WILD FLAG

Originating as a bicoastal endeavor, Wild Flag unites Portland, Oregon indie rock figures Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, and Rebecca Cole with Washington, D.C.’s Mary Timony. Brownstein and Weiss are best known as two-thirds of Sleater-Kinney, Cole as the drummer for the Minders, and Timony for Helium and her solo work, yet the women have performed together in assorted combinations across the years. Brownstein and Timony issued an EP in 2000 under the name the Spells; Weiss and Cole perform together in the Shadow Mortons, and Sleater-Kinney toured with both the Minders and Helium. Cole, Weiss, Timony, and Brownstein first gathered in May 2010 to develop what would become Wild Flag, though they withheld any announcement of the band until September. The group devoted the balance of the year to songwriting, recording, and concerts throughout the Pacific Northwest and West Coast. Wild Flag enlisted engineer Chris Woodhouse in April 2011 to capture their self-titled debut album, which Merge Records released that September. Busy individual schedules and the physical distance separating the members ultimately prompted Wild Flag to disband in 2013.