In January of 1996, after building a successful career in display merchandising and marketing while raising a family, Pam Simmons realized she needed something more because her thirties were just about gone.
“I imagined myself at an old age home, looking out the window and I said to myself, gee — I am really sorry that I never_______ (fill in the blank).”
Her answer — become an expert at roller-skating and start in a band in which she would play lead guitar.
In this moment, Simmons set off on personal journey to realize her dreams. “I bought roller blades and I skated accidentally into a sock fixture at the department store and f*@$ed up my wrist immediately,” she says of one of the many barriers that she has encountered.
Over a decade later, Simmons not only accomplished her musical goals, but has become an iconic metal queen in the Motorpsychos — a powerful and haunting musical trio with four albums, a new music video and a cult Pittsburgh fan base.
“The reason I got into music is because I wanted to feel what it was like to create within a group.” Pam says. “I wanted to see what it felt like to create in the moment,” Which happens every time she takes the stage performing with her L7 black Gibson toting a yellow L7 sticker on the front.
With photography, or display, you can take all the time you need — you create individually and you don’t present your creation until it is ready.”
“When you are on stage – you can’t hit pause.”
Simmons was raised in a Jewish family in Stanton Heights then moved to Scott Township, South Hills suburbs in May of 1964.
Suburban life in the 1960’s was “real cookie cutter” when I was growing up, there were 6 styles of houses on my block, everybody’s lawn was the same, everybody’s driveway was the same. Everything was very reliable, dependable and predictable. That is how I thought the world was.”
She laughs, “And the joke was on me.”
Growing up Jewish, Pam felt the strain of not fitting in. The other students at school where culturally very different.
“Trying to fit in shaped my adulthood with the peak of it all happening in the 7th grade. During the summers I would go to, as my husband Peter calls, it “Jew camp”. For some reason I was fine, I had a great time and fit in during the summers where 99% of the kids where Jewish. When I came back during the school years my concentration was fitting in – not on my classes at all,”
Simmons felt an intense social exclusion that would shape not only her adulthood but influence her musical style.
Simmons was always interested in music, beginning guitar lessons at age 10.
“I was taking lessons from a jazz guitarist. I didn’t want to play jazz, I wanted to play pop. So I switched from a jazz guitarist to a 16 year-old girl teacher that taught me to play Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.” Pam laughs.
“If I would have stuck with that jazz guitar teacher—I would be unbelievable now!
I — we (as girls) were not encouraged. If we were going to do the guitar thing at all, we were encouraged to be like Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, and Carole King (although she is an accomplished pianist) that kind of music was accessible, for girls.
There was a lack of musical encouragement for young girls and a lack of role models – personally and musically.
“All my guy friends had guitars. They all got together and put on Led Zeppelin, figured out Stairway to Heaven.” She says. “What were the girls doing? Playing with make-up, discussing who our favorite Beatle is.”
“I am resentful for it. I know that I would be an amazing guitarist if I was classically trained and practicing seriously since high school. Now, I try to relearn scales and relearn scales and relearn scales, I never get passed a certain point. It pisses me off.”
“It’s kind of ironic because Joan Jett and Lita Ford are my age. Lita Ford is a kick ass guitar player but what is missing from girls — the classically trained abilities.”
Growing up Pam’s Musical influences were Todd Rundgren and Steely Dan, In 1978 Pam admits to being very involved in disco.
When I was a kid I was really into the whole British aesthetic. I was strongly influenced – and remain so to this day – of the 60’s British style, patent leather, high contrast black and white, blocky bright colors.
“We would go to the disco in Erie and dance to real disco – not that John Travolta sh$t. Real disco, the soul train disco.”
She pulls out her IPhone and sings off the tunes: Strawberry Letter 23, Dance Dance Dance by Chic, Evelyn Champagne, Kool and the Gang, Disco Inferno and many more hits disco hits off of her “Disco Playlist” from the late seventies in which she could be found in dark lipstick and the severe blush, shiny eye shadow, satin, and spandex.
In the spring of 1979, she met he first husband, Donald, and got “instantly sucked into punk” she says, “I LOVED THAT. When I say punk, I mean the Sex Pistols, the Dead Boys, the Ramones, 999, the Buzzcocks.”
Pam has a BFA in photography and sculpture from Edinboro University and 15 years of visual merchandizing design experience. “Sculpting with retail” as Simmons refers to her previous career.
As the years passed, Simmons became involved with her career as the Director of Marketing at the Galleria in Mont Lebanon and her family. Her daughter, Lily was born in May of 1991.
In those years, “music was in the background” she says, until when she realized that she needed it in the foreground.
“I started hanging around at Pittsburgh Guitars, they didn’t even know me. I just went there to hang out all day – she laughs. Finally I met a girl and we decided we wanted to be in a band together. We wrote a song, I think it’s great to this day. It was such an exciting time and I started all of the when I was like—40.”
From the musical inspirations of L7 and the Lunachicks, Pam set out to begin an all-girl band.
“I really liked girl bands that were hard and “in your face”. We formed a band, I refer to us as the “bad girl band” because we were horrible.” Pam laughs, “The first name for us was Nancypants then it changed to Go to Helen. That lasted longer than it should have, we sucked, we broke up – and then they reformed later without me.”
Pam persisted with her musical passion.
“Then I met Rachel. When I saw her I knew she was the one – she looked exactly like Courtney Love, she was responsive and dedicated”
Pam and Rachel reformed the band, Go to Helen – Rachel was on vocals and Pam was guitar. After two dozen auditions, they found a bass player and drummer they were ready to rock.
Until a catastrophe struck.
“Finally we play 4 shows and I had, what I call it – a nervous breakdown” She says.
