Women Who Inspire Women Series: Crusty Mist of Indian Hardcore Band Retromist

We were SOOOO inspired by Revolver Mag‘s 5 WOMEN WHO INSPIRE ME series that we had to do our own Asian version. There are many reasons why we felt not only inspired but felt that we HAD to do it:

One, like Revolver Mag pointed out (and like we completely missed), March is Women’s History Month which is also the month of International Woman’s Day which falls on March 8th every year. We completely missed out on this opportunity to celebrate all the women in our huge Asian punk, hardcore, metal community spread across the world.

Two, as is the catalyst for our website since day one, we felt the need to put together an Asian perspective to this so that we can give ourselves some representation.

Three, by providing a platform for usually marginalized voices, maybe we can help our fellow loyal readers to be better informed. For example, in the first in the series below, we had never heard of Irom Chanu Sharmila.

So…over the next few days we have tapped into our amazing world of Asian female musicians who play in hardcore, punk or metal bands all over Asia to send us their top 5 list of women that inspire them. The women they pick can be of ANY background and not just relegated to the world of music.

Thank you Revolver Mag for the inspiration!

If you are a woman who would like to let the world know which women inspire you – please send us your list! We just need to know how you’re involved in the Asian music scene (are you in a band, run a label, are a promoter, a booking agent, etc).

Crusty Mist | Vocalist
Retromist | India
https://www.facebook.com/retromee/

The very first person we wanted to invite to this series, was our friend Crusty Mist who sings for an intense hardcore band from the Northeast of India called Retromist. When you watch the live video of the trio take the stage further below, and then proceed to demolish it, you can see that when she picks up the mic an unbridled rage comes bursting out. Her anger is real. Her anger is palpable. She is the real deal…when you hear her scream and the rest of her incredible band play, it reminds you that people like her is who heavy music is created for. This is a platform for people like us to exorcise our demons.

Thank you for taking the time Crusty!

Irom Chanu Sharmila
(Photo Credit: Oinam Anand)

She is a civil rights and a political activist from Manipur, India, who conducted a hunger strike for the withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Power’s Act, 1958 that applies in the seven sister states of North-East India, which lets the armed security forces to search properties without a warrant, to arrest anybody without question, and to even use a deadly force if they happen to have suspicions that a person is acting against the state or the government, which is greatly misused by a lot of armed officials.

Hellen Keller

An exemplary woman who inspires everybody, irrespective of gender, because she didn’t let her disabilities stop her.

Marie Curie

Well! She is a big slap to all the people who think women are not smart, and that we only stick to Biology when it comes to science. Also, despite coming from a poor family, she went on to become a physicist, and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

Joan Jett
(Photo Credit: Magnolia Pictures)

One of the many figures who inspired me to not let the societal norms tell me what I could do or could not, and to not be a slave to conformity.

Kathleen Hanna

The pioneer of riot grrrl movement, who introduced me to slip in feminist ideas and to speak about sexism we’ve encountered when we wanted to start a band. In a nutshell, she is one of the factors which shaped Retromist, lyrically, as it is now.

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Check out Retromist below: