Interview: Jenn Alva of Girl in a Coma

From time to time, we here at Lesbiatopia are fortunate enough to be able to speak with some really amazing gay women about what they do and how their sexuality factors into that. Blackheart recording artists Girl in a Coma, an all-girl trio, allowed our own Sinnerviewer, to sit down and speak with bass player Jenn Alva about their new record, touring, being a lesbian and even about her encounter with Kate Moennig (Shane from "The L Word").
.
Shannon: Tell me about your new CD, Trio B.C., and also what your favorite tracks are and why.

Jenn: Trio B.C. is our new album and the name comes from (band mates) Nina and Phanie’s (pronounced FAWN-ee) grandfather. They found some old photos of him and he was in this band called Trio B.C. so that’s where the name came from. As for the favorites on the album, I mean, I think I like them all, honestly.

Shannon: Come on… what’s your favorite?

Jenn: I think my favorite ones to play are “Static Mind” and “Trail” for sure.

Shannon: Because it’s a musical challenge?


Jenn: Well, “Static Mind”, yeah. The bass line’s kind of everywhere. “In the Day” is like that, too. “Trail” is like a very flowy bass and there’s this power part and playing it live on stage is just great. Even though it’s probably the one song that I need work on, we still play it and it will get better. This is the beginning of the tour so…

Shannon: Yeah, you guys just got started, right?

Jenn: Yeah.

Shannon: You all were hand-picked by Joan Jett to be on her Blackheart Records label. How does it feel to have the respect of the greatest female musician in the history of the entire planet?

Jenn: (laughs) It’s like one of those things that you can’t really grasp. Even if you tried to. You always think that you know how you’re going to react if something like that happens but when it happens, your brain just goes blank and all of a sudden, it’s like, “Oh, we’ve got to do better. We wanna make her proud. We wanna make the label proud. We gotta go!” It’s very fast-paced.

Recently, we played with Joan there in Houston and she wasn’t feeling well. She had a little tummy ache or something. We went on to play and she was watching us from the side of the stage. When we finished, she was like, “You know, I wasn’t feeling very good but now I am. I’m ready to play. You guys gave me that jolt that I needed.”

I know exactly what she was talking about because whenever we play with other bands that go on before us, I watch them and I go, “Oh I want to play now! I can’t wait to play!” So when she does things like that, it’s incredible.

One time, at the Knitting Factory, in L.A., she was there. She had seen us at the beginning of the tour and this was near the end. We had definitely improved since the last time she had seen us. We got off stage and she was there crying. She was like, “Oh, you know how I get emotional, girls. You girls really made me proud.” When things like that happen with her, everything really slows down in my head and I’m like, “Oh my God. That’s Joan Jett. And she’s really proud of us!”

Shannon: She really has a way of making the room feel in awe. I remember the first time I met her – her manager, Kenny Laguna, saw me waiting outside of a bar door hoping for an autograph. He smuggled me in and let me watch her do sound check because he knew there was no way I was getting in the bar to watch the show later that night. It was the greatest thrill of my life. After she finished, he called her over to my table and I thought I would vomit. She sat in a booth with me! My mind just went blank… I actually told her that she was my biggest fan.

Jenn: (laughs)

Shannon: Here was my idol whom I knew every fact of her life from birth until the day before. She asked me what my favorite song of hers was and I just froze! I couldn’t even think of “I Love Rock-n-Roll” – I barely managed to say a word. But she was so gracious and cool. She and Kenny were then, and the few times I have met them since, literally the most kind and gracious people I have ever encountered. I don’t even know them but I want to make them proud so I can’t even imagine how you must feel.

Jenn: The same thing happened to me when I met Gary Day, the old bass player for Morrissey. I met him and I was like, “Uhhhh, I play bass, too.” (laughs) That was all I said and I just went blank and walked away. I felt so stupid.

Shannon: Speaking of Morrissey, he was yet another big name who hand picked you to finish his tour with him. There seems to be a trend here that some very big players in the music business really respect your music. It must be a great feeling to be so early into your music career and you’ve already gotten attention from the likes of Joan Jett, Cyndi Lauper and Morrissey.

Jenn: It’s amazing! Each one of these people is our role model. Phanie and I have been best friends since we were kiddos and even back then, we would listen to all of this music. It’s incredible and totally blows our minds.

The Morrissey thing came at the perfect time. We always wanted to meet him but then we thought, “No, we don’t want to meet him because what if he’s a jerk? It would ruin everything that we had based our whole lives around.

Shannon: Yes, that was my fear with Joan Jett. If she would’ve been mean when I met her, it would have crushed my spirit into dust.

Jenn: Right! And you never know… people have bad days. Sometimes, they have big heads. You just don’t know how they are going to be when you meet them.

Shannon: But you didn’t have that experience with him?

Jenn: No! Not at all. We got asked at the last minute to do the final leg of his tour. We literally dropped everything that we were doing. We were so lucky that it was Morrissey first because it was like touring boot camp. With Morrissey, we knew already how he was. We heard all of these rumors, we knew all the stories. We stayed in our dressing room until it was time to play. We just really wanted to do a good job. I think it paid off because he would come to our dressing room to visit us and talk to us. But we would never bug him. We totally stayed out of his way. We also made great friends with his staff.

When we got the tour with Tegan & Sara, we did the same thing except that they wouldn’t have it. Not to say that Morrissey is not down to earth or anything, but Tegan & Sara definitely are. They were like, “What are you doing? Come out of your dressing room and hang out whenever you want.” They were very, very cool girls but I’m so glad we started out like that with Morrissey – so that we know not to run around all over the place yelling, “Yeah! PARTY!”.

Shannon: I guess different artists like to run things differently and all have different expectations. It’s so nice that you girls are trying to be sensitive to the expectations of the headliners that you end up touring with.

Jenn: It’s because we appreciate (being able to tour with them) so much. They’re sharing their fan base with us.

Shannon: I caught your show that you did with Tegan & Sara here in Atlanta last year. It seemed to me that you had a very similar fan base. I don’t know if it was that you both have a large lesbian following or that your music is compatible – I’m not really sure but it seemed that the people at the show were into all of it.

Jenn: That tour worked out so well for us. Not just making great friends with Tegan & Sara but also connecting with their fans. They have awesome fans!

Shannon: Girl in a Coma does a lot of touring. What are Jenn Alva’s tips for surviving the road?
Jenn: There’s a lot! It all starts off with making sure you get a good tour booked. A good route! You don’t want to drive more than about 7 hours. It will wear you out!
Packing right. Having enough merchandise. Being organized. I think a lot of bands, when they go on tour, they thinks it’s all only fun. But it’s a business, too.

Motel 6 is great. We don’t like to waste money on anything that’s more than around $60. We’re lucky that there are only 4 of us on the road right now so it makes it easy to have 2 to a room.

Another tip is food. We’re all vegetarians so what we tend to do is go to the grocery store and buy peanut butter and jelly, which we don’t have to refrigerate, and a loaf of bread. We buy lots of soups that we can keep under the seats so that when we are hungry, we stop at a gas station and warm it up.

