by Joe Buffaloe
Daily Lobo
June Higgins couldn't play an instrument in 2002.
But what she lacked in talent, she made up for with inspiration.
"I just got tired of all this whiny music," Higgins said. "I wanted something fun, upbeat and energetic."
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Higgins, aka Junie Tune, is the founder of the Platforms, an Austin-based female rock group. The band is stopping off in Albuquerque for the Hyperactive Music Festival on Friday before beginning a tour of the West Coast. They will perform at The District Bar and Grill.
The Hyperactive Music Festival is a series of shows from Thursday through Saturday at six different venues in Albuquerque. It features 50 all-independent bands.
Higgins gave an anecdote about the Ramones to explain the Platforms' first efforts at music.
"They started writing original material because cover songs were too hard," she said.
The Platforms' main influences are '70s glam rock, garage rock and proto-punk. The band lists artists like Iggy Pop, New York Dolls, David Bowie and the Kinks as inspirations.
"I remember learning 'Twentieth-Century Boy' by T-Rex at my first guitar lesson," Higgins said. "It was so easy, and that's when I realized that the songs I love are the really simple ones."
Though their music is as free of frills as possible - the band only has one guitarist and refuses to use over-dubs on recordings - the Platforms' clothes are a little more flamboyant. Part of its appeal is a heavy dose of over-the-top mod-girl flair.
"It goes back to the time when rock could be about fast cars or wearing cool outfits," Higgins said.
However, the band's history hasn't been all fun. Numerous line-up changes slowed the band's progress its first couple of years, and its 2004 tour of the Midwest was filled with tension.
"With girls it's really hard to keep it together in a band," she said. "Maybe we've all just watched too much reality TV."
Despite the previous hardships, she doesn't regret starting an all-female band.
"Women aren't taken seriously enough in rock music," she said. "But our songs speak for themselves."
As for the future, the Platforms aren't holding their breath for an offer from a major label.
"I don't know if the great record deal exists anymore, for anybody," Higgins said. "If we got offered a decent deal, we'd consider it, but we're definitely putting out the next recording ourselves."
Higgins has one other goal for the band.
"My fantasy would be to tour with the Mooney Suzukis," she said.
