ST. PETERSBURG, FL — When St. Pete Pride approached Girls Rock Camp St. Pete about booking some of its young musicians to perform at the festival’s annual Pride concert in June 2022, opening for Russian feminist outfit Pussy Riot, no less, organizers scrambled to create a camp band — quickly named Anarkitty, a nod to the headlining act — and get the group ready to take the stage.
“It was so cool,” drummer Maddie Everiste, 17, told Patch. “They asked for the Girls Rock band to play and they didn’t have a band. So, they took all the people who already played instruments and suddenly we were a band. We had, like, two weeks to practice for our show.”
Now, the latest incarnation of the band will headline Saturday’s end-of-camp showcase at Jannus Live, which also features performances by all of the new bands formed by campers this past week. Doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets are $20 each.
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Anarkitty served then, as it does now, as an embodiment of what Girls Rock Camp is all about – empowering girls and non-binary and gender-expansive youth through music and community. And they had less than 24 hours to prepare for the St. Pete Pride gig, where they were tasked with taking the stage ahead of an international powerhouse known for its punk rock activism.
Though their time slot in that St. Pete Pride concert line-up was ultimately rained out, the Tampa Bay-area arts and music scene took notice as they were given the job of introducing Pussy Riot and Pride organizers found space for them to take the stage the next day.
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After that, the band took on gigs throughout the region, including another St. Pete Pride appearance, and began writing original songs to play in addition to covers.
But it wasn’t long before the band members aged out of camp, graduated from high school and moved on to college, putting Anarkitty on hiatus, though sometimes when several of the original members are all in town and available, they’ll still find a gig or two to reconnect.
Some original members even plan to pursue careers in music thanks to their time at Girls Rock Camp. Everiste, a St. Petersburg High School graduate, is headed to the University of Central Florida in the fall to study music management. Meanwhile, lead vocalist and guitarist, Anika Sky, a 19-year-old Gibbs High School graduate who joined the band after its first gig, is studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
They both credit their time at the camp for their career goals.
“I had already played guitar and already had kind of known that I wanted to do music,” Sky told Patch. “But I was kind of very quiet, very shy … I just came out of my shell a lot and learned a lot of personal skills, how to communicate. It just gave me the courage to be, like, this can be a career path.”
This summer, both Everist and Sky are giving back to Girls Rock, working with a new generation of campers and a new generation of Anarkitty to keep the camp band going.
“(Sky) went off to college and then other members went off to college, and I started coaching these kids and formed ‘Anarkitty 2.0,’” Everiste said. “Now, we get to keep it going in a new way. It makes my heart melt.”
Sky added, “It’s one of the biggest things I look forward to – coming home and seeing them play the songs that we played or songs that we wrote.”
The newest version of Anarkitty formed in the fall, composed of long-time campers, some starting back in 2016, the camp’s first year in St. Pete.
Among those the torch has been passed to include:
Each new band member understands the role they play as the public face of the camp and recalls the emotional moment they were tapped to join Anarkitty.
Izzy was in the mall when she ran into executive director Jesse Miller, who casually asked if she wanted to join the band.
“I was with my dad and it was really funny,” Izzy said.
Tate was eating dinner when she got the email.
“I just cried,” she said. “It was exactly what I needed.”
In less than a year, they’ve forged bonds and created a band that continues to showcase everything that Girls Rock Camp is about.
“All of this is just a big passion project,” Kailey said. “We love our community so much. We love the people. And the cool thing is that we’re uplifting the future generations to in turn do that to their future generations. It’s not just about us. It’s a place to love, to care about a lot of people who care about each other all the time. We’re always there for each other because it’s just a big family.”
Tate added, “I don’t think you ever want it to end. I have truly just been counting down the days since the concert last year. It just doesn’t feel real.”
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