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CeCe
DeVille: How's your leg? Are you going to be able to play?
FR:
. . . Yeah.
CC:
I don't like that. That's a pregnant pause!
<Laughter>
FR:
I rehearsed the other day with my left leg . . . and it was cool. |
 |
CC:
Great. It doesn't have to be perfect. As long as we've got the
. . . vibe. We need the Francis vibe.
Krys
Barrato: That's what I said yesterday.
FR:
I'm working hard at it.
CC:
In fact, if you don't play the kick drum too hard it might be a good thing.
<All
laughing.>
FR:
<laughing> That's what I was thinking.
CC:
I'm only kidding. I need you just the way you are.
Enough of that . . . I think this is on his dime.
YourMVP:
What happened to your leg?
FR:
We were in Jacksonville, FL, and I got hit by a car. My leg got ran
over, so I'm on the injured list right now.
KB:
It was beautiful.
<FR
laughing>
CC:
You know how there are two bones in your shin? He broke both
of them. In the beginning I was like, "Oh, you pussy . . .
get up." It didn't look like much. I was like,
"Alright, he's the drummer and doesn't get no attention and has
to break his leg." Then I get the X-rays and both bones --
you can see it -- aren't even touching. Both bones!
You
were literally run over by a car? How'd that happen?
FR:
Actually, we were talking to each other -- CeCe and I -- and we were
approaching an intersection. I was looking at him, and he went
into the cross-walk. I thought it was clear. When I stepped
into it, the car ran over my leg.
That
can ruin a tour!
FR:
Well, I missed a couple week off the tour because of it.
Luckily our tour manager knows how to play drums. He filled in
for the few shows we had left. I'm going to be back up and
playing . . . and back in action.
Tell
us how Samantha 7 got together.
CC:
I tell that story all the time. Give that one to Krys.
KB:
Well . . . We got together through mutual friends. I was doing
a soundtrack for adult films and CeCe happened to stumble across one
of those films.
CC:
Just for the musical content.
<All
laughing.>
By
pure accident!
CC:
Not for anything I was watching . . . <clears throat> I
always like to . . . <clears throat again> . . . To see how
music accompanies such adult situations. Usually I don't even
have the picture on! Usually I'll pop in the adult film and
just have the "soundtrack" on. On that particular
day, it just happened to be like the Groove Monster George Clinton
meets Bootsie Collins from hell. It was like . . . <Imitates
sound, heavy bassline.> And I'm like, "Oh, my GOD!
If this is the way some guy is fucking, he must have like a
gargantuan dick!" You know? And I put the picture
on, and I see . . . Oh, it's not. It's just the
soundtrack. Then at the end of it, it says "Music by
Girth." I was like, "Oh, boy . . . " But
you could tell it was a bass. So I called up my friend, who
happened to get me the movies, and said, "Who is this 'Girth'
guy -- and is he interested in playing in a band?" So that
was . . . anyway, go on.
KB:
No, no. So that was it. It was a phone call. We
started demoing some songs. Got Francis involved. And the
rest, as they say, is history.
From
what I read, Francis didn't make the cut at first.
CC:
Yeah . . .
FR:
Yeah. <Laughing.>
CC:
We auditioned. Francis was one of the first guys. I didn't
think he was into it. I thought he didn't really like the
band. So we got this other guy, and he was really, really tall.
<All laughing.> Then we got rid of him because he
couldn't play. So then we went and saw Francis again at a club.
FR:
They just happened to realize I was the right height, also!
Amazing!
CC:
And was he was interested. I just didn't think he was. The
thing was there really wasn't much to be interested in at the
time. I think we had three songs.
KB:
Yeah, three.
CC:
So it wasn't like we came with this whole big thing. It was
just like, "Here." Remember we had those two little
amps . . . We used those two little boxes and a little head. I
remember I couldn't even hear it because he was so . . . That's the
other reason! He was so goddam loud!
It
sounds like your job could be in jeopardy, Francis. If you
lost any height from that broken leg, you won't be the right height
any more!
