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Tell us
about your youth. Did you grow up
in a musical environment?
Rebecca:Ahhh...youth….
My mother bought our family a
piano when I was 7, and I haven't
stopped loving music since. My
parents exposed me to lots of
great music growing up —
Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Patsy
Cline, Ruth Brown, Roger Miller
and Big Mae Bell were all records
that were often spun on the
family hi-fi.
Jonathan:My mother played
early music instruments (Viola da
Gamba, recorder, Crumhorn, etc.)
when I was a kid. Her group
performed in churches and at
fairs as well as rehearsing at
our house. I also had an uncle
who played guitar and sang. He
inspired me to pick up guitar and
gave me his old Harmony electric
when I started teaching myself to
play! The only music lessons I
ever had were piano when I was
ten…
Tom:When I was a kid my
mom sang while the whole family
sat around the piano. My father
was into 50s rock and roll music
and do-wop. He had the American
Graffiti album and we’d
listen to that a lot. And my dad
always wanted me to play drums. I
think I was a pretty hyperactive
kid, so my family said “Why
don’t you play the drums?”
I guess that was around 2nd
grade.
Kirsten:My mom made me take
piano lessons. I started when I
was in first grade, and at some
point I wanted to quit but my mom
and my piano teacher wouldn’t
let me. At first I was really
angry, but now as an adult I’m
very appreciative that they made
me keep playingHow/when
were you first "exposed"
to rock'n'roll?
Rebecca:I used to babysit
for some neighbors who had a
great rock n' roll music
collection. After their kids went
to bed, I'd spend hours making
mixed tapes of their records
— The Clash, Elvis, Brenda
Lee, Buddy Holly, The Ramones,
The Beatles...I also bought ACDC
Back in Black with my allowance
in grade school...that was some
GREAT exposure.
Jonathan:I found an old
Beatles record when I was a kid
and my brother and I became fans.
We collected all of their stuff
from the local used record store.
From there I graduated to The
Stones and then punk rock. The
first big rock show I saw was The
Cars. We rode our bicycles to the
show and bought scalped tickets
for $20! That was a lot for a 13
year old. After that I hung out
in the underage punk clubs of
Seattle.
Kirsten:As a very young
kid I was always listening to the
rock radio stations, making tapes
by holding the tape player up to
the little radio speaker and
hitting record any time a song I
like came on the air. And my
parents were into a lot of cool
music as I was growing up –
The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Ray
Charles, and as I got older they
were playing stuff like The
Talking Heads. So I had some good
music around me while I was
growing up!
Do
you remember the first show, or
album, that had a real big impact
on you?
Rebecca:My grandmother took
me to see Bobby Vinton when I was
really young. When he sang "Blue
Velvet" I got goose bumps.
That was the first time I
remember being physically
affected by a live performance.
Tom:The first show I saw was
Buddy Rich when I was…I must
have been in 3rd grade…
and my jaw just dropped. My dad
took me and I was like “holy
shit – this guy rocks.”
When
did you start playing music or
singing?
Rebecca:When I was around
7 I'd play piano, or put on
rollerskates and head to the
basement with a stack of 45s, and
sing at the top of my lungs as I
rollerskated around.
Kirsten:I have a photo of me
when I was a kid at Christmas
– I must be maybe 1 –
and I’m playing a little toy
xylophone. And I remember being
in my room and playing the record
from that Disney movie the Jungle
Book over and over. I loved that
song “I Wanna Be Like You”.
I must have been around 5 years
old then. And then soon after the
dreaded piano lessons began!
How
did you meet and how did you form
The Donettes?
Rebecca: Kirsten and I met
through a mutual friend we'd both
worked with, and then she pointed
out Johnny 7 one night in a bar
and said "That guy's cute
and he's a guitar player."
We all met Tom when he was
playing in a band called New York
Jimmy & The Jive Five.
Kirsten:We met Tom that
night, but we stole him later on,
when we was playing with The
Footstompin’ Trio.Boy, were
those guys mad. But we saw what
we wanted and we went after it!
Have
you played in bands before The
Donettes or was it your first
musical venture?
Jonathan:I’ve played in
several rock ’n’ roll
and punk bands including one in
Japan, but my love for rockabilly
has always been there. Nobody
Home (my old band in which I
played guitar, sang, and wrote
material for) used to cover The
Sonics, The Stranglers, and The
Kingbees. The Kingbees songs we
did turned out to be their covers
of Don Gibson and Buddy Holly
songs!
