Somehow, this downtown treasure managed to escape my attention. At least, until last weekend! As I headed uptown from Canal Street, taking side-streets in an effort to avoid Broadway, I walked right by it. Something was gleaming in my peripheral vision, so I turned, & came face-to-face with an enormous painting of Saturday Night Fever-era John Travolta in the window! I stopped & gawped for a minute, then realized that the painting was surrounded by incredible vintage clothing. As if pulled in by a tractor beam, I walked into the store… & gasped.

Allan & Suzi is a genius mix of truly unusual vintage pieces & new designers. The shop contains a fantastic menagerie of fashion history, & is merchandised in a relaxed, unpretentious manner. It’s sort of like stumbling into your mother’s closet, if your mother had been a regular at Studio 54. Allan & Suzi have dressed Madonna, Naomi Campbell & RuPaul; they have primped & preened the likes of Betsey Johnson, the cast of Sex & The City, & Boy George.

From wicked platform boots to golden Mickey Mouse ear hats, this shop has everything you could possibly want, & then some. I spotted seriously bizarre hats, severely bedazzled sunglasses, & a dress worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex & The City. You can only imagine the kind of woman they dress… or buy from!

Allan & Suzi — both the shop itself & the proprietors — are truly infamous among the vintage crowd in New York City. They’ve been in the business for 24 years, which is long for fashion, but even longer for New York! Their original store was on the Upper West Side, & they moved downtown about a year ago.

I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Suzi, but Allan is certainly an unusual character. Aged 70, sporting his large, trademark sunglasses, & with his blonde hair sticking up & out, he’s hard to miss. Allan is also a straight-shooter. If he likes you, he’ll chat to you for hours, frequently patting you on the arm & leading you all over his magnificent store. If he doesn’t like you, well, the Yelp reviews speak for themselves. In fact, the title of this post is taken from one of them!

Allan’s grumpiness verges on legendary. A regular customer of his even created a children’s book detailing the A-Z of things that annoy Allan!

He admitted to me, somewhat sheepishly, that their old location, on the Upper West Side, brought out the worst in him. “This is like a breath of fresh air,” he said of the new premises. “The people down here are so different — it’s just what I needed.”

Hopefully, he will continue collecting, consigning, & castigating careless customers for a long time to come!

Words by Gala Darling (@galadarling). Photos by Lydia Hudgens (@lydiahudgens).

Celebration of the Chinese New Year is a big deal in New York City. Thousands of people gather in downtown Manhattan, crammed along the skinny streets, clutching miniature fireworks. After the parade, families crowd into restaurants, to scoff dumplings & drink tea. It’s no surprise, though: Chinatown in Manhattan is the biggest enclave of Chinese people in the entire Western hemisphere!

On Sunday morning, I wriggled my way into the front of a crowd lining Mott Street to catch a glimpse of the dragon. The gathering was terrifically diverse, with teeny-tiny Chinese girls sitting on their fathers’ shoulders, solemn-looking senior citizens, & slightly confused tourists! As we waited for the festivities to begin, the quiet murmur of the crowd would be punctuated by a wicked snap-crackle-pop, & an explosion of glitter & confetti from a popper would fly up into the sky. A man carrying rainbow-hued cotton candy walked up & down the crowded pathways. Mickey Mouse, Cookie Monster, & a man in drag with a bright green beard walked the parade route, presumably to entertain us while we waited…

Suddenly, the drums started to play, & the dragons followed. Lurching towards us & soaring over the crowd, they fluttered their big eyes at us & darted from side to side. Everyone reached out to touch the dragons, tried to call them over & get closer. In Chinese culture, they believe that loud drums combined with dragons dancing can defeat evil spirits. It’s a way of cleansing before the new year!

Flocks of girls in traditional costume walked past, followed by a gathering of families with adopted Chinese children. There were balloons, Chinese & American flags, & Snoopy made an appearance, too.  Every new float or gaggle of people elicited excited cheers from the crowd, even when Chuck Schumer — New York Senator — came past. A Chinese woman walked beside him, talking into his ear, & he would repeat whatever she said into a bullhorn!

It was surreal & delightful. A lot of us in the crowd had no idea who most of the people were, or even what their signs said, but we cheered anyway. It just felt right, & so good to be there!  We all went home with happy hearts & confetti in our hair.

From New York City to wherever you are: 吉慶有餘 ! Or, may your happiness be without limit!

Words by Gala Darling (@galadarling). Photos by Lydia Hudgens (@lydiahudgens).

