The Donnas |
 |
|
Tue. January 07.2003 3:14 PM EST |
||
The Donnas: Shout It Out LoudVeteran punks talk bad boys, monkey butts, and losing their image as "slutty jailbait teases." by C. Bottomley and Jim Macnie |
||||
|
||||
 |
The Donnas (Linda Zacks) |
|
||
The Ramones dreamed of being Bay City Rollers because they believed pop music should get to the point plainly, quickly, and amusingly. The Donnas, four girls from Palo Alto, California, here to reclaim Aerosmith's roaring guitars and Blue Oyster
Set in a world of sleepovers and the kind of parties you have when mom and dad are gone for the weekend, Spend the Night portrays a more credible teen universe than that offered by the likes of Avril, Michelle, or Vanessa. Complications are no longer a reason to simper. In this world, some guys are dorks, some girls are catty, and some romps in the back seat of a car just aren't worth the time or trouble. When they hit the rough spots, the spunky foursome slash a car key across their bad boy's Mercedes, or snarl a hygenic putdown a la Dirty Denim ("your hair is so dirty/makes you look like you're 30"). When all else fails, they rock even harder and laugh even louder. When singer Donna A, drummer Donna C, bassist Donna F, and guitarist Donna R came into VH1.com, they may not have been swigging from a bottle of Jack Daniels or hitting on the guys in the mailroom, but they did make a convincing case for being the last gang in town. Read on to find out how they bonded over Nelson, came to terms with their high school indiscretions, and support the Strokes grooming habits. Be sure to watch the video clips for the full onslaught. VH1: Where were you when you found out Dee Dee Ramone died? Donna R: We were at home, in the middle of recording our album. We met him the first time we came to New York. We were with Sean from the Toilet Boys and he grabbed Dee Dee and brought him into the burrito place we were sitting in. He was so nice and sweet. He said he was going to go to the show later - but of course he didnt! Donna A: We would have gotten along with him, because hes an animal lover and were freakish animal lovers. He was like, Im moving upstate for my dogs! They dont like it here! We were like, Wow! VH1: Whats your favorite animal? Donna R: We like dogs and cats a lot. Mostly furry animals. Donna A: We like animals that can think. Fish are kind of cool, but they dont give you your love back. Donna C: I have a fish at home and he keeps eating all the other fish I put in the tank, so I dont know. Donna R: Is he a piranha? Donna C: He thinks he is! Donna A: I have a stuffed piranha. Thats about as fun as a real fish. VH1: What animal would you not abide? Donna F: A cow. It would smell really bad. Donna R: I dont think Id like a monkey. Theyre cute, but theyre hard to take care of. Donna A: They have their butts out in your face all the time. They should cover that stuff up. Eels are a little scary. Eels jump out of the tank too much. VH1: Before you were in a band, did you guys get out the hairbrush and tennis racket and rock out in front of the mirror? Donna C: We used to re-enact the Nelson After the Rain video together, but only with each other not in front of an audience. Donna R: Thats the video where the Native American guy hands Nelson a feather, which makes a lot of sense. Donna A: You know how everybody these days says that videos are like short films? That was the original short film. Donna R: When I was little I wanted to be a drummer, a singer, all kinds of things. Then I was asked to be an extra in a video, and I said, No way! I was way too frightened to actually do anything on camera. So all that air guitar and all that stuff was definitely behind closed doors. VH1: Did you romanticize the idea of being in a punk band when you first started together? Donna A: It was fun when we practiced, and it was fun when we talked in class about what we were going to do, but we had to deal with people making fun of us all the time. That never went away, but now were better at dealing with it. Traveling and that stuff are the lamer parts. But its so fun when were onstage and in the studio that it doesnt really matter. VH1: Other kids made fun of you at school? Donna R: They really did think we were bad girls. They werent kidding about that. Donna A: They thought we couldnt play, and they thought we were weird. Donna C: They'd say, Go home, play with your dolls. Girls cant play. Why are you doing this? Donna R: They said Girls cant play a lot. That was their motto. VH1: Was there anyone who got into really bad trouble at school? Ever get caught taking LSD in the bathroom? Donna A: You have to want to be caught. Its