Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 06:26, 7 January 2023

Schmekel was an all-transgender, Jewish folk punk band from Brooklyn, New York, known for their satirical lyrical material. Eddy Portnoy of The Forward cited Schmekel as an example of the cultural movement "Queer Yiddishkeit." Schmekel made their audiences more comfortable with transgender topics through jokes, but also often included lyrical references to obscure queer, Jewish, and punk content that only cultural insiders would recognize.

In literature

In the final Tales of the City novel, The Days of Anna Madrigal (2014), the character Jake reports his love interest, Amos, flirting with the lead singer of Schmekel.

Members

• Lucian Kahn – guitar, vocals
• Ricky Riot – keyboard, vocals
• Nogga Schwartz – bass guitar
• Simcha Halpert-Hanson – drums

Discography

• Queers On Rye (Riot Grrrl, Ink) – December 2011
• The Whale That Ate Jonah (Schmekel Music) – October 2013

Members' Subsequent Projects

Following the group's disbandment in 2014, keyboardist Itai Gal aka Ricky Riot formed a new project called Itai and the Ophanim, which released a debut album, Arise, in 2019.

Notes

1. Hugh Ryan (25 November 2011). "Schmekel, a Band Born as a Laugh". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
2. Eddy Portnoy (19 October 2011). "Transgender Jews May Be Nothing New". The Jewish Daily Forward.
3. Croland, Michael. Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk. Connecticut: Praeger, 2016. p. 66.
4. Maupin, Armistead. The Days of Anna Madrigal. New York: HarperCollins, 2014. pp. 84-85.

• Transgender musicians
• American LGBT musicians
• Folk punk groups
• Queercore groups
• Musical groups from Brooklyn
• Jewish folk rock groups
• Jews in punk rock
• Transgender Jews
• Musical groups established in 2010
• Musical groups disestablished in 2014
• 2010 establishments in New York City