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The Donnas
THEy're no primaDONNAS
By Brian Broccoli
An American Teenage Rock 'N' Roll Machine pulled into Los Angeles by the name of The Donnas. For 5 years they have been cranking out hard, catchy guitar rock that is usually the stuff testosterone is made of, only it's estrogen fueled. And these girls are 19.
Saturday night, July 18th, I finally caught a live set by the Donnas (after standing outside, listening through the walls, on 2 previous attempts to see the sold out shows by the latest, hottest act out of the Bay Area.) Third time's a charm. The result: one of the greatest rock 'n' roll experiences of my life, which The Troubadour caters to, seeing as one of the others, which also took place at the club, was meeting 3/4 of the Pixies (just the guys) after a show by the Martinis, Joey Santiago's new project.
The Donnas kicked off the greatness with a short but sweet set. What else would you expect from a band that's released a small pile of 7"s & 2 LPs, the latest being "American Teenage Rock 'N' Roll Machine (Lookout!) all containing songs that are over & done with faster than it takes to get a detention slip?
So there I was, standing in front of Donna A., waiting patiently to get the interview underway. Being interviewed took a back seat, as it should, to signing autographs for their legion of fans, not all as young as you might expect. I quickly lost them to somewhat of a draw upstairs in "The Loft." They were hoping for Gene Simmons to be waiting up there. Well, let's just skip to the interview.
(Donna) A.: lead vocals
(Donna) R.: guitar
(Donna) C.: drums
(Donna) F.: bass
PR: I had a first question, but I have to scratch that to make room for: What was it like hanging out with C. C. Deville (Poison)?
F: I was like, Aaaaaugh.
A: Oh man, I was totally star struck. I was like, Duhhh. I loved hearing him talk, y'knowwhatImean? He talks really cool (Ed. note- true. He could almost be mistaken for Joe Pesci)
R: He's my idol, I'm serious. When I was 7, that was all I wanted to be was C. C. I just thought about it all the time. I watched the videos over & over.
C: It was so cool. I just can't believe he was here. That's just totally insane. Everyone always says when we say we like a certain band "You'll totally meet them" & everything like that. They totally say that kinda stuff. Like whenever we say we like Kiss, they're like, "You haven't met them, yet?"
R: Now if I could meet Ace.
C: Where we live (Palo Alto, CA), stars don't just walk around & stuff.
F: I hugged him. I had him sign my Richard Nixon card. He wrote "I love [Donna F]." He was really nice.
PR: How did the Donnas get started?
C: We were in 8th grade & the big thing for all the boys in our class was to be in bands. All their parents bought them equipment, & the school knew about it, & all these bands were all around & stuff. They were all playing Nirvana covers, playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" & all this shit. They would jam after school. So there was this lunchtime show at our middle school & [Donna R] & [Donna F] came up to me one day & they were like, "Do you wanna be in a band? Because there are not gonna be any girl bands playing & stuff… Do you wanna play the drums?" And I was like, all right. We only had 4 weeks & we were a band & we played that show. It was crazy but it just kinda kept on going.
PR: You were also known as the Electrocutes. What were they?
F: That was when we were younger…
PR: Younger, I love that.
F: Yeah, We were in high school, OK. And we played speed metal & nobody like it, so we had the Donnas & the Electrocutes going at the same time. The Electrocutes were first, & then the Donnas were a side project going on at the same time. Somehow it just turned out that everyone like the Donnas' songs better than the Electrocutes songs so we just canned them & went with the Donnas. And we stole some Electrocutes songs & turned them into Donnas songs.
(I once read that during an Electrocutes interview, the band was asked if they were also the Donnas, to which they replied, "No way, we're nothing like those goody-goody Donnas.")
PR: Which band would you most like to see reunite?
R: Most of the ones that I wanted to reunite already did.
PR: $Ka-ching$. In 30 years, is there going to be a big cash-cow Donnas reunion?
R: If we break up. Maybe we'll never break up. I guess I would like to see… I woulda said Kiss, but they got back together. WASP, too, but they got back together.
PR: But they've been bailing from their shows.
