๐ผย ย :ย ย ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ .
๐๐ท๐ด ๐ฒ๐ท๐ด๐๐๐ธ๐ด๐ : stephanie ย ruiz ย ( ย drums ย ) ย , ย rebecca ย clarke ย (ย ย lead ย guitar ย ) ย , ย lisa ย wiles ย ( ย rhythm ย guitar ย , ย sometimes ย keyboard ย ) ย & ย lucia varelaย ย (ย ย vocalsย ย &ย ย bassย ย guitarย ย )ย ย all ย met ย at ย eighth ย avenue roller derby ย in indianapolis . ย while ย they ย were ย not ย all ย on ย the ย same ย teamย ย ย ( ย lucia ย & ย stephanie ย were ย ) ย , ย the ย leagueโs ย teams ย practiced ย togetherย . ย during ย the ย ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ แตแถ '๐๐ ย , ย the ย cherries ย , ย an ย all ย female ย hard ย rock ย band ย , ย was ย born ย .
lucia is the primary music composer for her band , ๐๐ท๐ด ๐ฒ๐ท๐ด๐๐๐ธ๐ด๐ , but receives ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฉ from her brother , lucas varela , & the cherries' drummer , stephanie ruiz . her songs are riff - heavy , fuzzy , & have a lot of d i s t o r t i o n . she takes heavy inspiration from ๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ , ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ , & ๐ก๐ค๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ & ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ . lu's lyrics feature themes such as rebellion , drugs ( often marijuana & some psychedelics ) , ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ , feminism , & ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ ( brazilian , norse , & greek specifically . )
lucia has an expansive vocal range , though is more comfortable singing as an alto . she takes ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ from singers such as joan jett , suzi quatro , janis joplin , & grace slick . lu frequently slides , g r o w l s , & belts while singing . when performing , she is ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ with her expressions & movements .
๐๐ท๐ด ๐ฒ๐ท๐ด๐๐๐ธ๐ด๐ have left a lasting legacy on the music industry , pioneering the riot grrrl movement & being one of the first bands to perform in the modern ๐ค๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ genre .
the band started taking their music seriously in ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ แตแถ ย '๐๐ . lucia's brother was able to set up a recording session with his band's studio for the girls as a late birthday gift for his sister . the band recorded a few demos & sent the tape to a multitude of recording labels , ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ with fingers crossed someone would sign them . ๐ผ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ณ๐ in ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐จ๐ฐ , ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ด reached out a few weeks later .
the band had a slow start , not necessarily rising to stardom with their debut album in ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ แตแถ '๐๐ , psycho - delic , featuring black smoke , fuck or kill , light 'em , & a cover of dazed & โฝ แถ แตแถแตโฑโฟแต โพ confused by led zeppelin . their second album was released in ๐๐๐๐๐ แตแถ '๐๐ , ๐๐๐๐๐๐ + ๐๐๐๐๐ , which shot the band to fame . the songs on the album included themes of feminism ( proud woman ) , pro - choice ( pro - fuck you ) , & the war on drugs ( drug czar . ) other songs included middle finger , shit list , & ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐ ( love song about two girls , references the time lucia realized she was bisexual while watching princess leia organa in star wars . )
'pon the publication of ๐๐๐๐๐๐ + ๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐ท๐ด ๐ฒ๐ท๐ด๐๐๐ธ๐ด๐ were offered a record deal with a national tour with a recording studio out in ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต , ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข , called ๐ณ๐ด๐๐ด๐๐ ๐ท๐ด๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ณ๐ . the band created their third album in ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ แตแถ '๐๐ titled ๐๐๐๐๐๐ , lyrics written by lucia . songs featured on the record included ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ , cherry soda ( sequel to strawberry soda from rebel + revolt ) , & a cover of ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐ ๐๐ by the runaways . the cherries moved out there while recording the record . the tour was from ๐๐๐๐๐ แตแต ๐๐๐๐๐๐ '๐๐ & they traveled all 'bout the ๐๐ฝ๐ธ๐๐ด๐ณ ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ด๐ alongside ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ as their opening act .
in the beginning years of the band , ๐๐ท๐ด ๐ฒ๐ท๐ด๐๐๐ธ๐ด๐ typically performed covers with a couple original songs intermingled . some of the bands they covered included the runaways , joan jett + the blackhearts , girlschool , iron maiden , metallica , the rolling stones , the ramones , dio , led zeppelin , black sabbath , jefferson airplane , suzi quatro , among others .
lucia's favorite songs to sing include cherry bomb by the runaways , bad reputation by joan jett + the blackhearts , & white rabbit by jefferson airplane . her top three songs to play on the bass are for whom the bell tolls by metallica , trouble by suzi quatro , & hallowed be thy name by iron maiden .