Lastly, being professional and calling these venues in advance. We let them know that we are on our way and get in our load-in times. When we play, we do a good show.

Shannon: What about getting along with your band mates? Tips?

Jenn: The girls and I have the advantage of being like sisters from growing up together. We never get mad at each other for more than, like, 2 minutes and then, we’ll be laughing the next minute.

Shannon: I read about your being assaulted by the off-duty cop and I know that you can’t really talk about that due to pending litigation but it made me wonder what other interesting stories from the road you might have. Care to share?

Jenn: Every night is usually really interesting. We had an intense drive through a blizzard in Kansas. I told Phanie, “We gotta cancel, dude.” But she hates to cancel so we kept going. When we got to the freeway, the were closing it down and she was like, “Look on the map and see if there’s an alternate route.” And I go, “Dude, they’re closing the freeway for a reason.”

Shannon: Like the alternate routes will be clearer than the freeway?

Jenn: Yeah, right. So we drove and drove and it was okay for a little while but then, BOOM, the blizzard came and we had to drive like 5 miles per hour. Just before we got to a motel, this SUV came out of the fog just spinning around and around and it hit our rental van. It was pretty crazy.

As for wild times, we had a good time with our touring band, Miss Derringer. They’ve been like the first band that we’ve toured with where we’ve fallen in love with each other. We had a day off recently and went to New Orleans. We all went to Bourbon Street and just spent the time bonding. That was fun.

Shannon: I bet it’s kind of nice sometimes to be around people other than the people that you’re used to traveling with.

Jenn: Yes, definitely! It’s kind of like dating somebody. You learn something from everybody that you date. Being in a band is like a marriage, you know? So when we get to stray off with another band for conversation, its great!

Shannon: My daughter wanted me to ask you this: what would you be doing if you weren’t in the band?

Jenn: I would try to do something in art.

Shannon: I read that you were into painting….

Jenn: Yeah. I think if I would have pressed on and stuck with it more, I would have been at a whole other level by now. Ever since we got in this band, it’s totally taken over our lives. Everything is band, band, band. If I did have a chance to paint, it would be with acrylics and I think I would paint icons. I painted Bjork, Elvis Presley, Morrissey. I’ve done portraits of friends, but it’s not anything great. I definitely enjoy it and hope to do something later on. Right now, we are giving the band 100% of our attention and focus. It’ll go down sometime. Nina wants to go to school, I mean, we all want to do our own thing at some point.

Shannon: Social networking sites. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace. Are they a helpful way for you to connect with your fans or do you find them to be a pain in the ass to keep up with?

Jenn: I think Twitter is awesome. I don’t do it. Phanie does all of it. My job is to make some video blogs. I enjoy filming and editing. All of those ways to connect with fans are a help. Especially nowadays. You are really obliged to do it because of the age we live in. You have to keep up with the times and we appreciate having those tools. Girl in a Coma loves using those sites to connect with our fans.

Shannon: Some bands like U2 use their fame to promote social causes. Is there anything that Girl in a Coma is collectively passionate about or do you girls mostly just stick with music?

Jenn: I think we need to educate ourselves more. We are, and have been for years, vegetarians. We are very passionate about that. We’re going to have a lot to talk about soon when this court case is over with (the off duty officer assault). We’ve become a lot more political and more involved than we were since we’ve had more experiences. Phanie and I are lesbians. When we were promoting “Both Before I’m Gone” (1st album), we were doing a lot of gay magazine interviews. I sort of felt like I wanted to focus more on the music. Not the fact that we were girls, Latinas, lesbians… not any of that. This time around, we’re sort of realizing that this is our community and we have a lot to say, actually. For example, I think that kids in school should be educated about gays because “homosexuality” is such an ugly word still and it shouldn’t be.

Shannon: Yeah, there was a little 11 year old boy here in Atlanta that hung himself a few months ago because his classmates were calling him “gay”. There is really something wrong in the world when a kid would rather kill himself than be called “gay”. He was just a baby.

Jenn: Yeah, a baby! It just doesn’t make any sense and I don’t understand why so many people don’t understand that. Gay and lesbian people are paying taxes and contributing members of society and wanting committed relationships. Why are they not being treated equally? It’s the year 2009. It’s just ridiculous to even say this out loud.

Shannon: Yes, basic civil rights that everyone should have.

Jenn: The U.S. is far behind other countries. Those other places, it’s not a big deal at all.

Shannon: Well, the younger people have a better mindset. A lot of them are starting to say, “Who cares?” so change is coming.

Jenn: I hope so. I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon, of course.

Shannon: We have 6 states now and most of them happened this year.

Jenn: That is true!

Shannon: Would you like to share anything about your coming out experience?

Jenn: Yes, I could share about that. A lot of people want to know how it was for me coming from a Mexican culture family. Was it even more difficult? The answer is no because most Mexican families have a passion to be close to their families no matter what. When I came out to my family, it wasn’t a big deal.

Shannon: How old were you?

Jenn: I was 19. This is how it happened – I had a dream when I was 18. I was talking to my grandmother who had passed away when I was 16 and I just adored her. In my dream, she said, “I think you should tell your mom. She’s going to love you anyway.” So then I decided that I would tell her on my birthday. My birthday came around and I didn’t do it. But 2 days later, I was moping around the house and I was lying beside my mom. She already knew – sometimes parents just know. She was like, “Do you have something to tell me?” and I was like, “Yeah, I do”. And to soften the blow, I said I was Bi even though I knew that I wasn’t. She said, “Okay, well I’m going to love you anyway.”

She treated me a little bit weird for a while, but in a funny way. Like she would say, “Oh, change the channel. I don’t like this Ellen!”. Then, my first girlfriend came around and she was a sweetheart. My mom fell in love with her and became a lot more comfortable with it. Now, all she does is watch Ellen. Every day at 4 o'clock.

Shannon: (laughs) Ellen is a good representative.

Jenn: Absolutely.

Shannon: You were friends with Phanie in high school…

Jenn: Yeah, but she didn’t come out until a couple of years ago. It was funny.

Shannon: So it didn’t affect your friendship because you had come out so much earlier than she did but she never told you until recently?

Jenn: No. I told her when I was about 16. I was lying on the floor and she was on her bed and I was like, “Dude, I have something to tell you. I think I like girls. I like our friend Rosalie a lot.” She was quiet for a long time. She didn’t say anything. I was like, “Are we now not going to be friends or what?” and she was like, “No, no, no! It’s just Wow. Okay.”

Phanie didn’t ever seem to like anybody. She said she was asexual for a while. When she finally came out, it weirded me out. Even being a lesbian, it still weirded me out because I’ve known her for so long. And I’m not saying it wasn’t obvious, I’m just sayin’ that she has been such a weird person anyway. So when she did, I was cool with it.

Then, recently, problems started coming as a result. Not bad, but funny problems. Fighting over girls. That’s all. I’m glad that she came out and she’s happy. But I’m still like, “Stay away from the girls that I see”.

(laughs)

Shannon: Are you both attracted to the same types of girls?