like getting a zero on a Scantron test. You have to know what the answers are, so you can not pick them. You had to go up to a teacher and show him a drug test and say, Im totally tripping out of my mind right now! Send me away! And maybe theyll send you away. Donna R: We got high in the bathroom. One time Donna F and I were like passing [a joint] to each other under the stalls, and these girls were like, Smells good in here. Some people would smoke pot in class. They would hide it under their backpack. I remember people had flasks all the time. Donna F: Once I got away with drinking peppermint schnapps in the front row of history class - they didnt even care. [Watch Clip] VH1: So you were high school outcasts, but the songs and the album cover present you as party-hardy vixens. Have you become the subject of unwanted attention? Donna A: In high school they thought we were crack-smoking lesbians. And now they think were like slutty jailbait teases that will do anything we mention in our lyrics. Donna R: Its like the bottom of the barrel [guys] will come up to you and say, You sing about this & lets make out! Donna A: You sing, Take me to the backseat, well, here I am! Im like, You are not the you in the song! Donna C: Last night some guy drove up and said, You want to get in the back seat? I was like Nein danke to that one! VH1: Youve been around for almost a decade. Whats kept you together? Donna R: We all have the same attitude towards everything that comes our way, because weve been doing this for like nine-and-a-half years. Pretty much everything that could happen to a band has happened to us, and more! Donna C: We have similar senses of humor, too. Theres so much waiting around time, that we know how to make each other laugh. That helps. VH1: How do you kill time? Donna R: We play video games or catch up on movies and TV - we miss a lot of stuff while were traveling. We do the stuff that people dont want to hear [about] because they want you to be partying all the time. But when youre on the road, you are being almost forced to party, so when you have free time, you want to relax. Donna A: Relaxing is a rebellion thing for us. Other people party all the time and say You should be partying! Well, how do you like us now? Were just going to watch a movie! VH1: Do you get groupies? Donna C: Its not like the pretty young sweet groupies that guy bands get. Its more like a 14-year-old boy or a 50-year-old man. Donna F: Theyre all kind of balding, staring [at us]. Donna A: We have a lot of older men at our concerts, and it happens for two reasons. Some of them are perverted and want to see young girls onstage. But we really do have the musical tastes of a 35-45-year-old man, so we have a common bond with them. Donna R: A lot of them arent creepy because they really do like the music. You cant write them off like that. Donna A: How conceited would we be if were walking around to like every 40 year-old man at our show, saying, Youre such a pervert, because you just wanna do me!? [Watch Clip] VH1: It seems like no one really knows who you guys really are. Does it become frustrating? Donna R: Its annoying because when people meet you, they already have an idea of what youre going to be like. They think youre slutty, and then you have to prove youre not. And if youre not what theyre expecting, then they think youre a fake. Often, [magazine] articles will paint a picture of us being these crazy partiers that are f*cked up and sleeping with a different guy every night. Then when they meet us and were not exactly the picture they expected, theyre like, Well, theyre just these good girls from California and they dont do anything! Donna F: Its hard to party every night when you have to wake up super early to do interviews. Donna A: Yeah, and if we did party every night, nobody would want to look at us. We wouldnt want to look at each other! VH1: Is Dirty Denim about anybody in particular? Donna R: Its about a couple of different people, so if the people who are involved in the song actually think its about them, we can always say, No, its actually about them! Its about spoiled rich kids that want to look like they come from nothing. Donna A: We kept complaining about these kinds of people. But it was so frustrating because we didnt have a name for them. We had to make up a name for them so we could just deal with it as a unit. VH1: Youre not alluding to the Strokes by any chance? All: NO! Donna C: Its not about them. Were friends with them! The song is about a guy that washes his hair and then blow-dries it and then messes it up and puts all these products in and two hours later it looks exactly the same as it did