Interview: Laura the Boom
Photos: Brett J Lawrence/LAWRENCECREATIVE
The gals played side-by-side and are stunning on stage. Lindsey resembled Detroit’s own Margaret
Dollrod in style and appearance, and played and sang confident, loud and
solid. Julie’s wavy red hair flew wildly
as she it hard and provided harmonious backing vocals. Both gals played with ease (not without a lot
of sweat) which was both all rock and sexy.
Just an opinion, but I like a gal that doesn’t push it too hard and lets
the rock speak for itself. This was
Lindsey. During their set, I looked
around and the crowd had been captured.
When I asked if I could interview them for a bit, Lindsey
said “as long as I can knit during the interview.” I can appreciate that.
Lindsey: Heyyyy…
MCB: Welcome to
Detroit. I heard from the stage you said this is your first time in Detroit.
Lindsey: This is
our first time in Detroit, yeah. It’s really exciting to be here. It’s such a,
ya know, rich history and just a very striking city visually, too.
MCB: I won’t keep
you gals long but I wanted you to know that this is an awesome, historical
venue to play. I’ve seen Jon Spencer Blues Explosion here, Spiritualized, No
Doubt…
Lindsey: Wow.
Cool. The bathroom in there has all these band names written in there.
Julie: When did
you see No Doubt play here?
MCB: Must have
been mid to late 90’s.
Lindsey: Seems
too small for them.
Julie: Must have
been mid-90’s.
MCB: Might have
been ‘95, ‘96.
EDITORS NOTE: No Doubt played St. Andrew’s Hall on September 22nd 1995 with 311 and
again on February 8th 1996 with Everclear.
MCB: It’s pretty
well known you two met in knitting class…
Lindsey: That’s right…
MCB: Was that Community
Ed. Program or College?
Julie: I used to
own a knitting shop and I gave knitting and crochet classes and I sold
materials. Lindsey just wandered in one day and that’s how we met.
Lindsey: She was
a thriving business woman before we met.
(everybody laughs)
MCB: How long did
it take to figure out you both were musicians?
Lindsey: Pretty
quickly.
Julie: Yeah, the
night of the class. You get people started crocheting and then once…
Lindsey: Julie
likes to go deep with people. She is like self-trained Psychiatrist
Julie: (chuckes)
Lindsey: …and I
like to talk about my feelings a lot and myself so...
MCB: Music is a
good way to get it out.
Lindsey: Yeah. We
got deep real quick.
MCB: What was
your first jam like? How did that go?
Julie: Our first
jam was actually with my friend Ashley on bass and Ashley is like a totally
legit bass player. Right now she’s on tour with Cee Lo Green playing in his
band. So basically the first jam was awesome. It was really fun but Ashley was
never available again and she had to go on tour with somebody else at the time
so we kept getting together and writing and jamming and it, ya know, WORKED.
MCB: Very cool.
Julie, I wanted to ask for the gear heads out there what kind of kit do you
use?
Julie: My kit is a
Gretsch Frankenstein kit, made of a few different types of Gretsch kits. My
snare is a titanium Gretsch snare. My cymbals, which are like my prized
possessions are all Zildjian. My most, MOST favorite of all my drums is my ride
cymbal which is a Zildjian twenty one inch sweet ride.
Lindsey: Sweet
ride…
MCB: I noticed
you played that ride a lot…
Julie: Like a
lot.
MCB: It sounded
awesome. Lindsey, I noticed you do two amps…
Lindsey: I do.
Yes.
MCB: So what is
your guitar set up?
Lindsey: Well my
guitar is an early 70’s Fender Mustang.
MCB: Sweet.
Lindsey: Ya… and
my amps are… I play through a Fender Bassman and then a Fender Deluxe.
MCB: Split with a
DI Box?
Lindsey: Yeah,
like with an AV splitter.
Julie: Are you a
musician?
MCB: I am. I play
the drums too.
Lindsey: Nice…
Julie: Very cool.
What do you play?
MCB: I play a
Gretsch Catalina Club. My ride is a Paiste
22-inch and a ’65 Supraphonic snare drum.
Julie: I have
different kits in different parts of the world just because nowadays you can’t
travel with too much luggage just because it’s so expensive. So overseas I have
a Gretsch Brooklyn Maple. The snare I’m playing tonight is Christopher from
Silversun Pickups.
MCB: I read
recently that Jason from the Von Bondies was just out in California for his brother’s
wedding and they borrowed the Silversun Pickups van or bus. They sound like
generous folks.
Julie: I’m
totally borrowing Christopher’s hard cases too.
MCB: Are you
leaving tomorrow?
Julie: We are
driving away tonight. Our next show is in Columbus.
Soon the gals turned the interview on me and I turned the
recorder off. Julie went back to No
Doubt. She inquired if I saw them in the
mid-nineties, “wait… how old are you?” Ha! But meaning, she I knew the time
when No Doubt was touring to St. Andrews-size venues and it turns out we happen
to be pretty close in age.
Both gals were interested in people
feelings toward Jack White, especially since the move to Nashville. Lindsey was nervous to play Jack White’s
hometown and Julie was inspired by it. They
complement each other like that. We
talked about where we lived and bills.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have a chance to stay in Detroit more than 12
hours, so I told them to check out the Motown Museum their next time through.
Lindsey continued knitting a custom hat that they have been
selling at the merch table during the tour.
The gals are finishing up some dates with Band of Skulls (of
whom they had great things to say about) and they are heading oversees for a
bunch of headlining and festival dates.
We wish them safe travels and to keep going DEAP.