Cris Bonacci

Cristina "Cris" Bonacci (born 15 October 1964) is an Australian-born producer, songwriter, and musician. She was the lead guitarist in the British heavy metal band Girlschool (1984 to 1992, 2004) and has also provided session guitar work for other artists.

Career

Bonacci was born at Myrtleford, in northeastern Victoria and grew up on a country farm near Melbourne where her family had moved when she was 11 or 12 years old. She started playing guitar soon after coming to Melbourne, inspired by her father’s guitar playing, her uncle’s band membership, and her Spanish neighbors’ flamenco guitar. Bonacci was largely self-taught and influenced by rock guitarists Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, as well as early Black Sabbath albums.

She played in several Australian bands but never stayed with one for more than a few years. In the early 1970s, she joined the rock group, Vixen, as lead guitarist. In early 1975, Bonacci and Sally Zylstra formed Sweet Jayne in Melbourne with Robyn Clark on drums and Zylstra on bass guitar. They later added lead singer Chris Scheri, who also played the flute.

Their self-titled EP was issued in January 1980 and had five tracks, "Ambiguous Girl", "Omniscience", "Some People", "State of Mind" and "Crushed and Crazy". She also co-produced and engineered Dawne Adams' album Assume Nothing in 2004. She is currently affiliated with Electracult, a band she formed with Michelle Mullen in January 2005. Electracult released their first full-length release Electracult Me on 15 April 2008, on Renaissance Records. Since 2000, much of her focus has been on software training. In June 2015, Bonacci was interviewed extensively about her musical career on the Australian Rock Show podcast.

Discography With Sweet Jayne Some People (7" self-produced EP; 1979) State of Mind (7" self-produced EP; 1979) Crushed and Crazy (7" self-produced EP; 1979) "Icarus" (7" single; 1981) With Girlschool Running Wild (1985) Nightmare at Maple Cross (1986) Take a Bite (1988) Girlschool (1992) With Mark Shreeve Legion (1985) With Marc Almond Twelve Years of Tears (1993) "What Makes a Man a Man" (1993) With Samantha Fox 21st Century Fox (1998) With All Saints Saints & Sinners (2000) With Electracult Electracult EP (2005) Electracult Me (2008)

As producer 21st Century Fox (1998) Fashion Lounge: Id Models (2003) Assume Nothing (2004) Electracult Me (2008)

DVD releases Play Dirty Live (1984) Twelve Years of Tears – Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1992 (2007)