At an old Hell’s Angels bar on the industrial edge of San Francisco, heavy metal band OTEP takes the stage in front of a chanting crowd. Leader Otep Shamaya returns the fans' traditional heavy metal two-finger salute with a single raised middle finger. The audience surges toward her, grasping at her hands. Blonde hair covers her face and the mic as she launches into something between a growl and a wail. The savage opera begins, with stories mined from childhood abuse to life during wartime.

Heavily influenced by the emotional rawness of Nirvana and the social messages of early East Coast rap and hip hop, OTEP blends a sharp spoken word style with blistering metal guitars. Shamaya’s background in literature shines through with lyrics that are clear and dramatic. If having one of the few female frontpersons in metal--and its only out lesbian--seems like a recipe for disaster, think again: OTEP played Ozzfest 2001, 02, and 04 (they didn’t perform at Ozzfest 2003 because Shamaya was writing their second album, House of Secrets).

This year OTEP is headlining the Alliance of Defiance tour, with forty stops scheduled through the spring.

AfterEllen.com: With the kind of diverse musical influences you had, what brought you to metal?
Otep Shamaya: Aggression, that’s it. I’m quite an aggressive person. I needed a sonic landscape that was just as aggressive as I am. Bands like Slayer and Slipknot, hearing those bands, there was something phenomenal about the way they communicated their messages. Just so precisely, like barbwire. I just fell in love with it. It never occurred to me that women don’t do this kind of music. It never even crossed my mind that I was a rarity or something unique. It didn’t cross my mind that I’m a lesbian and there were no other lesbians around me.

AE: That are out.
O: That I know of, so it never even crossed my mind why I should hide it. Why I should hide anything. Why should I think along those terms? I don’t feel like I’m something unique. So far I’ve only had a few people who seem to have a problem with me being here. Mostly because I’m a woman, and I guess I’m the antithesis of what they embrace as what a woman is. Like, you know, tits and ass. The sexuality of what I do is not even a part of it. If there is anything in there that people can see as erotic, it’s not anything overt. Everyone needs an enemy, and all too often it’s us. If you’re not just gay for a day or bisexual…

AE: Or you’re not there for them to watch with their girlfriend!
O: Exactly, I get that a lot, even from girls. It’s weird. “Oh I’d be lesbian for Otep. Maybe she’d let my boyfriend join in.” Ew! No! I think the lesbian community is just now showing all of itself, all of its faces. Where as before, people might have a certain idea of what a lesbian is. The more exposure people get to any community I think is good. I don’t judge them based on their lives, and I don’t care if they like mine or not, I’m not here for that. We are born alone and we die alone, what’s in between is mine.

Page 1 / 2 / 3 - Next