In the 1980s, one of the heaviest of the girl bands was Cycle Sluts From Hell. They released their debut album on Sony Records and toured the world with bands like Motorhead. Twenty years later, former Cycle Slut Donna She Wolf is still one of the hardest rockin’ ladies of New York City, and she’s taking on the world as the front person of her new band, She Wolves.

In this early summer exchange, Donna is interviewed by her former Cycle Slut From Hell band mate, Honey 1%’er. Honey cuts through the bull to ask just a few crucial questions.

So, Donna, tell me about She Wolves.
She Wolves is basically me on guitar with drummer Tony Mann. I wind up doing most of the lead vocals, but Tony also sings some songs. We’ve been playing together for eight years or so in different bands. We even toured North America as Sylvain Sylvain’s backing band! Eventually we evolved into She Wolves.

I hear you have a new CD out.
Yes, She Wolves’ Mach One/The Early Days has just been released on Poptown Records. It’s all the recordings that She Wolves did exclusively with producer Paul Ena Kostabi since the band’s inception. Poptown compiled the tunes and re-mixed them for this CD. There are guest appearances by Sylvain Sylvain of New York Dolls and Jayne County!

Let’s talk a little about being on a label — I used to be on a major label and things didn’t turn out so well (for us).
So I’ve heard. Yeah, I learned the hard way also. I think it’s better to be on a small label where everybody is motivated, because they really care about what they’re putting out. When you’re under a huge remote monolith, ultimately you’re just a pawn.

You sound cynical.
I am.

How has being female affected what you do musically?
As a guitar player, not at all. I mean, how can you hear the gender of who’s playing an instrument if you’re not watching them? You don’t know if they’re male, female, transgender, hermaphrodite, or anything else you can think of.

How about songwriting? Venting a certain kind of rage unique to the female of the species was a large part of Cycle Sluts.
Whatever works. To tell you the truth, I don’t think about it that much.

Any advice for anyone trying to make a life for themselves doing music?
Other than the usual…practice a lot, stay prolific, have tenacity, blah, blah, blah…three important things are: think for yourself. Don’t give so much of a shit about other people’s opinions. If someone treats you with disrespect, ditch ‘em.