Joanne Filipone

this is part of a photo series i’ve been working on since 2011. it is a collection of photographs of badass women involved in metal, hardcore and the borderline metal/punk/avant-garde worlds. these are the people who make up the music scene. these are my friends.

Meet Joanne Filipone. She's a show promoter, Slayer lyric memory bank, and all around awesome person.

What was your first metal or punk experience?

Joanne Filipone: Ooooof I have no idea!  I was a little kid hearing Blondie, The Clash.  Was totally obsessed with Adam & the Ants in 2nd grade. My sister took me to see the Cure in 7th grade. By 9th grade I was going to shows regularly so I can't remember!  I got to see a lot of bands that don't even play anymore. I saw Crash Worship probably at least a dozen times.  

How did you get into booking bands?

JF: I used to book friends bands and then someone asked me to take over booking at the indie venue Sin-é on the Lower East Side. From there I started working with the crew at Europa. Then I started booking independently all over NYC. Like 90% metal. 

I think it is your fault that Mutant Supremacy and Attake became two of my favorite bands, back when I was writing about music. You booked them often. And it’s crazy to see the evolution of Winslow, Kurt, Robert and Sam’s writing and musicianship (even though Sam stopped playing music recently, the boy was a threat!). So, what I’m getting at here is, isn’t it awesome to see bands grow year after year? And, what bands disappeared that you wish were still doing their thing?

JF: Apparently it's my fault Mutant Supremacy formed! Sam & Robert met at a Vital Remains show I booked in like '07 I think.  They've had a bunch of line ups. They're killing it now. It's awesome. And it's Curt with a C. Or Mutt Mutt. Or Curty. Ha. I do miss Atakke but Trenchgrinder is my favorite local band.  And honestly it's hard to say who I miss seeing live because 99% of the time a band will reunite when you least expect it. Fingers crossed on Nausea haha.   

How did Slaywhore form?

JF: Hahahaha. Welllllllll Alyson Barrett & I were out at a show I believe.  For some reason we started talking about Lez Zeppelin, AC/DShe, Mistallica, Queen Diamond etc.  I exclaimed, "We should do Slayer! And you'll do the riffs on a keyboard!" We were laughing really hard. Our friend Lesley (now of Mortals and Belus) asked what was so funny and we said, "You're on bass." She said, "Okay." Then our friends egged us on. Then we asked Caryn (Mortals) to play drums. The rest is history haha. It was just a funny thing we did. Like once a year. 

What was one of the coolest shows you played with Slaywhore?

JF: We always played with Mutant Supremacy and Attake. They're all a blur honestly. We played at CB's before they closed haha. 

If you could put together a birthday show for yourself, with any bands, at any venue, who and where would you book it? It’s a fantasy, so you can even book dead people.

JF: Darkthrone, Bolt Thrower, Amebix, Slayer circa '86 Black Sabbath circa '70 at Parc Güell in Barcelona.