It was autumn of 1985, Antioch College was swarming with incoming
students. One of them, Steve Moriarty, was from Indianapolis. He had
been a drummer for years but had left his drum kit at home. After he met
some of his fellow students he realized he had better go back and
retrieve it because there were a lot of people on campus into playing
music and forming bands. Before too long Moriarty was drumming for
several of these ensembles. One of them featured a singer named Mia
Zapata. She had come to Antioch from Louisville and was an intense and
deeply talented woman. She was quiet and calm most of the time but when
you handed her a microphone she turned into something else, a powerful
singer. She began writing amazing songs.
By the time Moriarty was graduating that particular band decided to hit
the road and get as far away from southwest Ohio as possible.
They ended up in Seattle and quickly shortened their rather long name to simply: The Gits. They performed at any venue that would have them. They worked hard to develop a very tight set. Moriarty describes how they could get set up to play in 10 minutes, proceeded to muscle through 14 songs over 40 minutes, then tore everything down again in another 10 minutes.
They began developing a following in a music scene that was exploding with
grunge bands like Nirvana. The Gits toured the U.S. and Europe and by 1993
major records labels finally began to notice them. They were preparing
to release their second album and do another tour of Europe when an
unimaginable horror took place; Mia Zapata was raped, then murdered.
Moriarty chose not to dwell on that awful event. Instead he spends this
memoir showing us what a wonderful person she was, so funny, so kind, so
gifted. Moriarty returned to the campus of Antioch College for the first
time since he left it in the 1980s to record this radio show. It was a
pleasure to interview him. This book is a beautiful thing. One of the
best music memoirs I have read in a long time. Go to YouTube and look up
some video of their band, The Gits, they will blow you away.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public.
