can you deal?

About a month ago my friend Christian and Jennifer Clavin (of the bands Bleached and Mika Miko) reached out to see if I'd want to submit to the zine they were putting together. It focused on women's experience in music and it was called "Can You Deal?"

I thought about it. In light of the new America, complaining about playing music as a straight, cis, white woman felt trivial.

I went back and forth about how I felt about contributing to the zine, and decided ultimately it was for a good cause (all proceeds went to Planned Parenthood), and it was a pretty big platform. Jennifer and Christian got some high profile musicians to contribute (Hayley Williams, Tegan Quin, Liz Phair, JD Samson, etc.) If even one person read what I had to say and it helped them in anyway, that's worth it. That idea of just one person getting something out of what I put into the universe is motivation enough. 

So I wrote. And you can read it here: Can You Deal?

photo by Samuel Ware

Jennifer and Christian organized a show at the Echoplex for the zine's release. Side Eyes opened the show, followed by my band Upset, the Regrettes, and Bleached.

I changed my outfit like, 10 times before landing on this one...

photo by Eduardo Luis 

photo by Eduardo Luis 

photo by Eduardo Luis 

photo by Eduardo Luis 

photo by Andrew Gomez

photo by Andrew Gomez

photo by Samuel Ware

I actually really like the new Bleached song the zine was named for.

Here's the music video for Can You Deal:

my spring/summer 2016 wardrobe

I have sworn off shorts for a while. I couldn't get down. But for some reason recently I was like "What the fuck? I like my legs! I like being able to move around without worrying about my underwear showing!"
So I decided to give shorts another chance.

I'm going on tour with Jeff Rosenstock and my band, Upset in the last half of May, so I've been collecting new pieces of clothing for my "tour look". Usually I'm super drawn to bright colors, but lately I've been into more muted colors. My look for this spring/summer is retro camp/athletic; shorts with tube socks, ringer tees under denim jackets and army/navy button-ups (with all the badass Tuesday Bassen gear adorning those jackets), cherry nails and lips courtesy of MAC x Charlotte Olympia, bobby pins and barrettes to keep my growing hair out of my face, and my trusty Doc Marten Elphies for a nice touch of sturdy femininity.

SS16 by alexandria-koehler featuring heart jewelry

Click through for more pictures of my personal style lately.

UPSET - AWAY

We have a new music video! 

Our EP, '76 came out on cassette in the spring for our U.S. tour with Colleen Green. We were so happy with how it came out, that we decided to press it on coke bottle clear 10" vinyl, which came out on October 23rd, 2015 on Lauren Records. I put footage together from our tour with Colleen, the '76 record release at VLHS, and some shows we played with Ought in October. This is my iMovie directorial debut! Enjoy!

You can buy '76 on cassette and/or vinyl at Lauren Records.

Right now we're working on demoing our second full length, so no shows for the rest of this year, but you will be seeing more of us in early 2016.

Happy New Year!

photos LA october 2015

 improv 201 grad show

 horror nights

 he got me good

 li'l cormac bloodmoon mendel

 baby pants

 kyle kinane doing standup in our living room

 new fav burger in LA

 wild horses

sea of bass

 search for the look continues

white by vera wang

truly zac posen

 rachel flew in for some shows

 nasty baby is a great movie. sebastian silva is a great filmmaker.

 colleen's birthday and our record release

LVL UP // UPSET west coast stint '15

 

"never a chill moment" 

(Redding was cancelled. Let the unchill moment count begin...)

UPSET - COLLEEN GREEN TOUR PIX

We just got back from our full US Tour with Colleen Green. Here are some of my snaps...

UPSET TOUR SPRING 2015

My band, Upset, leaves for tour with Colleen Green today. We have a new tape with 7 new songs. Come say hi.

3/30 Scottsdale, AZ - Pub Rock *
3/31 El Paso, TX - The Loversprout *

4/1 Austin, TX - Hotel Vegas *

4/2 Ft. Worth, TX - The Grotto *

4/3 Houston, TX - The Shop *

4/4 New Orleans, LA - Circle Bar *

4/5 Huntsville, AL - Vertical House Records *

4/6 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *

4/7 Durham, NC - The Pinhook *

4/8 Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery *

4/9 Philadelphia, PA - Lava Space *

4/10 Brooklyn, NY - Shea Stadium *

4/11 Pittsburgh, PA - Modern Formations Gallery*

4/12 Cincinnati, OH - Woodward Theater *

4/13 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen *

4/14 Milwaukee, WI - Cocoon Room *

4/15 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *

4/16 Fargo, ND - The Hawk's Nest *

4/18 Missoula, MT - The Real Lounge *

4/19 Moscow, ID - The Pizza Pit *

4/20 Seattle, WA - The Black Lodge *

4/21 Portland, OR - Bunk Bar *

4/22 Arcata, CA - The Farmhouse *

4/23 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop *

4/24 Santa Barbara, CA - Funzone *

4/25 LA Echoplex w/ Polaris

4/28 LA The Roxy w/ Waxahatchee and Girlpool

* = w/ Colleen Green

upset merch, tape and tour: pt. 1

Upset has big plans for 2015, and the details are still being ironed out, BUT I do have some limited homemade Upset merch available in my etsy store right now. I mean like LIMITED. These patches and pins will also be available at our sold out Glass House shows with Joyce Manor and the Garden on February 13th and 14th.

We are recording 6 new songs on Feb. 8th with Todd C. of Recess Records and we will be releasing them on a tape sometime in March/April (you will also be able to get the tracks online.) You can hear some of the new songs in our stripped down set for Pitchfork Radio.

The theme for merch and art around these new songs is teamwork. This means girls in uniform a la Girl Scouts and Olympic Gymnastics teams. We've also been into the 70s athletic aesthetic. Here is a sneak peek at the inspiration and designs we have been kicking around.

 

 

now i'm a million miles from home: upset and white lung go to australia and new zealand

now i'm a million miles from home: upset and white lung go to australia and new zealand

upset goes to middle of the map fest 2014

I got to Kansas City for Ink's Middle of the Map Fest early so that I could see The Get Up Kids, so I had 2 days of solitude in the midwest. I kind of loved it. Being in a band, you spend so much time as part of a group. There's something to be said for only doing what you want when you want.


At the end of trips I like to go back and recount my favorite moments while they're still fresh. My family and I have always done this after vacations. I think it helps to give your memories some structure, so you truly don't forget the great time you had.

photos: upset brooklyn vegan party sxsw 2014

upset sw tour march 2014

(photo by Kyle A.)

polaroid: upset at sxsw 2014

potty mouth

abby

ally

phoebe

victoria

jenn, marnie, and me

meredith

hannah, meredith, myself, and patty

#syracuse

perfect pussy

rachel

allie, baby J

fletcher c. johnson x burger records showcase