When Michelle Leon first saw Lori Barbero and Kat Bjelland perform at a party in Minneapolis, she "knew that was it, it was everything." She got herself a bass, taught herself to play--and before she knew it was playing at clubs and on stages around the Twin Cities, throughout the nation, and across the globe. Babes in Toyland burst on the punk rock scene in the late 1980s with their raw, powerful music and sharp, often haunting lyrics, influencing a generation of musicians to come.
In I Live Inside, Leon describes in vivid, lyrical prose her life with Babes in Toyland, set in counterpoint to her memories as a shy, awkward child growing up in the Minneapolis suburbs. Revealing her personal doubts and struggle to belong, she explores the ups and downs of life as a touring musician and with her bandmates. Leon's deeply emotional, sometimes volatile relationship with her beloved Joe comes to an abrupt and tragic end, further pushing her both inward and away from the world of rock and roll.
This gripping, moving story provides a peek inside the life of a musician and inside a young woman in search of herself.
"A crucial and compelling account of what it was to be a woman making music in the nineties. . . . Fantastic and ferocious." --Jessica Hopper, music and culture critic and author of The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic
"Profound, poetic, badass, tender, and inspiring." --Will Hermes, author of Love Goes to Buildings on Fire
"I Live Inside feels as real and personal as reading your own memories. . . . Parts read like a fairy tale while others are so haunting they will never leave you." --Kelli Mayo, musician (Skating Polly)
"Leon draws you right into the Babes in Toyland van, shows you the after party tensions and what is in the mind of this particular girl in a band." --Darcey Steinke, author of Sister Golden Hair: A Novel and others
"[Leon's] prose is stunning, her eye is wry, and her heart enormous; the result is a compelling memoir filled with pop culture, travel, intrigue, and a young artist's quest to find her voice." --Laurie Lindeen, musician (Zuzu's Petals) and author of Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story
"By the end of this lyrical, tough, and moving memoir, you'll not only feel like you know Michelle Leon, you'll also want to talk and dance and listen to music with her." --Scott Heim, author of Mysterious Skin and We Disappear
"A vivid, poetic memoir." --Mark Yarm, author of Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge
"This is Planet Leon." --David Markey, filmmaker, author, and musician
