Cynthia Ross is the original all girl punk band architect; she’s seen it all, done it all, outlived most and writes bruised, raw and nakedly revealing poems that will make you cry.
Her recent projects included the song “Vagabond's Ways” on “The Faithfull : A Tribute to Marianne Faithfull” , a solo words and music LP The Secret Door, out now on Tarbeach Records, a poetry book with Far West Press, which came out in March of 2025 and appearances in several underground documentary films.
What was your first music memory as a child? Did you grow up around much music? Were you self-taught?
My first music memory was listening to big band and swing music on my grandmother’s radio when I was two. Of course I heard and sang nursery rhymes, which can have a similar flow and rhythm to poetry.
Neither of my parents were musical but my maternal grandfather was a dancer and used to sing to me. He ran dances and was a bootlegger during prohibition. The musicians smuggled in the booze in their instrument cases.
I took piano lessons and ballet as a child. Both gave me a great foundation. I am self-taught on bass. I knew the notes, could read music, and visualized the piano keyboard as the frets in order to play and write.
What or who was the catalyst that inspired you to pick up an instrument? Did you have any role models musically?
The first time I saw The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on the Ed Sullivan Show, when I was 10, I felt that excitement. It was almost a sexual feeling in my body. I knew I liked it and I wanted more.
My first concert was Sonny & Cher opening for The Beach Boys. My second was Jimi Hendrix opening for The Doors. My third Leonard Cohen at a Love-In. I was mad for all the British Mod music like The Small Faces. I loved the Phil Spector and Motown girl groups.
When the punk scene started, I knew I didn’t want to stand around and watch the boys. I wanted to be that. Start a band. Play bass. I always knew I was a bass player before I ever touched one. My role models are James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, and Greg Ridley of Humble Pie. When I saw him I decided on bass.
You moved to NYC in 1977 at CBGB heyday. Knowing it was a totally different place then, was it daunting to settle there as a young woman or was it still fairly welcoming?
New York City in 1977 was somewhat how I imagine the Wild West. It was dangerous and exciting all at the same time. We were welcomed and helped by our friends. Other bands, like The New York Dolls, The Ramones, Dead Boys, and The Heartbreakers put us up, taught us the ropes and sort of protected us. Sort of. There was a genuine camaraderie. Us against the world.
We slept on Sylvain Sylvain’s floor, in the Heartbreaker’s rehearsal studio and David Johansen cooked for us. Everyone helped us get gigs. The Ramone’s loft was our dressing room when we played CBGB. Johnny Thunders was a constant presence, sometimes joining us on people’s floors and couches. Sometimes getting us kicked out of people’s places. Stiv was always there with advice and PR ideas. We weren’t tough in demeanor, but we were strong, smart and had a clear vision and survival skills. We liked each other. We were a girl gang. Always together.
What were the most exciting things about that time in the scene? Is there anything you miss specifically?
Mostly I just miss the quality of the music and conversation, sharing information and connecting in real life before the internet and cell phones. Finding new bands and making our own clothes. The intersection of music, art, poetry, film. We were all in it together. I miss that. I miss friends who are gone …whether from the AIDS epidemic, addiction, hard living or now just from health issues and age.
We used to read cool magazines and make fanzines and scour newspapers to find out about the next big thing, buy records, read books, write letters and send postcards.
The punk scene was very inclusive gender wise, which was a novelty. Who did you feel the most akin to musically?
Definitely The Shangri-Las, The Ronettes and The Crystals. I would also say Blondie, Mink DeVille, Robert Gordon, The Criminals, The Senders, Elvis Costello, The Records, The Boyfriends, The Ramones, all the British pop bands. We went through phases. Sometimes we were rockabilly, sometimes we thought we were The Stones!!
When I first met you, we talked about how you & Viv Albertine had very similar paths, in different countries. I loved her memoir, would love to read yours. Is that still something you aim to do or are working on?
Yes. Absolutely. I started. I stopped. The poetry is flowing. I’ll get back to it.
What has changed the most for you as a musician, in the industry, since you first started? Any advice you would want to give to young people out there?
It’s so different now. I don’t really know the business anymore. I still like the small independent labels that are in it for the music.
I would say the most important thing is still the songs, the passion to create and the genuine connection to the other band members. If you’re not original and authentic, it doesn’t work. Don’t worry about perfection. That’s boring. Go for it!
Joni Mitchell stated that in this day and age, to make it, you need a certain willingness to cooperate but that a total unwillingness to cooperate is necessary to be an artist, to protect your vision. Do you agree with that?
Yes. You can’t get distracted or side tracked by what other people are doing, thinking about the reader, the audience, or the business of art. Then you’re not true.
Can you tell us about Ghosts of the Chelsea Hotel? How did you get involved? Did you ever live there? Do you have any memory in particular about the place you’d like to share with us?
