Audreys<\/em><\/a>, but couldn\u2019t because that was already a band name. And now we\u2019re gonna play with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tThough performing at Lollapalooza is a huge deal that they knew about months ago, the band members kept it low-key at their respective schools, sharing their good news with a few close friends and teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf I tell someone something that I\u2019m excited about, they\u2019re excited, too,\u201d Seifert says. \u201cI go to an art school, so a lot of kids are musicians. There\u2019s never been jealousy. I\u2019m surrounded by people who think like me, who know I would offer my support to them, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tAfter their concerts in Chicago, Kim Theory will perform a few dates closer to home on weekends, including a highly-publicized gig in September opening for the influential riot grrrl band Bratmobile.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe brought them out last year for \u2018Gimme Brains\u2019,\u201d Bratmobile singer-songwriter Allison Wolfe tells Rolling Stone<\/em> in a separate phone interview. \u201cI love them! They\u2019ve got really good voices and are good musicians. I saw them perform a stripped-down unplugged set and they were amazing. I was blown away.\u201d She heard about Kim Theory through Bratmobile\u2019s drummer, Molly Neuman: \u201cShe knew about them already and really liked them. When we were planning our tour, she said, \u2018Hey, I want Kim Theory to open for us.\u2019 I said, \u2018Oh yeah!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tKim Theory are aware that they are in an unusual situation. Most teenagers don\u2019t perform at major music festivals or do interviews of any kind. But they take their burgeoning fame in stride. They note that while other teens may not be in bands, there are plenty who are passionate about socio-political issues that affect their communities. It doesn\u2019t sit well with them that too many adults want to infantilize teens, as if they\u2019re not capable of forming their own opinions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tEthnomusicologist Elizabeth Keenan points out that Kim Theory rings true with both older and younger fans because their music fits into the Nineties nostalgia that\u2019s been prominent over the past decade.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s so much going on in our culture right now that resonates with feminist movements and women musicians like the Kims who inspired Kim Theory\u2019s name from the 1990s,\u201d Keenan \u2014 who also wrote the riot grrrl novel Rebel Girls<\/em> \u2014 says in an email to Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThis cultural resonance is what sets the stage for younger musicians like Kim Theory to find their own voices [and] also make a connection back to previous generations of women. You can see this in their cover of Bratmobile\u2019s \u2018Gimme Brains.\u2019 What\u2019s really interesting for me about Kim Theory is \u2026 they\u2019re looking back and making it their own at the same time, which is great to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tBassist Fraser is all about empowering and encouraging other kids, especially girls, who want to start their own bands. She encourages them to \u201cjust do it. I think it\u2019s kind of almost ridiculous that we as humans have been conditioned to think, \u2018Oh no, it sounds too hard so I\u2019m not gonna do it\u2019 or you\u2019re too embarrassed or scared of failing. Even if you do fail, at least you tried. For us, we\u2019re just having fun being together and being a band. We didn\u2019t have a big plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tMeet Kim Theory<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\tAudrey Cymone<\/strong> (vocals)<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n\n\tThe lone group member who no longer attends regular school \u2014 she takes online classes \u2014 Cymone is also an actress (Netflix\u2019s One Piece<\/em>, NBC\u2019s Annie Live<\/em>) and a self-described theater kid.<\/p>\n\n\tHer influences:<\/strong> \u201cMy dad was always a huge Guns N\u2019 Roses fan, which was what I was listening to a lot growing up. But I also remember him playing me \u2018Luka\u2019 by Suzanne Vega and I would try to learn how to play it on the ukulele [when I was] 10 years old. It was just such a beautiful, haunting song and I loved it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tFavorite musicals: \u201c<\/strong>When I was eight years old, my favorite musical in the whole world was Shrek the Musical. <\/em>Now, I like a lot of rock musicals like Next to Normal<\/em>, Spring Awakening<\/em>, and Dear Evan Hansen<\/em>. But I also like the older ones. I love Miss Saigon<\/em> and West Side Story. <\/em>All of those soundtracks are always playing in my car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\tLula Seifert<\/strong> (guitar)\t<\/h3>\n\n\tSeifert\u2019s father, Heath, plays with L.A. punk band the Astral Jets, and her elder sister, Sophie, co-wrote \u201cHe Said She Said\u201d with Kim Theory. The guitarist enjoys punk, grunge, Chappell Roan, Katy Perry\u2019s earlier songs, and Halsey. And she took two years of tap dancing to fulfill her P.E. requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Pizza Dudes:<\/strong> \u201cZoey and I used to do music lessons when we must have been, like, seven,\u201d Seifert says. \u201cIt was more like musical experimentation. I have a distinct memory of being in the basement of a little music school. Zoey was hitting the drums and the instructor said, \u2018Just play G.\u2019 And I said, \u2018How do I play G\u2019? But we wrote our first song. Our name was the Pizza Dudes and my sister was in the band with us. That moment of us taking lessons together connected us as musicians. When I think about music, I think about that. I think that was relevant to forming a band with Zoey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tPunk-Rock Blitzkrieg: <\/strong>\u201cI would always listen to Marky Ramone\u2019s Punk Rock Blitzkrieg on\u00a0 SiriusXM,\u201d Seifert says. \u201cI listened to punk before that, but that\u2019s what took me around the punk globe. I heard songs by a bunch of different bands. That introduced me to high-energy punk music, which got me into punk culture. I learned about live music and started getting interested in going to shows. All of that really changed who I am and really influenced my view on music.\u201d<\/p>\n