In support of the release, 12th Planet embarks on a 28-city, North American tour kicking off on February 2nd in Miami, FL. And he’s giving fans a chance to get up close and personal! That’s right,12th Planet will be hosting Meet & Greet contests presented by HEX in select cities with tour mates Flinch, Kastle and Crizzly. Enter now at www.12thplanet2012.com/tour! Video after the Jump.

Named one of bass music’s foremost purveyors in Billboard’s Year In Music issue, 12th Planet dominated 2011 with a sold-out, 50-date North American tour alongside Skrillex, released the ‘Who Are We?’ EP on his influential dubstep label SMOG, which just celebrated their 5-year anniversary, and co-produced a track on Korn’s latest foray into dubstep (“Way Too Far” with Flinch). He has also lent his signature crushing bass and resonating energy to remixes for MIA, John Legend, Travis Barker and more, and has collaborations coming out with Dizzee Rascal, among others. With his star rising internationally, 12th Planet was also dubbed “US dubstep godfather” by UK’s dance music bible Mixmag, as he’s emerged as an ambassador of the now fully established American dubstep movement.

Check out the apocalyptic new video for “The End Is Near Pt. 1,” which premiered exclusively on SPIN.com:

12th PLANET ‘THE END IS NEAR!’ NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2012
PRESENTED BY SCION A/V

Feb 2 Miami, FL @ Grand Central
Feb 3 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Feb 4 Athens, GA @ Bad Manor
Feb 5 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Feb 7 Virginia Beach, VA @ Peabodys
Feb 8 Washington, DC @ District
Feb 9 Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
Feb 10 New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Feb 11 Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
Feb 12 Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater
Feb 13 Boston, MA @ Middle East
Feb 14 Montreal, Canada @ Le Belmont
Feb 15 Toronto, Canada @ Wrongbar
Feb 16 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Feb 17 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
Feb 18 St. Louis, MO @ 2720 Cherokee
Feb 19 Nashville, TN @ Club Mai
Feb 20 New Orleans, LA @ Ampersand
Feb 21 Dallas, TX @ Trees
Feb 22 Oklahoma City, OK @ Kamp
Feb 23 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
Feb 24 Phoenix, AZ @ Madison Events Center
Feb 25 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock
Feb 26 San Diego, CA @ Voyeur
Feb 28 Orange County, CA @ Dubtroit
Feb 29 Los Angeles, CA @ Avalon Hollywood (*venue change)
March 1 San Francisco, CA @ Mighty
March 2 Portland, OR @ Roseland
March 3 Eugene, OR @ Wow Hall

Rankin says that LA has always been a place near and dear to his heart: “Like so many photographers and directors, it has a strong pull for me. It is the unquestionable and true home of the industry I work in. The light, space and dynamic landscapes in and around the city make it the best place in the world to shoot. I am excited to finally have a base here.”

The artist has selected a cozy Melrose gallery to be the epicenter of his sexy portrait collection. From the street, the two-roomed white walled, glass fronted gallery appears just like any other, but it’s what’s inside that will throw you. From naked celebs like Heidi Klum in a chocolate bath to rock stars in compromising positions, Rankin has something for everyone.

The gallery launched with Open Rankin, a retrospective look at Rankin’s last few decades working with fashion, portraiture, beauty, erotica, and fashion films. The exhibits continuously rotate and the current focus, the Hunger TV exhibition, includes exerts from Rankin’s recently launched bi-annual “glossy magazine of visual intrigue” titled The Hunger.

”The Hunger is an idea that was born from the realization that, more than two decades into my career as a photographer, I am still inspired by what I do every day. I named my first retrospective exhibition Visually Hungry – that’s how I felt. In a lot of ways, it is how I think I’ll feel until I die,” explains Rankin.

If you like your photography with a side of skin, consider Rankin Gallery up your alley.

Rankin Gallery
8760 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
www.rankinla.com
323-944-0026
Tues – Sat 11am – 6pm

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer)

As guests arrived, they were greeted by a second story balcony performance of Free Jazz: Something Else! based on Something Else! The Calder Quartet was up next, playing the music of Arnold Schoenberg on violins, a viola, and cello.

The evening consisted of 8 motel rooms of various musical expression. Our favorites were as follows:

Room 16: The Los Angeles Free Music Society: Pyramid Headphones, 1976. People sat around on the hotel room bed and placed black cardboard pyramids on top of their heads. The pyramids were rigged up with speakers and each one produced a unique electronic racket. I tried to get away with merely observing but quickly changed my mind when a participant handed me a pyramid and insisted that I give it a whirl. With the cardboard on my head, I heard a mixture of beeps and twangs and the gentleman next to me yelling “Aren’t the colors beautiful?” I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about but it sure sounded cool.