Jenn: Very much so! You’ll see both of our heads turn when a certain type of woman walks by.

Shannon: Which is?

Jenn: It’s a Mexican girl or of Latin descent. Big eyes, long hair. But I love girls. All kinds of girls!

Shannon: Like Carmen from “The L Word”?

Jenn: Oh, definitely! She’s hot. I don’t like “The L Word” that much, though.

Shannon: Those writers frustrated the shit out of me. They made what could have been a really amazing show into a sort of joke that we were all willing to put up with because it was the only thing on TV that had lesbians.

Jenn: I met the girl that played Shane, I don’t know her real name and I hardly care.

Shannon: Kate Moennig?

Jenn: Yeah. I never liked her character anyway. My friends adored her but I never saw what they saw. One night, we were at a club doing a Tegan & Sara after party and she was there. Phanie said to me, “Go tell her something.” And I said, “Okay. I will.”

I walked over to her and I said, “Hi!” and she was like, “Hey.” She sounded like she was in a bad mood and I have no idea what her problem was but I said, “I have an idea for your show” but before I could finish she snapped, “The show is OVER!” and I was like, “Whatever.” And I walked away but I was going to tell her “How about my band comes on the show and then you and I get in a fight and I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

(laughs)

Jenn: Just to be silly, you know? Joke around with her. But she stopped it before I could really say anything.

Shannon: Like you said earlier, sometimes people have bad nights. Maybe that was one of hers. She missed a good one, though.

Jenn: Yeah.

Shannon: What’s your favorite thing about the gay community?

Jenn: It’s nice to be around people who have similarities with yourself. I love my gay guys. I love talking to them because they make me feel more feminine. Just having that connection to someone else right away that makes you a family. Every once in a while, you get a bad one. But I don’t think that we should be fighting with each other. We’re really all in the same boat and we need to take care of each other.

We really need to stick together and not be negative towards each other because it really doesn’t get you anywhere. Just understanding that everybody has different views and opinions helps. If we can just respect one another, homosexual, straight… whatever, if we can just get to that point, then that’s good enough, I think.

Shannon: Last question (and I ask everyone I interview this question). Girl crushes – we all have them…

Jenn: Yes, I have sooo many.

Shannon: Well, besides me, who?

(laughs)

Jenn: Okay, well, besides you, let me see… Eva Longoria. I love her. Jessica Alba, I used to but not so much anymore. Who else? Besides Eva? I saw her on TV the other day and I was like, “There she is!” Let me see, Megan Fox. Oh! There is an actress that is staring in a new Ethan Hawke movie called “The Hottest State”. I think her name is Catalina Sandino. I am in love with this girl! Oh my God. She’s got an accent. She is sooo beautiful.

Shannon: Thank you so much, Jenn! I hope your tour goes well and I hope people flock to the shows and but your new CD, Trio B.C.

Jenn: Thanks!

Dear Santa:

Dear Santa:

There's no point in lying to you, Big Guy. It hasn't been my best year. But we both know that you give all kinds of things to people way worse than me! For that reason, I don't feel shy about asking.

Since I'm limited on my stamps, I thought I'd just post my wish list to you here. Hope you can manage to get me all of these but I'll understand if you have to leave 1 off. Thanks a mil!

-Sinnerviewer

P.S. - Since you know that experiences are more important to me than things, I thought up a few that I would enjoy a lot. If anyone can make it happen, it will be you. That being said, here are the ones at the top of my list:

1. I wanna go back to Italy! This time, I'd prefer to go with someone who actually wants to be there with me - someone like my Sweet Melissa. I'd like to take her there and tell her how much I love her while we look at the scenery and drink some wine. I might even want to ask her something really important. That is at the top of my list, Santa. Make it happen!
2. I would love to work on the set of the new movie that Joan Jett is backing about her old band called "The Runaways" (also featuring Lita Ford). This movie will be directed by cutting edger Floria Sigismondi. It's also gonna star Kristen Stewart (Bella from "Twilight" will play Joan Jett - odd casting, I know!). Even if I was a janitor, I would just love to be a part of that project. So Santa, do you know anyone that can get me in?3. I need some time with Jon Bon Jovi. He's the only man who sometimes makes me question my lesbian sexuality. And that statement actually came up in my divorce hearing back in May so I think I really deserve him now. I want to write a screenplay about me & my friends from high school who are now knocking on 40's door are going to kidnap him and try to make him be our friend but we discover that he's not what makes us happy after all. I was going to call it "The Kidnapping of Jon Bon Jovi" and I think it would be a fantastic movie. I just need to convince Jon to work with me so I think a few weeks in Hawaii should do it. Could you also please keep his wife in New Jersey? She's a multi-level black belt in Karate and I don't want any trouble. Also, could he please be wearing this?
Okay, as for "things" - I just have a few of them:

1. Some good wine. I like Shiraz so that would be ideal. I also like Merlot. Whatever you can get your hands on would be appreciated.
2. A hand-held GPS. I really like to geocache. (www.geocaching.com) I want one that is WAAS-enabled and easy for me to operate. Please don't send me anything that my teenagers will have to teach me to operate. They already make fun of me enough as it is.

3. I need a laptop cooler. This damn thing is burning my leg right now!
In fact, I had a lot more to ask for but I need to go now before my laptop sets my sheets on fire. Thanks again, Santa.

Peace Out!

**You can visit Sinnerviewer's personal blog by clicking HERE.

Girl in a Coma: Hardly!

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love grrl bands that rock my face. It all started with Joan Jett when I was 13 years old. I’m now 39 and Joan is 50 and we are both still rockin’ like there’s no tomorrow. This week, I had the opportunity to go check out Girl in a Coma (GIAC), who just happen to be on Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records. I already knew they had a great sound and an amazing album, Clumsy Sky. But, I never had a chance to see them live so it was exciting to get the opportunity.

The only thing disappointing about this show was the short length since they were opening for Tegan and Sara. It astounds me that such a huge sound comes from three girls – kind of like Rush but in a progressive, feminine, alternative sort of way. These grrls had the audience rockin’ from start to finish. They’ll be touring with Tegan & Sara so if they happen to be coming your way, grab your girlfriends and go check them out. Here are some dates:

Oct 5 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
Oct 9 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
Oct 11 - Minneapolis, MN - State Theater
Oct 13 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theater
Oct 16 thru 19 -Los Angeles, CA - The Henry Fonda
Oct. 21 – San Diego, CA – The Pink Elephant
Oct. 22 – Long Beach, GA – Alex’s Bar
Oct. 23 – San Francisco, GA – Bottom of the Hill

For more info, you can visit their website HERE.

Interview: Madalyn Sklar of GoGirls Music

GoGirlsMusic.com is a unique organization that focuses on advancing the careers of independent female artists. It was founded in early 1996 by lesbian musician Madalyn Sklar. GoGirls works tirelessly to help artists through education, networking, and events. Artists who become involved with GoGirls have the opportunity to perform, have their work reviewed, and get involved with a hardworking group of women who "get things done" in the music scene.

