The Linda Lindas on Punk, Taking Your Own Path, and Growing Up

The Linda Lindas sitting on and around a blowup chair wearing sunglasses near a lava lamp.

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The Linda Lindas just made their return to the Los Angeles Public Library nearly a year after their performance of “Racist Sexist Boy” went viral.

The first time around, the group — comprised of Lucia de la Garza (guitar), 15, Mila de la Garza (drums), 11, Eloise Wong (bass), 13, and Bela Salazar (guitar), 17 — performed a punk show to an empty library mid-pandemic as a way of kicking off the library’s AAPI Heritage Month celebration. The four girls raged into microphones with a song about their frustrations with our flawed world and its systems of oppression, inspired by Mila’s experience with a racist, sexist boy in her class.

This time, The Linda Lindas performed for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, where they played songs from their debut album, Growing Up, after its release on April 8. Compared to their last performance, the four girls are notably older, more confident with their instruments, style elevated to underscore each of their personalities. A lot has changed, and their latest album exploring adolescence is a way for them to digest it all.

On Bela: Lisa Says Gah sweater, X-Girl top, Dr. Martens shoes. On Mila: Animal Crackers jacket and top.

Bela: Fry Powers , Mounser, and Jiwinaia necklaces. Mila: Hugo Kreit earrings.

On Lucia: Lisa Says Gah sweater, Camper shoes. On Eloise: Simon Miller shirt.

Lucia and Mila are sisters. Eloise is their cousin. Bela is a lifelong friend. For four years now, the LA natives have played in a band together and, with the help of their families and the influence of the music they were raised on, they’ve created an impressive body of work before even graduating high school (or in Mila’s case, middle school).

Mila de la Garza

With familial ties in different creative industries in Los Angeles, the girls have been surrounded by punk music since early-on, finding mentors like Hayley Williams and Karen O. Lucia and Mila’s dad, Carlos de la Garza, is a Grammy-winning music producer, who mixed their new album in the same backyard studio where he worked on projects with Paramore and Best Coast.

Bela grew up going to shows and making mixtapes with her parents. “I've always kind of been surrounded by punk and DIY culture,” she says. Bela’s mom, Karen Salazar, is a clothing designer who originally helped style them — they’ve since taken full creative control — while Eloise’s parents, Wendy Lau and Martin Wong, founded Asian pop culture magazine Giant Robot and organized community events that served as some of the girls’ first showcases.

The group began picking up steam in 2019, when their cover of Bikini Kill's “Rebel Girl” got the attention of the notorious riot grrrl band, prompting them to invite The Linda Lindas to open for them at one of their reunion shows in LA. In 2020, one of the band's songs appeared in the documentary The Claudia Kishi Club, and then in 2021 they appeared in Amy Poehler's film, Moxie.

But it was the 2021 library performance that really set things off. Shortly after they went viral, The Linda Lindas signed with Epitaph Records, an indie label known for signing punk rock bands in the ‘80s and ’90s. Since then, the group has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, written the theme song for Lisa Ling’s new HBO docuseries Take Out, and received attention from some of the most acclaimed musicians in the world.

All that momentum increased the pressure to do their first album right. 

Heaven by Marc Jacobs top, Coach dress, Paul Smith socks, Koi shoes, Notte earrings, Heaven necklaces, Shana Cave bracelet and rings, Laura Lombardi bracelet.
 


Sandy Liang and The Series tops, PH5 skirt, Urban Outfitters shoes, We love Colors socks, Shanna Cave ring and necklace, Sandy Liang ring, Notte necklace and ring.

Chopova Lowena and PH5 tops, Chopova Lowena skirt, Camper shoes, Karo Koru necklace.

“I kind of feel like, in a way, we have something to prove,” says Lucia. “Because we're younger and putting out an album means that we've done something really permanent. It’s something that's really us — all four of us — and I just want people to know that we really love music and we take ourselves seriously as musicians.”

Eloise Wong wears Lapima sunglasses.

Growing Up takes on the profound task of preserving what it is to be a girl coming of age in recent years — and while the external chaos of the world changes generation to generation, a lot of the internal chaos remains the same. The Linda Lindas wade into the waters of oppression, identity, friendship, and purpose, all to bring listeners along with them to the other side, feeling a little wiser, a little more hopeful. The album oscillates between the raw emotion and polished bravado so often required of teenage girls.

 “We’re always going to be growing up,” says Bela, both speaking to the new album’s title and the fact that there’s always more to learn.

And the last year has been an exercise in growth, both as girls adjusting to a world entirely changed by a pandemic and as musicians working to find their sound. They started out as a cover band, so figuring out how to write original songs together has been a learning process — one they’ve really had to master since being in isolation.

“We only really started writing songs together during the pandemic, and so we had to learn to write cohesively while we were apart,” says Lucia. “We had to learn who we are as individual songwriters and what each of our strong suits are.”

Luckily, they say, punk is found in the imperfections.

“Punk is amazing because it's doing what you want with people that you love, and it's doing what matters to you,” Bela says. “There's just a huge freedom in playing however you want, and knowing that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be perfect to you. Like, if you make mistakes on stage and stuff, it’s still really cool.”

“As long as it's enough for you, that's all that matters,” Lucia agrees.

