photo cred: liz wood
After an amazing show at Oakland’s Ghost Town Gallery I pow-wowed with some of my ladyfriends from the Bay Area sensation, The Splinters. Something about these girls makes you wanna sneak out at night, after mom and pop have gone beddy-bye, so you can get down and boogie in some of Oakland’s seediest secret lairs. Maybe it’s their sweet 60’s style riffs and grrrly apathetic-to-borderline-irate vocals. Maybe it’s cuz they’re such totally badass hotties. Either way, you’re in for a sweet time. Feel free to check out their myspace here and give the track below a listen. {Edit: tracksSs – the ladies sent me two hella siqq ones off of their 7″ released via Double Negative this past August! click,click }
The Splinters – Splintered Bridges
A: Ashley Thomas AKA “Flapjacks” – rickenbacker, bass, vocals
CP: Caroline Partamian AKA “Spex” – guitar, bass, vocals
L: Lauren Stern AKA “Ketchup” – shaker, tambourine lady, vocals
CG: Courtney Gray AKA “JuJu” – drums, vocals
[Note: It might be useful to imagine a laugh track here, as the continuous chortling has been edited out for the sake of fluidity.]
So how many times have you guys wanted to break up? Like 5 times? 10 times?
A: I don’t think …ever.
L: Never.
A: Not yet.
CG: Once.
A: …except Courtney.
CP: Well, Courtney tried to quit the band once, but that was before she joined… And then once again.
L: Yeah so Courtney wanted to quit twice…
CG: So… yeah. Twice.
L: …but we never wanted to break up.
CP: But drummers are irreplaceable… well, Courtney’s not replaceable.
Girls: Yeeeeah.
A: Don’t ask us questions like that!
CG: I told her to bring the heat.
photo cred: liz wood
Yeah that’s what you get, girl. But okay, moving on. You guys have toured and stuff, you’ve met some sweet bands, you were at this year’s SXSW… Who’ve you been the most star-struck about?
CP: Coathangers!
CG: Womeeennnn!
A: … What about JD?
CP: Who’s JD?
A: John. …Dreyer.
CP: …Oh.
CG: No…
CG: So… like do you mean in terms of appearance?
A: Like if they’re hot or….
CP: Coathangers…
S: Whichever…
CP: Coathangers, coathangers, coathangers…
S: Let’s go with musically.
CG: …Thee Oh Sees
CP: We’ve all had dreams about Thee Oh Sees.
A: I haven’t. I’ve never had a dream about them.
CP: Okay. Well Courtney and I have.
Right, so I guess you have different tastes. That’s cool. Next question: I know people like to ask where your band name came from, but I was wondering… what were the alternatives?
A: We didn’t have any…
CP: No… but I just thought of one tonight, it’s “the Bugles” …like the chips.
L: But I think there’s another band called the Bugles already.
S: Ooh… bummer?
A: What’s that other B- band called?
CG: The B-52’s!
CP: The Beatles?
L: …The Bangles.
A: Yeahh. The Bangles.
Alright, so next question: If one of you was like wine, you know, the elegant sophisticate… And another one of you was… a microbrew…
CP: Let’s go down the line.
A: Caroline would be soda water…
CP: I wouldn’t!
A: …Lauren would be wine, And…
CG: Wait, are you supposed to answer for all of us?
CP: No! Absolutely not! Ashley cannot order. No!
A: ..And Courtney and I would be whiskehhh
CP: I would be … I would be a Lagunitas, dark and strong.
S: Alright, I’m going to go in order.
A: I would be a gin and tonic.
CP: I’d be a gin and tonic.
CG: I’d be a Jim Beam.
L: I was gonna say gin and gingerale, but since Ashley stole Gin so… I’d be a dirty Shirley Temple.
CP: Oooh…
L: It’s red.
CP: Like fi-yahhh
S: And… would you rather your parents caught you smoking pot, or having sex?
CP: Pot
CG: Pot
A: Pot
L: Pot.
A: Sex is awwwkwwwarrrdd!
Yeah… So then would you rather have one side of your face be incredibly old, and the other half completely young, or …have a tail …that points to the person you are most attracted to in the room at all times…
CP: I’d have a tail!
A: Tail.
CP: Tail! Tail, tail.
A: No one would know the code.
CP: Could you tape it down?
L: Could you tuck it between your legs so that’d show in the front?
S: No… It’s a strong tail.
A: You could grow a beard over the other one…
CG: That would help me get some ass actually.
S: Having a tail?
CG: Yeah, I’d get some serious tail. Some ser-tay.
L: You could be like the Phantom of the Opera if you had the half old face. You could wear a mask all the time… I think I’d do that…
A: I had an eighth-grade teacher that always wore her hair over her face, and we all had this theory that she had a missing eye…
S: Whoa…
A: Yeah… She didn’t.
S: …Alright. Well, that’s it. Unless there’s anything else?
A: That was the best interview ever.
CP: Yeah… Love you mom!
L: Love you mom.
A: We love our moms.
oh my oh my oh my. kickball katy get out the way, i have four new teenboy crushes.