Rebecca:The Donettes was
my first "official"
band.
Tom:I’ve played with New
York Jimmy and The Jive Five,
Footstompin’ Trio, and Kasey
Anderson, and I’ve sat in
with a lot of other bands, most
recently with Chuckanut Drive out
of Bellingham, Washington.
Kirsten:I started playing
upright bass in a Seattle honky-tonk
band called Pushrod and The
Pistons. I also play electric
bass in a garage band called The
Hot Rollers.
I
believe The Donettes started as
an all-girl band. Was it
something you wanted to do or was
it just the way it happened?
Rebecca:We started out as
an all-female band intentionally,
and then we decided we also liked
playing with men.
Kirsten:Plus it was very
difficult to find a female
drummer and a lead guitarist who
were into rockabilly and were
proficient at their instruments.
Let's
talk about your influences. What
are they?
Rebecca:Willie Nelson, Ruth
Brown, Janis Martin, Dolly
Parton, Patsy Montana, Roger
Miller, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison...too
many to list!
Tom:Huey Lewis of course,
plus Big Joe Turner and Louie
Jordan.
Kirsten:Who else but Run
DMC! Actually I also am currently
into Ray Brown, Milt Hinton, Kim
Deal, Charlene Arthur, Klaus
Flouride from the Dead Kennedys
– I met him once actually at
a Hot Rollers show where we
covered their song Landlord and
he said my bass line was perfect.
What a great compliment. But I’m
influenced by pretty much any
music I listen to – I try to
take something from it, whether
it’s a sound I want to
emulate, or something I want to
avoid!
JF6T6:
Rebecca, you're very good at
yodeling. How did you start?
Rebecca:I was in film
school, and decided to make a
documentary about female yodelers
in Western Swing music. I had an
amazing opportunity to spend some
time with Patsy Montana shortly
before she died, and she started
me out in the right direction
with some tips and tricks.
How
do you go about songwriting?
Rebecca:Songs usually come to
me while driving. I'll just start
singing and just keep singing
until I have most of the song
worked out. When I get home, I
get out the guitar and figure out
what key I was singing in! Then I
write it down.
Who
are your favourite bands and
singers?
Rebecca:My favorite singers
are Willie Nelson, Janis Martin,
Ruth Brown, Dolly Parton, Raul
Malo, Redd Volkaert, Roy Orbison
& Jean Shepard.
One
of the projects associated to The
Donettes is The Black Crabs with
Tom, Kirsten and Jonathan. The
first purpose of this band was to
back Wanda Jackson, right?
Jonathan:Yes, The Black Crabs
were formed to back Wanda Jackson.
We played with her before but
without Rebecca, so we couldn’t
really call ourselves The
Donettes. The second time we
toured with her she wanted us to
open with our own set, and since
we ended up with 45 minutes of
material, we decided to keep
playing as The Black Crabs on a
regular basis.
How
was it to share the stage with
her?
Jonathan:Playing with Wanda
felt really natural. We made a
strong effort to be true to her
original sound and it paid off
when she turned to me onstage and
said, “You play just like
Joe Maphis.” That was a
thrill! The response we got from
the crowds was great so we were
really encouraged to keep on
playing.
Kirsten:It was an amazing
opportunity to back her –
she’s a rockabilly legend!
Eventually,
the band kept going after the
Wanda Jackson shows…
Kirsten:Right – as
Jonathan mentioned, the crowds at
the Wanda shows seemed to really
like our opening set, so we
figured we’d keep on playing
as a three piece.
Does
The Black Crabs give you the
chance to explore new musical
territories (tunes like Rink Lay
or The Sonic's Dirty Old Man) you
can't with The Donettes?
Jonathan:We are all big fans
of the rockabilly sound and that
is why we continue to play it and
have it be an integral part of
our sound. But I don’t feel
I can create great music if we
have to follow rules. Besides,
you just end up getting called a
retro or throwback band, and
while we love that music we don't
want to be stuck exclusively in
that genre. So we bend the
rockabilly sound so it reflects
our influences and is
complementary to our playing
style. We acknowledge the styles
of music that have developed
since rockabilly, and we mix it
into something we hope is
relevant today. In The Black
Crabs we have the opportunity to
play something a little edgier
than The Donettes. We also wanted
everyone to take turns singing
and to try some songs with double
harmony. We play “Poor Jenny”
like the Everly Brothers on speed…
Tom:Which one is Phil and
which one is Don?”
