Baby Shakes: From New York to Japan and Back Again
Feeling amazing, we just got back from Japan a few weeks ago and had a blast. We toured with our fantastic buddies, Gorilla* who are based in Tokyo, they're a great band. The shows were packed, audiences were thrilling, and the numerous bands we played with were all incredible. The people there are genuine and generous; they are very proud of their culture and very knowledgeable about music from all over the world. They really love music and they know how to party, it’s a great city for rock n ’roll.
It's also been a huge honor being able to try the food there, so much has stood out to us, things like FUGU which happens to be a deadly Blowfish. One of the most unique dishes we tried was the Hokkaido Soup at Rojiura Curry Samurai in Tokyo, there was a miso spicy ramen shop at a place in Shimokitazawa which was also amazing.
We’ve been told our new album is a bit heavier, we tend to think it has a similar raw, punk vibe as our previous releases, with the exception of a couple glammier songs in there. We definitely tried to explore and experiment a little without going out of our realm. Our sound as a whole has evolved but the spirit is still the same. As far as equipment goes, we use a Rickenbacker 4003 bass through a Fender rumble 200 combo amp. A Custom Telecaster through a Vox AC15 amp. A Rickenbacker 620 Fireglo along with a 350 Jetglo going through a Fender Blues Deluxe, and a 1965 Rogers Dayton blue sparkle drum kit. The snare is a dynasonic from around the same year, we have Evans Calf tone 56 skins on them. We also use a Zildjian New Beat, 14" from the 60's on occasion.
It’s a lot easier to get your music out there these days, especially to international audiences. When we first started our band we used to make photocopies of our DIY flyers at Kinko’s. They were cut and scotch taped together, this was before we learned how to use Photoshop. We’d all split up and cover ground in different neighborhoods with our tape guns to post flyers at bars, record stores and on telephone polls. Now we can make announcements and send out our music and flyers to the whole world from our cell phones on our lunch breaks. We never dreamed we could get ourselves and our music out there to the other side of the world, it used to be a mission just to spread the word about our shows in the East Village and Brooklyn all in one day.
Originally, two of us (Judy and Claudia) met at a punk show at CBGB’s when we were teenagers, we both had studded jackets on, pink/blue hair, and had been collecting UK ‘82 and ‘77 punk singles, it made sense that we’d become friends. We used to jam out to Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers songs together in our living rooms. A friend of ours, artist Avi Spivak, eventually knew we were looking for bandmates so once Mary moved to New York from Seattle, he introduced us to her at his DJ night. We all got along so well, when we heard Mary sing we knew it was the perfect style for the kind of music we all wanted to play, plus she played guitar, too. As for Ryan, we’ve had many drummers in the past but he was definitely the missing puzzle piece. We met him through friends when we needed a drummer for a show.
New York's punk history plays a big part in having formed the kind of band we did, even before ever meeting, we'd always go and see punk shows wherever we could. Claudia is originally from New York and used to go by CBGB's very early on, sometimes she’d have to sneak her way in or try to trick the bouncers. Judy always used to fly up from Atlanta whenever her favorite bands were playing, back then you could get round trip flights for just 80 bucks. Ryan also used to work at CBGB’s right before they closed, and right before he was legal to drink. We all loved The Ramones and The New York Dolls, that era in music is such a huge influence on our music.
We all have full time jobs. It would be a dream to be able to live solely off the band but we have to work to be able to do what we love. We always try to keep busy on music projects even when we’re not touring or recording. And keep it fun.