Hunter Valentine Rocks Knitting Factory

One look at all-girl lesbian punk trio Hunter Valentine, and you will fall in love. And that's part of the problem. The Canadian all-girl trio comprised of vocalist/guitarist Kiyomi McCloskey with Adrienne Lloyd on bass and Laura Petracca on drums found quick success on their first two albums, with the most recent, "Lessons from the Late Night," the result of a partnership with Tommy Boy.

But when a lack of involvement from their record label left a bad taste in their mouths, the girls of Hunter Valentine left them, and went back to indie producing. Now on its path to breaking the world record for performing the most gigs in a set amount of time, Hunter Valentine is launching a new tour featuring a gig this Thursday night, August 18, at Brooklyn, NY's Knitting Factory.

The roots of Hunter Valentine can be traced back to 2004, when McCloskey, in Toronto trying to make her way as a musician, met Petracca.

"I snuck into a gay bar, and Laura kind of looked over at me down the bar, like 'Who is this little punk?'," said McCloskey. "We started talking about music, hit it off right away, and have been best friends ever since. We started playing in different variations of what Hunter Valentine is today."

The girls were introduced to Lloyd via a member of The Parachute Club, a Toronto-based pop group. The trio clicked, said McCloskey, and was playing their first show a week later.

Heartbreakers...

Hunter Valentine's musical style can be described as hard-driving rock and roll with a pop sensibility, which at the same time references an old punk-rock sound. The girls cite as their influences Joan Jett and Tegan & Sara. McCloskey favors the '90s L.A. punk bank The Distillers, Petracca is a huge fan of English alt-rock band Muse, and Lloyd has a soft spot for Edinburgh post-punk outfit The Scars.

Previously, the band released a self-financed eponymous 2005 EP that assisted in blossoming the band's 2007 full-length, "The Impatient Romantic." After the record label owner sold the label, the girls didn't feel a connection with the new owner, and split off to move to New York.

"We gave ourselves a year to move to New York City and get a new deal, and we achieved that in eight months," said McCloskey. "We met up and signed a deal with Tommy Boy. But the state of the music industry is in rapid decline; everyone is trying to keep it together and put music out, but it's really hard."

After Tommy Boy produced their record, "Lessons from the Late Night," McCloskey said that they became less and less involved in marketing the group.

"We parted ways with them, and went back to doing do-it-yourself, and we're working more than ever," she said. "We play 200-plus shows a year, and we never really did that with a label. I think it's part of the whole thing of setting a fire under yourself to keep going."

Live and Unplugged!

And despite the extra work involved in running your own show, Hunter Valentine is more than ready to hit the road. They have teamed up with the bands Sick of Sarah and Vanity Theft, with whom they share bonhomie.

"It is rare to make lifelong connections with other bands, but over the last year we met these women and they are doing exact same thing we're doing: pounding it out on the road, working hard, and it's really inspiring to be around that," said McCloskey. "We are going out with those two bands for the entire tour, and are so happy that musically both bands are so amazing, and that their personalities are great. So for Hunter Valentine fans to be able to come discover that new music, I'm really excited about that."

For a band with more days on the road than at home, touring could be exhausting. But McCloskey admitted that for her, the road is home.

"I love touring," she said. "It's where I feel most comfortable, out on the road. We are so excited to see our fans again, and to go out to work it before we have return to the studio."

While on tour, Hunter Valentine will play three new songs from their upcoming album, still in the works. Although they are glad to be hitting the road, McCloskey said they look forward to writing new songs, learning more lessons from their travels, and trying to create an aggressive, exciting new record.

"I want to experiment with different sounds and not hold back and get locked into some weird formula," she said. "We are open to trying new things, and it's our third record so we are a lot more comfortable."

The girls from Hunter Valentine are headed straight for the top, and encourage other aspiring young women to follow their dreams as well. Their advice? Don't let anyone tell you you're not capable of it. Just focus on your dreams, and make them a reality.

"Don't listen to anything else but your heart," said McCloskey. "There are going to be a lot of obstacles and a lot of negativity out there, so it's important that you work as hard or harder than you would at any job. We treat Hunter Valentine like our job; we rehearse every day, it's not just a hobby. And when you rehearse that much, you become very good. So stick with your gut, be strong, stay positive, and work hard. You can make it."