I got involved in the film because I did live there with Stiv for a little over six months in 1978. Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungeon were our neighbours and Sid was in our room every day while she worked. Danny Garcia, the film maker, was going to use the footage of the four of us (Nancy, Sid, Stiv, and me) from the Efrom Allen Show on New York cable tv. It was taped two weeks before Nancy’s death.
It was a very strange experience going back to the Chelsea to be interviewed. It was my first time stepping foot inside since we left in late December 1978 to go to Stiv’s parents in Youngstown, Ohio for Christmas. Let’s just say I finally said goodbye to the ghosts, the sadness and death that had dragged me down for all of these years. I literally stepped out into the daylight on the street and kept going. Things changed. I felt light. My writing changed too.
You write raw poetry that reflects on your life experiences. Do you have any favorite poets who you relate to?
Definitely Sylvia Plath, Clarice LeSpector, Leonard Cohen, Emily Dickinson, Tennyson, Keats, Blake, Anne Sexton. The Beats.
A lot of your most poignant poems deal with loss, understandably as you’ve dealt with a lot of deaths and survived trauma with your life partner and music comrades passing. Is writing your therapy?
Yes. For me poetry is a way of processing feelings. It just comes. It’s that inner voice. Reading poems to an audience is terrifying and cathartic. It’s also exhilarating and a release. Giving voice to the dormant parts of the psyche. Buried feelings.
Who are your favorite bands or artists at the moment?
I love Peter Perrett’s latest LP ‘The Cleansing’. It is a masterpiece. Jim Jones All Stars are amazing live. I like this all female band The Last Dinner Party that my friend Nicole Atkins (incredibly talented singer) just turned me on to. Lydia Lunch recently played me some of her yet unreleased material and it’s really haunting and minimalist. She sent me the tracks and I’ve been listening to them. I am obsessed with The Lemon Twigs. Mega talented players, singers and writers with feel. They are my antidepressants … a departure from my usual thing. I listen to Jesse Malin’s solo stuff a lot. Great songwriter. Devon Ross. Then of course Townes Van Zandt, Scott Walker, Rowland S. Howard, Leonard Cohen, The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nico, Marianne Faithfull, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Eno, Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg, Francoise Hardy, Mancini. I guess I could go on forever. I have a broad range. I still love the early Stones!
How similar to music is poetry, as it also works with rhythm?
It’s very similar if it’s a certain type of music. Peter Perrett and I have this ongoing discussion. “How do you know if it’s a poem or a song?” .., he asks. I respond “I just know”. Peter: “I would be confused. Your poems are songs to me.” My predictable reply: “Your songs are poems to me.” There is a difference and I usually do know if it’s lyrics or a poem. But the poetry to music with the singing choruses that I do on the record walks the borderline. Like Cohen, many of my poems do become embedded in the rhythm and the music that winds around and lifts the words. It’s not just reading words over a separate and distinct track. It’s a composition that my musical collaborator Tim Bovaconti and I create together. It’s part of the feeling. So Peter may have a point. But then I also write straight poetry with no music. Yet.
Leonard Cohen quoted that poetry is the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash. Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. What is your definition?
I love Leonard Cohen and his definition. How beautifully articulated.
For me poetry is floating on feelings. It is a deep connection to memory, presence, and possibility. The expression of the oft unspoken … universal heartbreak, grief, desire, pain and love. Words that take us from shadow to light and into darkness. Words that make us cry. Words that are feelings.
As someone who has seen it all, is there anything you wish or long to do at this stage in your life?
Yes! I don’t ever think we’ve seen it all. Now I have found my voice in poetry. I’ve written poems since I was very young but never shared them. It’s an extension of the songwriting and playing in bands for the past 50 years, but way more personal. Going beyond my comfort zone and truly connecting on an emotional level. I recently recorded an LP of poetry/spoken word to music on Tarbeach Records. It’s called ‘The Secret Door’ and my first poetry book coming out on Far West Press this spring is also called ‘The Secret Door’. The foreword is by Peter Perrett.
I long to travel the world and read and perform my new work. I want to publish lots of poetry books and finish my memoir. It’s an awakening or rebirth at this point. I feel like a 20 year old, kind of free and open. I have lots to say and I can’t wait to do more. I had my first book release event in Paris in late February at Hotel Grand Amour, and my New York book launch event at HOWL Gallery in March.
I’ll be back in Paris in November during Paris Photo to read at the opening of the Art-Icon exhibit “SEX & POLITICS”. I have a photo included in the show. I’m also reading at Hotel Grand Amour with Love Love Magazine & Eveline’s embroidery, on November 16th. An evening of poetry, film and embroidery.
With many thanks to Cynthia
