Rock in Detroit’s

April 2025

Band of the Month:

 

Colleen Caffeine

 

From Suzi Quatro to Niagra to Lene Lovich (did you know?) to Patti Smith (for a time) to Wendy Case (The Paybacks) to Margaret Dollrod to Meg White, Detroit has had its share of great women rockers. Today Rock in Detroit talks to Colleen Caffeine, one woman continuing that proud tradition. Having toured across two continents and authored two books, singer and multi-instrumentalist Colleen Caffeine has helped raise the profile of the Detroit rock around the world.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Let’s start with a quick band bio. What are all the bands you’ve been in, starting grade school and working up.

COLLEEN: Choking Susan was my first real band, and then I started the Whoremones where I play bass. I’m also in a Misfits tribute band called Angel Fuck with a female singer. I’m on drums in that band.

ROCK IN DETROIT: In Choking Susan, you’re the front person and very much in the spotlight. Do you prefer that or do you prefer being in the background on bass or drums?

COLLEEN: I definitely prefer to be out front. I think of myself as a hostess or a ringmaster, but learning to be a musician in a band where you aren’t the conductor is beneficial to the band as a whole. I mean now I help load in. <grins>

ROCK IN DETROIT: On stage you, as a frontperson, you can be quite extroverted and uninhibited. Is that something you turn on and off or are you always on? Have you always been like that or were you once a shy, unassuming person?

COLLEEN: I am a shy person. I just talk myself out of it everyday. Maybe I talk myself out of it a little too much.

ROCK IN DETROIT: When did you know you wanted to become a rock star?

COLLEEN: Oh, I don’t wanna be a rockstar. I just wanna rock, have fun, entertain people and be surrounded by all things music. I’m not in it for fame, stardom or money. I’m in it for having the best life experience I can.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Ok. When did you know you wanted to be in a rock band? What gave you the idea?

COLLEEN: Dancing in front of a mirror singing into my hairbrush pretending to be Donny Osmund as a prepubescent teen gave me that dream. You can call it Puppy Love!
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ROCK IN DETROIT: Do you have any inspirations or role models?

COLLEEN: My role models are anyone that looks like they are on vacation every day of their lives no matter what they’re doing, someone that just has the best time and takes nothing for granted.

ROCK IN DETROIT: The Whoremones are a female-fronted Ramones tribute band. “The Whoremones” is a brilliant name. Did the name come first or the band? Who came up with it? How would you rank The Ramones in your personal pantheon of bands?

COLLEEN: The Ramones are my all-time favorite band. I’ve seen them so many times in all their different forms. I came up with the name, but I can’t remember if the concept was first or the name. It all started in a bar with drunken ideas. We were originally an all-female band, but it’s real hard to keep four girls together for many reasons. <laughing>

ROCK IN DETROIT: What are some of those reasons?

COLLEEN: Well, can you imagine having four wives and how that would go. By the way, I saw Lene Lovich perform in England and “sort of” have a photo with her.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Did you get a chance talk to her at all about your common Detroit roots?

COLLEEN: I was already lucky enough to be near her. I didn’t want to push it and inject myself into her peace.

ROCK IN DETROIT: You’ve toured the US, Canada, Europe, the UK, even Czech Republic. Not many Detroit bands can claim to have done that. How did you pull it off? How were you, as a representative of the Detroit rock scene, received?

COLLEEN: I’m so grateful we got the opportunity to do all that we’ve done. It was all DIY, and it was all just me talking to people and them talking to people and all of us just working it out ourselves. I think because of the way we handle it being friends with friends playing all over the place we were received very well because we were asked to be there. They wanted us.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Details, please. Were you playing just weekends, or week days too? Was there much promotion? Did you tour with any other band? Did you recoup expenses of a European trip? Were you crashing a people’s homes? Etc.?

COLLEEN: We played everyday . The scene is flourishing there! People come out on a school night to see original music! It’s actually a delicacy to see bands from other countries. Tributes are so popular here, but its not that way around the world. Every venue we played at promoted well, and we did not tour with anyone. It was just us and the music. Money-wise we did ok. It’s not easy or cheap to tour around the world and I think it’s getting harder now thanks to politics.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Any high points for your European tour you’d like to mention?

COLLEEN: Every point is a high point when we tour England. Great food, great people, seeing friends, seeing bands play whom I listened to while I was growing up. Check out any line-up any year of Rebellion Festival. Guaranteed to blow your mind. We’ve played that festival 15 times.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Turning back to home, what’s it like to be a woman rocker in the heavily male-dominated Detroit rock scene?

COLLEEN: I think when we started, there were even less females out there rocking, and I think there was a big thirst for it, and we got more opportunity because of that. I personally feel we as women are still overlooked in many aspects of life so we have much to write sing and shout about. I think there is more diversity these days and you young girls are welcome

ROCK IN DETROIT: You have a large following on social media (almost 5000 Facebook friends and over 1500 IG followers). How have you managed to cultivate such a following? You have great images on your pages. Do you work with a professional photographers and stylists?

COLLEEN: I think when you’re real, authentic and you care about others, that it just spreads. Fun is contagious! I’m actually a professional hairstylist as my day job.

ROCK IN DETROIT: And really good at selfies?

COLLEEN: So so good!

ROCK IN DETROIT: Besides being a rocker, you are the author of two books, Adventures in Cuntopia: The Life of a Punk Rock Prom Queen and then Lifestyles of the Drunk and Shameless (both available on Amazon, links here and here). What led you to write them? Any chance for a trilogy?

COLLEEN: I have always posted a lot of life stories on Facebook, and I was approached by a publisher saying if I would write a book, she would publish it for me. So I did and here we are! Number Three is definitely in the works. I thank life for giving me lots of interesting moments to write about.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Is Number Three tentatively titled?

COLLEEN: Oddly enough for me,the hardest part of writing is summing a whole book up in one title.

ROCK IN DETROIT: What’s next for Colleen Caffeine? (What’s left to do?)

COLLEEN: I thought about trying stand-up, but I really enjoy laying down.

ROCK IN DETROIT: Tracks?

COLLEEN: Sure.