Romeo Void - 1979: Formation

1979: Formation

Romeo Void formed at the San Francisco Art Institute in February 1979. Vocalist Debora Iyall occasionally visited the Bay Area to see Patti Smith perform. She decided to pursue an art education after reading a fortune cookie. "It was in the late '70s at the Indochina Friendship Booth at the annual Fourth of July streetfair in Eureka, California," she said. "I got a fortune cookie that said 'Art is your fate, don't debate.' That next January, I was enrolled in an art school in San Francisco." She began frequenting the Mabuhay Gardens, a popular nightclub, to see local alternative rock groups like The Nuns, the Mutants, Crime, and the Avengers. She also formed the Mummers and Poppers, a punk parody band that covered 1960s tunes with guitarist Peter Woods, an English Major at SF State and drummer Jay Derrah, . Iyall was originally hesitant to perform because she was overweight: "After seeing Patti Smith, I still had it in my mind that you had to be skinny to be up there, but after going to the Mabuhay you just do whatever you want, be whoever you want, just make it happen."

Bassist Frank Zincavage met Iyall at the SF Art Institute; the two hit it off and discussed putting a band together. They formed one with Woods and Derrah a few weeks later, drawing inspiration from the "burgeoning local punk and post-punk scenes". Iyall recruited Woods because she enjoyed playing with him in the Mommers and Poppers. " seemed only natural that we invite Peter Woods to join us played clean and was a natural on rhythm guitar." Romeo Void officially formed on Valentine's Day in 1979. According to Iyall, the name "Romeo Void" referred to "a lack of romance" and came to mind after they saw a local magazine with the headline "Why single women can't get laid in San Francisco." The band practiced in Iyall's flat in Mission District. It was decided that the group would embrace punk ideals despite the possibility that they become associated with the New Wave movement. "Even though I was going to the so much, I also had criticisms: Everyone was leaning against the wall wearing black," Iyall said. "I guess we were considered new wave, but for me Romeo Void was a reaction against the regimentation of everyone having to be bleached blond and everything being about despair and no future, when I thought the do-it-yourself thing should encompass all the different kinds of emotions, and all the different colors. I was proud of being American Indian, so I purposely never bleached my hair blond."