Robert Wilhite: Bob Wilhite in Concert, 1975 occupied Room 9. Visitors were invited to pick up the motel phone and dial “106” to call another room and hear a performance. Every person who participated was treated to a different experience.

Room 8 featured Bruce Nauman, Violin Turned D.E.A.D., 1969. This was a replication of Nauman’s practice of incorporating boredom, exhaustion, and the superimposition of unlike systems into art and music. The room was occupied by an extremely focused violinist who played the D, E, A, D notes for an entire hour.

John Cage, Variations IV, 1963 took place in Room 25. Here, guests were encouraged to participate in making various musical sounds with a variety of ‘instruments.’ As Scott Benzel sat on a bed playing around with a laptop, people stood in the corner and ran a crystal over a cactus, which was hooked up to a speaker system. As the interactive exhibit continued. People changed the television channels to create new background noises.

Welcome Inn Time Machine gave Southern Californians the change to relive some of the most bizarre, unique, and cutting edge moments in experimental music history. It also made many reexamine the way that they look at household objects. I know I’m now tempted to add a cactus to my musical instrument collection. Those thorns make wicked sounds!

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon).

Decades
627 S State St
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 537-1357

This is the kind of place where, upon walking in, you get that “good vintage vibe”. Actually, we knew it even before we walked in. The first thing we spotted was a leopard-print coat hanging in the window, so perfect that it elicited an excited yell! In case there was any doubt, it’s now in my possession. It kills. It slays. It’s practically Buffy. Who could resist?

That leopard-print coat was only the very tip of the iceberg, because this store is huge. Decades has major square footage. The front of the store is all menswear — cowboy boots & Western shirts galore, I tell you — & the enormous back room is a menagerie of womenswear. There are hats hanging on every available wall, huge racks of tulle petticoats & enormous cabinets full of costume jewellery. The cherry on top is that the shop doesn’t have that funky vintage smell one might expect. Instead, the very friendly & happy guys at the front counter were burning a delicious vanilla-scented candle.

Other scores included a black & gold embroidered 1950s circle skirt; a turquoise kimono (I love wearing these in summer over slip dresses); a purple A-line snap-front suede skirt; a white shirt with bugs embroidered on it & an old Boy Scouts of America shirt, which has quickly become a new favourite in my wardrobe.

The prices are beyond reasonable & the selection is vast. Decades is my favourite vintage store in SLC for sure!

Now & Again
501 E 300 S
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
(801) 364-0664

The owner of Now & Again sits at his desk in an oversized cowboy hat. Originally from New York City, he upped sticks to Salt Lake City a few years ago, calling it the “vintage furniture mecca” — & he’d be right. This store is overflowing with choice objects, from old copies of Vogue to an amazing pink wingback chair. There’s plenty of mid-century modern furniture in SLC & all the shop-owners are more than happy to FedEx that perfect piece to your domicile!

I’m still thinking about a couch I saw at Now & Again — the ideal size for Manhattan living & featuring a delightful dalmatian print. I took a photo & keep sneaking secret glances at it. I’ve promised myself that once I’m ready to re-do my living room, I’m going to call them & have them ship it to New York City!

Misc
272 S 200 E
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 364-6472

Misc. is built into the back of The Grey Ant, another brilliant place to deck out your pad. Though small — I counted maybe ten miniature racks — what Misc lacks in size it makes up for in quality of merchandise. The owner knows what she likes & buys an extremely refined & edited selection of clothes to stock her store. My shopping companion, Jess, did very well at Misc, picking up a red plaid Woolworths jacket, a navy blue & cream striped dress, & a well-worn miniature leather backpack.

Misc should be your first stop if you’re looking for cowboy boots — their selection is small but excellent — & it’s also a fabulous pit-stop for anyone who happens to be homesick & missing their puppy. The shop is overseen by a chilled out English Bulldog, who lounges around like she owns the place! Misc should definitely go on your Salt Lake City to do list!

Words by Gala Darling (@GalaDarling). Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/empracht/

ChinaShop caught up with Wallpaper. following their recent stop in LA. Check out the interview after the jump:

How do you describe your sound?

“Loud fun and weird. No genres, just happiness and power and freedom.”

Tell us what people can expect from a live Wallpaper show…

“All of the above. Plus Novena Carmel.”

