Blueprint

Blueprint is the second full-length solo record by Alice Bag. Based in Los Angeles, Bag is a punk rock singer, musician, author, educator, and feminist archivist. She was lead singer and co-founder of The Bags, who were among the first wave of punk bands to emerge from that city during in the mid-1970s.

The songs often draw inspiration from direct observation, relating experiences that reminded the singer to remain alert and conscious of the whole picture – the political and the personal. “They’re all things that I have encountered that made me look at my life – at things in my life or in society that need to be corrected,” explains Bag. “I feel like we’re architects not only of our communities, but also of ourselves and also of the world.” “At the time, I was having work done on my house and there’s all the things that come up when you’re looking at a blueprint,” says Bag. “There’s a bunch of little things that come up as you’re building a structure that force you in different directions, but you still have to make sure that it all turns out the way you want.” Which is to say, if you’re trying to be a force for change, you have to start small – with your family, your community, and your own life. “The songs ‘Blueprint’ and ‘Turn It Up’ are really about that,” says Bag. “‘Turn It Up’ is a very personal look at our thoughts – the things that we choose to focus on – and how they shape who we become and what we create. If we focus on very concrete ways to make the world better – to volunteer, to talk with my mother about a problem she has, to talk to my son about going to school – that’s what you’re creating.

Recorded last year, the album includes a revolving cast of friends and Los Angeles-based musicians, including the members of Bag’s current backing band, as well as guest vocals from Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill, The Julie Ruin), Allison Wolfe (Bratmobile, Sex Stains), Francisca Valenzuela, and Teri Gender Bender.