The Julie Ruin, the latest incarnation of music from Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna and Kathi Wilcox, is making waves with its debut album, Run Fast, appearing on Jimmy Fallon and the cover of SPIN magazine.

Now, the gritty power pop group is making its way to Olympia to rock opening night for the Olympia Film Festival. This is the pioneering riot grrrl duo's first performance in Olympia in nearly 20 years.

Here, Wilcox dishes on Oly, screaming vs. singing, the "one outfit" tour trick and her love of Irish nachos at the Rib Eye.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: How does it feel to return to your Olympia stomping grounds AND performing with Kathleen Hanna again?

KATHI WILCOX: It feels exciting to be coming back to Olympia. ... I first moved to Olympia for college when I was 17 and moved away at 27, so it will always feel a little like home to me. Working with Kathleen again feels totally natural, just an extension of our friendship. It's going to be nice for us, probably very sentimental, to be coming back to Olympia together.

VOLCANO: The Julie Ruin seems like a natural progression in your music career. How does this project represent you as a musician today?

WILCOX: I think my bass style is pretty much the same as ever: very simple, nothing flashy. The big change for me in this band is that I'm singing a lot more backups. I sang in the Frumpies, but that was mostly me just screaming as loud as possible. This is the first time I've actually tried to "sing" sing, and I will say it's been a real challenge. Musically, I feel like the Julie Ruin has elements of all the other bands Kathleen has done before. It's part of the same musical family tree. At the same time, we didn't want the band to sound like a '90's retread; we wanted it to sound current and reflect our musical interests now.

VOLCANO: Are there any tour tricks that will come into play while promoting Run Fast?

WILCOX: I believe in the "one outfit" rule of touring, where you have just one or maybe two stage outfits that you keep in a plastic bag separate from your regular clothes. I've always been kind of a "one outfit" person even in my day-to-day life, so this has been an easy rule to follow. You have to change the outfit for different tours, though. Then when you go back and look at pictures you can easily figure out what tour it was by what you were wearing.

VOLCANO: Where are you looking most forward to visiting in Olympia?

WILCOX: When I lived in Olympia I spent a lot of time alone in my apartment reading books or listening to records. I think most of the places I might feel sentimental about no longer exist. The one place I do sometimes get nostalgic about is Evergreen. I think about the campus a lot, and what it was like to walk around there going to classes. I drove out there last summer when I was visiting and it was so strange, I actually kind of got lost. The other place I remember fondly is the RibEye. We used to drive there after shows to get Irish nachos, which is basically just a massive plate of potato wedges with cheese and olives, and it came with a huge condiment caddy with a bunch of toppings like sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. It was the best.

THE JULIE RUIN, w/Survival Knife and Hot Fruit, 9 p.m., Friday, Nov. 8, Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave., Olympia, $20, $15 Olympia Film Society members, 360.754.6670