What is the story behind you being called Wallpaper?

“Pop music is Wallpaper. Background noise with boring patterns and colors.”

How did you all get together?

“One by one, in different ways. Novena is actually my stepsister. Arjun I met in the war. Derek and I opened up a coffee shop together in the ’80s and Tom is my uncle.”

What is something about your music that makes you different from other artists out there today?

“It’s ‘music-al.’ I also say what I want to for real real. Too many artists are just forcing out hot garbage about cold garbage.”

What are your musical guilty pleasures?

“None are guilty. I like what I like and can back it all up!”

We came across a cool video of you performing at a pool part at The Standard in downtown LA. Are these typical Wallpaper gigs?

“Yeah I get down with a lot of those type of intimate situation gigs – house parties and what not. Never too good to not have a stage.”

What’s the coolest gig you’ve ever played?

“Wow. They get cooler and cooler so the more recent are always the best. Headlining Great American Music Hall San Francisco and The El Rey in LA were pretty special for me.”

I read something about you having a past crush on Al from Step by Step…was in the tomboy thing?

“Wow! Researchin’ me dog! I dunno she just had it goin’ on for me at that time. Something about a girl in denim overalls you know!”

Your albums have had some interesting titles. Can you explain the significance of Doodoo Face, #STUPiDFACEDD, etc…

“#STUPiDFACEDD is just a state of mind. It’s not a face. Doodoo Face is more of a face than a state of mind. But yeah I should prob not use the word ‘face’ in my next album. ‘ALBUMFACE.’”

What is your preshow drink of choice?

“Mix whiskey and champagne (The James Murphy) ain’t bad. The Hobo (Red Wine and Coke). The Angry Hobo (Four Loko).”

Worst decision you ever made prior to taking the stage to perform?

“Drinking all aforementioned drinks.”

What makes the best Wallpaper audience?

“People who are comfortable with themselves and do what they wanna do!”

Anything else we should know about Wallpaper?

“Yeah, but I can’t put it in writing.”

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

KROQ is where I first heard Blink 182 back in the late ’90s, and then “The Adventure,” your first single with Angels & Airwaves, back in 2006. Why has this been such a special place for your music?

Tom DeLonge: Rock ‘n’ roll has had such a troubled history over the past decade or two. A lot of things were changing in the marketplace, so a lot of stations were changing their path. KROQ always stayed true to what it was doing; always playing hard rock music and cool alternative. [To have] someone that was supporting the kind of music that I loved and the kind of music that I was doing [and] to come back with another band so many years later and still be so relevant and important is really reassuring. It gives you comfort in the fact that rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t go away so easily.

It’s interesting to watch how your punk roots come through in this band’s format, especially with you not having a guitar in front of you the whole time. You can be a bit more of a showman. What’s it like to have that approach?

Tom DeLonge: It’s important for me and something I wanted to do with this band, but not specifically because I wanted to be out in front. Most bands do that where it’s like, “Dude, I wanna get rid of my guitar so I can get out there and be the frontman.” It’s nerve-wracking for me to have to do that because I’ve always been safe behind my guitar. In this band it allows me to concentrate a little bit more on singing and delivering that message. A lot of what we do in Angels & Airwaves has a message and a reason and a spirituality, so with me being able to come out without a guitar, I get to engage the audience a little bit more and I really enjoy it. When you’re always playing guitar, sometimes you can’t sing what you want; it’s the rubbing your stomach and patting your head thing. So it gives me a lot more freedom melodically.

With everyone’s schedules, how do you guys find a way to put out so many albums and work on so many projects?

Tom DeLonge: We’ve just hit our stride, and it’s really easy for us to do things and be ambitious. We’re all aligned, we delegate responsibilities really well, we communicate really well, and we support each other. I’m able to go off and try to get a movie in order while one guy is getting the show ready and another guy is working on fan club stuff. Everyone is always working, and we hang out every day at our headquarters. One guy could be sanding and spray-painting guitars, another guy could be building a drum riser. We take every minute we have to do something, and music is by far the easiest thing for us, especially now that we have a sound that we’ve identified.

It’s almost like an art project.

Tom DeLonge: It’s totally an art project.

And the albums are just the start. There are films and soundtracks and multimedia projects, but it seems like, given the subject matter of this band, it couldn’t have gone any other way.

