Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, and Those Bastard Souls. Since 2004 she has released her solo material as Joan As Police Woman. She has released five regular studio albums, one EP, a number of singles and two albums of cover songs. Throughout her career, she has regularly collaborated with other artists as a writer, performer and arranger. Early life Born at the Saint Andre Home in Biddeford, Maine, to an unmarried teenage mother, Wasser was placed for adoption at infancy. She was raised in Norwalk, Connecticut, with her adoptive younger brother Dan, who is a visual artist. She credits her background as an adopted child with her "very extroverted" personality and dressing up a lot. She explained that "when you are in a situation where you're not blood-related to your family, it does become extremely obvious that you're born with your personality". Wasser began with piano lessons at age six and had her first violin lessons at age eight. She played violin in school and community orchestras before leaving Norwalk for her college studies. At the age of 18, Wasser began her music career during her studies at the College of Fine Arts, Boston University. She studied music under, among others, Yuri Mazurkevich and played with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra. Wasser soon grew disillusioned and found that she "didn't want to make classical music my life, the Beethoven symphonies have already been played a million times and I am not going to do it any better". Instead, she joined a number of local punk bands trying "to bridge the gap between the guitar and the bass and play the violin really loud". Career The Dambuilders In 1991, Wasser joined the Dambuilders who were signed to Elektra Records in 1994. Wasser featured on three albums as a violinist. The band played a number of shows on the East Coast, and found an admirer in Colin Greenwood of Radiohead. On stage, Wasser managed to stand out with "bright costumes and dyed, often dreadlocked hair". In 1995, the band appeared on Lollapalooza followed by the release of the album Ruby Red. Wasser augmented her role within the band, adding guitar and keyboard parts, singing vocals, as well as