Reining from Staten Island, Jigsaw Youth are a grunge punk triad who are planning to take the industry by storm with their unbridled feminine force. However, they don’t want the fact that they are females in a male dominated industry to be their defining feature. They want the music to speak for itself and to be recognized as talented musicians before all else. However, if they are able to act as empowering femme figures while doing what they love, they are proud to wear that badge of honor as a bonus to their hard work.
Frontwoman Maria Alvarez, who sings and plays bass, guitarist Nastacha Beck, singer and drummer, and Alex Dmytrow, have been playing together since high school. For the past seven years, they have not faltered in their determination to show the rest of the world what they’re made of. Through this journey, they have been completely independent, and everything they have accomplished has been by the skin of their own teeth: no manager, no publicist, and no label. But with the right amount of exposure, they are ready to take this project to the next level.
I spoke with Alvarez and Beck after their set at Aftershock, where they proudly acknowledged that it was the biggest show of their careers so far and hope that it will continue to pave the way for them to continue pursuing their dream of being full time musicians. They played Saturday morning at the Shockwave Stage, one of two main stages, at 11:30 a.m. Despite being one of the earliest sets of the day, they quickly drew a substantial crowd from festival goers who were passing by and impressed by what a commanding performance they put on.
Being from the East Coast, Staten Island, what was the music scene like when you were growing up and really started getting into music?
Nastacha Beck: Honestly, there’s not, like, much of a scene. At least for the genre that we’re into. There was a little bit, when we were coming up more locally than anything else and more upstate; we kind of did better upstate than we did in the boroughs for a while. But we grew up a little bit of everything, like hardcore punk, straight New York hardcore, nu metal, and the whole Seattle grunge scene. That’s kind of where all of our sounds come from.
Maria Alvarez: I would say New York is just so saturated, and there’s a lot of people there, so there’s not, like, one scene or one pop-in scene type thing going on. It’s just friend groups that play together. We had a pretty cool scene going on in Staten Island; it was, like, a funky, punky, grungy thing.
It was cool to be part of, but It wasn’t enough. We wanted to get out of Staten Island. I vividly remember a show that we played where I looked over at them, and I was like, “I want to play to people that we don’t know … I’m grateful that friends come out and stuff, I need to see some fresh faces now.”
I know that the name Jigsaw Youth was inspired by a Bikini Kill song; what was it about that specific song that stuck out to you?
Nastacha Beck: When we were kids we identified with the Riot Girl movement. Once we started playing live, there was no need to be insecure. Just a be yourself type of approach to it, where I’m not trying to be anyone else but myself. So I think we found comfort in knowing that there were women before us that were capable of being frontwomen and running the show. Even Courtney Love and shit like that. We were like, OK, so we can run the show if we want. Then once we kind of dove into Bikini Kill, their lyrics and that song in particular (Jigsaw Youth) is about that. The attitude that I’m gonna do what I want, and I don’t give a fuck type shit.
We were discussing band names and talking about how we don’t fit your average definition of a teenage girl; we were into way more darker, edgier shit, unintentionally. But once we were just tossing around names, one day Maria just said, Jigsaw Youth. I was like, yeah, no need to really look any further. There was just a ring to it; it clicked.
As you are rising the ranks and growing within the industry while doing this as an all-woman group, how do you want to represent yourselves to other women with similar aspirations?
Nastacha Beck: I would say, I think the whole point is that, especially now in 2024, just metal in general, there’s more open opportunities now than there ever was in the industry. So I think it’s a challenge but if you want it, the opportunities are there. You might have to work a little bit harder and prove yourself more, but at the end of the day, it’s going to build character. So any girls or women out there that want to be a fucking rock star, It’s out there for you to grab.
Maria Alvarez: Sometimes I kind of teeter back and forth with this idea; yeah I’m a girl, and I play rock, but then other times, I’m like, why does it have to be a thing? Why can’t I just play music? So I’m still learning to navigate those thoughts.
I definitely feel really lucky to be chasing something that is seen as empowering to other girls, but ultimately, I don’t want anybody to feel like there’s a certain aspect to it just because you’re this or that. If you feel the energy, and if you feel that you can be something, nobody is stopping you. There might be guys out there that are looking at me like, oh, this fucking girl. But that’s them thinking that, not me. I’m gonna go up and play music and have a good time and be a fucking rock star.
Did you have any doubts over the years, when you first got started? What kept you motivated?
Nastacha Beck: Yeah, at least for me in particular I definitely have this weird paradox or God complex where I experienced a lot of insecurities and self-loathing at moments in my life, but I also truly believe in my soul that there is not one thing I can’t accomplish if I really want to put my mind to it. If I want to be president, I could be, and even if things don’t even make sense, there’s nothing in this world that can stop me from getting to my goals. So even when we started, I was fully aware of the things that were gonna hold me back potentially, and I just wasn’t letting it happen.
Maria Alvarez: Yeah, like, I feel like that kind of circles back to the part of me that’s like, well, gender doesn’t really have anything to do with it. I’ve never wanted to be anything else in my life but a musician. And I’ve never looked at my vagina and been like, you’re holding me back. You know, I definitely feel like it can because you’re like, OK, I know I’m getting judged. I’m not going to take it as seriously becauseI know at some point the tables will turn.
So, what’s next for Jigsaw Youth?
Maria Alvarez: Going into the next year, we’ve got a lot coming up. We just released two songs; we’re gonna release two more, and then after that, it’s gonna be a whole EP. We’re going on tour in January, which is gonna lead up to us playing ShipRocked in January. So between doing these two festivals, then ShipRocked and just keeping busy releasing music, I’m hoping we just get into the festival circuit for next year.
Photo provided by Sophia Gabrielson
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