From the anxiety of an identity crisis and the onset of Tinnitus, Simmons had a piercing ringing in her ears, “which stopped everything” she says.
“I never wore earplugs and I thought I ruined my ears. I canceled the rest of our booked shows. Band broke up and people moved away.”
Yet, that was not the end for Simmons, it was only the beginning.
In January in 2000. Pam forms the band, the Motorpsychos with Rachel and the drummer, Dr. Vent. When the bassist, Amy Bianco joined in February, she brought an aggressive and distorted rhythmic sound to the band enhancing their metal, punk-infused sound. They were together only several months, they performed in Erie and in Pittsburgh, until their drummer Dr. Vent quit the band.
The Motorpsychos needed a drummer.
“So, can you play and do you have your own gear?” was Pam’s immediate question the first time I talked to her on the phone.” Says Dennis Brown, the drummer of the Motorpsychos since 2000.
“It was then on the phone that I found out it was a band full of chicks.” Brown says. “Pam called after I responded to her Musicians Classified ad seeking a drummer.”
Brown met up with Amy, Rachel and Pam at Dee’s Café in the Southside. “They gave me a cassette of their music.” He says, “It was all original music. It was the first band that I auditioned for that didn’t want to play covers – that is what I wanted, I didn’t want to play covers.”
On the first official band practice session, cupcakes with a balloon were presented to Brown to celebrate the union of new drummer into the Motorpychos.
“They gave me a nickname — we each had one, mine was Strap-on psycho, because I was the only guy in the band.” He says.
For the remainder of 2000, they layed shows in throughout Pittsburgh and Ohio. Playing at the 31st Street Pub, The Bloomfield Bridge Tavern and Gooski’s, the Motorpsychos began building their audience. Their first album, The Motorpychos was recorded and produced in 2001.
“The sound of the first album was thrash metal with a punk feeling.” Brown says. “Rachel sang with a Glen Danzig – style, dark, deep voice. Much different than what we sound like now.”
When Rachel quit the band in 2003, Pam and Amy began to sing the lead vocals. “Amy is more metal with her powerful scream, Pam’s voice is darker and more melodic.” Brown says.
Since the first album, the Motorpychos have played hundreds of shows throughout Pittsburgh, Ohio, Chicago, NYC, Detroit, Michigan, New England, West Virginia and have performed at several festival concerts.
In 2005, they played the Warped Tour at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Amphitheatre. Amy Bianco remembers that hot summer day, outside in 90 degree weather, “We were seriously inexperienced with festivals. We didn’t bring a tent so we were all huddled under billboard sign shadows, pine tree shadows, whatever we could find.”
She laughs, “The bigger touring bands had backstage rooms with coolers of beer and energy drinks provided but most of them stayed on their tour busses so we looted their coolers and would run back huddled under our pine tree. It was great!”
Over the past 13 years, faces of the band have changed. Throughout it all, Pam Simmons, Amy Bianco and Dennis Brown are the heavy metal trio – the Motorpsychos.
They have recorded and produced 4 albums – The Motorpychos (2001), Piston Whipped (2004), Coming of Rage (2009), Sheppards File (2012). They are currently writing content for their fifth album.
“When we first started, our songs had pop song hooks, pop song arrangements but they had heavy treatments. But that was the first and second album. But as we progressed into the 4th album it was sounding more metal, darker more morose.”
With “crunchy” guitar sounds, aggressive bass distortion and powerful, precise drumming, The Motorpsychos move into their fifth album with an energetic, raw sound.
Bianco describes the new music, “It’s as though we’re simplifying and moving back into faster, more relentless songs.” She says, “More physical than emotional.”
2012 was a great year for the The Motorpsychos. They graced the cover of the Pittsburgh City Paper, shot their first music video for the song “Binks”, won best metal song for “Victim” (off of Sheppards File Album), best metal album (Sheppards File) as well as the best metal band in the Pittsburgh Rock Music Awards.
Certainly, being a female fronted metal band creates a certain confirmation of how much women in metal/music are underestimated.
“Many times” Pam says, “After a show, people will come up to me and say that they were surprised that we played well. People have told me that they had already placed us into a category in their minds and then we blew their pants off.”
Women are underestimated in music are based on the gender bias that they only need to look the part.
“We have played with dozens of girl bands and they did all of that sexy stuff, the photography, the costumes, the make-up — and it was phenomenal! – But they sucked musically. Its uneven, it’s like going to school and getting an A in one class and flunking another.”
That is an unfortunate reality that still exists and is perpetuated within women in rock.
“There was a comment by a well know female musician,” Simmons says,
“The musician publically said that she doesn’t want to do music anymore because no one wants to look at a middle aged woman performing.”
Simmons looks down as she politely smiles and pets Cupcake, her Chihuahua.
“She is telling women that they are worth only an appearance, and if you have no appearance to offer you have no business being on stage doing music.”
“I resent that, and you can put that in my article – that she can go f@$k herself for perpetuating that female dogma bull$@it.”
As for the roller skating dream? In January of 2006 Simmons and 2 other girls started a Pittsburgh Roller Derby League called the Steel City Derby Demons – now the Steel City Roller Derby.
The Steel City Derby Demons competed locally and nationally, Simmons competed until she left the Roller Derby in 2009.
“I am not good at being friends with someone and then slamming the hell out of them in the rink the next minute.” Simmons says. “When I left, I was 49. Taking calcium supplements then crashing into things — not the best combination.” She laughs.
“My number was 187 and my name was Susie Sydal – both are Motorpychos songs”
Beginning a band and be great at roller skating…check.
Laurie A. Smith 