<All
laughing.>
KB:
The shorter the better!
CC:
If he's shorter, it's OK.
FR:
Yeah, my new name is going to have to be "Ilene."
<All
laughing.>
KB:
Good one!
CC:
If he were Japanese, it would be "Irene"!
<Uproarious
laughter from all.>
They
say you were too loud for the audition, but everything I've read
says you're the quiet one of the group!
KB:
Yeah. I guess I get all my frustration and anger out through
the drums. Most of the time, speaking wise, I've been dubbed
"Harpo" because of the internet. I don't have a
computer, so it's hard for me to get on. Krys is our internet
king. Everybody that has a computer loves Krys. They have
what they call the "Barrato Harem." It's a group of
girls that love Krys because they always talk to him on the internet.
Since I'm never on, I got the name "Harpo" so
everyone thinks I'm quiet. When I get on the drums, I'm not
quiet at all.
CeCe,
you were just on tour with Poison. Krys, what were you two
guys doing while CeCe was on the road?
KB:
Vacationing.
FR:
Yeah, Krys took a vacation and went home for a little while. I
just stuck around LA and found different things to do to keep me
busy. I actually came to New Mexico -- which is where I'm from
-- and did a couple radio spots to kind of keep people abreast while
CeCe was out on the road.
Minnesota?
Krys, that sounds . . . exciting.
KB:
I was back there taking care of business. Everything I could
have done out here, but had family and everything back there.
CC:
But he happened to find someone, too! He went there by himself
-- but he came back with two. There's a scene in "The
Freshman." No one tells this guy that someone is
going to go with Matthew Broderick. So all of a sudden he shows
up and there's two people, and the guy's very nervous. And he
goes. "Wait a minute . . . he says he leaves with
one -- but he comes back as two!" He does that for about
15 minutes, and it's very funny. That's what I was doing.
"Krys left as one, but came back as two . . . "
But it's a good thing.
KB:
It's very spiritual. I came back with two personalities!
So,
in all of LA, you couldn't find someone -- but you did in Minnesota?
CC:
You don't want to find anyone in LA!
KB:
You don't wanna . . . Believe me. I think we've all run the
gamut out here.
CC:
You know what? That's it. In LA, it's the warning sign.
The women in LA are wonderful, but they're . . . The women in LA are
as close to a "man" as you get. An LA woman is like a
man in any other place. They know what they've got, and they're
players. You can't blame them. If you move to LA, you
were usually the good looking girl in Muskingum, MI. So you
move to LA. And you realize your attributes have a
timeline. So you have to make sure you're doing the right thing
at the right time -- because you don't have much time to do it.
By 30, you have to be married . . . and hopefully by someone that's a
mover. In LA, it's just a melting pot for people that are
older, that have a lot of money and women that are pretty and don't
have any drive or anything. So there's a marriage there.
But for me, it's very difficult because I'm older and have <b>no
money</b>. <All laughing.> So once they skip the
facade that I lost everything in the "Crash of '29", they
realize, "Oh, my God! I didn't even know you were that old
-- AND I didn't know you were broke!" So they immediately
run off to someone else. It's very tough in LA. They're
very streetwise and they know what they've got. But in
Minnesota, it's like you show up at their house in a 4x4 truck, and,
as long as it's washed, you make a good impression on the family.
Come
on. You guys are touring the country. The women have to
be plentiful.
CC:
Oh, yeah . . . sure.
FR:
They're definitely out there.
CC:
I've got so many opinions on that. This is a men's magazine,
and I know this is really the gist of the whole thing, right?
The thing is, they always say the grass is greener on the other
side. While you're touring, and while it is
wonderful, you usually don't have time to have anything more than an
encounter. There is no time for anything to develop. I
know it's going to sound like I'm a prude because I'm saying,
"Gee, I want something do develop", but as far as
"meeting someone", it's very hard when you're on the
road. Everyone has their game face on. The girls have
their game face on because they want to get backstage and meet the
band. So they're going to be looking hot. The band just
finished playing, so matter what you do after they see you on stage,
it's going to be a let down. You just played your ace.
