History

STILETTO is an Orlando-based punk rock band that defines itself as “feminist, ecstatic and queer.” They deliver high-voltage riffs, razor-sharp hooks, and an unapologetic attitude. Blending grit with swagger, their sound is loud, hot and built for sweaty rooms and screaming crowds. Fierce, inclusive, and fearless, Stiletto makes music for the girls, the gays, and anyone ready to dance!

Stiletto the band has been around since early 2023, but the core members’ connections to each other stretch further back.

Drummer Deanna Gonzalez met bassist Tia Milan all the way back in 2006. Singer and synth player Brie Schafer entered the picture more recently, recruited into the nascent band by Gonzalez during the pandemic.

Guitarist Cori Franks was one of the founding members, but took a break for a little over a year. She recently rejoined the band.

As Milan explains, Stiletto proper came to be after a long night of informal jamming. “It really happened by accident. We were in the rehearsal room that Dee [Gonzalez] set up, putting our first song together, and we all looked at each other, saying, ‘This is magic. This is the real deal,'” says Milan. “And it’s been on the roller coaster ever since, which has been pretty great!”

"This is magic. This is the real deal, and it’s been on the roller coaster ever since, which has been pretty great" -  Tia Milan

Each member of the band brings a wildly different musical background that combines, well, wildly in the form of vicious shows and anthemic punky new wave.

Through the 1990s, Gonzalez was part of seminal Southern alt-rock outfit Sugarsmack, based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Schafer, meanwhile, is a classically trained vocalist who holds a music degree from Rollins College in Winter Park. Milan was a musical-theater kid who decided to pick up the bass guitar at 12, falling in love with the instrument immediately. Franks cut her teeth in the Orlando metal scene, playing lead guitar for Kill the Sound and bass for Le Montro. Her ‘80s metal-inspired riffs and tones are reminiscent of L7 and add edge and depth to Stiletto’s abundant energy.

Reunion

Stiletto is excited to take part in a celebration of such an important piece of Orlando’s early punk and indie scene.