Gina Birch

I started The Raincoats with Ana when I was 19, totally inspired by what was happening in punk, and especially seeing The Slits. We had a fine time, toured, made couple of albums, before I started also playing in Red Crayola with Mayo Thompson, Lora Logic and Epic Soundtracks. The Raincoats then made a third album, our last for some time. After a couple of years Vicky and I formed a band called Dorothy and we recorded an album and released a few singles on Chrysalis records via Geoff Travis's label Blue Guitar. Then I went to film school at the Royal College and started making films more seriously. I had been inspired by seeing Derek Jarman's super 8 films when he visited my art school, so had been making a lot of super 8 for a while. When I graduated from the Royal College, I was continuing to make music videos having made Daisy Chainsaw's Love Your Money amongst others and was just making one for The Pogues, when I got a phone call asking if The Raincoats would go on tour with Nirvana!! As Ana and I hadnt played for ages, it was quite a strange request but we thought, mad to do it, madder not to! So we enlisted a new violinist as Vicky didn't want to do it and Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth on drums..... anyway things didnt go quite according to plan and very sadly Kurt died. We did make one album for Geffen. I was asked to do the music for The Handsome Foundation's show, The Fear Show and came up with a few tracks that then became the basis for the album Slow Dirty Tears, which was released on Kill Rock Stars in the US and on my own label in the UK, with some money left over from Geffen. I loved being on Kill Rock Stars and playing at Ladyfest in Olympia. I started to record a new album, but have been extremely slow as I now have two children, make music videos for lots of bands, including Beth Orton, the Libertines, and New Order. I have started to play quite a few shows recently and am now keen to finish the record. So will keep you all posted.
www.theraincoats.net