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May 7th, 2008
10:31 am - Upcoming appearances
Neither as Unwoman, both at the DNA, and for both I recommend wearing your best & blackest clothes.
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April 18th, 2008
03:45 pm - I WORK HARD FOR THE MONEY SO YOU BETTER TREAT ME RIGHT
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February 29th, 2008
09:29 am - I'm way overdue to post a big post
About a ton of things, I'm afraid I don't have time to make it detailed or shiny.
- Trip to Hawaii was a great success, the show went fabulously and I was very well treated by the folks over there. To my friends in bands -- DJ Nocturna is a great promoter and you should definitely talk to her about playing out there, she has a weekly club on 1st Saturdays I believe. http://www.myspace.com/djnocturna
- The new Attrition album, All Mine enemys Whispers, is the top seller on Projekt apparently. My cello, sounding very spooky, is on three of its six tracks. http://www.projekt.com/projekt/product.asp?sku=PRO00209
- Spellbound show in Santa Cruz at the Blue Lagoon tonight -- opening is an all-girl Misfits tribute, then us, then Ghost of Curtis, then The Here as Devo. Should be tons of fun!
- I'm performing at Toxicat Serena's book release party on March 10 at Death Guild in the upstairs at about 11:45. Not sure exactly how it will be structured but there will be some book reading & some Unwoman songs.
- I've got a show at the Beale Street Bar & Grill March 27, I go on about 8:30.
- I've been thinking a lot about happiness lately, because I've been very happy lately, and I didn't use to be. I'm on the verge of writing a self-help book about how to be happy. (Just kidding.)
- Every time I blink there's a new song running through my head. Coming up with ideas for songs is extremely easy for me but having the time and focus to finish them is challenging these days. But I've got one almost done, writing-wise.
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January 31st, 2008
10:55 am - Spellbound tonight in SF!
Reposted by request.
We're not expecting a huge turnout for this show, as it was booked too late for flyering, and can use all the help we can get.
The spellbound website exceeded bandwidth for the month (this is entirely ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) buz's fault for not listening to me) so I basically have no choice but to send you to our myspace page if you want to hear samples.
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January 23rd, 2008
09:55 am - SPELLBOUND 1/31 IN SF
At the Rockit Room, with Japanese Baby (Cure tribute) and Darkwave (general New Wave tribute)
This show got booked just the other day, so there's no time to make physical flyers or do a big promotional dealio, so please, if any of you can help spread the word I would very much appreciate it! Please post the flyer, or details, or tell your friends who are fans of Siouxsie and The Cure. We still haven't seen a lot of "the scene" at our shows yet, though they've been well attended. But we know there are people who would really appreciate it who are missing out.
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January 14th, 2008
12:02 pm - Things learned last night (The T&A Post)
"More fanny = more fans" (I was wearing a very short skirt, I actually sewed it yesterday to be extra short, but I'm not the greates seamstress, so it ended up even shorter than I intended. Orlando, Spellbound's guitarist, said it was good that it was short, we'd get some more fans :)
From the snarkatron:
"mini skirts and high stages are
an awesome combination."
and
"Spellbound: 3 men and a baby"
I had a great time, my voice felt good (not the absolute best, but not bad), and got super positive feedback from everyone. I enjoyed the Tell Tale Heartbreakers, they rocked, the singer had a Joan Jett/Blondie kinda vibe and was really cute. Possibly misplaced between two '80s bands, they had nothing stylistically in common w/ InSoc at all, though they worked well with Spellbound. Information Society was great, really synthy and nerdtastic, everyone was stoked about Kurt's between-song banter and the profusion of large bras tossed onstage. Marisa sang really well on their duet.
Partway through the InSoc set I had to go to the back of the audience upstairs to get away from the fog machine (that shit gives me the asthma) and I met Andrea from Oryx Incruentus http://www.myspace.com/hellisrepetition who also plays cello and has a one-woman project. She's opening for Rasputina at the Dances of Vice, but so far she hasn't been playing out a lot, and she gave me ideas for some kinda goth-cello-fest like a mini version of the one last June, but more for the darker type bands. Just ideas so far.