when he didnt wash it in the first place. After being on tour with the Strokes, I seriously doubt that any of them take two hours to do their hair. So its not about them at all. Donna R: They dont even have clean socks. Donna A: It is a little bit of that style, but its more like people that wished they were the Strokes. Like the second verse is all about how people are acting like youre hitting on them, but you never even looked at them. They walk around like, Everyone in this room wants to get with me. I am so awesome! Donna R: Why would we want to go out with someone skinnier than we are? Donna C: Nein danke! Donna A: We have a strict rule about not going out with people who are prettier than we are. [Watch Clip] VH1: Whats the wildest rumor youve ever heard about the band? Donna F: A long time ago there was an article in Maximum Rock n Roll that said I was pregnant with our managers baby. That was kind of weird. Donna R: Because our manager was a woman! Donna F: It was an immaculate conception. VH1: If you could reform any band who had split who would it be? All: GUNS N ROSES! Donna C: The original members. You could take over the world! Donna A: We saw Axl in Belgium doing Guns N Roses, and it was really cool, but it would be magical to have them all together. Donna C: If you had the power of the original it would be crazy! Donna A: Our necks would just break from who to look at? Who to watch? VH1: Would you ever do a Guns N Roses cover? Donna R: That would be blasphemous because we couldnt pull it off. Donna A: We used to switch instruments though and play Guns N Roses songs in our garage, like when we got sick of our own stuff. We dont really do any covers live. Because thats like all people want to hear! VH1: Eminems in the building today. What would you do if you saw him? Donna R: We like him a lot because he has issues with people, and so do we. Donna A: We like people that make fun of people. Thats why we picked Robert Hales to do our video, because he makes fun of people in every other video. VH1: Do people take Eminem too seriously? Donna C: Definitely! Donna R: I think thats the same with our band, in a way. People think that whatever lyrics we write are very heartfelt - obviously they arent. Eminems constantly having to stand up for everything he says and explain himself. Its just music, you know? He should be able to express himself. Donna A: People shouldnt blame their actions on musicians. VH1: Has anybody done anything particularly stupid in the name of the Donnas? Donna A: Yes! We got a letter once and this girl was like, You guys are my favorite band! I slept with my sisters boyfriend! In her bed! And let her catch me! Because of you! Donna C: Its good to know that were really having an effect on people! Donna A: This one guy told me he was huffing paint fumes in his car and he crashed into a pole, while listening to Huff All Night. Donna R: One of our fans faked their death on the Internet. She visited our message board a lot, and then somebody wrote in on her behalf and said she had passed away, and that she loved the Donnas and she was going to be buried in a Donnas T-shirt. We were really upset. We were trying to email the family, and then one of our fans tried to send flowers to the funeral home. And then they found out she was alive. We still dont even know the real story! She claimed that someone or an ex-boyfriend had gone into her email with her password. It was creepy! VH1: How do the Donnas grow up? Will you eventually turn your attention to other issues than screwing around and getting high? Donna C: What, like having kids or something? Donna A: Were going to have a whole half of an album about Lamaze class. Donna R: Females usually do that. They mature and become mothers and their whole outlook on life changes. But because of the kind of music we play, were a little more interested in being able to do what other bands like Aerosmith and AC/DC and the Rolling Stones do. Theyre all singing the songs from when they were kids. Alice Cooper still sings Im Eighteen every night. Donna A: And its awesome! See the Donnas talk about their favorite Nightmare On Elm Street movie. [Watch Clip] |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
 |
Valentine's Day Playlist: Top 10 Make-Out Songs |
|
Maroon 5, Donnas, Phantom Planet To Head Out On Tour |
|
Britney Yoga Pants, Sum 41 Neckties And Other Holiday Gift Ideas |
|
Jay-Z, R. Kelly Still Together — At Top of Billboard Albums Chart |
 |
 |
 |
|
Receive Free Music News Daily Via Email |
|
Receive Free Artist Updates Via Email for The Donnas |
|
All news for The Donnas |
|
Breaking Music News |
 |
Add VH1 News to My Yahoo |
|