Madalyn is also a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent 12 years working with a wide range of independent musicians, helping them get focused and energized.

Lesbiatopia's special projects editor, Sinnerviewer, spoke with Madalyn about her role in founding GoGirls and about how GoGirls helps to promote women in music:

Shannon: You founded Go Girls Music almost 13 years ago. Tell me about that.


Madalyn: It started out of frustration of going to the local guitar shop and getting ignored. I started wondering if it was because I’m a female. The stores are all run by guys. I wasn’t sure if it was because I live in the south (Texas) or did other women get treated the same way in other parts of the country. At the time, the Internet was still very new. I was really big on the internet back then and saw the potential of what the Internet could do to bring people together.
I thought it would be really cool to set up a website for women in music to come together in a forum and talk about issues relevant to us. I didn’t really know exactly how it was going to come together. It was just an idea – kind of like a hobby. I had a job at the time in the financial business but was also learning web design and HTML. As a side business, I started a web design company. I figured GoGirls would be my website that I would play with to try out the new tips and tricks that I was learning.

That was kind of how it started. It has evolved over the years into something huge. We are literally an international organization promoting women and music. That’s why we say we are the oldest and largest organization promoting independent women in music.

Shannon: In the course of speaking with the Atlanta Chapter of Go Girls leader, Anne Marie, it occurred to me that women can sometimes be competitive and sometimes catty. Is it a particular challenge for you to get GoGirls members to support each other and not feel that sense of competition?

Madalyn: I think I do a really great job at this and it’s because I was born to be a leader. When it comes to the cliques and the cattiness, it all has to do with leadership. I don’t allow for it. This is not high school. It’s not a place to go start cliques. There was another ‘women in music’ organization that started a few years after us and I can remember some of my musician friends telling me about how it was very cliqueish. It was very frustrating for them because they just could not get into the “club”. I was just astounded. We’re grown-ups! There’s no need for that. My thing from day one is our mission statement: To promote, support & empower women in music.” If you’re going to do those things, there’s no room for it here. No favoritism, no cliques.

Not many people know this but when GoGirls was still pretty young, I had a singer/songwriter girlfriend. I made it very clear to her that just because she was with me, it doesn’t mean that you get to go play everything and do everything and get special treatment. That’s not how I operate.

Shannon: You could have really undermined your membership by doing something like that. That was very insightful of you.

Madalyn: I saw all of these other organizations trying to copy me and do what I was doing but I can’t even name one that did not show blatant favoritism. This music business on the Indie side is not very big. There’s a lot of obvious “I’ll help you and you help me” that goes on that they don’t even try to hide.

Shannon: I’m glad that you brought up the terminology of “Indie Music” because I don’t think a lot of people know what that means. Could you define that for Lesbiatopia readers?

Madalyn: Absolutely. When we think about main stream music, it’s what we hear on the radio. It’s what we’re stuck with, like it or not. And there is a lot of crap. Britney Spears – who cares! And yes, we all love Madonna but I’m so tired of all this music that these major labels support.

What independent (“indie”) is – it’s what you don’t get to hear on the radio. Its people doing their own thing: DIY – Do It Yourself. That’s a term that you hear a lot associated with independent music. Most of what these people are doing is their own thing. All of those women that you met (at the Atlanta Go Girls Chapter meeting) are out there doing it on their own or starting their own labels. You won’t always hear them on the radio and they won’t always be playing the big venues in town. It’s usually smaller venues and maybe internet radio or community radio. That’s where you typically find the indie artists.



Shannon: In your opinion, which I am really interested in your answer to this, which women artist do you think have kind of paved the way for the rest of them to be more accepted as female musicians. I know there must be a lot, but who really stands out to you as pioneers/trailblazers?

Madalyn: You mean in rock?

Shannon: I would like for you to interpret that question for yourself.

Madalyn: When I think about who paved the way for women in music in general, I think of Heart, Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) – all of that old school rock. When I was in high school, I wanted to be the next Joan Jett. I was this rocker guitar chick. Those girls were my role models. It kind of dates me – I’m a lot older than I look.

(Laughs)

Shannon: Ahhh, I love Joan Jett, too. She is my absolute favorite!

Madalyn: Oh! I went to the True Colors concert here in Houston a few months ago. I had not seen Joan play since I was in high school. I was completely blown away. I mean, she still gets out there and rocks the house! I was just wowed by that. It was great to see the longevity.

I went to House of Blues in New Orleans a few weeks ago to see Heart. I was amazed to see them play in this intimate, small venue. I also got to see Melissa Ethridge here in Houston and she played for 2 ½ hours. I was like, “Oh my God! These women are amazing!” To me, those are the women who paved the way and have inspired so many of the people that I know through Go Girls.

Now, for the indie movement, one of the biggest influences for the past decade or more has been Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) who started her own record label which is there in Atlanta, I think. Ani DiFranco has also been amazing. She’s truly shown that you can do this. You can put out your own music on your own label and have a music career.

Shannon: Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records was the first independent label owned by a woman.

Madalyn: You are right.

Shannon: She did it first because none of the major labels would sign her. Then she hit with I Love Rock-n-Roll and they all wanted her. But it excites me that she is bringing all of these other bands like the Dollyrots & Girl in a Coma onto her label and helping them get their music out. She isn’t intimidated by these younger women, she empowers them and they all adore her. I love that about her.

Madalyn: I think that says a lot about how these women can help each other. I don’t know if the women from back in the day see how they can help the new ones coming along but they can!

Shannon: When I started looking into Go Girls, I realized very quickly that you really help your members out with social networking and internet marketing like nobody’s business! You must have understood the importance of that before most people in the music business. How did you come to realize that social networking would be a necessary tool and then become an expert on it?

Madalyn: Well, here’s what’s interesting. All we keep hearing about is social networking – especially for musicians. From time to time, I will send out e-mails to our Go Girls Elite members. Recently, I asked them which social networking site was their favorite. One of them replied GoGirlsMusic.com. I hadn’t really thought about it but that is really what we are all about. It’s a place to bring female musicians together.

You went to the Atlanta Chapter of Go Girls Meet-Up. All of those women getting together to help each other and all these women came together just because I started a website years ago. Through that, they do showcases together, tour together, take turns opening for each other at their shows, networking, motivating each other. It’s all social networking, but it goes beyond the website… beyond the Internet.

Shannon: I noticed that you have several sites like IndieMusicCoach.com and SocialNetworkingForMusicians.com.

Madalyn: Oh, I do a lot of stuff. That coaching is my consulting business. It came about because for years, I was leading Go Girls and talking to them as a group. But many of them needed one-on-one support. It just made sense that it was a natural progression.

Shannon: I want to transition a little more into your personal life.

Madalyn: How personal?

(Laughs)

Shannon: Besides being a lesbian, the founder of this big music venture, personal coaching and owning your own label – you are also the mother of a son. Do you find a way to balance it all and if so, how do you make that work?

Madalyn: You know, that’s a great question. I do have a balance in my life but it’s not easy. A lot of people don’t realize that I have a child. They’re completely blown away when they find out because they know how much work I do and how much I travel. It just blows them away.

