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Visqueen
Biography
Visqueen was formed in Seattle by a couple of Washingtonians and a former Jersey girl. Ben Hooker (drums) and Kim Warnick (bass, vocals) are the locals, while Rachel Flotard (guitar, vocals) is (or was) the out-of-towner. Prior to Visqueen, Hooker and Flotard were in Seattle-by-way-of-Bremerton's Hafacat, while Warnick was a founding member of the legendary Fastbacks. Hooker and Flotard were Fastbacks fans and Warnick was a Hafacat fan. This bit of trivia turned significant in 2001 when Hafacat called it quits. Hooker and Flotard wanted to keep the music going, but lacked a bass player to make things complete. Warnick volunteered her services and Visqueen was born. The next year, she retired from the Fastbacks to make Visqueen her sole gig and the Fastbacks threw in the towel after 23 years (and almost as many drummers). In interviews, Warnick has claimed that she found it liberating to let someone else (i.e., Flotard) do the singing so she could concentrate on her bass playing for a change. Flotard also writes all the songs, whereas Kurt Bloch penned all of the Fastbacks' material.

With a collection of tight and punchy compositions in their arsenal, Visqueen began to gig around the Northwest, leading to supporting slots with national acts like Guided by Voices, Buffalo Daughter, Cheap Trick, the New Pornographers, the Donnas, and Imperial Teen.
Selected Discography