French Vanilla got their start playing queer punk parties around L.A. and became mainstays at seminal DIY spaces like the Smell and Pehrspace. Influenced by cult, female-fronted post-punk acts, the band partnered with Danger Collective Records in 2017 for their self-titled debut (Bandcamp, Best Albums of 2017). Since its release, their captivating stage presence and avant-garde stylings have earned them coveted tour slots with Girlpool, Shopping, Surf Curse, Wavves, and Joyce Manor. French Vanilla thrives on a shared sense of humor, a glue that keeps the group together. Hardcore fans avidly follow the band’s ambitious reality show parodies and mockumentaries, produced via Instagram stories while on tour.
How Am I Not Myself? (produced by Sean Cook, engineer on St. Vincent’s MASSEDUCATION) sees French Vanilla entertaining & challenging its audience with a seamless fusion of creativity & progressive concepts born of lived experience. Through soaring and addictively catchy vocals they explore the fears & freedoms of major life upheavals, the drag of gender bias in the creative landscape, & the struggle to psychically survive a sexist & heteronormative society.
-Allison Wolfe