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The legend plays 'rock mother' to up-and-coming bands
from: venuszine.com
by Lisa Hix
In 2006, Girl in a Coma already had a cult following in their hometown of San Antonio, Texas, thanks to Nina Diaz's powerful, passionate voice and the group's catchy Smiths-inspired rock tunes.
By that November, S’TV recruited the band for its new "life of a Latino rock band" series, Jammin. For the finale, the Girl in a Coma members - 20-year-old singer-guitarist Diaz, her 28-year-old sister and drummer Phanie, and 28-year-old bassist Jenn Alva - were sent to New York to play a club. While rehearsing, in strolled JOAN JETT, one of their heroes. "We were like, 'What the hell? What is she doing here?'" says Nina Diaz.
Jett watched the band for a few songs, decided to pop by the show later, and before the end of the night, had signed the band to BLACKHEART RECORDS. "I thought they'd be great to have on Blackheart, because we really want Blackheart to be a place where girls feel comfortable to come play their music, because it was so hard for me," Jett says.
The group's working on its follow-up to its Blackheart debut, 2007's Both Before I'm Gone, and Diaz says, Jett has become "a rocknroll mother figure. We know if we're ever in a bind or if we need any advice, we can ask her."
When it comes to her onstage look, Diaz, a bandmember since she was 12, says sheÕs inspired by Gwen Stefani, burlesque, and '50s and '60s vintage. "When I'm offstage, I'm in jeans and a T-shirt," she says. "When I'm going onstage, I like to put on crazy makeup and fix my hair however, to have somebody do a double-take, like 'What the hell is she wearing?'"
Jett, too, came up with an in-your-face style at a young age, inspired by '70s British glitter rock, Suzi Quatro's leather, and her local bondage store. "It was partly glitter, partly punk, and partly street wear." These days, Jett still rocks the latex and leather but offstage, "I pretty much bum around in jeans and a T-shirt."
JOAN JETT
What inspired you to start BLACKHEART RECORDS?
Really, the whole label thing was out of necessity Ñ the fact that I couldn't get signed by any of the majors or the minors at the time. Nobody wanted anything to do with me. Some of the best ideas and best-laid plans aren't really plans at all; you do it just to survive and just to try to do what you love. I was lucky enough to have a friend, KENNY LAGUNA, who was my songwriting partner, my producer, and actually had connections in the music business. To have somebody who believes in you helps a lot. It gives you strength and a belief that there are other people like you that care about the same things, and you're able to get momentum. BLACKHEART RECORDS was an absolute necessity, and that's what it sprung from, in the trunk of a car.
What made you decide to sign Girl in a Coma?
Girl in a Coma was involved in a TV show and was going to have a rehearsal, and one of the people they looked up to was supposed to show up at the rehearsal as a surprise Ñ I was that person. I was just supposed to meet them, watch them rehearse, say hi, and all that stuff, but I thought they sounded great, and I wanted to see the gig. So I went down to the show and was very impressed with them. I thought they'd be great to have on Blackheart, because we'll sign anybody, but we really want Blackheart to be a place where girls feel comfortable to come play their music, because it was so hard for me.
Why aren't there more girls playing rock?
I can't really quite put my finger on why there aren't more girls playing rocknroll. They are out there. There are girl bands in every city, but I'm not really sure why there aren't a higher percentage of bands having some form of success. I don't know if it boils down to people just don't care enough.
I'm trying to figure out why people have such issues with girls in rock bands. You see girls singing pop music all over the place, in the press Ñ you're saturated with that image of women in music. ThatÕs what you think of when you think of women in music; it's pretty much a girl with a microphone singing some pop songs.
Rocknroll is very sexual. To me, the whole "roll" thing implies the sexuality, so a girl playing guitar and drums Ñ certainly playing aggressive guitar and drums or sweaty rocknroll Ñ is out of the norm and what girls are expected to do in the role that they play. Initially, they're looked at as kind of cute Ñ "Wow, isn't that different?" Then after that initial thing wears off, then it's like, "What are you really going to do with your life? You can't be serious." When you are serious, it can threaten some people, and it can annoy other people. I can't really quite put my finger on it.
I can't figure out why there would be such resistance to girls playing rocknroll all these years later. It's just surprising to me that it's not more of a mainstream thing of girls playing instruments. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
Do the young women in Girl in a Coma remind you of yourself when you were a teenager in the RUNAWAYS?
I say this in the best way, because I wish I had some of those aspects Ñ the newness and the naivete of it all, of knowing that you have the world at your feet, thinking that you can change things, thinking you can have an impact. I'm not saying that's an illusion. I'm saying there's a great beauty in that, before all the realities of the business start hitting you upside the head over and over again. "It's us against the world and we can change things." It's a beautiful optimism that I see in them, and they have every reason to have it, too. I believe that they're really talented and they could really do something.
Do you see yourself as a mentor to the bands on your label?
As far as laying down perimeters and rules, I'm not so good at that. But if in the flow of the day, something comes up, yeah, absolutely. I'll talk about something that happened to me, and I'll certainly talk to any of the bands we're working with and discuss whatever it is.
Where does your sense of style come from?
My style? It's probably a mixture of a lot of different things. But when I was a kid Ñ when I was starting in the RUNAWAYS or just before the RUNAWAYS Ñ I used to go to a club in Los Angeles called Rodney's English Disco. You're talking mid-'70s, and most of the songs on the radio at the time were disco, and this was a club for teenagers. If you were over 18, you were already too old; no booze, no alcohol, there was none of that.
It was strictly a dance club. They played all the British glitter singles that were coming out of England that, at the time, American kids never got to hear. Things like T. Rex or "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie and Gary Glitter, Suzi Quatro, the Sweet, a lot of bands American kids never heard and still aren't really familiar with. It's a lot of heavy drums, handclaps, big choruses, that sort of three-minute very catchy rocknroll stuff. The music really turned me on; I would listen to the records and learn how to play guitar to these singles. But the style also turned me on, lots of big platform boots and flashy clothes, lots of satin Ñ really actually kind of horrible, when I think back on it.
Then I was a big fan of Suzi Quatro, and she was a bass player and played rocknroll, so I was thinking, "She's having hits in England, so girls are playing rocknroll over there. If she can do it, then I can do it, and there's got to be other girls here in Hollywood that want to do it." Suzi wore a bit of leather, so I started wearing a bit of leather Ñ it kind of evolved out of that.
And there was this store I would hang out at in Hollywood called the Pleasure Chest. It was a sex- equipment store, lots of latex and dirty T-shirts and bondage belts and lace slips. I would get a lot of my clothes from that place Ñ T-shirts and belts and things. My style evolved out of all that stuff Ñ it was partly glitter, partly punk, and partly streetwear.
Is your style different now?
I've got my high-priced leather look and my street leather look, and I don't know if you can tell the difference. I pretty much bum around in jeans and a T-shirt most of the time, and onstage, leather pants and latex tops mostly, just clean, simple lines. I like to be hot onstage, so the latex helps keep me a little warm.
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