Tom DeLonge: Yeah, and I knew it was going to take a long time for it to be digested. I think at first people were like, “What are you doing? What are you talking about? Love? Yeah, that’s cool.” But it’s love as a science fiction film, thematically paralleled with human consciousness and all these grand themes. I knew the investment it would take with a normal listener, but once they get it, they can spend so much time diving into it to understand the entire concept. We’re already working on two more films. The idea is every album with a film, plus the ability to have really interesting pieces of merchandise that are collectible and have a fan club that’s vibrant and engaged and have shows that communicate these themes with these properties we’ve created. Weird shit, man. We have so much stuff. It’s a very large collaboration. Angels & Airwaves is the band, but the company is called To The Stars. That’s our big art project.

It’s a slow burn, definitely.

Tom DeLonge: We’re trying to accomplish something a band would do in 34 years in 10 years time, but we’re also trying to have something that can pull in people from all different types of interests. We even have a conspiracy news site called StrangeTimes.com that’s all weird interesting alternative headlines from around the globe.

So what does that accelerated timeline mean for 2012?

Tom DeLonge: Now that we have our team in place and the film is being released regionally, the plan is to break apart the globe in regions and put the band on the mainstream map little by little and set up the next film, because that one is going to be way more ambitious. By that time we hope to dominate the world…not in a German way, but in a beautiful way. (Laughs)

The patches and iconography that you guys have on stage and are wearing for this album remind me a lot of what Zeppelin did on their fourth album.

Tom DeLonge: It’s funny. I wasn’t the biggest Zeppelin fan but I started really getting into them this year because Ilan, our drummer, is so into them. Zeppelin was never my thing. I wasn’t exposed to it. I was only into punk rock for so long. So when I saw that I was like, “They do that to? Fuck, I ripped them off and I didn’t mean to!” (Laughs) But there’s a lot of esoteric symbology with our band, and it’s all for a purpose. There’s a big world for fans to jump into, and different things resonate with different people.

They’re rooted in two different eras, but the tie that binds Blink and Angels is that they were—and are—both very DIY at their core.

Tom DeLonge: Super DIY. We did a video for a song called “Hallucinations” and I’m walking toward the camera and singing and it’s this beautiful shot, but if you look at the making of the video, David our guitar player and Matt our bass player are pushing the van, the engine is off, and I can hear the music coming out of a tiny computer. The director has this little handheld camera you can buy at Best Buy and he’s sitting on the back of the van with the doors open. It looks epic, but when you look at the scene, you see band members sweating and pushing this van by hand. We just go out the same way we did when we were kids with a skateboard and you say, “Let’s go off and film a skate video!” That’s how we do it, and it’s awesome and fun!

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon).

Some of your early remixes and bootlegs really helped get your name out there, especially with other DJs. What do you think your biggest boot was and what inspired you to put it together?

Tony Arzadon: This is a funny story. Back in 2008, I did a bootleg of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” back when she wasn’t on the radio map. I only played it during my DJ sets and shared it with a few friends, but somehow it surfaced on the net and landed in the hands of BPM Radio on XM Satellite. One year later, A&R reps from Interscope picked it up and made it official!

DJ culture these days has been heavily defined by party DJing that goes hard right out of the box, as opposed to the slow-burning sets that typified the mid-’90s house and progressive scene. You throw down a mix of both. How do you stay true to that long-form style and still appease those crowds that are so used to hands-in-the-air atmosphere right from the needle drop?

Tony Arzadon: It depends on what environment I’m in. I know right away how the night will be once I set foot in the room. In today’s music, the shelf-life for any song is a lot shorter than it used to be because of quick and easy access online. So now with DJing, the crowd’s attention span is a lot shorter. During my sets, I play a variety of special edits and acapellas of certain songs, and I incorporate a lot of loops and crazy build-ups to kick the crowd’s adrenaline in and out. I control the music and the crowd at the same time.

So what’s up next for you?

Tony Arzadon: I finished up one vocal track called “Moments” that features a girl that lives out here named Nikki Kay. She had gone through a horrible break-up and wrote this song, and I connected with her and gave her this melodic track that I’d put together a few months back. That’s gonna be due out on Juicy Music in February.

TONY ARZADON’S FIELD GUIDE TO CHICAGO

Portillo’s
“If you’re in Chicago, you’ve gotta have a Chicago-style hotdog, and they pretty much put everything on there—jalapenos, onions, pickles, the whole nine. Their Italian beef sandwich is one of the big sandwiches you can eat in Chicago. They’re like the size of my forearm.”

Giordano’s
“Everyone loves deep dish pizza in this town, with the heavy toppings. The best place for me is Giordano’s. I’ve loved their cheese and spinach deep dish pizza since my early childhood. Very cheesy!”

