\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to tell your parents you\u2019re in a band called Mannequin Pussy,\u201d says bassist Colins \u201cBear\u201d Regisford. <\/p>\n
He makes that acknowledgement with a hearty laugh from his band\u2019s tour bus, which will soon be headed to Denver: Mannequin Pussy<\/a> will be here on Tuesday, September 30, for the first-ever concert at Project 70, a new pop-up venue helmed by AEG<\/a>. The show also includes headliner Turnstile and openers SPEED and Jane Remover.<\/p>\n At a time when censorship seems to be spreading like wildfire in the wake of Charlie Kirk\u2019s death<\/a>, Mannequin Pussy is no stranger to it. A New Yorker<\/em> profile<\/a> last year noted that the band couldn\u2019t be found on TikTok if you searched its name, although you could find it if you searched for \u201cMannequin Dick\u201d or \u201cMannequin Cock.\u201d The band\u2019s label was able to resolve the issue, but it still underscored societal restrictions imposed by gender. \u201cEven in the tech world, sexism\u2019s prevalent,\u201d Regisford says.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely will say I believe in the idea of freedom of speech, and I also believe that there are consequences to all your words and actions,\u201d he adds. \u201cThere\u2019s a war of \u2018We can\u2019t say this, we can\u2019t do this.\u2019 It\u2019s like, \u2018No, say it, do it.\u2019 And then see what the end result is. See who\u2019s supporting it, and if they don\u2019t align with your ethics, then maybe rethink what you\u2019re saying or doing. Do or say what you can as long as it\u2019s not going to cause harm to other people and how they live their lives. I don\u2019t hold conservative views, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s wrong for people to have conservative views. \u2026 But if you\u2019re going to use that as a rhetoric to force people who don\u2019t agree with you to be like you, then you can go fuck yourself. As the only cis-het member of the band, I\u2019m not going to tell any queer person or any religious person how to live their life. And I sure as hell don\u2019t want them to tell me how to live my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless, he points out the irony of how the \u201cwar of Freedom of Speech\u201d is oddly followed by \u201cdeciding what is supposed to be censored and what isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Wherever Mannequin Pussy lands in that equation, he\u2019s aware that the band\u2019s moniker either repels or intrigues people \u2014 there\u2019s not much in between. \u201cI kind of love that it\u2019s divisive in a way,\u201d Regisford says. \u201cThere are some things we definitely should have done by now, and it gets back to us that people are scared to have the name [on a bill] because of censorship. And I\u2019m like, \u2018Well, then, we\u2019re good.\u2019 I love the name Mannequin Pussy. I\u2019ll scream that until the day I die.\u201d<\/p>\n Those who are curious enough to actually listen to the band\u2019s music almost immediately become fans. <\/p>\n Regisford certainly wasn\u2019t put off by the name. He was playing in a hardcore band in Philadelphia when he came across Mannequin Pussy. \u201cI would book a 4\/20 show in the city for one of my other bands\u2026and I remember at the time, a friend of mine made a suggestion to check out this band Mannequin Pussy,\u201d he says. \u201cOff the bat, I was like, I\u2019ve got to check this band out. I was listening to them and I was like, \u2018Not only do I love this band, they have<\/em> to play the show.\u2019 We sent an email being like, \u2018We\u2019ll bake you cookies; please play the show.\u2019 And they did.\u201d<\/p>\n Not long after, he saw that Mannequin Pussy was looking for a bassist and secured the gig. \u201cAnd the rest is history,\u201d Regisford says.<\/p>\n Regisford, who was raised in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, before his family moved to the Poconos when he was twelve, got interested in punk music at a young age. \u201cWhen I was younger and still living in Brooklyn, my parents didn\u2019t really allow me to watch the music videos on TV,\u201d he says, reminiscing about the days when MTV was actually populated by music programming. \u201cBut when they go to work for the day, kids will play. The first music videos I saw were \u2018Last Dance with Mary Jane\u2019 by Tom Petty, \u2018Sledgehammer\u2019 by Peter Gabriel and \u2018Smells Like Teen Spirit\u2019 by Nirvana. So I was already given post-punk, Americana rock and roll, and then straight grunge. And I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, this is the stuff I love.’\u201d<\/p>\n His mom started to show him rock music\u2019s Black roots, such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard. \u201cAnd then when I found punk, this is \u201995, I didn\u2019t understand what I was watching; it was just great,\u201d he says. \u201cSome of my first CDs were Nimrod<\/em> by Green Day, Dude Ranch<\/em> by Blink-182, NOFX, Pennywise.\u201d<\/p>\n Mannequin Pussy\u2019s music is definitely rooted in punk, but also pulls from other influences that you hear across I Got Heaven<\/em>. Forceful and boiling over with passion, each song off the latest album, I Got Heaven<\/em>, is evocative and fierce behind the visceral vocals of guitarist Marisa Debice. As a whole, however, the band\u2019s sound is classic. As Regisford notes, \u201cA lot of us realize the wheel has already been made, and reinventing it doesn\u2019t seem possible at this point.\u201d While Mannequin Pussy definitely has its own singular sound, \u201cwe are truly the end result of years and years of rock and roll,\u201d the bassist says. \u201cI think we are just the culmination of so many versions of rock, punk and even some pop sensibility, as crazy as that sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n He recently watched a documentary on Billy Joel, and was \u201ckind of surprised at how punk he was,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was able to go against anyone who was telling him he couldn\u2019t do what he couldn\u2019t do,\u201d he adds. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we try to do as well: truly just come from within ourselves, our experiences. We try to relate to people out there, as well as just honor the stuff people love and listen to. Sometimes some of our stuff sounds old-school punk, and others match more of \u201990s stuff. Other songs like \u2018OK? OK!\u2019 are like, right out of 2000s metal. There\u2019s a bass line in \u2018Aching\u2019 that I like to joke is my System of a Down.\u201d<\/p>\n He and his bandmates are stoked to be opening for Turnstile, which hails from Baltimore, not far from Mannequin Pussy\u2019s hometown of Philadelphia. \u201cWe\u2019ve never played a show directly with them, but we\u2019ve played festivals with them before,\u201d says Regisford. \u201cBaltimore and Philly are kind of sister cities; I feel like there\u2019s a lot of power between us.\u201d<\/p>\n But mostly, the musicians are excited to be in Denver. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful city,\u201d he enthuses. \u201cIt\u2019s my favorite part of the tour, driving through Colorado and looking at those beautiful mountains. \u2026 But the elevation gets a little crazy,\u201d he adds with a laugh.<\/p>\n At the live show, expect a \u201ctwo-way street of energy and excitement\u201d between the band and audience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we did three sold-out shows in Philly, and each show was packed to the gills with friends and family, those are the moments that are the craziest,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve played festivals where we\u2019re looking at a sea of people and it\u2019s like, holy shit. \u2026 To finally get to that point where you can be like, \u2018See, the plan worked out, Mom and Dad.\u2019 Those are the moments where it\u2019s like, \u2018Holy shit. This is what we do for a living: make people happy and share it with the band and our friends.’\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.westword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/mannequin-pussy-Denver-3.jpeg?w=1024\")
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