It took three phone calls to get a hold of Ari Up. Phone call No. 1: she says she didn’t know I was supposed to interview her and asks me to call back in 30 minutes. Phone call No. 2: she starts laughing, saying that she forgot about our interview and is now eating. Phone call No. 3: after “peeing and cleaning [her] nose,” she takes a seat out in her garden and is finally ready to begin.

Perhaps I should be frustrated by the third call, but her thick, jumbled accent and raspy laugh are so charming. More than 30 years after starting UK punk band The Slits, Ari Up is still performing and is coming to town for a solo show at Pride.

Will this be your first time going to Pride in Toronto?
Yeah. I’ve been to Toronto a couple of times, playing with the Ari Up solo show, with The True Warriors and, of course, we were in Canada in the early ’80s with The Slits. It would be great if The Slits could play Canada [again] one day and play gay pride, but so far it hasn’t happened.

What do you think will be exciting about performing your solo show at Pride?
I guess being in a revolution… it’s always about being in a revolution for gay people because they have to fight all the time. When you have a parade like this and you’re singing to people that kind of understand The Slits, they know where I’m coming from with the punk days. And so, it’s going to be an affiliation — when you struggle, it’s an unspoken language.

Has there ever been a time when you thought you lacked freedom?
Yeah, most times. [She giggles.] Especially in the punk days. Even now, of course, but the minute we were called The Slits we were banned from radio play. We had no freedom to be who we were; we weren’t even allowed to exist.

Do you think things have changed?
Not really that much, ironically. Of course you have more girls playing now. At the time, we were the only girls playing music; there weren’t any girls playing bass and drums and doing their own thing…. But what hasn’t changed is the struggle of just being in a group… because sexism and chauvinism are still alive.

Do you know which Slits songs you’ll be playing?
I’m going to have a tonne of songs, probably about three Slits songs and the rest of it is a real punky, reggae mix.