It's very hard to come offstage and just shut up and have that "aura."
FR:
And not only that, but now days because the internet is so
prominent, you have to think about whatever you do -- if you do
have an encounter -- you're going to be able to read your own review
on the internet the next day. So, you know, you're basically
not having sex -- or your encounter -- with that one person,
everybody is going to be in on it.
KB:
Both performances are going to be reviewed!
<All
laughing.>
CC:
And now insurance has gone up since the internet, too.
Basically you judge how popular you are by the number of death
threats you get from stalkers. I have to tell you, I'm hitting
an all-time . . . I'm either really, really popular or I'm just
pissing a lot of people off! I've never had so
many people hating me and wishing me dead in my life. '
<All
laughing.>
What
has the fan response been to your music and shows?
FR:
The response from the fans has been great. Of the shows we've
played, it seems like 90 percent of the people in there know every
word to every song -- which is pretty amazing, especially for a debut
record. It just goes to show the record is great and people are
clicking in to the lyrics and what the band is all about.
That's something we're very proud about. We just need to get
the record out to more people. If it has that affect on the
people that are coming to the shows now, it can be really, really
huge and we're looking for the time when it gets that kind of exposure.
CC:
What happens -- and, again, I'm a little cynical in the world --
sometimes, now with the internet, in the old days you'd know if the
album wasn't in a neighborhood or region, you'd go to a show and the
people that were there would just have a blank look on their
faces. They wouldn't be anti the band, but they'd just be
trying to get the lyrics and what the band is all about. Now
with Napster and the internet, you can see that people understand the
band because they've been exposed to the music. The bad part is
that when you look at what you're Soundscanning, it doesn't match
up. You're Soundscanning maybe 10,000, maybe 15,000 records
every two months. The people that are hearing it are just three
or four times that. It gets frustrating in that respect.
The label is saying, "Well, you don't seem to be selling as much
as Madonna", you know? And I'm like, "Well, yeah, but
you don't understand. Everyone seems to know it." If
you can get it on the internet, I don't think people are going to buy
it. It's that double-edged sword.
So,
you are against Napster?
CC:
In the beginning I wasn't, but now that I'm being bitten by it a
little bit, I'm starting to change my view. I wouldn't mind if
they'd be able to download one song, and then if they liked it, they
could go buy it. Because attention spans tend to be so short, people
will download a CD -- as part of a group of maybe ten CDs -- and then
spend all week listening to it. Then it's very hard for them to
come back and say, "Gee, I really like that" and then go
buy it. In that respect, I feel that in a new band especially
it's difficult. Everything goes upon how many records you're
selling and what the priority is on the label. So when we're
fighting as hard as we are, every record we sell it's important it's
noted. When it's downloaded, you don't really get that
credit. Even if we weren't getting the money, but we were
getting the [credit for it], at least the label would know there was
something going on.
FR:
I think the idea behind Napster is not so bad. I think it
would be better if there would only be one song on there. Or,
like some record stores, when you can go listen to CDs, they'll only
play up to the chorus of some songs.
|
 |
CC:
I'm not opposed to listening to something before you buy it.
God knows how many times you've gone to a store or heard a song on
the radio and went and bought the record, and the rest of the album
is shit. You might as well have gone and bought the
single. Unfortunately, with Samantha 7, there's not a bad song
on the CD. It's very hard to talk good about |
things
when it's your product. You always sound like an asshole. But
the fact of the matter is it's a really strong CD and it's a strong
song-oriented thing. If you like one song off the CD, you're
going to like every song. I think it's a really
well-done record. I wish people would just take a chance and
buy the CD because I haven't heard anyone yet that has said,
"God, I hate this CD."
I
stumbled on it by fluke at a Tower Record listening station.
After hearing it had CeCe, I was interested. After hearing
"Framed", I wanted to buy it. Everyone that I've let
listen to it has been pleasantly surprised.
CC:
I know. If you say CeCe DeVille, you have a different idea of
what it's going to sound like. |
