Black Pussy’s Dustin Hill talks freedom under duress
Hill checked in to talk about, being at the center of controversy, and love, love, love.
- Jon T. Cruz
Over the last eight years, Portland, Oregon-based five-piece Black Pussy has crisscrossed the country, laying down a stoned and steady rock ‘n’ roll groove. With albums such as On Blonde and Magic Mustache (released in February 2015), Black Pussy’s sound lies rooted in stoner rock’s collective subconscious, rich with distortion, melodies, and psychedelic flourishes summoned by singer and guitarist Dustin Hill’s cosmic bellow. Each song is a cinematic journey sculpted from equal parts Death Valley 1971 and modern era hippies having a good time, all the time. That is until a recent Change.org petition hit the Internet demanding: “All White, Male Band Black Pussy should change their name-or venues who booked them, should be boycotted.”
Sure, calling the group Black Pussy is of questionable taste, but pushing boundaries and pissing people off has long been a part of rock ‘n’ roll’s vital essence. But when word spread that Raleigh, North Carolina’s Pour House had canceled Black Pussy’s show due to alleged threats of violence and vandalism the very fiber of American freedom was at stake. Before taking the stage tonight (Sunday, March 22) at Smith’s Olde Bar, Hill checked in to talk about freedom under duress, being at the center of controversy, and love, love, love.
Your Raleigh show was canceled because the club received threats of violence and vandalism if you played. But another club stepped up and booked you, correct?
Yes, we’re playing at Slim’s in Raleigh. That shows that most of the community doesn’t want to embrace hatred. Raleigh doesn’t want to be known for attacking artists. It’s a shame that the first venue had to cancel, but I understand their position. It’s scary when people threaten you and threaten to vandalize your place of business. I can’t hold it against them. But Slim’s is one of the oldest venues in town, which means they’ve been through a lot. They’re tough enough to deal with it.
When you chose the name Black Pussy did you think “This will be offensive?” In just two words you’re dealing with imagery that revolves are sex and race: Two very volatile subjects in 2015.
No. I knew it might confuse a small percentage of people, but I never expected this. I was definitely caught off guard by it. Sometimes it’s necessary to cause debate. I feel strange being in the middle of it, but you’ve gotta roll with it.
Personally speaking, when I’m upset with the language that someone is using, I find the way to combat it is with more language: Asking questions, rather than making accusations, threats, and demands. Truth will out.
The person who put up the petition on Change.org started making accusations, which lead to people spreading rumors. Rumors are dangerous. Find out the truth first. Ask questions. Most people don’t want to embrace negativity. If you don’t like something it’s better to ignore it. If I don’t like a movie, I don’t watch it.
Black Pussy has toured across the country quite a few times. Has the name ever been an issue before?
We’ve toured many times, and no one has ever made an issue of it till now. Back when I started this project, if I had been met with hate, and people telling me that this is a horrible name, and they weren’t going to support us because of it, I probably would have changed my mind and thought, “I might have made a mistake here.” In reality, we were met with love in the press. We were met with love from males and females alike. We were met with love from all races. That told me that this is a great band name. People are embracing this idea. The black community loved us and supported us like no other. It was not my intention to make anyone happy, but they were happy. Black women at our shows loved the name.
So here we are, eight years later, and one person in San Francisco, a high school teacher — a person who is teaching our youth — is making allegations, calling us racist and sexist. It distorted reality. The last eight years have been so positive up until one person started spreading lies.
The music world’s embracing of the word pussy has come a long way in the last several years. There’s Nashville Pussy, Alabama Thunderpussy, Perfect Pussy, even Atlanta has a young group called Pussy Pussy.
It has become very mainstream, and it’s just a more acceptable word these days. In my life, I’ve never witnessed anyone being offended by it. It’s just a word. I was taught that sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. There are a lot of bands that use it in their name. It’s not a negative word, and it has multiple, multiple meanings that are up to the individual to interpret.
Have you talked about this with other bands that have the word in their name?
We were in L.A. about 10 days ago, and hung out with Ruyter from Nashville Pussy, and it never even came up. We were just hanging out. It’s the rock ‘n’ roll world, and the names of our bands just weren’t on our plate. We’re here to make music, to make art, be loving, and entertain people — spread good vibes. I would be curious to hear if any of these other bands have come under fire. Pussy Riot got locked up for their antics, but they live in a more oppressive country. The scary thing is that certain people would want that for our country. Once you start locking up artists, and destroying their art, we’re getting into some scary territory.
Have you read The Art of War?
I read it a long time ago, and our keyboard player Keith O’Dell is in the middle of reading that book on this tour.
It’s pretty much required reading for you and all of your bandmates right about now.
That’s funny, but true. I’m a big chess player so I look at it like I’m in the biggest chess game of my life right now. Every move is very important, but holding to truth is the main thing. That’s a big part of this country, standing up for human rights and artistic rights, and freedom. That’s a big deal. We live in this land of freedom, but some people are trying to take that away from us. I don’t want to live in China, man.
Have other venues canceled shows, or received threats of violence or vandalism on this tour because of your name?
Not as much as the club in Raleigh. My agent and a few other people have been tracking this whole thing and we’ve realized that it’s basically the same person making the calls herself. One woman is on a crusade against us, and is getting communities riled up based on lies. That’s kind of like what happened during the Salem witch trials, back when people were being put to death based on lies. Haven’t we learned our lesson?
So there’s the old show biz saying: No publicity is bad publicity. Have you found this to be true?
I do find that to be true. Absolutely. It’s amazing. Since this whole thing started we’ve received 99 percent positive feedback. Most people on this planet are pretty smart. They can use logic and their brains work, and recognize that these guys don’t seem like sexists and racists. There is a small percentage of people that do come to that conclusion, and they jump on a hate bandwagon. But most people we encounter are supporting us. It’s amazing, and it makes me proud of the people in this country, and around the world. We’re getting support around the world, and that makes me proud of humanity.
With Savagist and Halmos. $10. 8 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar. 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com.