Oakland’s Skip the Needle Fight for Their Rights on New EP

In a time when LGBTQ+ Rights are vehemently under attack from the current presidential administration, Oakland’s Skip the Needle retaliate with a sound they call “black dyke rock.”

The band, made up of four queer women from California’s Bay Area in Vicki Randle (bass), Shelley Doty (guitar), Kofy Brown (drums) and Katie Cash (guitar), create an amalgamation of blues, punk, funk and soul to create a classic sounding style that’s on full display on their forthcoming EP, Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up. Fans of War, Masters of Reality and Nona Hendryx alike will definitely feel what STN are putting down here. 

The EP will be physically released March 7 released on Soulectric, a division of Little Village Foundation and digitally released by Side Hustle Records in July of 2025. 

They are honored to have received the Local Sirens Residency grant from Women’s Audio Mission, utilizing the funds to produce and record the EP at the Women’s Audio Mission, the only professional recording studio in the world run entirely by women and gender-expansive individuals.

Rock & Roll Globe is honored to premiere the title track to the forthcoming EP today on the site, along with a quick Q&A with the band. 

Skip the Needle will embark on a brief West Coast tour in support of Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up in March alongside B*tch. See dates below. 

Pre-order the EP on Bandcamp.

Skip The Needle Tour Dates with B*tch 

March 6 Bellingham, WA – The Mount Baker Theatre :: Lookout Sessions 

March 7 Seattle, WA –  The Rabbit Box

March 8 Portland, OR –  Alberta Abbey

March 9 Baker City, OR –  Churchill Baker City (or Churchill School)

March 13 Santa Cruz, CA –  Moe’s Alley

March 15 Berkeley, CA –  The Freight

 

How did you come up with the concept of “Wake Up”?

Katie: The concept was born out of early pandemic days in Oakland. Protests in the streets, helicopters circling day and night, police in riot gear blasting tear gas into crowds of students holding peaceful demonstrations and houseless encampments growing daily. Wake Up is a message of love and a call to action toward it — a reflection of how our existence is contingent on our conscious effort to move toward one another. Our evolution is interdependent.

 

Was there a particular artist or sound in mind when creating this song?

Katie: 60s Soul & R&B, artists like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield were definitely in mind when writing this song.

 

I love the bluesy nature of the song. How much would you say the blues defines Skip the Needle?

Katie: I was heavy into the blues as a kid and it absolutely influences everything that I write and play. I think the blues is at the root of Skip the Needle.  R&B, funk, soul and rock help define our sound and all of those genres were born out of the blues. 

 

The phrase “Wake Up” seems as important as it’s ever been in this day and age. What are your thoughts on its potency amidst the Trump Administration’s war on “woke”?

Vicki: “Stay woke” Leadbelly sang in the 1930’s as a warning to black people and it’s no surprise that decades later, the Right wing has adopted that phrase as a pejorative. They are deeply threatened by our collective knowledge, experience organizing, and push back.  

Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up is a call to awareness, to readiness, to action. 

 

How does Oakland inform the Skip the Needle sound? 

Vicki: Oakland has long been a hub for revolutionary movements owing to its remarkably diverse culture. A place where Black Liberation, and a thriving Queer community co-exists. It is the perfect birthplace for a group black dyke rockers to meet and form a band dedicated to speaking truth, while uplifting with unbridled joy.  

 

Please tell me about recording this EP at Women’s Audio Mission.

Vicki: From the moment we walked in the door at WAM studios we were blown away by the lovely vibe of the space, the staff and interns. Warm, welcoming and knowledgeable, they were professional, curious and creative, making us feel like collaborators rather than clients. The particular freedom of being in a space dedicated to empowering women and gender expansive humans infused the sessions with respect and compassion that allowed us to be more vulnerable, honest and take musical risks with our project.  

 

How is the release of this EP helping you through these dark times?

Vicki: I honestly don’t know what I would be doing without this group of women and the music that we (unfortunately, prophetically) created. The sense of existential dread that greets me every day would be too much to bear, I feel, without the release and comfort of these songs. They buoy me up, remind me that I’m not the only one who needs encouragement and a way to express my frustration and determination, that we can also be a voice of unity for our community, and that  joy is necessary, even in the darkest times. 

 

AUDIO: Skip the Needle “Wake Up”