01 / THE BAND

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BØTTØM formed on New York City’s Lower East Side in 1996, founded by guitarist, songwriter and frontwoman Sina with bassist Nila and drummer Clementine. Emerging from the chaos of downtown Manhattan, the band became a regular at CBGBs and part of the heavy underground surrounding the Continental’s Dosage nights—a scene helping define the sound becoming known as stoner rock.

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At the center of BØTTØM were the songs.

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Built around Sina's monster riffs, the fuzz-drenched guitar statements had hooks, recurring themes and melodies that stayed with you after the volume stopped ringing in your ears. Sludgy and enormous one minute, fast and thrashy the next, the songs could crawl, pummel, swagger and suddenly take off. Nila’s bass and Clementine’s drums gave the riffs weight and movement, while Sina’s voice moved from cruel attack and velociraptor screech to commanding warrior, empathy and innocence.

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At a time when the emerging stoner-rock world was populated almost entirely by men, BØTTØM was three women making music every bit as heavy, loud and uncompromising as the bands around them.

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And people came back.

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The music built a fiercely loyal following. The road made the band formidable.

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In 2000 and 2001, BØTTØM circled the United States eight times, spending roughly 330 days of the year on tour—night after night, sometimes going 20 days or more without a day off. During the six-week Vans Warped Tour in 2000, the band played the festival by day, then headed into clubs at night for its own Feels So Good When You’re Gone tour.

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330 DAYS A YEAR.

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By then, thousands of miles had turned three well-rehearsed New York musicians into something else. The riffs got heavier. The performances got bigger. The volume became part of the language.

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In 2002, BØTTØM crossed 23 European countries in 40 days.

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23 COUNTRIES. 40 DAYS.

 

Eventually headquartered in San Francisco, BØTTØM mutated. Sina was joined first by Chris Colebourn and Kevin Harding, and later by Kevin Swartz and Harding. New blood. Same monster. The band kept writing, playing and touring, ultimately releasing the full-length concept album Hug Myself … All the Time.

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From Vancouver to Croatia, across its different incarnations, BØTTØM shared stages with hundreds of artists including Rollins Band, Rancid, Misfits, Mastodon, High on Fire, Electric Wizard, Nashville Pussy, AFI, Doro, Mike Watt and Joey Ramone.

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Across its life, BØTTØM released Made in Voyage, Feels So Good When You’re Gone, You’rNext, MXV, and Hug Myself … All the Time, with releases through Mudflap Records, Man’s Ruin Records and Rise Above Records, among others.

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The road became part of the mythology.

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But the songs were the reason for the road.

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The clubs are gone. The vans are parked.

The miles and records remain.

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Turn it up.

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BØTTØM was here.