PERRA: Calling All Girls to the Front

Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder)

Ten-foot flowers intertwined with barbed wire stretch across a crumbling wall. Behind them, a sunset is painted in pink and blue, fading beneath layers of graffiti tags and spray-painted art.

It’s the only colour in an otherwise grey patch of the city—a forgotten lot tucked under the Crowchild Trail and Bow Trail interchange, where highway pillars cast long shadows and the Canadian Pacifi c rail tracks hem everything in. There’s no sunlight, no clear path, and no reason for most people to stop.

If you weren’t looking for it, you’d miss it. But look closer, and you’ll find more than just plywood jumps and cracked concrete. You’ll fi nd a gathering place. A place where people show up and make something out of nothing.

The members of PERRA walk up in all-plaid and combat boots, fl icking cigarette ash between power chords and laughter. They don’t need a formal venue or a flyer to make it a show. The moment they plug in, the space shifts, becoming a sanctuary for those who know where to listen.

This skatepark, with its chipped ramps and splintered edges, holds meaning that can’t be paved over. It’s where outsiders fi nd each other. And it’s where PERRA comes into focus—loud, unapologetic, and completely at home.

Formed through years of friendship, late-night shows, and a collective refusal to shrink, this five-piece force is redefining what punk looks, sounds, and feels like in 2025.

Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - PERRA at Sled Island

The members of PERRA came together over time, each connection adding a new layer to the band’s sound and story.

Vocalist Helen Arias, bassist Yvanna Menjiva, and percussionist Jerdyn Dionisio fi rst met in high school where they planted the early seeds of what would become PERRA.

As they began to develop their sound, they connected with Kaleigh Bailey, who stepped in on bass and quickly became a core part of the group. The lineup was completed when Syd Merchant joined with the guitar in early 2024 after meeting Arias at an event at Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts).

Coincidentally, PERRA made their debut at AUArts Gallery Crawl on International Women’s Day only two months later. Since then, the punk quintet has torn through local venues with the fury of a long-overdue reckoning, culminating in their fi rst festival appearance at this year’s Sled Island.

In a scene that’s long favored testosterone-fueled noise and gatekept grit, PERRA crashes in with something louder, angrier, and undeniably femme.

“Where the girls at?” Asked lead vocalist Helen Arias. The question that started it all. Arias, who is frequently spotted headbanging and crowdsurfing at local events all over the city, noticed a lack of diverse female representation in crowds and on stage. What began as an observation has erupted into a full-blown feminist riot, igniting mosh pits and fl ipping the male-dominated script.

Inspired by the rawness of the feminist punk movement in the ‘90s, PERRA is taking the torch from the leaders of Riot Grrrl and building a more inclusive space for women in a scene overrun with men.

Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder)

The Riot Grrrl movement emerged in Olympia, Washington as a way to push back on gender biases in male-dominated music spaces. However, upon reflection, the movement centered mainly upon white women and frequently pushed out the voices of women of colour. Looking back on it now, the scene needed to examine the racial biases that were present.

It’s important to note that a movement that was designed to empower women also created harm and didn’t operate through an intersectional lens. PERRA aims to ensure that women of all gender, racial, and class identities are included.

“It’s very different from the male-oriented things that they did in the 90s and early 2000s,” said guitarist doing crazy shit.” While the key figures of Riot Grrrl started the conversation of including women in the punk scene, it is the new-school bands who are continuing this momentum.

“It’s a space for something cathartic, something violent. Something angry,” said Arias. “In the day-to-day you aren’t allowed to be grotesque or be angry, but these are the spaces where you can let those emotions happen.”

The gang of five behind PERRA span ethnic demographics, and they use this to their advantage to acknowledge and patch holes that the original feministpunk movement created. The word “perra” translates to female dog, but in the Spanish language it also holds derogatory meaning as a way to insult a woman.

“There’s those negative connotations around it, [but it’s] not necessarily that those things are negative,” explains Arias.

With two of the band members coming from Latina backgrounds, the reclamation of the word “perra” pays homage to their culture, and also reclaims something meant to bring women down.

“Coming from Spanish backgrounds very much influences how we write music, and the way that we want to express ourselves,” said Menjiva. From high school hallways to festival line-ups, their shows shake the floorboards and make room for everyone who’s ever been pushed to the back of the room. Specifically, they look to empower girls from every walk of life to scream and shove at their shows.

Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - PERRA at Sled Island

“It’s so different to play music with girls,” said bassist Syd Merchant, also known as Uncle Girl. “So I just feel like there’s like, a really special, vulnerable exchange that kind of happens between all of us. Whenever we play together, I feel empowered.”

As all femme-presenting individuals, intersectional feminism is deep-rooted in their art, both musically and visually. The band upholds these values both on and off stage.

“It’s really important to me to have beautiful posters that represent us,” said Arias. They bring their art to share at most of their performances because their story is told half through music and half through art. Their intricate posters and eruptive performances have permanently marked many local venues.

Though they have only been together for just over a year, they already recorded and released their self-titled debut demo with Great Bird Studios.

“It was very DIY,” said Arias. “It was also our first time recording anything together as a band. If you messed up, it had to restart.”

Working together and learning from one another, the originals on their demo are filled with layers of deep melancholy and femme-rage. “So we were really locked in with those songs. We need to get them down and record them,” said Merchant.

With the grit of L7 and the unapologetic weirdness of The Slits, PERRA is a continuation of DIY-punk, and they show no sign of stopping. It is this unique power that landed PERRA the headliner position at Loophole Coffee Bar as their fi rst Sled Island performance.

“Sled Island is just a festival that I’ve always really looked up to and wanted to get involved with,” said Arias. Transitioning from Sled Island volunteers to performers is a stride the band has been working towards. Following Sled Island, they have many shows lined up across Canada for the rest of the summer.