dambuilders: JOAN WASSER

Trained as a violinist, she began displaying her knack for casual reinvention while playing the violin with a punk-like abandon in the 1990s college-radio rock staple the Dambuilders.

 -the sun

At the age of eight she took up the violin and, a decade later, took a place to study music at Boston University before realizing that the classical world was not for her. 

"I didn't want to make classical music my life. The Beethoven symphonies have already been played a million times and I am not going to do it any better."

"I just always loved music. I was the girl with a mohawk playing the violin in high school. Everybody thought I was a freak. And guess what? I am."

- alterdudes

Instead Wasser, sporting dreadlocks and vinyl mini-dresses, started to play violin in punk bands. 

"It's hard to make a classical instrument fit into that world, but I wanted to bridge the gap between the guitar and the bass and play the violin really loud." 

In the grunge era, her band the Dambuilders were signed to a major label and toured the world. - telegraph

She was in her first band, the Dambuilders from 1990 until 1997

 

Joan dated Jeff from 1994-1997 when he died.

"It was incredibly difficult to grieve privately for those close to him - everybody wanted a piece of him - we were a very private couple. It took a while to get through that period, honestly. I never would want it to happen any other way because the fact that I survived it has made me such a strong person. It has actually really made me more compassionate."

there's nothing you can do about it, so we just don't worry about it

he's not quite as eloquent as jeff or jim but he's only 16 in this interview!!! i remember my sister had frogstomp on cassette when i was little. i miss 90's grunge.

My So-Called Life

"I loved Jordan Catalano so much, and talked about him so much, and thought about him so much, it was like he lived inside me. Like he had taken possession of my soul, or something. And then one day... I got over him!"- Angela

"We both stopped talking. Part of his sleeve was touching my arm. I don't know if he knew. Then everything started to seem perfect, for some reason. The feel of his shirt against my elbow. The fact that I still had an elbow. It was the perfect moment for him to kiss me...for him to anything me."- Angela



"You know how sometimes the last sentence you said, like, echoes in your brain? And it just keeps sounding stupider? And you have to say something else just to make it stop?" - Angela


"What I was thinking, as like a New Year's resolution, is to stop getting so caught up in my own thoughts, cause I'm way too introspective. I think...But what if not thinking turns me into this really shallow person? I'd better rethink this becoming-less-introspective thing...Okay, so I'll stay introspective. But I do resolve to stop doing Jordan Catalano's homework" -Angela

"Have you ever just, like, completely given up on someone, and then something happens, and you go, "Oh my God. There's so much more to this person than I ever dreamed!" -Angela



"Can you imagine what that's like? To have to sit around trying to figure out what someone else is, like, thinking?" -Jordan Catalano



Rickie : Okay, see the Egyptians, they wore eyeliner to...ward off the evil spirits. They believed that if they outlined their eyes, that the good spirits would spot 'em easier. I read it in a book. So that's why I tried it. The eyeliner, I mean.
Brian : So you believe in, like, evil spirits?
Rickie : Oh no, I, I'm Catholic. Basically, I just like how it looks.
"When you call someone's name, like, kind of loud, and they don't hear you, it makes you feel really lonely." - Angela

If you've never seen, or at least heard of My So-Called Life, I feel very very sorry for you poor unfortunate soul. I honestly think it was one of the best 90's shows... yet it was very short lived. These pictures can only show so much. You have to watch it to get all the magic. There are many great quotes also.