Ms.Led and misunderstood

The band's name is the first sign that this group is not afraid to put their views on the line.

Lesli Wood, a third-year UW law student and front woman of Ms. Led, explained the group's take on its name.

"It's also sort of a pun on the concept of "mislead," going with the idea of how people view feminist and political bands as having their intentions in music as being misdirected," Wood said.

Ms. Led released its second album on Nov. 2, coinciding purposefully with Election Day. Just as people are given the chance to make their votes heard, Ms. Led is striving to make its opinions known with its newest album, These Things We Say.

The band makes no attempt to hide its ideology; the lyrics to the album's first song scream, "There shouldn't be a problem with saying you're a feminist. There shouldn't be a stigma to saying you're a feminist. You shouldn't be afraid to say you're a feminist."

"The opening track talks about [feminism], and we knew that there was definitely a danger to putting that track first because it's so easy for people just to think, 'Oh, you're just another feminist band, you're just girls playing guitars,'" said Wood. "It occurred to me that I didn't want to be scared of that label because it's exactly what the song is saying. There shouldn't be a stigma to the concept of equal rights for women."

Whether on the road or blasting on a stereo, Ms. Led seeks to change people's minds about the f-word.

"To hell with what people have turned the word into," said Wood. [People think that] just because we're dykes, that's why we're feminists. Feminism just contains so many meanings for people that are outside of what its purpose is and I think that gets really skewed. I am tired of having to sugar coat that and make it [agreeable]."

Even the album liner notes state the band's views: "Ms. Led would especially like to thank ... feminists, queers, lefties and all those who will not or did not vote for George W. Bush."

Ms. Led will officially announce the release of its new album at a Dec. 9 record release party at the Crocodile Cafe. That same day they will also be on 90.3 KEXP, who listed the groups album, An Afternoon in Central Park, as one of the top albums of 2002.

Ms. Led is an offshoot of the musical relationship formed between Wood and the band's bassist Matt Menovcik. The pair, who have played together for 14 years, decided four years ago they wanted like to establish a band of their own. They added drummer Steph Hasselman and guitarist Peg Wood.

"I had been looking for a band that did similar things to what [Lesli and Matt] did," said Peg. "I took a chance because I saw an ad saying they were looking for a bass player. Even though I am a guitar player, I took a chance and I called them. It turned out they had the flexibility to incorporate me [in] as a guitar player."

The addition of Peg caused Menovcik to shift to bass. The members worked to find their niche in the music scene, which for Ms. Led involved touring as much as possible to reach fans in all areas of the U.S.

"We mostly tour," said Wood. "We try to get out of town at least once a month and play on the road as much as possible. It's pretty all over the map, but for the most part we pretty much hit the Westside of the country and then we fly to New York every couple of months."

Wood uses the group's performances on the road as an indication of how the group is working together.

"Whenever we are out on the road, it shows just how much we have grown together as a band and as friends," she said. "Especially compared to the first time we went out on tour -- when the band almost broke up -- it was so trying. Now I see how it is a part of our lives."

After spending a lot of time in 2003 playing shows, including performances at Bumbershoot iand The Ladyfest Festival in Austin, Texas, the group went back into the studio to record These Things We Say. The group recorded the album under the direction of Martin Feveyear, who has worked with Mudhoney and the Queens of the Stone Age.

"I am very proud of the new album," said Menovcik. "We worked really hard on it and we had a really good recording experience with it. The last album we did kind of had a lot of hands involved in the final product and this time we had one engineer the entire way through and he was great to work with."

The band tries to send a message with each song it delivers, messages that Menovcik feels can be easily understood.

"Lesli writes all the lyrics. I think she does a really good job of communicating her ideas to people in ways that don't come off as preachy or too high brow," said Menovcik. "She does a really good job of addressing people so that a lot of people get what she is saying."

Wood writes her songs from personal experiences, inspired by issues she observes.

"They are all autobiographical, so they are about whatever I am going through, seeing in the world or what's bothering me," she said.

One of the album's tracks, "Small Change," reflects how Wood felt about the United States entering war.

According to Wood, the song addresses the despondence people felt after protesting the war and trying to make their voices heard and then "not being heard." The song attempts to inspire people to not give into the feeling of "hopelessness" because everything we do "makes some sort of change."

Ms. Led worked with political organizations prior to the election. The group performed benefit shows for "No Vote Left Behind" and "Not in Our Name." It plans to continue its political involvement in spite of November's election results.

"We try to fire people up and give the message that if you don't like how things are going in this country right now you can do something about it," said Wood. "We really wanted things to be different with the election. We talked about it and made the decision that you can't let the hopelessness take over; there [are] still things we can do. We are not shy about saying what we think."