Red Aunts’ Debi Martini Has Died
Debi Martini, bassist and vocalist of the Long Beach punk band Red Aunts, has died. Martini’s bandmates Terri Wahl, Kerry Davis, and Lesley Ishino confirmed the news on Facebook, referring to her death as “sudden and unexpected.” They continued, “She was our rock goddess and our anchor and we will always treasure our time together and all that we accomplished. ... We are devastated. We love you Debi.”
Red Aunts got started in 1991 when Wahl recruited her friends Martini, Davis, and Ishino. Their first practice was in Martini’s garage. “Nobody really had a background in music, so chords and letters didn’t have much meaning as our own language,” Martini said.
Their first two albums—1993’s Drag and 1994’s Bad Motherfucken 40 O-Z—were released on the indie label Sympathy for the Record Industry. Their final three albums were all released by Epitaph: 1995’s #1 Chicken, 1996’s Saltbox, and 1998’s Ghetto Blaster. The band broke up in 1998. In 2014, a greatest hits compilation of their work called Come Up For a Closer Look was released on In the Red. Red Aunts reunited in 2016 and played a string of shows last year.