Having a child keeps me very grounded. That’s where I think the balance comes in. I love my work and I would not trade it for anything in the world. I will sometimes be on my computer for 14 hours, easily. But there is always time for my son. He’s 12 now, almost 13. He’s at that age where he likes to get on his own computer or play video games or whatever – it’s much easier now than when he was younger. We still have a great mother/son relationship though.

He was just recently my intern over the summer. It was awesome. We are very close. I adopted him from an orphanage when he was 19 months old. He was attached to me at the hip from day 1. It was an incredible experience. We had this great relationship already, but then we got to spend the summer together with him sitting next to me at my desk and working with me. It was really great. I’m actually bummed that he’s back in school now.

Shannon: You have my dream job. I wish you lived here in Atlanta because I would fight your son for that internship. Who cares that I’m 39? I’d pull my chair up to your desk and we’d kill 14 hours. I hope he knows how lucky he is to have had that opportunity.

(Laughs)

Madalyn: I think he got a really good understanding of what I do, where as before, he knew what Go Girls was but not really the stuff I do. I hope it was a good life lesson for him.

Shannon: It had to be. I have one last question. Don’t be shy. Who do you have a girl crush on?

Madalyn: Well, first of all, let me say that I am single. I’m getting tired of it – it’s been about a year. My work keeps me so busy that I don’t really go out much. Gosh, who do I have a girl crush on?

Shannon: I asked Kelly Ogden of The Dollyrots. I barely finished the question before she was shouting out “Drew Barrymore!” – There wasn’t even a pause for reflection on the question for her.

(Laughs)

Madalyn: That’s something that I have to really think about because I’m so into work and so busy. There are some members of GoGirls that I find very cute that I would consider my girl crushes but I could not divulge any of those names, that’s for sure!

Shannon: Give me a celebrity girl crush.

Madalyn: I don’t know…

Shannon: C’mon! You could at least give the standard lesbian answer of Angelina Jolie.

Madalyn: I like Angelina Jolie. The thing is, all my friends don’t and they’d be pissed at me if I said that. Then again, I don’t really care. We’ll say Angelina Jolie. I think she’s hot. Yeah, she’s my girl crush.

Happy 50th Joan Jett!

Joan Marie Larkin was born 50 years ago today! Joan's parents gave her a guitar for Christmas when she was 13 and by 15 years old, she started The Runaways, one of the first all girl teenage rock bands. The Runaways also featured Lita Ford who went on to enjoy her own success in hard rock in the 80's.


Besides rockin' for the last 37 years, Joan has also been involved in many charities including animal rescue, GLBT issues and a fund to help find the rapist/murder of Gits lead singer, Mia Zapata. Joan has also been very involved with the USO and entertaining troops before entertaining troops was cool.



The ladies at Lesbiatopia, especially ME, would like to salute a beautiful, rockin' grrl on her 50th birthday. Hope it's fantastic!

Interview With The Dollyrots' Kelly Ogden

The Dollyrots are a power-punk trio with a pop sound. They were signed by Joan Jett to her independent label, Blackheart Records, after Kelly Ogden worked up the nerve to give Joan a copy of their CD at the end of the Vans Warped Tour.

Lesbiatopia's own Sinnerviewer caught up with Kelly at the Dollyrots Atlanta show last week and gave us this exclusive interview:

Shannon: I have read that the band really got its start born out of political frustration when George Bush won the election. Tell me about that.

Kelly: It was more than political frustration. It made me question whether the earth would exist. I was like “This guy (Bush) is a moron, he doesn’t know what he’s doing and I have zero hope for a future. So I asked myself what I wanted to do with my life. I asked myself, “What do I really care about?” If I had only 4 years to live, what would I want to accomplish?”

For Louis and I, that’s why we started the band. We were in college. We were smart kids. We were there on scholarships and it was really cool but at the same time, if I had five to ten years left to live, which could be anybody’s reality, what do I really, really care about? We wanted to do music. We wanted to do something bigger than ourselves. Not to do music to get off on it personally or to be rock stars. But we had ideas and feelings that other people could relate to and we wanted to help express that for them and ourselves.

Shannon: I must say that Joan Jett is my all-time hero, the greatest rock-n-roll chick of all time and generally the best thing that has ever happened to this world. She’s how I heard of you. Tell me about meeting her on the Vans Warped tour when you worked up the courage to give her your demo and how that sort of set your career path.

Kelly: Well, when you’re about to meet your idol, it’s – wow. I was really little when she was rockin’ and she was always my music idol. And Cyndi Lauper was my fashion idol. Recently, I was at the San Diego “True Colors” tour and Joan Jett introduced me to Cyndi Lauper and I thought that I would melt and die. It’s a really amazing, really special thing that I just … if nothing else happened for me from here on out, I feel that what I’ve done is valid and cool. I’ve reached a lot of people and gotten to meet my idols. Meeting Joan, I was terrified of her because her exterior is so tough and powerful and cool and strong.

Shannon: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When you are in the room with Joan Jett, there is no room for any other coolness but hers. She just exudes coolness…

Kelly: I now know that she has the coolest heart and she is really kind and she cares about people a lot. Our pet rat (Sniffy) died. We were in New York and we had to put her to sleep before we got on a flight. It was just terrible. Joan and Kenny (Laguna – Jett’s long-time manager) were on their way to VH1 to do an interview on The Who or something and they turned around and they came and took us to their house and Joan was just so compassionate. She cared. She’s a really strong and powerful woman which makes me really look up to her. But she’s also really sweet and caring and kind.

Shannon: I remember when I was 16 and I snuck into a bar where she was playing to try to see her do sound check. Kenny spotted me and invited me to sit with him to watch her. Then, he introduced me to her and I was so freaked out, I was speechless. So she initiated conversation with me. She was so friendly and kind. I’ll never forget their kindness to that geeky teenage Jetthead. And all of the times I have been able to meet her since then, she never disappoints me. She is always so gracious.

Kelly: Yeah, I feel like I can obviously gain a lot from her as a woman who plays rock-n-roll but at the same time as a person. She’s so loving and gracious and I think she gives a shit. When she talks to anybody, she gives you her time and her full attention and she actually cares. I feel like I learn more from her as a person than as a rock star. She cares. She’s cool. Even when she’s really busy and has to play a show, she’s still cool to you. She’s awesome.

Shannon: I know I could sit here and talk Joan Jett with you all night but I guess your fans might like to know more about The Dollyrots. Blackheart Records is sort of a music business ideal. It was the first independent label started by a woman (Joan Jett) and it would be my dream job to work for them. What is it like being on that label and working with legends like Kenny Laguna?

Kelly: Honestly, we feel like we’re a part of a legacy and a family. I can’t think of another example of a record label that could possibly make us feel the way that we feel about them. The acceptance and support that they give us – the genuine belief that we’re going to do something that’s going to work – they’re so cool.

(Luis, The Dollyrots guitarist, comes in with a shot of Jaegermeister for Kelly.)

