Chicks On Speed

Chicks On Speed are an electroclash and electropop group from München, Germany, active since 1997. The group begins as a multidisciplinary art project and combines music with performance, collage graphics, homemade fashion, film and video work.

Formation and early work

The project starts when Melissa Logan and Alex Murray-Leslie meet at the Munich Art Academy in 1997. Their early activities include club nights in Munich at Seppi Bar and an installation piece called I Wanna Be A DJ, Baby, in which they stand behind DJ decks and smash records while a sound collage tape plays. Before they begin releasing records, they also assemble a box set for their imaginary band, including a T-shirt, cassette, paper record and fake interview.

Their name comes from a comment made while they earn money in art galleries hanging paintings on walls. Their work is shaped by a punk-influenced DIY approach and by feminist and Situationist ideas, and they make their own stage clothes from cheap and recycled materials such as plastic bags and gaffa tape.

Members and collaborators

The group’s core members are Melissa Logan and Alex Murray-Leslie. They also work with a changing collective that includes musicians, producers, fashion and graphic artists, designers, film-makers and video-makers. People who collaborate with them include Anat Ben-David, Kathi Glas and A.L. Steiner. Other live members include Ann Shenton of Large Number, formerly of Add N to (X).

Recordings and releases

The first Chicks On Speed release is the cassette Analog Internet in 1997, issued on Stop Records. Their first vinyl release is Warm Leatherette 7-inch in 1998, a stripped-back cover of Daniel Miller’s 1978 song recorded as The Normal; it is produced by Tobi Neumann and backed by DJ Hell. They later relocate to Berlin in 2000.

Major releases include The Un-Releases (2000), a compilation of rare tracks; Chicks on Speed Will Save Us All (2000), their debut album; 99 Cents (2003), which includes “Wordy Rappinghood” with guest vocals from Peaches, Miss Kittin and Nicola Kuperus of ADULT.; and Press the Spacebar (2004), made with Spanish band No Heads and producer Cristian Vogel. They also release the four-track EP Chix 52 in 2000, featuring cover versions of songs by The B-52’s, and The Chicks on Speed / Kreidler Sessions in 2001 with German post-rock group Kreidler.

The group uses their own labels, including Go Records, Stop Records and Chicks on Speed Records. Chicks on Speed Records remains active and also releases work by Sylvesterboy, DAT politics, Le Tigre, Kevin Blechdom, Angie Reed, Ana da Silva, Anat Ben David and Susanne Brokesch.

Style, covers and collaborations

Chicks On Speed mix experimental art practice with pop and club music, and they are associated with electroclash. They cover songs by The B-52’s, Nick Cave, Cracker, Delta 5, Malaria!, David Bowie and Tom Tom Club. They work with producers and artists including Glove, Christopher Just, Patrick Pulsinger, Gerhard Potuznik, Ed DMX, Hecker, Mika Vainio and Pan Sonic, and they appear as guests on the live album by Finland’s Club Telex Noise Ensemble. They also perform live with Sand and Pan Sonic.

Fashion is an important part of their work. They create cover art for both albums by Fenn O’Berg, and Karl Lagerfeld photographs the sleeve for their single Fashion Rules in 2002. They also collaborate with fashion designers Jean Charles de Castelbajac and Jeremy Scott.

Videos, publication and other projects

The group makes videos for singles including Glamour Girl (2000), Kaltes Klares Wasser (2000 and 2001 versions), and We Don’t Play Guitars (2003, featuring Peaches). Their more experimental video work includes Don’t Work, Trade, Trading Post and Sellout. A one-hour documentary, Chicks On Speed, A Retrospective, appears in 2001 and uses home video from the group’s archive.

In 2004 they publish their first book, It’s A Project, through Booth-Clibborn Editions. It collects press clippings and personal mementos and includes a CD of rare and unreleased tracks, dress designs and other material in a fabric bag.

They also found and run record labels, and their work extends across art exhibitions, performances, fashion design and tours in Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia.