Aimee Allen, lead singer for the ska-punk band, The Interrupters, spent time in foster care as a child.

Allen was born in Missoula, Montana on 2 February 1979. She is the youngest of four children born to Frances Preston. Her parents separated when she was a baby, and she did not know her father until she was older. Allen attended Catholic school where she felt ostracised and rejected for questioning organised religion. In particular, she disagrees with the Catholic Church teaching that being gay is a sin.

There are a lot of things in the Catholic school that I felt didn’t line up. I got kicked out of religion class a couple of times, for saying things and asking too many questions.  (Riveting Riffs)

When Allen was eight years old, her mother remarried a man who was sexually, physically, and emotionally abusive.

He ended up being literally and clinically sadistic. He was a psychopath… He treated me many times literally like a dog. (Nylon, 2022)

As a child, Allen wrote a song for her mother as a birthday gift. Writing songs also helped her cope with being abused.

I started singing as an act of rebellion – it made me feel like I could take my power back a little. He couldn’t stop me from writing songs and singing, even though he tried. (Kerrang, 2022)

When Allen was eleven years old, her stepfather beat her so badly that she was covered in bruises. The school notified the authorities, who placed her in an overcrowded foster home.

They asked me, “Would you like to go with this police officer to get some ice cream?” Instead, they took me to the Child Protective Services, where I waited until midnight and was put in a foster home that night. I never did get that ice cream, which I still think is kind of a mean thing to do to a kid. (Nylon, 2022)

While in foster care, Allen became suicidal. She also developed trichotillomania, which is a condition that causes people to compulsively pull out their hair to alleviate stress and anxiety. During this time, one of Allen’s coping mechanisms was listening to punk and ska music. Some of her early musical influences included Bad Brains, Jimmy Cliff, and Joan Jett.

When Allen was in eighth grade, child protection authorities removed her from a foster home to place her with her father, who she had not seen since she was a baby. She moved eight hours’ away to Billings, which is the largest city in Montana. Allen struggled with being further isolated from her friends and the rest of her family.

It was a very lonely, hard time. I wasn’t even allowed to talk to my mum on the phone for years. It was really hard and sad. I felt very lonely. The only solace I could find was in records. (Nylon, 2022)

Allen was reunified with her mother and siblings in her final year of high school after her mother divorced her abusive husband. Allen started her first band and began recording songs. She tried to get the local college radio station to play their music, but they did not accept demos from local bands.

Later, Allen enrolled at The University of Montana, Working as  a student radio DJ she broadcasted her band’s songs and announce their live shows. But she never disclosed to radio listeners that she was a member of the band.

Allen attended university for a year, studying poetry and women’s studies. She started saving money while waiting tables with the aim of someday leaving town. One night, Allen met members of a band in a bar who said they lived in Los Angeles. So, she decided to drive across the country and stay with them.

I had saved two thousand dollars from working at the Mustard Seed and had a full tank of gas and was ready to go… I had seen the movies with the Hollywood sign, and that’s what I did. I parked by the sign. I was in the place where I needed to be, but I didn’t know anybody. (Pop Matters, 2023)

But it turned out that the band lived well outside of the city in Orange County. After about a week, Allen decided she needed to be in Hollywood to connect with the local music scene. So, she drove to the Hollywood sign then called a friend back in Missoula to see if he knew anyone who might have a room to rent.

He called them and then he called me back on a pay phone, and he said they’d had a room available for rent. Believe it or not, the address was the exact street I was parked on. I could see the house from the pay phone. (Pop Matters, 2023)

Allen waited tables and soon started a band. She signed with Elektra Records, but the label folded before her album was released. At one of her gigs, she met a record executive named Randy Jackson who promised he would get her a record deal.

Allen felt comfortable around Jackson and the two began dating. But Jackson soon became violent and controlling.

Little did I know, the reason why that person felt like home, is because he ended up being abusive. The narcissistic abuse was off the charts. I ended up in a years-long relationship with extreme coercive abuse and isolation… I had to find my way out of that situation too, but it caused a lot of trauma for me. It took me many, many years to recover.(Nylon, 2022)

Allen attempted suicide as she believed it was the only way to escape the coercive control. She ended up in a coma for a week, and her family was asked to come say goodbye. Just a few years later, Allen was the victim of a random gang assault. She was nearly beaten to death outside of a recording studio in Los Angeles, which led to memory loss.

Allen struggled with alcoholism as a result of these traumas. She eventually sought help from a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with complex PTSD and major depression. She began hyperbaric oxygen treatment to help with traumatic brain injuries. Allen has also benefited from Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).

According to Allen, making music has been crucial to her recovery. She released several studio albums as a solo artist, and her song called “Cooties” was featured on the Hairspray movie soundtrack.

In 2011, Allen joined Kevin, Justin, and Jesse Bivona to form the ska-punk band, The Interrupters. She and guitarist Kevin Bivona later married, and Allen became widely known by her stage name, Amy Interrupter.

When we started the band, I finally found myself surrounded by people that understand and love me so much, and in an environment that felt safe enough to really begin to heal. (Nylon, 2022)

The Interrupters have four studio albums. Their self-titled debut in 2014 was followed by Say It Out Loud (2016), Fight The Good Fight (2018), and In the Wild (2022). Their first live album, Live in Tokyo, was released in 2021.

Although Allen had previously written songs about domestic violence and alcoholism, In the Wild is the first album in which she “wrote my story and told my truth, and shared what I went through and continue to go through,” (Nylon, 2022). Allen hopes that sharing her struggles through music will be meaningful for people with similar experiences.

I really, really hope… our music can help people that are also dealing with mental health or dealing with some of the issues that I’ve talked about, because that would just mean everything to me. (Nylon, 2022)

References

Aimee Allen. Last.fm. 6 June 2023. https://www.last.fm/music/Aimee+Allen/+wiki

The Interrupters. https://wearetheinterrupters.com/about

Beebee, Steve. “The Interrupters: ‘I started singing as an act of rebellion- it made me feel like I could take my power back'”. Kerrang, 17 Aug 2022. https://www.kerrang.com/the-interrupters-aimee-allen-kevin-bivona-in-the-wild-ska-punk-interview-cover-story

D’Ambrosio, Brian. “Running Towards Something: The Interrupters’ Aimee Allen.” Pop Matters, 15 May 2023. http://www.popmatters.com/aimee-allen-interrupters-2023-interview

Montague, Joe. “Aimee Allen Sents Out a Little Happiness.” Riveting Riffs, 27 Dec 2009. http://www.rivetingriffs.com/Aimee%20Allen%20Interview.html

 Valentine, Claire. “Aimee Allen of the Interrupters on her Journey to Healing.” Nylon, 5 Aug 2022. https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/aime-allen-the-interrupters-tells-her-story-in-the-wild

Image available here.