Kelly: I throw up when I do Jaeger. I love the way it tastes but I think I’m allergic to something in it. (She drinks the shot)

Shannon: You all have been touring like a bunch of maniacs! What drives you to tour almost non-stop like you do?

Kelly: We just want to get to people. We want people to be able to meet us and talk to us and we want to play for them. I feel like with the Internet, of course we can reach a lot of people. We’ve been really lucky with licensing our music out to TV shows like Ugly Betty. We reach people but I want them to know us and I want to talk to people and learn about their lives and be inspired by them so I can write songs that they give a shit about. If I’m not touring, I feel like I’m being lazy to our fans. I want to give them the experience whenever I can.

Shannon: MySpace is a huge tool that you use.

Kelly: Yeah.

Shannon: I read your blogs. One thing I always notice that your MySpace friends say about you is how you are really good about answering your e-mails and keeping everybody posted. How cool.

Kelly: It can be really overwhelming at times. When we had the Kohl’s commercial, (The song “Because I’m Awesome” was featured on a commercial for Kohl’s department stores) I was getting a lot of e-mails. Sometimes, we’re on the road and we just can’t get to them all. I’ve started this new thing called “Utterz” so I can send a text message to everybody and it posts on MySpace. Sometimes, though, you’re tired and it’s overwhelming. And when the band is touring, it gets exhausting. The sheer numbers of e-mails you get can be a lot. But I don’t ever want to not answer them. It just might take me a little longer. I get at least 3 e-mails a week that I feel like I need to forward to Chris and Louis and Fuzzy. I’m like, “Guys! Look at this!”… Everybody is so cool. When people write to us, it really means a lot. That they took time out of their lives to say “Hi” and not know if we would read it or write back.

Shannon: I used to write a letter to Joan Jett at least once a week at P.O. Box 600, Long Island, NY. I had to quit when I started having kids, though…

(Laughs)

Shannon: What are some tour road tips?

Kelly: Whenever you get mad, you have to tell people right then and there.

Shannon: So it doesn’t fester?

Kelly: Yeah. That is my number one tip for life. Relationships… family, lovers, your best friend. The second they piss you off, you have to tell them or forget it. It will never work!

Shannon: I was very sad to read about the passing of Sniffy, the pet rat of The Dollyrots. Has it been hard to tour without her?

Kelly: It’s really hard, honestly. It kind of sucks. Every time that I sit down to eat, well, I used to save her food in perfect proportions of what I ate. It’s a little bit lonely, honestly.

Shannon: I was wondering if on this tour, someone might show up with a new baby rat. What would you do?

Kelly: Honestly, it would be okay. But at the same time, I think it’s good for me to try to focus on things right now. We’ve been doing a lot more fly-ins to shows. It was getting stressful for me to sneak her on planes all the time. So, I don’t know how much my heart could handle of that. If it was a tiny baby rat that I could put in my pocket…. (laughs). I think I might be ready for a dog. When we’re at a point when we can have a bus and I can afford the $50 to fly it legally. Until then, I might just need a lot of attention from my people friends.

Shannon: Mermaids….

Kelly: (GASPS)

Shannon: (Laughs) I heard that you get excited talking about them. You had a concept idea for being a mermaid in the next video you plan to make for the song “My Best Friend’s Hot”. Tell me about that.

Kelly: The guy that we really want to make the video with, he recently did a pilot at Weeki Wachee, which is like a Florida park right near where I grew up. I don’t know… I have always wanted to be a mermaid. You can ask the guys in the band. Sometimes, we overindulge on tour. Sometimes, I might be wasted in a tub full of bubbles and they wander into the hotel room after a show and I’ll be like, “I’m a mermaid!” or “I wish I was a mermaid!” Since I was really little. It might be since I grew up in Florida where my little sister and I grew up in the water. We could be in the water 24 hours a day. We would take naps in the tub. I love the water and I’m trying to convince them to let us do a Weeki Watchee video kind of thing for “My Best Friend’s Hot”. In 2 weeks, we have a couple of days off in Florida and I’m hoping that the director will, too. Then, we can just kamikaze that shit.

Shannon: I’ve been told that you are interested in doing some kids songs (maybe acoustic), possibly educational. I could totally picture that when I heard it – give me the lowdown.

Kelly: When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house and my grandpa used to sing songs all the time like “Someone’s in the Kitchen With Dinah”, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” – all these kids songs. But they weren’t really kid’s songs. He would sing old Irish folk songs and other cool stuff. Every now and then during sound check, I don’t know what to do. I hate to stand there and say “CHECK. CHECK.” It’s so fucking lame. So I sing the songs that my grandpa used to sing. Then, I think I should record an acoustic album of songs that Grandpa used to sing because it would be really fun for me and the kids.

Shannon: You think Blackheart records would be cool with that?

Kelly: Oh, yeah. They’ll let me do it. (Laughs)

Shannon: I know you are still touring for the latest CD – do you plan to go record anything in the near future?

Kelly: We played a new song tonight (at the Atlanta show on July 7th) that we’re still working out but we have a good chunk of songs. We’re hoping to go into the studio this fall unless we’re offered the tour of the century. I’m hoping to release a record next February or March. I love playing our songs but I feel like I need new stuff. I never want to be routine or boring when I’m performing. When I play some of these songs, I’m not thinking when I’m playing and that’s not so good. It’s time for some new stuff.

Shannon: I find myself really looking forward to your blog posts on MySpace. Do you get a lot of feedback from your fans about how good you are to keep us all posted on your every move? Because I, for one, appreciate knowing what you ate for dinner and what kinds of games you played on your DS. Maybe it’s just me…



Kelly: There’s not a whole lot of feedback. Honestly, I kind of question it. Everybody was like, “You have to write a blog!” If you’ll go back to the earliest blogs and read them, I was trying to just blog scientifically. It was like, “This is what we did.” It wasn’t very personal. Touring is really hard. Sometimes I have really bad days. I might be tired or sick or something happened in my family. There are a lot of things that happen and I wasn’t comfortable with telling people about it. Which is weird, because people already know me through my songs. What could it hurt to give more by saying everyday what is real and truthful even though I don’t give it all. I don’t want it to be a weird, neurotic, Courtney Love blog or something like that but it’s still kind of a hard thing for me to do but it’s cool. Especially because I can look back and remember what the hell I did. Time’s going by so fast.

Shannon: Yeah, it’s like an online rock-n-roll diary. I had a blog for a long time and my friends said it was like an online rock-n-roll scrapbook. It was.

Kelly: Yeah! I’m pretty much writing a diary and people who care about us get to read it!

Shannon: I read your blog the other day about your van getting broken into in New Mexico. That sucked.

Kelly: Ugh! I don’t even want to talk about that. Three weeks before that, all my clothes were left in a cab. I lost all of my clothes. Then the other day, the van got broken into and all they took was my extra suitcase with my makeup, my nail polish, all my hair stuff, extra shoes, and rosary beads from my mom – it was all my stuff and some of it can’t be replaced. Man, it sucks! I didn’t really complain about it, I just kind of didn’t talk for 2 days, which maybe you noticed online. But sometimes, when I’m really mad, instead of bitching, I just kind of go away for a few days and I sleep or play Nintendo or something.

