I had the chance to talk to Jim Spellman, Velocity Girl's drummer, about all of the latest Velocity Girl dirt.
MR: How did you guys get started?
We all met in school and started playing in the basement. Without even trying, we became vaguely popular. We put out a couple of singles on a small label called Slumberland and did a few tours. Then Sub Pop came up to us one day, introduced themselves, and that was that. We signed a contract with them. It's really about the dullest story ever.
MR: So no fights? No heroin overdoses?
When you are good junkies like us, you know how to avoid overdoses.
MR: What do you think of your past releases for Sub Pop?
I'm not one of these people who can't listen to our past records. I like all three of our records. They are all very special to me, of course, the new one is the one I'm most interested in now. With Copacetic (their debut album for Sub Pop), we wanted to make a fast, rough record. A document of the way we were then. It's definitely the noisiest of the bunch. The most lo-fi. With ÁSimpatico! (released in 1994) we wanted to make a classic sounding, pop record. Pop all the way. We wanted Gilded Stars to be more diverse. "Same Old City" has a bit of a country vibe to it, "Blue In Spite" is very different for us. We used some different instruments.
MR: The role of the producer has evolved quite a bit for you as well, eh?
Definitely. We did Copacetic ourselves, with Bob Weston of Shellac. He pretty much engineered it and we produced it. We did ÁSimpatico! with John Porter, who has worked with the Smiths and a bunch of others. He was a tremendous musician and producer, a really great guy. Gilded Stars was produced and engineered by Clif Norrell, who did R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People. He has worked with lots and lots of people as an engineer, but he is sort of beginning a career as a producer as well. We wanted someone like that, someone who is more into sounds. John Porter is a serious producer, he works with all the parts and arrangements of a song. Cliff focuses on the sounds. If we had to do another record right now, I'd vote to do it exactly the same way. My only beef is that it is too long. I'm a fan of shorter records, but I always lose that argument in the band. That's why there are fourteen songs.
MR: Any producers you'd want to work with in the future?
AC/DC's Back in Black is my favorite record and the greatest sounding rock record. I don't think that he would be good for us though. Matt Lung was incredible on that record, but I would love to do a record with Jim Dickinson, who did Big Star and the Replacements. Maybe Brian Eno.
MR: What have you been listening too lately?
I've been consciously not listening to music lately. For awhile I was listening to too much music and writing stuff that was more derivative. I've just been reading and watching TV. My roommate is in this band, Tuscadero. Anyway, he is Phil Satloff and his uncle, Ron Satloff, was king of the 80's and 70's television directors. He did CHiPS, Quincy and Matlock. He and some other people created the A-Team too. I have been really into Ron Satloff lately. I want to start a fan club for him. He is a genius.
MR: You don't like sit-coms do you?
I love all of the sit-coms.
MR: Jesus!
You don't like Friends?
MR: God no. That show is for morons.
Seinfeld?
MR: NO.
Those shows are hilarious. I LOVE sit-coms. Thursday nights, man. You know where to find me Thursday nights.
MR: Fuck that.
You aren't gonna right a bad article about us now, are you?
MR: (No response)
I watched CNN today.
MR: Any other bad habits that I should know about?
Me and Kelly golf. Sarah's getting married in May. We all drink like fish.
MR: Really? Great! Sweet liquor eases the pain!
Wine is fine but liquor is quicker.
MR: You've played the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor as well as St. Andrew's in Detroit. Do you have a preference?
I like St. Andrew's but Detroit is kind of
MR: Nasty.
... a rough town.
MR: Say it! Nasty!
Uh, yeah.
MR: I saw the video for "I Can't Stop Smiling" (single for ÁSimpatico!) a long time ago. What are you doing for this album?
Well the single is going to be "Nothing." It should premier on 120 Minutes either this Sunday or next Sunday. It will probably get played a few times. "I Can't Stop Smiling" was played a few times. You know, it was done by Spike Jonze, but right before the Spike Jonze craze. But 120 Minutes plays mostly Buzz Bin bands anyway. It's not as cool as it used to be.
MR: That's because of The Man.
The Man?
MR: Yeah. Do you guys hate anyone else? Besides The Man?
We don't like to say bad things about anyone.
MR: Oh, come on!
That's why we will never be as big as Oasis or something. We are not audacious enough.
MR: I could fabricate a little bit, if you want.
Uh
MR: So what's the gist of the new video?
We drive around Brooklyn in old cars. We tie Sarah up over a vat of acid. Fist fights. Kick boxing.
MR: I didn't know you guys were so violent.
We are very violent.
MR: Do you guys really get in arguments? Fight in your van and stuff?
No. We get along really well.
MR: Ugh! That's not what I wanted to hear.
That's why we'll never be big.
MR: Well lets start fabricating right now.
The problem is, when we can't buy good crack, when we have to buy low-level, bad crack, we all get a little agitated. That's when the switch blades come out.
MR: Good start. You know, if that were true, you guys would sell a lot more records.
Uh, yeah.