While I was talking to Andrea (who'd introduced herself as knowing me from Unwoman, which always surprises me a little, because Unwoman is so unknown) another young woman introduced herself to me, said she liked the Spellbound set, and it turned out that she played cello too, but hadn't realized that I did too!
Two of the women who work at Agent Provacateur where buz and I went shopping on Saturday :) have boyfriends who play(ed) the cello. I'd showed them postcards for Blossoms because I wore AP underwear on the cover. (Turns out I'm a 32C-D, who knew. 32D bras are very hard to find, because my daily underwear is *not* purchased in upscale boutiques where they have such sizes, so usually I buy 34C bras and cut the hooks off and sew them back on tighter on the back strap after they stretch out a bit, but this always looks really hobo.)
We're going to Hawaii (oahu) Feb 15-24 and I have a gig on Feb 15. I don't think any of you on my f-list are in HI, but if so, now you know.
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December 28th, 2007
03:30 pm - Tomorrow in SF: TCB & Spellbound instead of Psychedelic Furs
SUP!
This Charming Band (SF's own tribute to The Smiths and Morrissey)
with Spellbound (A Live Tribute to Siouxsie and the Banshees)
And a special debut Fliouxsie/Orlandissey duet!
Saturday Dec. 29
Red Devil Lounge
1695 Polk at Clay, San Francsico, California 94109
$10 / 21+ Doors 8:00, show 9-10-ish.
The **EXCITING NEWS** is that since the Psychedelic Furs show Saturday
is cancelled, the Red Devil Lounge has generously offered to accept
tickets and will call info for that show, at Saturday's show. I assume
that means you can still get refunds, plus a $10 value at our show as
well. See here.
Here's a review of Spellbound, plus a very nice mention of my new album
Blossoms, by "some guy":
"The other night I decided to drop in on a show that featured a couple of
tribute bands. Doing the tribute band thing is usually not my deal. Yet
being a drummer myself I would personally toy with the idea of involving
my efforts on a tribute project. So that night at the Uptown in Oakland,
CA I decided to give Spellbound, a tribute band to Siouxsie and the
Banshees a whirl. The tribute band would feature three forty something's
on guitar, bass, and drums, who during the course of the show would
reveal themselves as absolutely kick ass musicians especially the
drummer. Fronting the band playing the ambitious roll of Siouxsie Sioux
is an aesthetically spellbinding twenty something who was spectacularly
talented. Erica Mulkey as Fliouxsie delighted the audience with her
winsome yet sassy wit as well as her true to life replication of vintage
Siouxsie on top of that she flossed her gifted skills as a virtuoso on
the Cello playing Killing Jar..."
Also, unrelatedly: I have full-length streaming enabled on all unwoman tracks on last.fm -- and here you will find a bunch of theme playlists that I put together, and you can listen to them for free. Please spread the word!
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December 26th, 2007
01:37 pm - In serious WHAT WHAT WHAT news
Rasputina (not with me) is opening for Siouxsie, including these dates:
DATE CITY VENUE
February 12th San Francisco Fillmore
February 13th San Francisco Fillmore
February 15th Los Angeles The Music Box @ Henry Fonda Theater
February 16th Los Angeles The Music Box @ Henry Fonda Theater
February 18th Anaheim House of Blues
February 19th Anaheim House of Blues
Spellbound is looking for an afterparty (on either/both SF date) to ROCK MAJOR ass at. And Fliouxsie will CERTAINLY be breaking out the cello for this event.
:D :D :D :D
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December 18th, 2007
02:09 pm - 2 shows this week
1. Spellbound with The Ghost of Curtis at the Uptown, Oakland, Thursday Dec, 20.
2. Friday Dec. 21: Unwoman all alone and acoustic with a bunch of other acoustic acts at the Red Vic hotel/cafe, 8:00, All Ages, free ($5 donation requested) Unwoman goes on at about 9:30, get there early to find parking.
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December 3rd, 2007
09:40 am - Slightly longer recap of Thursday's gig
[Quick note: Blossoms has landed at CD Baby and will be up on itunes very soon!]