Shannon: Okay, last question: I ask everyone I interview this because, honestly, it’s just interesting. Who do you have a girl crush on and why?

Kelly: (With zero hesitation) Drew Barrymore! Since I was little, I have been in love with her. You know the Rolling Stone spread? I don’t know what year that was, but wow! And that is what “My Best Friend’s Hot” is about. I’ve always had boyfriends but I’ve also had serious girl crushes and that’s what that song is all about – a girl crush.

Shannon: Anything else that you want to tell me?

Kelly: Just that I love that you care what my blog says.

Shannon: Aww! I do! I was reading about your stay in the Milwaukee airport and I was really feeling badly for you guys. I honestly enjoy reading it and I wish more bands that I care about would give me as good of a blow by blow as you all do. You make your fans feel like family.

Kelly: Thank you so much! I try.

The Cliks: Everybody Wants Them

The Cliks, a 4 member band from Toronto, Canada is making some big damn waves in musical pools. Besides churning out the hits from their latest CD, Snakehouse, (the videos for “Oh Yeah” and “Complicated” were both at #1 on Logo), The Cliks were also hand-picked by Ian Astbury of The Cult to support them on their recent American and Canadian tours.



Another music icon, Cyndi Lauper, also took notice of them and added them last year as well as this year to the True Colors tour lineup. True Colors is produced in conjunction with HRC and presented by Logo. HRC and this year’s other non-profit partners – CenterLink (the nation’s LGBT community centers) and Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) National - are joining with the tour to bring together Americans across the country to voice their solidarity for LGBT equality and raise public awareness about the issues that face the LGBT community. The tour kicks off in Boston, MA on May 31. “Part of my mission with the True Colors tour was to provide a platform for some new and exciting acts. A band like The Cliks are all that and more. They are a force to be reckoned with and I am really excited to be sharing the stage with them.” said tour producer and creator, Cyndi Lauper. Lesbiatopia’s special projects editor, Sinnerviewer, recently spoke with Morgan Doctor, drummer for The Cliks:

Shannon: You just finished doing the long Jaegermeister tour opening for one of my favorite bands, The Cult. I read that they hand-picked you to open for them because they loved your sound. I’d love to hear your thoughts about that tour and share any good stories that you have.

Morgan: We sort of did 2 tours with them. One in the states and then, we just got finished doing a Canadian tour. We started in Portland and went all the way across Canada. We went into some really remote places like Grand Prairie. There were some really off the chart places in Canada. It was nice to do the tour with them and then, we went off to do our own thing, and then came back to tour with them again. They are really great guys. We had an amazing time with them. I think what we loved the most was being able to tour with just another rock band whose audience is , well, most of them hadn’t seen us. They didn’t know who we were. To just get up on stage and be received well every night just for our music and our live show - it was really rewarding.

A story? Let’s see… this last tour, there was one. We were in Calgary. We were there for 3 or 4 days because of the Juno’s (awards). We played 2 shows there. The next stop was Edmonton, an 8 hour drive. We were fartin’ around Calgary trying to leave and we were a little bit lost. I got this text from the bass player from The Cult and it said, “Hey, How’s it going? Where are you guys? I’m still in Calgary.” And I was thinking, “Oh, it’s a really nice day to stay in Calgary.” So he calls me up and says, “I missed the bus. I need to get to Edmonton. Can you guys give me a ride?” So he drove with us in the van. The difference between a bus and a van is enormous. It was sort of funny to have this rock star in our van, crashed out and then hanging out with us for the whole day. It was totally fun.

Shannon: You probably won his respect and reminded him of what it used to be like.

Morgan: Yeah, absolutely. I think they all really admired us as players and they really loved the music. We each kind of bonded with one of them. I really got along with the other drummer, Johnny. He played with Helmet and all kinds of incredible bands and people. It was a real honor for me to hear him say “I love your playing”. It was a great experience overall.

Shannon: Cyndi Lauper, she also hand-picked you for her True Colors Tour this year. I thought that was interesting because it shows an obvious pattern here. How does it make you feel to know that you’ve won the respect of all these accomplished musicians?

Morgan: It feels great. It’s really rewarding and it feels like things are happening at the right time. We’re ready for it. What seemed to happen was that Cyndi’s management got a hold of our stuff and really liked it. They played it for her and she really liked it. We were only scheduled to play something like 4 dates on last year’s tour. She had this press time meet-n-greet during the time that we were supposed to play. She moved it to another time so that she could watch us play. She saw us play and that was it! They started changing their schedules and started to move people so that they could add us to more dates on the tour. We seem to really win people over with our live show.

Shannon: That’s pretty impressive to do that. And not just with one person, but with so many people. The True Colors Tour – it’s a special tour. I really see the value of this tour very clearly right now.

I went to see Bon Jovi last week in Atlanta. The thing that struck me was how the band adjusted their pricing structure to their fan base growing older. None of us are 16 year old kids anymore. Most of the audience was suburbian soccer mom-types. Everything from ticket prices to shirts to programs was out of the ballpark when it came to cost. It was disgusting to me how they went from being a Jersey-boy rock band to this huge, corporate entity… a machine. I have to confess, it rubbed me the wrong way.

When I was reading the press release about The True Colors Tour and it’s affiliation with HRC, I learned that the proceeds from the shows will get into the hands of the organizations that work for the rights of all GLBT people. It made me wonder if, besides just promoting your music and expanding your fan base, was there anything that you all hope to accomplish as an act on this tour in that regard?

Morgan: Yeah. Well, I think it’s an honor to be asked to do a tour with such great acts that are on the bill like Cyndi Lauper, the B-52’s, Tegan & Sarah, Joan Jett. To be in that kind of company alone is an honor. I think it makes it even more special to be doing it for such a great cause. The last time we did the tour, it was a really powerful experience at the end of the show during the encore, everyone comes out and we sang “True Colors” together. It was just a very emotional moment when the song would stop and everyone would raise their fists on stage and then they’d shine the light on thousands of people in the audience. It was just this moment of, like, “Oh my God. We’re in this together. You guys are here and we are here on stage. We’re together in all of this.” It was so empowering. It makes it that much more rewarding and takes it out of the realm of being a job… to have a purpose that’s bigger than you.

Shannon: That’s a perfect way to phrase it. One thing that I do know about The Cliks and that is your reputation of having a huge rapport with your fans. You are known for, when your shows are over, to go out there and hang out with your fans. You guys also take an active role in maintaining your MySpace page. You always put up cute little home videos and sending out blog posts and bulletins. It got me wondering: why do you think so many other bands don’t bother to try to make and keep those connections with their fans?

Morgan: Hmmm… it is a lot of work, for one. It can be… when you’re out on the road. That’s pretty exhausting as it is. You’re with all of these other people in the band, you’re traveling all day and you haven’t eaten well. And then to put yourself out there where you have to be social and engaging with people – it can sometimes be a little too much. I don’t know why people don’t do it except for maybe it’s just a lot to manage. I think we’re lucky enough right now where we can sort of manage it. I can see maybe if things continue to grow, we might get to a place where we won’t really get to be out there with our fans as much as we’d like to. It just wouldn’t be possible, you know?