But wait! Even better, I had the opportunity to talk to Hilken Mancini, vocalist/ guitarist for Fuzzy. Since I am so driven to educate you, the general public, I will tell you a little bit about Fuzzy. In 1994, they released their eponymous debut for Atlantic Records. Fuzzy proved that they could write really rockin', really catchy pop songs. The first track from this release, "Flashlight," is one of the biggest hits to never be a hit. Atlantic Records proved that they didn't know their heads from their asses. That's why you never heard about Fuzzy. Well, here is your chance. Their new record, Electric Juices, even gives that Go-Go's two-CD greatest hits a run for it's money. Go buy it. Listen to "Drag" or "Sleeper" or any of the songs for that matter and try to tell me that I'm wrong.
MR: Where are you working nowadays?
At this videotaping complex, I put stickers on videotapes all day long.
MR: It sounds like a blast.
Actually, I work with a lot of other people that are in bands. Everyone there is a band. So you come in and work when you aren't touring. But they let you go away and tour for awhile. We can also take over the shipping room and listen to David Bowie or any other tapes we bring in.
MR: What new stuff have you've been listening to lately?
The new Bjork record is good. I'm kind of out of touch. I'm kind of broke too.
MR: Don't get me started on being broke. Anyway, I saw you in the Burns Room at St. Andrew's about a year and a half ago, while you were touring for your first record. How was that tour?
It was really small in the sense that no one came to see us. It was really big in the sense that it lasted forever. It was really hard. We were supposed to tour with Swell, and I was packing my bags and they called and canceled on us. So we went and toured on our own, and no one knows who in the hell Fuzzy is.
MR: I do. Damnit, I was there. I tried to talk to you after the show and the bouncers wouldn't let me. They told me to get out. And you guys weren't protesting or anything. You didn't care.
Yeah, right.
MR: Do you like touring?
There are good and bad things to touring. There is not a lot of privacy on tour, you can't get away from people sometimes.
MR: Like us nutty fans.
No, like people in the band. You are in a van and you are always together. We all get along really well, it just gets pretty intense.
MR: So how has the whole band thing been?
I like playing in a band. I like the people I am in a band with. I like writing songs. I don't like a lot of the other stuff.
MR: Doing interviews
No, I don't mind interviews at all. It's the whole label thing. It freaks me out. Sometimes I think it would be better to sit at home, 4-track and put out our own singles.
MR: Wouldn't you like to drop the day job?
Yeah, but I don't know to what extent. I don't want to do music every single day of my life.
MR: What do you want?
To pick and choose our tours. Not have to do a lot of what the label asks us to.
MR: Like what?
I don't like letting them choose our single. We also got into a big argument about our artwork not being representative of the band. They aren't really doing anything wrong. It's just a conflict of interest and it's hard not to get annoyed. We are trying to do what we want to do.
MR: So what's your dream tour?
A tour with a band that we are friends with and a tour that gives us days off in places other than Florida or Texas, not that there is anything wrong with those states.
MR: There is.
It's just that we have been those places a lot.
MR: Well, Ann Arbor is pretty cool. It's too bad I hate school so much.
Isn't school a great way to put off life?
MR: Yeah, I guess. Has the press been pretty good to you guys? Do they get it?
I think we are pretty easy to get. We just write pop songs. Two female voices, a lot of harmonies. It's not like we are the Birthday Party or something.
MR: So how did Fuzzy form?
Chris (Toppin, vocalist/ guitarist) and I were working together and hanging out a lot. We were both in bands but had broken them up. David (Ryan, drummer for Fuzzy and the Lemonheads) had some time off from the Lemonheads so he was just writing songs with Chris. I met Winston (Braman, bassist) and brought him to an acoustic show that Chris was playing. He really wanted to start a band. So David loaned us his practice space while he was on tour. He said, "Go in there, screw around, write some songs and I'll play with you when I get back."
MR: What's it like having David in your band?
I don't really think about it. I did when we toured with the Lemonheads and David was playing in both bands. He come on stage and all the girls would yell his name and stuff.
MR: So how is Electric Juices different from your debut?
We didn't think that the first record was going to even be a record. We basically pooled up money to record a demo. Maybe put out a single. We didn't think that these were songs that were going to be on a record at all. Then we got signed, and reimbursed. But still, it didn't feel like we were making a record. For Electric Juices we knew that for those two weeks in the studio we were making a record. It was a lot more fun and we got to experiment some more. Alright! Winston just bought me a walk man for the van! (To Winston) Radio Shack? That's so cheap!
MR: What tapes are you going to bring?
Joni Mitchell's Blue, Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed and a lot of weird compilations. (At this point Winston asks her what she is doing) I'm doing an interview. Do you want to talk to him? (At this point, Winston says "No.") Let's see, I'll definitely bring some Prince, Velvet Underground and Nick Cave.
MR: Do people pay too much attention to the fact that there are two girls fronting the band?
Oh yeah. We have a local paper here that put us on the cover. We were all excited about it but, ultimately, the entire article was about women in rock. We are a band, but people really respond to the fact that we are two girls and we are power rocking together. Yeah Chris and I are a team, but there are also a bass player and a drummer who add an amazing amount to the band. I know that since we are girls it is going to happen. We aren't that upset about it.