For those about to rock — for a good cause, for their own empowerment and confidence, and because it’s just so much fun — we salute you.
On Sunday at 6:30 p.m., the Battle of the Fantasy Girl Bands, an annual extravaganza of nonprofessional female musicians coming together in friendly competition, returns to the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett. This eighth Battle, featuring a record 10 bands, will also include performances by the Fistys, winners of last year’s event, and Tracy City, the Battle’s headliner. Gianna Volpe, of WLIW-FM’s “Heart of the East End” program, will serve as M.C. The event will also include raffles for some 25 prizes including gift cards for local restaurants, fitness centers, and yoga studios.
Proceeds benefit the educational programs of the Neo-Political Cowgirls, a not-for-profit dance theater company that creates work rooted in an inclusive narrative.
The Cherry Bombs, a female-centric band, will perform after the Battle.
An instant hit when it debuted in 2016, the Battle was created by Holly Li and Christine Sciulli, Amagansett residents and veterans of competing bands. “We were sitting around and talking about how everyone wants to be a star, everyone wants to be onstage,” Ms. Sciulli remembered. “We felt like it was this hidden desire, a hidden interest of people to be onstage and rock out. So we thought we’d form a fund-raiser around it, and it just clicked right away.”
They were convinced of its appeal, she said, but “we had to do a little more recruiting than we thought. But then, once we got people signed on and they started practicing, it generated its own vibe, its own community. People got in really deep. We didn’t really know if it would go past one year, but we were excited by the demand, actually.”
The Battle has now spanned three presidential elections, including both in which Donald Trump was elected. “That moment was really important,” Ms. Sciulli remembered of the first Battle, held in November 2016, “and it struck a chord with everyone. Our idea and fantasy of the Fantasy Bands became really meaningful and profound, because that election had just happened and everyone was like, ‘Wow, we really need this.’ "
Ms. Sciulli’s band that year, the Dirty Debs, won the competition and soon after opened for Nancy Atlas at the Talkhouse, during which they performed “The New World” by X. (“The bars weren’t open this morning/They must have been voting for a new president or something,” X sang in the 1983 release. “It was better before, before they voted for What’s-His-Name.”)
“For a while there, I was all about trying to mix it up and start new and get fresh” with each Battle, Ms. Li said. “Until Christine and I banded together, which was a few years ago, I was in all different bands,” among them Bow Wow Meow and the Nasty Femmes.
Some would-be competitors “really need some arm-twisting” owing to stage fright, Ms. Li said, but “once they do it, they want to return because they know how much fun it is. So we get a lot of returning musicians, we’ll call them, but then they rope in new people.”
Once pre-show butterflies have settled, contestants often gain an immeasurable boost in self-confidence. “That’s probably the most important part of all of this,” Ms. Li said. “I think we have a list of testimonials a mile long from women who can’t believe how it changed their outlook on their life. It gave them confidence they thought they never had. It empowered them in a way they never thought they could
feel.” The ripple effect is far-reaching, she said, “from the rehearsals to the actual performance to hearing the supportive crowd that obviously is giving them everything, and then how they feel afterward, having completed it. It’s this whole package that Christine and I never dreamed of, but the entire community feels it.”
“It really brought people together interpersonally and then created a community of musicians,” Ms. Sciulli said. “It keeps growing.”
The Battle of the Fantasy Girl Bands “is a gorgeous hand-in-glove fit with the work we do and our mission for the Neo-Political Cowgirls,” said Kate Mueth, its founder. “Empowering women to be strong in their creative voices and lives, encouraging girls and women to discover deeper parts of who they are through the arts, and the sheer joy in connecting as a community. The annual band battle is imperative for the continued success of our arts education outreach that brings our local youth and other community members exciting and impactful arts residencies, performance, workshops, and place-making community projects. Having strong arts experiences helps us see the world through a creative lens, allowing us to problem-solve in more thoughtful and dialogue-enriched ways. The ripple effects are wide and deep and critical for engaging in a world rife with challenges. This event lifts these efforts up for us.”
The competition will be judged by a yet-to-be-disclosed person or persons. The 10 competitors? Also to be announced, but only as the competition unfolds. “It’s a huge secret,” Ms. Li said. “Sometimes there are secrets in the Battle — surprises, mysteries. We like to keep it real gritty.”
Admission to the Battle of the Fantasy Girl Bands is $75. Tickets bought in advance at npcowgirls.org include three raffle tickets. Live stream tickets, at $45, can also be had there, as can a book of six raffle tickets, for $50.
