Patty Schemel

Patricia Theresa Schemel (born April 24, 1967) is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998.

Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, where she developed an interest in punk rock music as a teenager.

She began drumming at age eleven, and while in high school, formed several bands with her brother, Larry.

Patricia Theresa Schemel was born April 24, 1967 in Los Angeles, California.

She is the middle child of three children and grew up in Marysville, Washington.

Both her parents are natives of Brooklyn, New York, and relocated to Washington state shortly after Schemel's birth.

Schemel's parents were members of Alcoholics Anonymous, which Schemel described as significant to her upbringing in her memoir, Hit So Hard.

Schemel began playing drums at age eleven after her father bought her a drum set, and played music with her brother Larry, who played guitar.

As a teenager, Schemel came out as a lesbian to her family.

"When I realized I was a lesbian, it was weird," Schemel reflected.

"Thank god for punk and rock music. You could be whoever you wanted."

Musically, Schemel's early influences included Echo & the Bunnymen, AC/DC and Wire, among other punk rock bands.

Schemel recalled being one of a small number of peers in her high school who had a shared interest in punk rock music.

At age fifteen formed her first band, The Milkbones.

She and her brother Larry subsequently formed the Seattle punk band Sybil, which was renamed Kill Sybil due to the artist of the same name.

In 1987, she joined Doll Squad, an all-female punk rock band from Seattle.

The band was initially active from 1987 to 1989 gaining an indie following in Seattle, playing alongside Nirvana, and releasing one self-released demo tape.

Between Kill Sybil and Doll Squad, Schemel played drums for Everett, Washington-based band The Primitives with poet Raegan Butcher and local performers Danny Darst and Tommy Suzuki.

Schemel was considered by Kurt Cobain as Nirvana's drummer after the departure of their drummer, Chad Channing.

Cobain had been a fan of Schemel's former band Sybil, which had also been based in Seattle.

However, after Dave Grohl's audition, Schemel became Cobain's second choice, and he and Schemel developed a close friendship.

Schemel was recommended as a drummer to Hole frontwoman Courtney Love by her husband, Kurt Cobain, a friend of Schemel's. She formally joined the band in 1992, and performed on their critically acclaimed second album, Live Through This (1994).

After the departure of Hole's original drummer Caroline Rue, frontwoman Courtney Love recruited Schemel at the suggestion of Cobain; after an audition in Los Angeles which impressed Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson, Schemel was asked to join the band in 1992 and she quit her job in Microsoft's warehouse fulfillment center.

Schemel's first work with Hole was the recording of their fourth single, "Beautiful Son", on which she also played guitar on the b-side "20 Years in the Dakota", with Love playing bass.

During this period, Schemel had developed an addiction to heroin, and refused to be part of close friend Kurt Cobain's drug intervention in March 1994, claiming that doing so would be hypocrisy, as she "was strung out [...] how dare I go there and say anything about someone else's abuse when I'm doing it too."

Schemel played drums on Hole's second critically acclaimed album, Live Through This (1994).

She went on to tour with the band for the promotion of Live Through This, which featured dates at the Reading Festival, Big Day Out and Lollapalooza.

Schemel's girlfriend, Stacey, at the time worked as Courtney Love's personal assistant during Hole's 1994–1995 world tour, while promoting Live Through This.

While on tour in April 1995, Love said that "Schemel was the first woman ever to appear on the cover of Drum World magazine."

However, this was a fictional statement and there is no Drum World magazine.

Schemel publicly came out in a 1995 band interview with Rolling Stone, commenting: "It's important" and that she's "not out there with that fucking pink flag or anything but it's good for other people who live somewhere else in some small town who feel freaky about being gay to know that there's other people who are and that it's OK."

On the band's third release, Celebrity Skin (1998), Schemel was replaced by a session drummer after its producer, Michael Beinhorn, convinced Love that Schemel was unable to adequately perform during their recording sessions.

Though she receives credit on the album, her drumming does not appear on the final tracks, and the event marked her departure from the band.

For the band's subsequent tour, Schemel was replaced by Samantha Maloney.

After leaving Hole, Schemel developed a significant crack cocaine addiction, and was homeless for a time.

In the early 2000s, she became sober and reunited with Love, joining the short-lived group Bastard before drumming on Love's debut solo album, America's Sweetheart (2004).

Schemel subsequently drummed for Juliette and the Licks, appearing on their EP ...Like a Bolt of Lightning (2004).

Along with bassist Annette Billesbach, lead guitarist Cathy Watson, rhythm guitarist Helen Halloran and vocalist Mara Dralle, Schemel was one of the original members of Doll Squad before their 2008 reunion.

In 2010, using concert and video diary footage from Hole's 1994–1995 Live Through This world tour, Schemel co-created Hit So Hard, a documentary chronicling her time in Hole, her overcoming substance abuse, as well her subsequent business operating a dog boarding business.

In 2013, she joined the indie rock group Upset, formed by Ali Koehler, previously of Vivian Girls and Best Coast, and formed the band Death Valley Girls with her brother, Larry, the same year.