Azita Youssefi

Azita Youssefi
Born	1971 (age 45–46) St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Occupation(s)	Musician, artist
Instruments	Vocals, piano, bass
Years active	1991–present
Associated acts	The Scissor Girls, The Bride of No-No, Miss High-Heel
Website	http://www.azita.info

Azita Youssefi, born in 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri, is an American experimental musician, artist and music teacher based in Chicago. She was originally associated with the Chicago no wave scene, which included bands such as the Scissor Girls, U.S. Maple and Bride of No No.

She has been a voice and piano teacher at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music since 2002, and has served as composer and musical director for theater productions of musicals by Brian Torrey Scott.

Born in the United States to Iranian parents, Azita spent part of her childhood in Iran and was attending grade school in Tehran when the Iranian revolution began in late 1978. Her family moved back to the United States soon after, settling in Bethesda, Maryland. Growing up, she attended an all-girls school, Holton-Arms, and studied classical piano. As a teen, she would attend punk rock shows in Washington, D.C. In 1989, Azita moved to Chicago to study at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Disillusioned with the visual arts as a medium for expression, she turned to performance art and sound. In 1991, she formed the spastic noise-rock group The Scissor Girls with Sue Anne Zollinger on guitar (later replaced by Kelly Kuvo), Heather Melowic on drums, and herself on vocals and bass. Their live performances were highly theatrical and the members often dressed in homemade costumes ranging from Catholic schoolgirl uniforms to clothes made of Bubble Wrap and duct tape. After two albums and a singles compilation, the Scissor Girls broke up in late 1996.

In late 1995, Azita played synthesizer for a short-lived Weasel Walter/Jim O'Rourke project Miss High-Heel. Their self-titled CD was released on B-Sides Records (now NoSides Records) in 1998.

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