I wanted to interview She’s Crafty because they are one of my favorite new groups in Chicago. Not just because they’re an all-female tribute to one of the greatest music groups ever, but also because they are four of the coolest, most fun women in the city. I first met Amy Sumpter through the stand up world and when I heard about their first show, I knew had to go. So glad I did, because I was not disappointed. As Caitlin Bergh of Gaper’s Block said, “(She’s Crafty)… in their red and blue track suits and badass attitudes, could not be feistier.  (They’re) not just a band, they are an event, and one that is not to be missed” (read more here).

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“She’s Crafty”: Behind The Scenes With Monique Madrid & Serial Optimist

With tons of shows going on in Chicago throughout week, this is one that stands out. They invited me to hangout at their tech rehearsal to get to know them more, so check out the behind the scenes video, then read the rest of their interview. THEN go see them in person. You literally cannot have a bad time if you’re watching them.

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Serial Optimist: For those that have not seen you live, tell us about She’s Crafty.

She’s Crafty: We are Chicago’s all-female Beastie Boys tribute. We put on a fun, high-energy show.

SO: How did the four of you become a group?

She’s Crafty: It’s kind of a long story, but here’s how it all came together.

Kendra and Amy started kicking around the idea in 2008, but didn’t know if it would really happen. Amy and Maggie took the Feminine Comique standup comedy class together in 2010 and discovered their mutual love the Beastie Boys. About a year later, Maggie and Kendra finally met at The Kates, an all-lady comedy showcase at the Book Cellar. The three of us got together one night and drank beer and watched Beastie Boys videos, but nothing really happened. Then MCA died on May 4, 2012, and we decided, we have to do this. We started getting together every couple weeks to practice songs and game plan, and that’s when we figured out we really had something great going and we needed to think bigger. That’s when we started talking about finding a DJ – enter Sara Tea, who had also taken the Feminine Comique and we met her at The Kates, too. Sara was looking for a new project, and everything fell into place.

SO: Tell us a little bit about yourselves individually. What do you add to the group dynamic, not only musically, but personality wise?

She’s Crafty: Amy has a lot of performance experience, and she brings so much energy and momentum. The crowds love her.

Kendra is the mysterious one. She has a quieter demeanor, but she also has a ton of swagger.

Sara Tea is the one with the live music background, so she’s taught us a lot about the technical aspects, how to work with venues and line up shows. She also does a mean air guitar.

Maggie is the resident Beastie Boys encyclopedia – she already knows most of the words to all the songs – and the gal can dance.

SO: Why cover the Beastie Boys? Were there any other bands you thought about paying tribute to?

She’s Crafty: No, we wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t Beastie Boys.

SO: How do you decide which songs to cover and who does which part?

She’s Crafty: Amy is always MCA, Kendra is Mike D and Maggie is AdRock. (Our stage names are MCAmy, Ken D and MagRock). We wanted to do at least one song from each of their albums – with the exception of “Some Old Bullshit,” which is more punk than rap – and we chose songs we like and songs we think will be fun for the crowd. A lot of people ask us why we don’t do more songs from “Licensed to Ill,” which is probably their best-known album. But if you go back and listen to those songs, they are very misogynistic, which the Beasties themselves apologized for down the road. We want to respect their evolution as artists. Besides, we’re all feminists. Think about it.

SO: She’s Crafty obviously comes from the title of the song. What were some of the rejected names you considered?

She’s Crafty: It was the first idea we had, and it was perfect.

SO: When you perform, the three of you are so tight, lyrically. You have to be to cover the Beastie Boys. Tell me about the rehearsals. Are they grueling?

She’s Crafty: If you call drinking Prosecco, playing with Maggie’s dog and dancing around to the Beastie Boys grueling, then yes, it is. But seriously, we all practice a lot on our own, so our musical group practices – as we call them – go much more smoothly. We always have a ton of fun, but we always take care of business too.

SO: Tell me all about the groupies.

She’s Crafty: Send more our way, please.

SO: You all also happen to be in comedy. Do you find this affects the show one way or another?

She’s Crafty: Absolutely. We are all already comfortable being on stage with a microphone. Our stage banter, as they say in the biz, comes much more naturally, too.

SO: What are the group’s plans and goals? Anything exciting coming up?

She’s Crafty: We definitely want to do festivals. It’d be fun to go on the road too; we’d like to link up with other cover bands. For now, we want to keep doing quality shows and learning and getting our names out there.

We’re putting on MCA Day Chicago to pay tribute to Adam Yauch and the Beastie Boys on May 4 at Underground Wonder Bar. We’re also headlining at Haymarket Pub & Brewery on June 1. We have a ton of smaller shows in between too, like Beast Women and The Kates.

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SO NOTE: For show dates and more, check out shescraftychi.com and follow them on twitter @ShesCraftyChi.