrie Brownstein comes home to a changed Seattle". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Rife, Katie (April 4, 2017). "Riot grrrl grew up on Sleater-Kinney's Dig Me Out". The A.V. Club. Chicago, Illinois: Onion, Inc. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Ganz, Caryn (June 2005). "Eat 'em And Smile". Spin. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007 – via Sleater-Kinney.net.
- ^ a b "Record Bin: How Sleater-Kinney used punk rock to break social stereotypes on "Dig Me Out"". Nooga.com. September 23, 2017. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
- ^ "Carrie Brownstein: Sleater-Kinney 'Will Just Start Playing Music Again'". Thisisfakediy.co.uk. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
- ^ Grow, Kory (October 20, 2014). "Sleater-Kinney Reform, Share Powerful New Song, 'Bury Our Friends'". Rolling Stone. New York City: Wenner Media LLC. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- Salon Media Group. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
- ^ Frere-Jones, Sasha (January 19, 2015). "Sister Saviors: Sleater-Kinney returns". The New Yorker. New York City: Condé Nast. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (January 11, 2015). "Premature Evaluation: Sleater-Kinney No Cities To Love". Stereogum. Los Angeles, California: Eldridge Industries. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
- ^ The Tentacles – The Touch. Discogs.com. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- Pitchfork. Interviewed by Tom Breihan. New York City: Condé Nast. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- ^ National Public Radio. September 22, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Wild Flag's Debut Album in Stores". Merge Records.com. September 14, 2011. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
- ^ National Public Radio. October 6, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ Weil, Elizabeth (December 29, 2011). "Carrie Brownstein, Riot Grrrnup". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
- ^ Caramanica, Jon (October 19, 2011). "Wild Flag Is What Passes for an Inspirational Supergroup at CMJ". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
- ^ "The Twenty-Five Most Underrated Guitarists". Rolling Stone. October 1, 2006. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
- ^ Contributors: Carrie Brownstein from The Believer magazine website.
- ^ Brownstein, Carrie (November 27, 2007). "Rock Band vs. Real Band". Slate. New York City: The Slate Group. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Brownstein, Carrie (November 19, 2008). "Wii Will Rock You!". Slate. New York City: The Slate Group. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Welcome to Monitor Mix from the NPR Music website
- ^ Matthew Thornton (March 16, 2009). "Book Deals: Week of 3/16/09". Book News. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "The Sound of Where You Are". Monitor Mix (blog). National Public Radio. December 17, 2007. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Episode 267 - Carrie Brownstein". WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. April 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (March 14, 2015). "Carrie Brownstein Pens Memoir 'Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl'". RollingStone. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ "Riverhead Overview". Penguin.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ "ANN WILSON REVEALS HEART BIO-PIC IS IN THE WORKS". We Are Classic Rockers. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- Pitchfork Media. November 2008.
- ^ "Thunderant". Thunderant. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
- ^ Locker, Melissa (April 26, 2012). "EXCLUSIVE CLIP: WATCH CARRIE BROWNSTEIN IN "SOME DAYS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS"". IFC.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ Indiewire (March 11, 2010). "SXSW '10 | McCormick's Sad Valentine "Some Days are Better Than Others". Indiewire.com. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ Portlandia (TV Series 2011– ) - Episodes - IMDb
- IFC Channel. August 6, 2010. Archived from the originalon August 16, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Before There Was 'Portlandia', There Was 'Thunderant'". IFC Channel. October 7, 2010. Archived from the original on October 13, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Portlandia". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (January 15, 2017). "'Portlandia' to End With Season 8 in 2018". Variety. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ Bendix, Trish (September 26, 2014). "Carrie Brownstein gives us the scoop on her character Syd in "Transparent"". AfterEllen.com. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ Syme, Rachel (December 14, 2015). "'Transparent' Season 2, Episodes 2 and 3: Pool Parties and Provosts". NYTimes.com. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ Ford, Rebecca (April 9, 2014). "'Portlandia's' Carrie Brownstein Joins Cate Blanchett in 'Carol'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ^
Stiernberg, Bonnie (January 6, 2015). "Carrie Brownstein: Fill in the Blank". Paste Magazine. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "2015 Official Selection". Festival-Cannes.com. April 16, 2015. Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ "Carol Poster Premiere: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and the Fall's Most Acclaimed Romance". Vanity Fair. September 2, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ "Watch Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in SNL's Southern Rock Supergroup". IFC. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ^ "Carrie Brownstein and Larry David Fight About Constipation in New "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Trailer: Watch | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. September 11, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ^ Kulzick, Kate. "Man Seeking Woman: "Branzino"". TV Club. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ^ a b Yoo, Noah (December 4, 2019). "St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein's New Movie The Nowhere Inn to Debut at Sundance 2020". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ Sleater-Kinney Last Show from Under the Radar Archived November 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Parales, Jon (August 4, 2006). "Sleater-Kinney May, or May Not, Be Bidding New York Farewell". The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ Mesh, Aaron (November 3, 2010). "Mock Star". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
- ^ Los Angeles Times article: "Annie Clark, St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein all meet at 'The Nowhere Inn'."
- ^ Rosenblit, Rachel (January 9, 2012). "Portlandia's Comedy Chemistry". Elle. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ Fred Armisen: Transcript Archived November 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine from WNYC's Here's the Thing. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
- Indiewire. July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ^ Scott, A.O (June 14, 2018). "Review: 'Tag,' You're It. Playing the Long Game Into Middle Age". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
- ^ Busch, Anita (May 18, 2017). "'Portlandia's Carrie Brownstein To Make Feature Directorial Debut On MGM's 'Fairy Godmother'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
External links
- Carrie Brownstein at IMDb
- Carrie Brownstein discography at MusicBrainz
- Official Sleater-Kinney website
- Carrie Brownstein's blog, "Monitor Mix" at NPR (2007-2010)
- Radio interview on Fresh Air (35 minutes; 2015)