# Suzi Gardner

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Not to be confused with [Sue Gardner](/source/Sue_Gardner).

**Suzanne Gardner** (born August 1, 1960) is an American musician and creative director best known for being a guitarist, vocalist, and co-founder of the rock band [L7](/source/L7_(band)).

## Early life

Gardner was born in [Altus, Oklahoma](/source/Altus,_Oklahoma)[1] on August 1, 1960[2][3] to Anne B. Gardner. She had an older brother, Bob,[4] and grew up partly in [Citrus Heights](/source/Citrus_Heights,_California), California.[1] Gardner moved to Southern California in 1977.[5] She attended [Orange Coast College](/source/Orange_Coast_College) in 1978 and studied physical anthropology and guitar.[5] In 1980, Gardner moved to Los Angeles.[5]

## Career

Before playing with L7, Gardner held a number of jobs in Los Angeles and had worked at *[LA Weekly](/source/LA_Weekly)*. She was writing poetry and music at the time she met [Donita Sparks](/source/Donita_Sparks) in 1984. They had each worked at *LA Weekly,* although at separate times, and met through mutual contacts still connected to the publisher. Gardner co-founded the punk rock group L7 with Sparks by 1985.[6][7][8] When they began to write music together as L7, Gardner and Sparks were active in the creative [Art punk](/source/Art_punk) [DIY](/source/Do_it_yourself) scene of musicians, poets, and performance artists in the [Echo Park](/source/Echo_Park,_Los_Angeles)/Silverlake area.[9]

Gardner is a primary songwriter for L7 and is credited with the tracks "Bite the Wax Tadpole", "It's Not You", "Snake Handler", "Cat-O'-Nine-Tails", "[Monster](/source/Monster_(L7_song))", "Stuck Here Again" and "Freak Magnet". Along with appearing on all seven of L7's studio albums, Gardner also provided guest vocals on the [Black Flag](/source/Black_Flag_(band)) song "Slip It In" on their 1984 release of the same title. With her L7 bandmates Donita Sparks and [Jennifer Finch](/source/Jennifer_Finch), she was also featured on the [Bad Religion](/source/Bad_Religion) album *[Suffer](/source/Suffer_(album))*, released in 1988, where she provided additional guitar with Sparks on the song "Best for You".

Gardner and L7 formed a [pro-choice](/source/Pro-choice) organization called [Rock for Choice](/source/Rock_for_Choice), which staged many benefit shows featuring popular bands such as [Rage Against the Machine](/source/Rage_Against_the_Machine) and [Nirvana](/source/Nirvana_(band)). The first Rock for Choice concert was in 1991.[10]

In a 1993 article for [*Spin*](/source/Spin_(magazine)) which featured L7 on the magazine's cover, [Renée Crist](/source/Renee_Crist) described L7 as "four of the funniest, meanest, strongest, coolest, most pissed-off women I know" and as "wild, rambunctious, spontaneous" with a stage show that "is a wash of buddy love, crowd working, and acrobatics".[11]

In 1994, Gardner appeared in the [John Waters](/source/John_Waters) film *[Serial Mom](/source/Serial_Mom)* as part of the fictitious band "Camel Lips".[12]

Gardner, in 2000, became the first woman to have her breasts plaster-cast by [Cynthia Plaster Caster](/source/Cynthia_Plaster_Caster), the artist who had spent decades casting impressions of rock music's most famous phalluses.[13][14]

Original video and consolidated interviews with Gardner are included in the documentary L7: Pretend We're Dead, released in 2016 and directed by [Sarah Price](/source/Sarah_Price_(filmmaker)).[15] The film was nominated for a VO5 NME Award for Best Music Film.[16]

Gardner continued to perform internationally with the original line up of L7 in 2015 – 2017 and co-wrote two new songs with Sparks: *Dispatch from Mar-a-Lago*, 2017 and *I Came Back to Bitch*, 2018.[17]

On the latest L7 album *[Scatter the Rats](/source/Scatter_the_Rats) (*released in 2019 to generally favorable reviews),[18] Gardner wrote several songs including "Fighting the Crave", "Proto Prototype", and "Cool About Easy". Gardner and the band announced a 6-week nationwide tour with a start date of May 10, 2019.[19]

*Spin* reported that Gardner appeared at the [Roxy Theatre](/source/Roxy_Theatre_(West_Hollywood)) on January 11, 2020, and "delivered a blistering rendition of 'Keys to Your Heart'" by [Joe Strummer](/source/Joe_Strummer) at a tribute to [the Clash](/source/The_Clash).[20]

## Discography

### With L7

- *[L7](/source/L7_(album))* (1988)
- *[Smell the Magic](/source/Smell_the_Magic)* (1990)
- *[Bricks Are Heavy](/source/Bricks_Are_Heavy)* (1992)
- *[Hungry for Stink](/source/Hungry_for_Stink)* (1994)
- *[The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum](/source/The_Beauty_Process:_Triple_Platinum)* (1997)
- *[Slap-Happy](/source/Slap-Happy)* (1999)
- *[Scatter the Rats](/source/Scatter_the_Rats)* (2019)

### As guest musician

- [Black Flag](/source/Black_Flag_(band)) – *[Slip It In](/source/Slip_It_In)* (1984): backing vocals
- [Bad Religion](/source/Bad_Religion) – *[Suffer](/source/Suffer_(album))* (1988): additional guitar
- [Circle Jerks](/source/Circle_Jerks) – *[Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities](/source/Oddities,_Abnormalities_and_Curiosities)* (1995): backing vocals

## References

1. Kangas, Niki (June 12, 2019). ["7 Reasons to Love L7: Alt-Punk Legends L7 Boomerang Back"](http://submergemag.com/music/7-reasons-to-love-l7/). *Submerge Magazine*. Retrieved September 9, 2019.