I prepared about 11 songs for Thursday 11/29, and ended up playing only nine, I think. But I was really short on voice and hadn't practiced since the Saturday before because every time I'd tried to sing I'd lose my voice completely. Nonetheless, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. The video in my last post gives you an idea of the performace. Video of the other songs will be available to everyone at some point in some format. I played the Joy Division song "Ceremony" last and had a hard time holding back tears. It's such an emotional song but it seemed like an appropriate "goodbye." (interesting fact: I played the song on piano at my highschool baccalaureate. I played one-handed, with broken fingers, because the weekend prior I'd gotten mad at a gutter punk and punched a wall.)
I saw a lot of friendly faces that I didn't get to say hi to, so huge thanks to you for coming! And I completely sympathize that people were sleepy and had to miss Spellbound. And a lot of you were so sleepy that you missed the whole event -- I regret that the show was so late. Accolade had a terrific debut performance, and Spellbound pulled it off though I've noticed a correlation between the size of the crowd and how tight we are. Possibly because we treat it more casually and don't prepare as much for smaller shows, we're not quite as "on." Also of course my voice was totally dead by the end -- but it lasted way longer than I thought it would!
In my much-commented-on post here I talked about the reasons this was my last bar/club gig in SF in the foreseeable future. All the things I said are true. But, similarly to the label hybernation rant (note, lots of things in that entry no longer apply), people are getting the wrong idea from this. They think this means I'm stopping doing music. Which is silly because it implies that the shows (or, previously, running an ineffective label) are in some way causing or supporting my creative process. What actually supports my creative process are these things:
1. My brain
2. Having free time
3. Supportive friends/family/fans (and a *very* understanding buz)
4. Various life experiences or fiction that inspire stories that lend themselves to songs
5. Having badass instruments and computer(s) to make composing easy and fun
6. Deadlines (usually self-inflicted) or opportunities (also usually self-inflicted)
And preparing for shows that no one comes to is a drag on #2, though if at least a few people are there it can improve #3. And since I'm no longer afraid of a certain amount of marketing and am less isolated in how I make music, at a certain point people will be coming to see the shows, and they won't be a waste of time, and everyone will be happy. In the meantime I'll be playing in cafes and maybe my parents' house (in Lafayette; I loved playing there for small groups of people in years past) and the shows will be free-ish for all attending, and easier for me to put on. Since I really don't think my music is the kind that really requires a bar scene/drinking to enjoy, or a professional sound setup to hear, there's no reason to relegate it to the traditional venues used by bands.
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November 27th, 2007
06:01 pm - Spellbound Newsletter
If you want to be informed of all our shows coming up without having to look at our website or myspace page constantly...
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October 31st, 2007
02:17 pm - Sweet show last night, another one tomorrow!!
Thanks a ton to everyone who came out last night! We had a truly awesome time playing for people and felt it went over terrifically well.
A few songs into The Ghost of Curtis's set, which by the way was amazingly accurate and moving, I realized that I'd never seen a tribute band that I wasn't playing in before (not counting Thai Elvis (who sounds like a cross between the real Elvis and the lead singer of the Tindersticks and puts on a great show) or some Madonna impersonator in Vegas). Funny, huh, considering I started one & performed with two! So it was a new experience. Listening to a tribute band is a many-layered experience if you're really familiar with the original band -- you find yourself sometimes comparing, sometimes just going with it. Japanese Baby did a great job too. I'm sure Spellbound will be playing with both of these bands again in the not-too-distant future.
TOMORROW NIGHT 11/01: Also with 9:00 start time!
The Rockit Room at Clement st between 4th and 5th Ave, San Francisco.
Click flyer:
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October 30th, 2007
12:33 pm - TONIGHT!! You'll be ENTRAHNCED!
We KILLED in Santa Cruz. The crowd wasn't huge, but they seemed to adore us. A bunch of mostly guys in the front were dancing and singing along to every single song, and when we finished, they DEMANDED we come back out and play more. We don't know very many songs yet so we actually recycled "Halloween" and "Cities in Dust" and played them both better the 2nd time. Sean and Nik always do a great job with shows down there and really make sure bands have a great time.
