[Editor's note: Rachel Tomlinson Dick's not-for-profit record label Club No Quiet is accepting submissions through April 9 for their first mixtape. See this message for more details.]

story and photos by Ingrid Holmquist

Tom·boy: a girl or woman who takes or borrows aspects of masculine identity, or someone who doesn’t like to define themselves by traditional feminine aesthetics or roles.

This is Rachel Tomlinson Dick’s definition.

Self-proclaimed tomboy and lead guitarist of the band Hers, Tomlinson Dick greets me at the door of her white house in Omaha. She’s wearing striped denim overalls, brown short heels and a polka-dotted button-up fastened at the collar. She winds me through the elaborate, artistically furnished and foliage-filled, six-bedroom house. We cruise past a kitchen and a roommate or two only to find a second kitchen up the narrow wooden stairs. She picks up a cup of yerba mate to sip on as she talks music and fashion. Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross blare from a neighboring room.

Focusing mostly on comfort and menswear-inspired pieces, Tomlinson Dick approaches her day-to-day style much like she does stage fashion. Still, there are a few staples that make Tomlinson Dick feel powerful on stage.

“I’ve been kind of obsessed with pantsuits or jumpsuits,” Tomlinson Dick says. “There’s something about throwing on a jumpsuit that makes you feel kind of tough, and there's something that makes it a little more dressed-up than just wearing jeans and a T-shirt. But besides that, I like to wear tights, shorts and boots a lot because I can move easily on stage.”

She compares herself with the last Wear Nebraskan, Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds, by saying, “(Laura) has more of a set aesthetic, and I always just try and feel like myself, like, ‘Hey, this is me in my daily life, and this is me in my political work, and this is me with my guitar.’ It’s all a unified identity.”

Originally called “Honeybee & Hers,” Tomlinson Dick's four-piece band is now going by the shortened name of Hers. The majority of the indie rock ’n’ roll band’s time this spring will be spent finishing their pending LP, Youth Revisited, set to release this summer.

HERS Drops "Honeybee," Sticks Together | Video Interview from Hear Nebraska on Vimeo.

The group started as Honeybee, a solo project of Thomlinson Dick’s childhood friend, Melissa Amstutz. Soon after, bandmates Cody Peterson, Brandon Pierce Geary (who preceded current bassist, Ellen Wilde) and Tomlinson Dick joined Amstutz.

“They’re some of my best friends in the world so it’s really great to work with them,” Tomlinson Dick says.

Once the solo project evolved into a full band sound, they took on the name Honeybee & Hers. In the spirit of undergoing a name change with each album, once again the band took on a new moniker with the new shortened name of Hers.

“I think we’re going to stick with ‘Hers’ for a while,” Tomlinson Dick says. “Honeybee is actually a reference to Melissa’s name, and we felt like the band was moving away from her solo project. People also called us the “honeybees” all the time, which we’re not super keen on.”

Perhaps it was the feminist inside all four band members (yes, male bandmate, Cody Peterson, included) that provoked a distaste toward being called the “honeybees.”

“There’s this assumption that it’s just sweet or cute, and it can really minimize what women artists are doing,” Tomlinson Dick says. “(The word) ‘honeybee’ kind of lent itself to that immediate judgement of our work.”

Much like the band’s name and style, Tomlinson Dick’s personal style has evolved over time as well.

“I went through a phase where I was hyper aware about the judgment between men and women’s presentation,” Tomlinson Dick says. “(They say) ‘men are recognized by their actions and women are recognized for their appearance,’ and it’s so true. So I almost try and downplay the more feminine aspects of my fashion because it’s kind of like, ‘Fuck this, I don’t want to play into that.’ You shouldn’t feel societal pressure to do or not do things.”

After this phase, she says she became more comfortable with allowing femininity (to a point) into her wardrobe. Although she had always had an interest in art and aesthetics, there was a point when she says she allowed herself to be interested in fashion, while still considering herself a tomboy.

Thanks to her mother being a home economics teacher, she learned to sew as a child and was said to always have a new and odd creative project in the works, projects that were mostly textile-based.

“When I was probably 11, I started a little ‘business’ making Beanie Baby accessories,” she says. “Remember, Beanie Babies were all the rage! I made patterns and would sew little sleeping bags, backpacks and sometimes little outfits and would sell them to little kids and sometimes adults.”

She used to make miniature sleeping bags costing $2.50 a pop to keep cozy the ‘90s, pellet-filled collectable item. Tomlinson Dick now makes her own clothing for her personal wardrobe.

Along with creating clothing, rocking her stage fashion and playing her light blue Danelectro U2 electric guitar (which she so lovingly refers to as “New Baby”), Tomlinson Dick is also politically active in the community. She ran the women’s resource center while studying at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and also did volunteer work with Planned Parenthood and the YWCA. Tomlinson Dick recently played at the V Day event to promote the end of violence toward women worldwide. To combine her love of feminism and music, Tomlinson Dick is also spearheading the record label Club No Quiet, which is accepting submissions for a mixtape through April 9.

“Club No Quiet is a feminist record label based on mentorship and skill-sharing between women in the community,” she says, “and Omaha Girls Rock is near and dear to my heart as well.”

Omaha Girls Rock is a summer camp dedicated to empowering girls in Omaha and giving them confidence through music.

Having recently returned from the International Girls Rock Camp Alliance Conference, Tomlinson Dick is both inspired and empowered. The conference held many workshops and activities devoted to organizing various camps. Tomlinson Dick also noticed the myriad of feminist styles present at the conference.

“It was interesting seeing gender identity come through fashion,” she says. “There were lots of women representing themselves in non-normative ways. Some women had some sweet haircuts, rad hats, button-downs, vests, boots and jeans. There were lots of menswear type fashions.”

As a fashion guru with a more tomboy approach, she appreciated seeing menswear as part of people’s fashion sense as it's not a style often seen in Omaha, she says.

While Tomlinson Dick tends to steer clear of most dresses and skirts, she also believes that you can be a strong woman and embody feminine aesthetic.

“I think a lot of beauty ideals that are considered feminine by mainstream society can be harmful to women by attacking their self-esteem and body image,” Tomlinson Dick says. “But the beauty about feminism is the freedom to express yourself how you see fit and to go after the life and the career path that most suits you.”

She says if expressing yourself means taking a more traditional approach, then she thinks, “Fuck yeah, wear dresses, and if a feminist identifies as genderqueer, then that’s great, too.”

She says, “The feminism movement is fighting for the freedom to find your reality for yourself as a woman and not having it defined for you.”

Ingrid Holmquist is a Hear Nebraska intern. She used to collect puppy Beanie Babies in elementary school. Her favorite’s name was “Tie-dye Swin.” Reach her at ingridh@hearnebraska.org.

More from Wear Nebraska:

Laura Burhenn's Empowering Fashion | Wear Nebraska

Talking Mountain's Vibrant Colors | Wear Nebraska

John Freidel's Year-round Halloween | Wear Nebraska