Julia Kugel: “When you’re a musician, there's no separation between work and self. That’s why criticism is so gnarly because they’re criticizing you as a human”

To hear Julia Kugel, co-founder of the Atlanta-born punk rock band, the Coathangers, play the guitar is to hop into a metaphorical elevator, press all of the buttons and get transported to song after song, floor after floor, of raucous, brain-shattering music. Whether Kugel is letting a heavy chord ring out or letting bouncy rhythms take over a room, she is supremely effective and very much present.  

The Coathangers, who formed in the Peach State in 2006, have released a number of LPs, including a recent deluxe edition re-release of their debut eponymous full-length. 

Today (September 15), the band have dropped a cover of Blondie’s One Way or Another, which they recorded with Debbie Harry’s blessing. The Coathangers released the song as a split single with Southern California rockers L.A. Witch.

We caught up with Kugel to talk about the new cover release, playing with Harry in New York City, how she found her own sound on the electric guitar (versus the acoustic), the emotions the instrument brings forth, her favorite amps and why for many years she was all about just plugging in and playing.