Pump up the volume! Lipstick Conspiracy, San Francisco’s all-transwomen rock band, is back together after almost 13 years, in part as a “joyful antidote” to the escalation of transphobia and anti-LGBTQ laws across the USA.

The band was big in the Bay Area and much of the West Coast from soon after their 2003 formation right up until their last public performance in late 2010, when they were riding high after being featured in the award-winning film Riot Acts: Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance. They’re set to perform Thursday, June 29, in West Hollywood’s WeHo Pride Arts Festival at a screening of Riot Acts.

Lipstick Conspiracy founding members Sarafina Maraschino, Shawna Love and Marilyn Mitchell share recent music, past hits, political insights and their comeback plans with host Eric Jansen on this edition of Out in the Bay. Enjoy!

(Marilyn Mitchell appeared on Out in the Bay previously, sharing music from her solo album Lives Aligned and speaking with Christopher Beale in early 2022. Hear it here.)

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Cover art of Lipstick Conspiracy 2006 album “A Perfect Alibi” shows members (L-R) Sarafina Maraschino, Marilyn Mitchell, Tori Tait (no longer in the band) and Shawna Love. Photo by Larry Utley.