Jonathan:I think Kirsten
might be Phil. Did Phil sing the
low parts? Anyhow, Kirsten and I
sing together, Tommy sings a few
numbers, I get to sing and scream…we
just like to mix it up.
Kirsten:I think too that once
you’re established as a
rockabilly band like The Donettes
are, it’s a bit harder to
mix in more modern numbers. Since
The Black Crabs were new, we
decided to make music with a nod
to rockabilly and 50s rock and
roll, but we also wanted to fold
in the newer garage stuff as well.
And since there were no
expectations about our music, we
could get away with it! But I do
have to point out track 6 on The
Donettes Hello Baby —
Got My Mojo Working — is
certainly not a rockabilly song
and it’s one of my favorite
tracks on the CD. Must be that
Hammond organ!
Jonathan:I also want to point
out that with both bands we mix
the old and the new in our
recording process. The last two
Donettes records and The Black
Crabs Blast Off! were
recorded in my studio –
Cleopatra Studios – using a
mixture of vintage ribbon mics,
tape delays, and natural room
sounds combined with contemporary
gear and techniques. It’s a
vintage sound with modern
technology. Plus it’s all
going to end up on CD or as MP3s
anyway!
Talking
about "new territories",
Kirsten you've played with The
Hot Rollers a more 60's garage/punk
oriented band where you played e-bass
andFarfisa. A word about that?
Kirsten:The Hot Rollers are a
lot of fun. It’s an all-girl
band, and we even have The
Rollettes – our dancing
girls – jumping on mini
trampolines at our shows. We’re
influenced heavily by Thee
Headcoatees, The Delmonas, and
that 60s girl garage sound, but
we add a lot of distortion and a
lot of attitude! I actually
joined The Hot Rollers to get
some experience playing electric
bass – I had never played
one before. It’s quite
different than upright bass. And
when we were gearing up to record
our CD, Got Your Number, it was a
great excuse for me to buy a
Farfisa Compact. I’ve
learned a lot from that band,
especially about stage presence
and putting on a show. I guess
when you are wearing crazy
outfits on stage you just can’t
help but jump around like a freak!
Certainly it's new territory for
me and I know it's made me a
better performer.
How
is the rockin' scene in Seattle?
It seems there's a lot of good
bands in this town.
Kirsten:I think the Seattle
rockabilly scene is still strong
compared to a lot of other cities
in the U.S. Bands like Roy Kay
Trio, Marshall Scott Warner,
Johnny Mercury (from Portland),
and The Skirtchasers (also from
Portland) are doing a lot to keep
the scene alive. And obviously
Seattle has a lot of other music
too, like punk, grunge, stoner
rock – I think it’s
good to get out and see all type
of music and bands. Anytime I go
to a show I always learn
something new or get new ideas.
Back
to The Donettes. Listening to
your albums, it seems that on the
first one you tried to stay
"true" to the
rockabilly sound, and with the
time you've found a more personal
sound.
Rebecca:The progression of
our sound mainly comes from being
willing to recognize more of our
influences and tastes outside of
the rockabillly realm. Rockabilly
music itself has such a varied
base of influences. To be truly
authentic, we felt it was
important to approach our music
pulling on as many of our
influences as we could.
You
did a mini album called "Kick
Off The Covers". How do you
choose a cover? What do you look
for a cover?
Rebecca:We chose this covers
based on the most requested cover
songs from our fans. In choosing
a cover, we look for a song that
gets people excited, and that is
fun for us to play.
What
plans do you have for the future?
Jonathan:With Rebecca now
living in Austin, The Donettes
have become a long-distance love
affair in which we get together
for special occasions – Viva
Las Vegas, Greenbay, Hemsby and
other festivals.And look for
future gigs in Texas.As far as
The Black Crabs go, we are
working on new material and will
head back into the studio in the
spring or summer of this year to
release a new CD in the fall.
Kirsten:Also, The Black
Crabs will probably also do some
short tours this year.
Tom:My wife and I just had
a baby this past December, so
hopefully what’s next for me
is catching up on some sleep!
A
last word?
Rebecca:Cupcake
Kirsten:Slap!
Jonathan: Eaug7
Tom: zzzzzzzzzzz
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