When Gina Genius first came to town, she expected that her time onstage had drawn to a close. “I actually moved to Seattle thinking I was quitting music and [that] I was not going to do it anymore,” Genius says. “And then [my friend and I] were at a queer hip-hop show, and I was introduced to Gina [Bling]. That night we decided we were going to start a band. Team Gina formed the night we met.” After achieving their goal, world domination—which Gina Genius defines as the completion of a successful European tour—the Ginas are retiring the synchronized dance routines, sparkly Spandex outfits, and tight rhymes that made their live shows such delightful high-energy spectacles.
“Being in a band is completely like being in a relationship,” Gina Genius says. “You have to have the same goals.” Even though the Ginas are not and never have been romantically involved, they’ve encountered one of the main roadblocks in any relationship: the financial bottom line. “[Bling’s] career and day-job responsibilities are taking precedence right now,” Genius says of her partner’s full-time gig as a massage therapist, “but for me, music is it.” After releasing two albums of campy, ’80s-inspired hip-hop, the Ginas decided that their appearance this Sunday at the Comet Tavern should be their last.
Anyone who’s seen Team Gina live knows the magic that happens when the Ginas unite onstage isn’t emanating from the rays of light bouncing off the duo’s unabashedly loud outfits. Nor does their secret lie in their mesmerizing moves. Beneath all that glitz, there’s a message for all lady-lovin’ ladies: You are superb. Don’t ever change. Which is why the video for “ButchFemme”—which became a kitschy YouTube sensation upon its release—is also being aired in college classrooms. That’s not to say there’s an underlying agenda, but out lesbians are unquestionably underrepresented in popular music, which makes Team Gina something of a rarity.
“I feel like we were really articulating something that was missing out there, which was young, queer content,” Genius says. “What is out there? Katy Perry, who is not?…I guess there’s Tegan and Sara, and that’s really good, but I can’t really think of tons of examples.”
Though Seattle’s losing Team Gina, Gina Genius is currently cooking up a few new projects, which she plans to unveil in the next few months. But don’t rely on the rhymes and synthy beats coming back for an encore. “I will definitely be doing other stuff in the future, but what I do next is not going to be Team Gina,” she explains. “You don’t want to be geriatric and still wearing Spandex. Better to end something when it’s in its prime.”