The MySpace is really the best tool to get out and connect to our fans as much as we can. To put up videos and stuff like that…that’s kind of what MySpace is all about – connecting with people. So I don’t know why other bands don’t do those things that help them connect (on a personal level) with their fans. Other than they just might be tired.

(Laughs)

Shannon: You all definitely use that tool well. I am fascinated by the fact that pretty much everybody I know who is a Cliks fan has at least one photo of them with the band.

Morgan: I think we’re also pretty humble people. We’re just down to earth. Maybe it’s just a Canadian thing. It’s just who we are as people. We’re not in it to boost our egos or to be some sort of stars or whatever and I think that when you get off stage and you walk down there and you’re selling your own merchandise, it’s just like, “Here we are. We’re just normal people, too.” I think that it’s just natural for us to engage with people that way.

Shannon: I gotta ask about the song.

Morgan: Okay.

Shannon: Nobody can stop talking about it: the SUV song.

Morgan: Right.

Shannon: I keep hearing about this song and it’s just creating a huge buzz. Can you tell me what’s going on with that?

Morgan: Well, this is a song that Lucas (Silveira, the lead vocalist for The Cliks) wrote for an album of a different incarnation of The Cliks years ago. It was self-titled and put out independently. That song was on there. We decided to just try to play the song again but we totally changed it. It’s a whole other song, basically. Lyrically, it’s the same. Musically, it’s totally new. I think that he wrote that in response to seeing a high-profile band that had done really well and they stopped playing for a while and then they came back to playing and they were riding around in L.A. with their big SUV’s . This is a “socially conscious” band. And he was like, "What's going on here?" - that's how it came about.

Shannon: That one is going to be on the next CD, you think?

Morgan: Yeah, hopefully.

Shannon: Speaking of that next CD (even though I know you all are currently promoting your latest CD, (Snakehouse), when can your fans expect that?

Morgan: Well, if all goes as planned, which often it doesn’t, I can tentatively say that we’re going to try to record it in the fall, which means that it would probably be out in the early spring like February or March.

Shannon: What’s in your iPod, Morgan?

Morgan: What’s in my iPod?

Shannon: Yeah. I always have to know because I’m so interested in what everybody is listening to.

Morgan: I’ve been listening a lot to the new Stars album. A band from Canada. I’m a big Death Cab for Cutie fan. I have some Dave Brubeck stuff… some jazz. The Cocteau Twins, The Pretenders. The Cure.

Shannon: I like The Cure but they’re kind of depressing. Not something you can listen to in the winter.

Morgan: (laughs) Yeah, you don’t want to. It’s dangerous.

Shannon: Tell me about how you got involved with The Canadian Council of Jury for Grants and what kind of work you did there?

Morgan: I was asked to be on the Jury for granting musicians who are professional musicians in the non-classical category. It’s a peer-assessment committee. I’ve gotten a few grants on my own when I went to study in California with my guru and I got another grant to compose my own work. I have a solo album out and it was to compose music for my second album which I am finishing up right now.

They ask people who have gotten grants to be the peers on the assessment committee. They flew me out to Ottawa and it was a great experience. There were just 3 of us and we juried a bunch of applicants who were trying to get some music either to compose or to do travel grants. A lot of them want to go to far away places like India or Mumbai to study more their art form. Usually, it’s in the World Music category so people are studying all kinds of instruments and things that are non-traditional and harder to learn about. You can’t just go to a university for it. I found it really rewarding. I’m also just amazed at the talent that there is in Canada. It’s just really incredible.

Shannon: So was that a one-time deal or do you get invited back later?

Morgan: It was a one-time deal so far but they may ask me to come back. But they try to pick different people for different juries.

Shannon: What a great way to handle that – to leave those decisions in the hands of other professionals who’ve received grants and not in the hands of bureaucrats. (Nice system, Canada.)

You are working on your solo album. What projects are the other members of The Cliks working on right now?

Morgan: I don’t think much, actually. We’ve been really busy focusing mainly on this band. We don’t have time to do much else. Jen plays in a folk band called “August”. Nina, the band that she was playing with, she basically had to drop that so she could play in The Cliks. We haven’t really been home for really a month or two at the longest period of time so it makes it really hard to get into something and then have to leave it. Sometimes, I’ll pick up gigs when I’m in town, but it’s tough to do much else.

Shannon: My girlfriend really wants to know if you and Jen are an item…

Morgan: (Laughs) No.

Shannon: She said, “Well, when I saw them, Jen was playing with Morgan’s hair.

Morgan: (laughs) Jen does that to everybody.

Shannon: Since our readers are mostly lesbians, I’ve got to ask… is there anybody who is single among you Cliks?

Morgan: Nina is single. The rest of us are in pretty long-term relationships.

(Hear that, ladies? Nina is single! Go buy your True Colors tour tickets and introduce yourself!)

Shannon: Who are the chicks that you find smokin’ hot?

Morgan: PJ Harvey & Jennifer Garner.

Shannon: I could not agree more with Jennifer Garner…very nice. The last burning, pressing question that I have for you is what is your favorite junk food?

Morgan: I’m a really healthy eater so even my junk food is sort of healthy.

Shannon: I watched the video on your MySpace page of you all going through your groceries and saw all of that healthy stuff. It is important for everyone who reads this to know what you consider junk food.

Morgan: I’m really into these wheat-free, dairy-free Oreo-type cookies by Newman’s Own. Those are great. I’d have to say that right now, those are my favorite.

Shannon: I shall have to try them. Thanks for your time, Morgan.

The Cliks have been nominated for Logo's New, Now, Next Awards in the "Brink of Fame: Music Artist" category. You can click HERE to cast your vote.

Enjoy Sinnerviewer's favorite Cliks video, Complicated:

Sinnerviewer Bio

Sinnerviewer is Lesbiatopia’s Special Projects Editor.

I (Shannon) live in the Atlanta area. I have 2 adult children who are both in college and the loves of my life. I freelance in marketing, writing and blogging.

My interests are music (80’s hair, hard rock, alternative), pop culture, live music, comedy, travel, swimming, movies (comedies, action), fitness, healthy cooking, good books, and margarita night with my friends. 

I am the biggest Joan Jett fan alive and I think I could go totally hetero for Jon Bon Jovi (Circa “These Days”) for about 6 minutes.

On my iPod: Joan Jett, Bring Me the Horizon, Escape the Fate, 30 Seconds to Mars, Taking Back Sunday, Blink 182, P!nk, Breathe Carolina, Pierce the Veil, Mayday Parade, All Time Low, Lita Ford, The Spill Canvas, Foo Fighters, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Falling in Reverse, and my country music compromise: Martina McBride.

My guilty pleasures: quality dark chocolate, taking long, hot baths while burning earthy-scented candles and pinning dirty things to my Pinterest boards.

You can visit my blog HERE or check me out on Twitter @Sinnerviewer.