1. Rose, Mike (August 1, 2019). ["Today's famous birthdays list for August 1, 2019 includes celebrities Jason Momoa, Joe Elliott"](https://www.cleveland.com/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/08/7fa0537a333192/todays-famous-birthdays-list-for-august-1-2019-includes-celebrities-jason-momoa-joe-elliott.html). *cleveland*. Retrieved June 21, 2020.

1. ["Biography – Suzi Gardner"](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0307117/). *IMDb*. Retrieved June 23, 2020.

1. ["Suzi Gardner @suzi_gardner_official (sibling day)"](https://www.pictosee.com/p/2019384181888454894_8015825326). *Pic to See*. Retrieved September 9, 2019.

1. ["'Til the Wheels Fall Off"](https://www.pictosee.com/p/2091005129520008611_8015825326). *Pic to See*. Retrieved September 9, 2019.

1. [L7 Official website](http://l7official.com) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080701085615/http://l7official.com/) July 1, 2008 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Nielsen, Jeff (April 3, 2018). ["Donita Sparks Talks About Why the Hard Rock Band Came Back to Bitch"](http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2018/04/03/l7s-donita-sparks-talks-about-why-the-hard-rock-band-came-back-to-bitch). *ww.clevescene.com*

1. Dickinson, Chrissie (August 3, 2016). ["L7 is, better late than never, getting respect"](http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-l7-ott-0805-20160802-story.html). *Chicago Tribune*. Retrieved April 7, 2018.

1. Grant, Sarah (November 21, 2017). ["L7: To Hell and Back"](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-l7s-rise-fall-and-unlikely-rebirth-w508450). *Rolling Stone*. Retrieved April 7, 2018.

1. Tehabsim, Anna (March 18, 2015). ["Turning Points: L7's Donita Sparks"](https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/turning-points-l7s-donita-sparks/). *crackmagazine.net*. Retrieved April 7, 2018.

1. Crist, Renée (July 1993). ["The Magnificent 7"](https://books.google.com/books?id=YIwHlb1zNyoC). *Spin*. **9**: 32–35, 90. Retrieved September 6, 2019. – via Google Books.

1. ["Serial Mom (1994) – Full Cast and Crew"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111127/fullcredits). *[IMDb](/source/IMDb)*. Retrieved April 8, 2018.

1. ["L7's Suzi Gardner "Gets a Boob Job" (NY Rock)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080509154738/http://www.nyrock.com/worldbeat/06_2000/060100.asp). Archived from [the original](http://www.nyrock.com/worldbeat/06_2000/060100.asp) on May 9, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.

1. Ochs, Meredith (2018). *Rock and Roll Woman: The 50 Fiercest Female Rockers*. New York: Sterling Publishing Co. pp. 134–137. ISBN 9781454930624.

1. Price, Sarah (November 11, 2016). ["L7: Pretend We're Dead"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6288290/). *www.imdb.com*

1. Grant, Sarah (February 9, 2018). ["L7 Announce Tour, Slam 'Capitalist Motherf—kers' on 'I Came Back To Bitch'"](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/l7-reveal-tour-slam-capitalist-motherf--kers-on-new-song-w516529). *Rolling Stone*. Retrieved April 7, 2018.

1. Berman, Judy (September 29, 2017). ["After 18 Years, How Do L7 Return? With a Song About Trashing Trump's Mar-a-Lago"](https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/after-18-years-how-do-l7-return-with-a-song-about-trashing-trumps-mar-a-lago-interview/). *pitchfork.com*. Retrieved April 7, 2018.

1. ["SCATTER THE RATS by L7"](https://www.metacritic.com/music/scatter-the-rats/l7). *[Metacritic](/source/Metacritic)*. May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.

1. Callwood, Brett. ["Scatter, Rats! L7's Back With Their First Album in 20 Years"](https://www.laweekly.com/music/scatter-rats-l7s-back-10150065). *LA Weekly*. Retrieved May 5, 2019.

1. Chelin, Pamela (January 1, 2020). ["Duff McKagan, Jakob Dylan, and More Pay Tribute to The Clash at 'London Calling' 40th Anniversary Show"](https://www.spin.com/2020/01/clash-london-calling-anniversary-tribute-show/). *Spin*. Retrieved June 21, 2020.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Suzi Gardner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzi_Gardner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzi_Gardner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.