SO TONIGHT!!! We go on around 9:00, so get there early, and stay for tributes to The Cure and Joy Division! I've listened to both bands' samples and they're *very impressive.*
DID I MENTION WE GO ON AT 9:00? OK, just checking. The venue flyer says 10:00 so a lot of people will miss us, which I'm VERY VERY NOT HAPPY ABOUT. But don't let yourself be one of them, OK?
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September 5th, 2007
12:02 pm - Things that don't make you special
An addendum:
Thinking 'tribute' acts are "heinous"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiveWHKyg9A#GU5U2spHI_4
:)
[ETA: I banned him/her, only because he had to have the last word. No more haters allowed. The idiot didn't even rate the video!]
TOO MANY HATERS FOR MY LIKING! :D
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August 21st, 2007
11:32 am - Spellbound live video clips
Here are some video clips from my new Siouxsie tribute Spellbound at the Red Devil Lounge. The show went amazingly well and it was very gratifying!
Spellbound 8-17-07:
Melt! 8-17-07:
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August 18th, 2007
03:39 pm - Last night's SPELLBOUND show
Was a success! I can hardly imagine it going better (except if we'd practiced the break in Nightshift knowing I wouldn't be able to see Aleph... that should have been like, duh.)
There are TONS of pictures and even some good short video clips which I'll be posting Monday-ish. Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who came out! There were tons of Buz's friends there to celebrate his birthday, and we're continuing to celebrate it for the rest of the weekend. It was just wonderful to play on stage with him.
I pretty much couldn't be happier (except if I'd gotten 8 hours sleep last night.... but oh well, this is the life of a rock star!)
Here are a few pictures MY MOM took:
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August 15th, 2007
01:43 pm - THIS FRIDAY! Live Siouxsie tribute!!
It's also Buz's birthday!!!
I still have a cold but my voice, which was gone yesterday, is miraculously back today.
I think we're going on at 9:00 or so.
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August 13th, 2007
01:48 pm - WTF is up with the tribute band thing, anyway?
When I tell people about my new project, Spellbound, I inevitably get one of two reactions: "wow, that's awesome!" or silence. Implied in that silence is, derisively, "What the hell are you doing in a tribute band??!" It's really a testament to the tactfulness of these friends that they don't say this out loud.
Because why would I want to start a band that'll play songs people want to hear, to packed clubs, when I could be playing original music to audiences of 20 people, of whom there's inevitably one older man who finds it downright fascinating but otherwise people are busy chatting over drinks at the bar? Why should I give up when after doing what I do for five years and two albums I still have virtually zero draw playing live and I get no respect? (As I've said before, I'm the Rodney Dangerfield of cello rock.) I'm not fishing for compliments here, and all the fans I have gotten to this point are absolutely cherished, and I am nothing but optimistic about the future.
Perhaps Orlando (Spellbound's guitarist and frontman for This Charming Band) put it best when he said (I'm paraphrasing) "Starting the tribute band was the thumb in the ass of trying to play original music in a city that doesn't want to hear it." Or something like that.
This is not to say I'm giving up on Unwoman. Spellbound is low-maintenance enough that once it's established it won't take much time away from Unwoman, plus it's satisfying on its own, especially in that I get to front a band for the first time in my life. I'm loving that. It's also totally awesome to play in a band with my husband buz who hasn't played on stage in about eight years (I'm so pleased that's coming to an end this Friday -- on his birthday no less!). This may in some way lead into Unwoman songs being done in a band format so that it's not just cello karaoke anymore, because that's certainly gotten old. And I'll probably play some acoustic shows in cafes when Blossoms comes out late this year.
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August 8th, 2007
01:53 pm - Spellbound's First Show!
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August 2nd, 2007
03:40 pm - Spellbound's First Gig -- OMG YAY!
The Siouxsie tribute now has a gig on August 17 (this is also Buz's birthday!) at the Red Devil Lounge. Very happy about this!! We're opening for Notorious, who is no longer a Duran Duran tribute but is now an all-eighties one-stop-shopping tribute band.
I'll update the webpage tomorrow, and if you missed the original announcement, you can hear our demos at http://www.myspace.com/spellboundsf
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