Emily's Sassy Lime

Infobox musical artist
Name = Emily's Sassy Lime


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Origin = Calabasas, Pasadena, Irvine, United States
Genre = garage punk, riot grrrl, power pop, indie rock, indie pop, noise pop
Years_active = 1994 – 1996
Label = Kill Rock Stars
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://killrockstars.com/artists/viewartist.php?id=171 Kill Rock Stars profile]
[http://www.oogaboogastore.com/ Ooga Booga]
[http://www.myspace.com/emilyssassylime MySpace profile]
Current_members = Wendy Yao
Emily Ryan
Amy Yao
Associated_acts = Meditation Duo
Shady Ladies

Emily's Sassy Lime (a palindrome) was an all-Asian American teenage riot grrrl trio from SoCal, formed in 1994 by Wendy and Amy Yao, and Emily Ryan. According to Experience Music Project, they formed after sneaking out of their homes one night to see a Bikini Kill and Bratmobile show, striking up a correspondence with Molly Neuman, the drummer of the latter band. [ [http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=671 empsfm.org - EXHIBITIONS - Online Features ] ] They didn't live very close to each other and didn't have cars, so they often had to write their songs over the phone, sometimes leaving seminal ideas for tunes, jingles, and melodies on each others' answering machines. When they finally did have a chance to record, they did so on a singalodeon, a cheap off-the-shelf lo-fi tape recorder. They barely ever practiced (often forbidden from doing so by their parents who considered their studies a bigger priority), making their sound a random, spontaneous indie garage punk-noise collage of "Whatever, just play." They didn't have their own instruments for years, so with every show they played, they had to borrow someone else's in the DIY punk spirit of sharing, often swapping with each other carelessly and making every show sound totally different. [ [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/07.18.96/emilys-9629.html Metroactive Music | Emily's Sassy Lime ] ]

In 1995, they all appeared as dancers in the Kathi Wilcox-directed "Mad Doctor" video for The PeeChees, and they broke up the following year when they finally graduated from high school and attended separate colleges. In 2000, they all participated in the very first Ladyfest in Olympia, the Yao sisters collaborating with Sharon Cheslow in the experimental sound installation performance art project of Coterie Exchange, [ [http://www.mindspring.com/~acheslow/AuntMary/geodessy.html sharon cheslow | geodessy for guitars ] ] and in 2003, Emily Ryan starred in one of Jon Moritsugu's critically acclaimed [http://jonmoritsugu.com/films/scumrock/reviews.php] no budget guerrilla underground punk films called "Scumrock". Amy Yao's been involved over the years with several different bands, frequently collaborating with Tobi Vail, and completed her MFA in sculpture at the Yale School of Art. Wendy Yao currently owns and runs a shop and DIY indie-punk artist space in LA's downtown Chinatown neighborhood called Ooga Booga.

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