HOW DID LE TIGRE START?
We started in 1998, when Kathleen moved to New York. Having just put out her first solo record, Julie Ruin, it seemed logical to try and translate that album into a live show. Not wanting to perform alone, she asked Jo to help her with the project. (Jo had just bought a sampler and was getting into home recording too). Earlier that year Kathleen had gone to Chicago and made a video for the Julie Ruin song “Aerobicide” with her friend Sadie Benning. Sadie expressed interest in doing visuals and/or helping with the music for the live performances Kathleen was planning. So back in New York, Jo and Kathleen worked hard, trying to re-shape the Julie Ruin material into a live show, but ended up writing new songs together instead. They sent cassette tapes of what they were making to Sadie in Chicago and she visited New York and began working with them on their new, as-yet-unnamed project. This material ultimately became the first Le Tigre album. Because we wanted to have a visual component to
