Jody Bleyle

Who is Jody Bleyle?

Jody Bleyle is an American musician, songwriter and independent record label owner.

Jody Bleyle first gained public attention in the Pacific Northwest music scene of the 1990s, in the Portland, Oregon–based band Hazel. The group, formed in 1992, released two albums on the Sub Pop label, to critical acclaim. Jody Bleyle played drums and sang for the band.

In 1993, Bleyle teamed up with Donna Dresch and Kaia Wilson to create the band Team Dresch, in which she played guitar and sang. The group's first release was a single on the Kill Rock Stars label, which immediately garnered them much attention and they quickly became one of the defining bands of the Queercore scene. Their first LP, Personal Best, was co-released on both Dresch's label Chainsaw Records and Bleyle's label Candy Ass Records. Candy Ass Records went on to issue recordings by a number of bands including Hazel, Cypher in the Snow, and New Bad Things, but is best known for the 1995 release of the double-album compilation Free to Fight.

Free To Fight was a multi media project incorporating both recordings by artists such as Lois Maffeo, Excuse 17, Heavens to Betsy, Fifth Column, and Bleyle's own band Team Dresch, as well as a seventy-two-page booklet featuring writers and artists such as bell hooks, Bridget Irish, and Roberta Gregory. The recording and booklet featured self defense instructions for women, and Team Dresch toured with instructor Alice Stagg, who demonstrated defensive tactics onstage before the band performed. Jody Bleyle was interviewed for the film She's Real, Worse Than Queer by Lucy Thane, in which she speaks about her record label and in particular, the Free To Fight project. This recording was later followed by a Free To Fight split single by the bands Sleater-Kinney and Cypher in the Snow.