R: They canceled this Mot˙ rhead show they were playing where we live, cause I guess Lemmy & Blackie got in a fight. But those are 2 bands that I'm glad I guess they did get back together.
PR: What do you think of some of the other girl bands who are now your contemporaries?
R: The whole reason we started playing, I mean especially girls, well, I was into Shonen Knife & L7 & then we got a bit into more underground stuff just as the whole Riot Grrrls thing was exploding but not yet big… And we were so young… Basically I'm into the ones that aren't playing anymore. We really aren't a band that just listens to only girl bands or only boy bands. If they're girl bands--good. If they're boy bands--good. Whatever, just as long as they're hardcore.
PR: Do you ever forget which Donnas you are & put on the wrong shirt?
F: No. 'Cause I wouldn't fit into [Donna R.]'s shirt, 'cause she's really small. I could never get into those shirts, even if I wanted to be Donna C or Donna A I couldn't be.
PR: I got a Donnas band photo from Lookout! HQ while up in the Bay Area & an old guy in another band stuck the photo to the tour van roof…
A: Woahhh.
PR: With things like that & guys yelling "Take off your shirt" at some shows (thankfully not tonight's)…
A: Yeah, that's frustrating.
PR: Do you ever get the feeling that you're sex symbols? What do you think of that?
A: The people who think that are dumb. The people who appreciate us don't think that. There's always gonna be some dumb people.
PR: What do the Donnas eat on the road?
A: Lotsa crap. Crappy food.
R: It depends on where we are. If we're in America, we eat whatever we eat anywhere. Denny's. Taco Bell. We eat whatever's quick & open, because we have to eat after a show.
PR: Have you toured the South? What about Waffle House? (For all the West Coast readers who don't realize what a staple WH is down south, this place puts IHOP to shame And can you even get grits at IHOP?)
R: Oh no, we've toured the South. We boycotted Waffle House because we were afraid of it. And then (we boycotted) Whit Castle because we were afraid of that, too. I heard it gives you stomach aches. (Also, Westies, beware, WC burgers cost a quarter, & are about the size of one.) In Europe, though, we just ate a lot of bread & cheese because everything's so expensive there. So it's just easy to grab a baguette from anywhere. In Italy they've got Autogrille. They're all over the place & the sandwiches are always the same, but they're really good & they cost, like, a buck.
PR: How is touring Europe & Japan different from the U.S.?
R: I think Europe is especially hard because everything closes really early, for food & hotels. Touring is really annoying unless you have stuff reserved for you. Also, it's expensive to travel because gas, tolls, & hotels are expensive. And you don't get paid that much. Europe is only cool to travel if you're super organized. It's another country. You can't not know what's going on because if something goes wrong & you don't speak the language, when things go wrong it just makes it 10 times worse. So, in Japan, that's just excellent. I'm serious. Everything's good. Our accommodations were good, traveling is good. I mean, it's crowded, but…
PR: You didn't touch on the main thing: the fans.
R: Well, in Europe, the fans were pretty cool, but I gotta say that most of them were pretty drunk & I couldn't tell whether they were excited to see us or just a band, any band. But in Japan, they do what you're supposed to do at a rock show. They're jumping up & down, screaming, they sing all the words & they're clapping the whole time. They're crazy. That's what I do at shows. That's what I always wish people would do, & they never do, especially in America.
PR: Now, earlier the point was raised about there being no stars where you live. Hypothetical question. You're doing a gig at The Edge (the only decent place for all those Stanford kids to go see live music in Palo Alto)…
C: Which we will be.
PR: Chelsea Clinton (need I explain?) walks up to you & says, "I wanna be the 5th Donna." What do you say?
C: "Can you play an instrument?" No, I'm just joking. The whole thing is like, what the fuck could she do?
(Guy standing by: She could play the skin flute.)
C: Yeah, really. I'm just saying that we've been playing together for 5 years. I just feel that wouldn't really work out to have anyone come in, let alone someone that… I don't even think she likes rock 'n' roll. I mean, I dunno, who knows?
A: We're not into adding people into our band. We don't need more people.
No, they don't. Pray these 4 lasses roll into your town soon.