The Matriarch, an all-female band, will perform from 8-10 p.m. April 21 at The Orbit Room. Tickets are currently available on the venue’s website.
The performance is for audiences 21 years and older. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours is required.
The band originally sparked from boredom when Mallory Benoit, guitarist and Purdue graduate, tore her ACL. She said she needed something to do and since they had played together once before, she wanted to continue.
Al Erftenbeck, vocalist and IU senior, said she used to hate singing in front of others, but her bandmates encouraged her to start performing. She said her favorite thing about performing is getting more comfortable through her stage fright.
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Mal Babcock, drummer and IU graduate student, was roommates with Erftenbeck since their freshman year and went to high school with Benoit. They all met JoLynn Hockemeyer, bassist and IU sophomore, through the Bloomington Delta Music Club on campus.
The band said they prefer house shows over bar venues because of the supportive vibes and excitement. They said sometimes people mosh to their music, and it feels more wholesome and intimate at house shows. Benoit said it’s also nice to play for new people.
Babcock said she loves to watch her bandmates perform better than they could’ve a month ago while playing drums. She said they’re all growing and improving at such a fast pace.
The band plays mostly punk, rock and pop cover songs. Erftenbeck said one of their favorites is “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” a punk song by The Stooges.
Babcock said they’ve been working on original songs and will be releasing “Best Wishes,” a pop rock song, toward the end of April or beginning of May. Babcock said Hockemeyer had sent the band a baseline, and Babcock wrote the lyrics in five minutes while at work.
“I think that the best part about writing is just being able to write about your feelings in an artistic way,” Erftenbeck said. “Because there's not a lot of times where I want to sit and journal, but there's things that I want to get out.”
Erftenbeck said the band’s goal is to eventually only play originals. They are working on a few original songs and are planning to record an EP this summer.
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The band wishes to collaborate with other local artists for videos and merchandise. In the past, they have collaborated with a makeup artist and a film photographer.
“There's so many really cool and creative people in Bloomington, and we’d love to work with them,” Benoit said.
Erftenbeck said the band tries to work with people who are not cis males in order to support underrepresented voices in the music industry.
“We're trying to give space to people that don't really have it, especially when we're collabing,” Erftenbeck said.
The Bluebird has a multitude of posters on their walls showcasing musicians who have performed in the venue, and Hockemeyer said only a few of the posters include women.
“This proportion is not right, and sometimes I feel like it's almost our duty to try to fill out that ratio,” she said. “We belong here. We need to make people understand that we belong here too.”