The Beer Bistro & Third Rain Tavern
“I live in West Loop, which is known for having the best sports bars and food. Plus the United Center is down the street, home of the Chicago Bulls and the Blackhawks. These two spots serve the best food and always have daily specials.”

Gramaphone Records
“A lot of them have closed, but this one’s been around for years on Clark Street in downtown Chicago. I used to shop there way back when I started DJing in the early ’90s. You’ll find all those great deep house records in there; that really soulful house. A lot of the house DJs I know still go find their records there.”

SpyBar & The Mid
“If you want to hear electronic music in Chicago, both of these clubs book all the famous acts on a weekly basis. They keep the scene alive.”

OLD SCHOOL CHICAGO: AN ESSENTIAL HOUSE MUSIC PLAYLIST
1. Farley Jackmaster Funk feat. Darryl Pandy – “Love Can’t Turn Around” [LISTEN]
2. Steve “Silk” Hurley – “Jack Your Body” [LISTEN]
3. Julian Jumpin’ Perez feat. Kool Rock Steady – “Ain’t We Funky Now” [LISTEN]
4. Kool Rock Steady – “You Ain’t Nobody” [LISTEN]
5. Frankie Knuckles – “Your Love” [LISTEN]
6. Bad Boy Bill – Bangin’ The Box [LISTEN]

If you’re looking for a few of Tony’s tracks to play out, Beatport is the way to go, with over 100 tracks available for purchase. He’s also got each of his “Boom Box” podcasts available for free on iTunes. And if you’re looking to sample some of his latest fare—including a teaser of the forthcoming “Moments” (featuring Nikki Kay)—you need to hit up his Soundcloud.

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill).

We recently caught up with vocalist Emily Armstrong who explained that 2012 is shaping up to be the band’s best year yet.

Check out our conversation with Emily as she discusses being a female vocalist in a male dominated rock world, items in her tour survival kit, and the band almost being named Masturbation Salvation:

Since we caught up with you guys last October, you seem to just be getting bigger and bigger. What do you owe the momentum to?

Working together as a team here at Pocket Kid Records/Fontana and the support of our fans!

How does it feel to be a female fronted rock band amidst a sea of male fronted rock bands?

We have a leg up I’d say because of the lack of female fronted rock bands these days. But at the end of the day, we are just friends who love rock music and love playing rock music with a passion. There is no boy-girl equation.

What runs through your head right before you guys take the stage?

A million things. It’s too hard to think. My mind is racing…!

What’s in your touring survival kit?

Vitamins, water, good coffee and good food when we can.

Do you have any female singer role models that you look up to? You’ve been described as a cross between Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, and Siouxsie Sioux…

Sure, It changes from time to time but it mainly falls back to the 60′s – 70′s folk singers. From Melanie, Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens – you name it. They sang with so much honesty I can’t help but get goosebumps and watery eyes.

Emily and Siouxsie, you’d been playing together for a while, but it wasn’t until you teamed up with Chris and Sean that you found the Dead Sara sound. Did you know when you first jammed with them, that you had found the missing links in the project?

It took me a little longer then the first jam but not much longer. I was just stoked to be playing. It didn’t hurt that we started writing “Weatherman” the first rehearsal… like I said, it didn’t take much longer.

What has been the most surreal moment of being in this band?

Being played on 98.7 FM. Because, being from LA I would listen to that station growing up and fantasize that one day my band would play one it. The support from them is amazing!

Is it true you almost named your band Masturbation Salvation?

It was an option that Siouxsie had…yes.

Who is your favorite band that you shared a stage with and why?

I don’t have an answer for this one yet. Going blank.

Where do you hope 2012 takes Dead Sara?

Staying really really busy. We got a lot cut out for us this year and it’s all exciting! Including being one of the featured artists for Warped Tour. I know how important it is for a band to be working – and this work is a blessing.

If you had to pick one of your songs that best sums up what Dead Sara is all about, which would it be and why?

I have to say “Weatherman”. Only because it was the first song we started writing together with Chris and Sean. And now it’s our first single…

 Is there any sort of underlying theme to your debut album?

I’d just say it is raw, energetic, rock n roll and passion.

What is your secret to your massive on stage energy? Chugging coffee pre show? Natural adrenaline? Energy drinks?

Sleeping! A good rest sometime during the day or right before the show and then letting adrenaline do its thing when hitting the stage.

What’s the best part about being a Los Angeles rock band?

Big city, big dreams.

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

Weatherman by Dead Sara