On Mila: X-Girl shirt, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy sweater and skirt, Nodaleto x Heaven by Marc Jacobs shoes, Happy Socks socks, Justine Clenquet and Jiwinaia necklaces, Shana Cave rings. On Bela: Heaven by Marc Jacobs top, KKco vest, X-Girl pants, R13 shoes (pictured below), Sunnei earrings, Mounser, Janky Jewels, and Omnis Studios necklaces.

On Lucia: Valentino dress, Dr. Marten boots (pictured in the opposite frame), Shana Cave earrings. On Eloise: Lisa Says Gah jacket (opposite frame), Marimekko top, Lisa Says Gah pants, Animal Crackers tie (opposite frame), R-13 shoes (opposite frame), Omnis Studios necklace.

The D.I.Y ethos — play now, figure the rest out later — is woven into their creative process. While some of that may be informed by the osmosis of being raised on punk music, a lot of it comes from the musical tastes they’ve developed on their own. When asked about their inspiration or who they’ve been listening to lately, they each rattle off names like Bikini Kill, Wolf Alice, and Sleater-Kinney. As a nod to Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, they’ll occasionally call out at shows, “Kids to the front!”, a tribute to the riot grrrl call “Girls to the front!” — a way of prioritizing space and safety for women at punk shows.

Lucia de la Garza

As a quartet of teenage girls of Chinese, Mexican, and Salvadoran descent, their intersection of identities have been far from celebrated in punk movements — not even riot grrrl. The '90s movement was revolutionary in its own right, bringing the concept of girl power into the mainstream. But it was also deeply flawed, born from Bikini Kill’s zine called the RIOT GRRRL MANIFESTO, and infamously described in a 1992 Newsweek article as “young, white, suburban, and middle class.” The scene’s well-documented history is one that largely ignores the contributions of Black and brown women. What was supposed to make the punk scene more accessible to all women ended up further alienating and all but erasing the experiences of many women of color.

While they certainly aren't the first POC punk band to raise their voices in scene that's historically ignored them, The Linda Lindas seem eager to be part of a new era of punk — one where the inclusive ideals of Gen Z are the whole point. In other words, kids to the front.

Lapima sunglasses.

“Punk is about amplifying your own voice if no one else is going to,” Mila says, explaining how ”Racist Sexist Boy” came about, and highlighting one of the many ways in which The Linda Lindas are starting their own revolution. “A boy in my class said that his parents wanted him to stay away from Chinese people. When I told him that I was Chinese, he actually backed away from me. And we just had to write about it.”

There’s a studio recording of “Racist Sexist Boy” on their new album, which is almost like a new audio experience altogether, tidier in quality but equally as stirring. As bills against teaching critical race theory and talking about gender and sexuality continue to pass across the country, arguing that young kids shouldn’t be having conversations about identity in the classroom, marginalized students are burdened with the daily realities of discrimination regardless.

Bela Salazar

While “Racist Sexist Boy” is an absolute banger, it undeniably holds pain and frustration. But, as is signature for the band, it also expresses hope — hope that bigots aren't the norm, and that marginalized people can and should push back. Translating that on stage, the group feels they've found their place.

“I've never felt like I didn't belong [as a musician], even next to someone who obviously has way better technique than me,” says Eloise. The “someone” she’s referencing could be any number of iconic musicians the band has shared a stage with: Karen O, Best Coast, Hayley Williams. Karen O described “Racist Sexist Boy” to The New York Times as “a perfect little punk song. It’s so raw, and so confrontational.” But Eloise says she has felt alienated in certain spaces, like at school or ballet class. The other girls nod in agreement. Eloise says, “Being on stage, playing music. I've never felt out of place there.”

Despite all the buzz around The Linda Lindas, they’re only just starting to feel the full force of their fame. Most of their celebrity has played out online during the pandemic, so they’ve only performed a handful of live shows after their viral video. They all share an Instagram account (with some 270,000 followers), intentionally decided by their parents as a way of providing a bit of distance from the unpredictability of being famous teen girls on the internet.

Still, they get to see the constant influx of positive messages from fans. “What we do matters. Even though we’re just four people, we still have some kind of power,” says Eloise.

Through a global pandemic, in a scene that's historically exclusive of girls like them, between classes and homework, The Linda Lindas are carving out their own path — one many young people seem eager to follow. 

“We get messages from people all around the world about how we inspired them to pick up an instrument or to talk about racism or sexism or oppression.” Mila adds. “[Even virtually,] we can still do something that can create change.”


Credits: 

Editor-in-Chief: Versha Sharma

Photographer: Emily Malan

Photo Assistant: Elijah Akala

Photo Assistant: Keely DeLeon

Stylist: Shirley Kurata

Stylist Assistant: Tina Choi

Tailor: Vita Gavrylyuk

Hair/Makeup Artist: Thy Mai

Manicurist: Julie Le

Prop Stylist: Andre Shahjanian for Hype Creative

Production: Caroline S. Hughes for Hyperion LA

Art Director: Emily Zirimis

Visual Editor: Louisiana Mei Gelpi

Designer: Liz Coulbourn

Sr. Fashion Editor: Tchesmeni Leonard

Assistant Fashion Editor: Kat Thomas

Executive Editor: Dani Kwateng

Features Director: Brittney McNamara

Audience Development Director: Chantal Waldholz

Senior Social Media Manager: Honestine Fraser

Social Media Manager: Ysenia Valdez

Associate Manager, Audience Development: Ashley Wolfgang

Location: Hudson Loft

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