Feminism is the dirtiest word I know.

There's a time and a place for everything in life. Tonight is the night a show in Poland of all places has forced me to really come clean with myself. I don't really like to touch on feminist stuff because I used to feel that it's a personal issue and I do enough as it is supporting fellow female bands (and fronting my own!). There are such negative things associated with speaking your mind as a woman in rock. God forbid you are volatile like Courtney Love or borderline "too in love with the females" like smarter than most, Kathleen Hanna. That's right, I'm coming out and saying it, that there is an unspoken rule as a girl in music not to take too much of a stand. Uh, on anything. That's why most women in bands say "oh, we don't like to be seen as a girl band" or "gender doesn't matter in music"…That's such bullshit. It's sad because all this is to me is a cop out. You are too scared to be seen for what you are that you downplay it in hopes that it will go away. It's not going away!
Tonight what happened in Poland was destined to happen eventually. There's still a lot of wrong in the world that needs to be righted. I'm telling this story in hopes that the next time you see something wrong, you act on it, like I did, regardless of who you are. Female, male…in a band…working at the burger joint…we are all the same. I generally don't like to call myself a feminist and at the end of the day I love men just as much as the next chick, but things are not equal and I witnessed that at this show. I might be changing my title. Tonight in Poland we played an amazing show with the Adicts. I experienced firsthand the kind of discrimination I've been saying in interviews for years that I didn't really believe existed anymore. We tour, we play with guy bands. We are well respected. We're not hoes. We are positive role models for young women. Nothing we do suggests that we want anything other than your friendship and loyalty as a fan. Tonight we took the stage to a really really great crowd and 2 songs in I got to see that the double standard is alive & well in Poland apparently. There was a guy photog that tried to jump up on stage and actually stick his camera up my skirt. Like I wasn't even a real person or maybe like I was a stripper at a strip club?! Now, I need to note that I'm pretty tough and I brush off things that aren't a big deal, but there was a lot riding on this moment. There were so many little girls in the crowd…..more than I've seen at a show in a while. They were all cute and civetafied. I couldn't possibly stand down something like this. I did the only thing my instincts told me to do…Stand up for myself! I got some help from our road crew to grab him….but he gave some excuse and they let him go. I just wasn't really satisfied with that at all, and at the risk of looking like Courtney Love in the 90's I put my guitar down and let my sister take the next song. I climbed off stage and confronted the cowering bastard who was now in the back of the room….the details from here on out were not very important….I demanded the camera or it to be deleted. All in all it wasn't about the photo at all, cause everyone knows there's pics of me out there where you can see my shorts….yes everyone….I ALWAYS wear boy shorts under my skirt, so even when you think you saw something, it's shorts…congrats. It wasn't about the photo at all. It was about the fact that this person thought it was OK to violate someone's personal space and objectify them like that. What if that had been your mother or your sister onstage, how would you feel? Think about the rage my brother probably felt seeing that? If it was one of your own it would be a whole other story right? The majority of men I come across are pretty enlightened…they encourage their women to really live their lives, and there's a certain amount of respect there. Now I don't know if homeboy does this all the time or whaaatever, but it doesn't happen on my watch. I truly felt that in that moment, that if I didn't stand up for myself in front of all these women AND MEN who have respect for me, all would be lost. Everything I've worked for from day one….stolen, by someone who hadn't been taught how to treat women right. Blows my mind. I found that when I got in the crowd and in this persons face I wasn't "lowering myself" but I was standing up for everyone in that room. I was met by a lot of fans who grabbed him and got in his face as well. That support was resounding. It really struck a cord with me. Security took him outside and at the end of the show a woman came up and gave me a roll of film. That's right…a woman handed me the film.    
I went back onstage and played my little heart out, which is what I do every night. I played for all the little girls in the audience who had to witness that. I played it for the Polish men who were embarrassed that one of their favorite bands would come to their country and be disrespected like that. I played it for my future daughter….and my grandchildren and everyone who knows the truth…that just because we aren't living in the 50's anymore, doesn't mean that housewife mentality is gone. We just don't talk about it even though we should! You can't keep me in the kitchen, and you sure as hell can't keep me off the road.

Lost in Translation

Travel Day

“It’s a long, long way from Houston baby” or rather it’s just a long long way from where I was last year…. I’ve got back in the swing of running things with the band (with a little bit of help of course this time around!) We just finished that record & can’t wait to share it in October. Til then I’m excited to be back on the road as we head out to Europe again…I love it over there (Even though I gotta admit, there’s some thing about coming home to Long Beach that is really the best feeling in the world) Hopefully I’ll be able to see more and do more this time around…last time we came over here it was really cold and we were on tour with the street dogs. I’m starting to get used to the different countries…like Germany to me is similar to the us, but a little more hard around the edges…my favorite is Sweden….I wish we were going to Stockholm this time around, but I’ll take Oslo...lots of festivals too. I don’t think I’ve played any fests in Europe yet, so this should be very interesting…totally excited, but a little homesick. This time around we’re bringing out my little brother to tech… should be an experience since I think he’s really used to having lots of things done for him etc….today I was like “you’re hungry? Well go get some food” ha ha….he’s young, but I really think this experience will change him for the better…..maybe he’ll even get the itch like me and Suzi…the one that keeps you wanting to travel and keeps your best feelings when you check into a hotel & check your bags…it’s a different kind of person that thrives on being in a new place everyday….it’s a good way to live….never get boring!

Prague or Praha - Mini Vacation

We hung out in Prague at our drivers house. It was good to be back in a city we were familiar with and it’s always cool to be able to locate the h & m or know how to ride the train….we have knowledge of both of these! We’ve stayed at our driver Mdogs house before….it’s this really cool flat on the 5th floor and his parents are never home! We ate our fav potato pancakes at this little pub. Its always a shock coming back to Europe and remembering that people still smoke indoors….I always feel kinda lucky that no one in my band are smokers….that’s the worst…Jacq and I went with
Mdog to the Mighty Sounds Bar & felt totally local…

The second day in Prague was the best because it straight up felt like summer camp. We went to this lake, which isn’t really a lake, it’s a mined out old rock area that filled up naturally with water….it’s only about a few hundred feet, not very big…but its super murky and goes down so deep no one knows,…there’s fish., And who knows what else….lake monster? We jumped off the cliff into the water. That was one of the most thrilling jumps of all time….once was enough though! Played some vollyball (yes! Vollyball!) and remembered what a competitive jock I am….ha ha…It was here that I experienced the best cider of my life…hands down THE BEST! I am a cider conosuier as people who know me know and it was fucking incredible…and on top of that, the selection was HUGE!!! Enough vacation…lets get some shows going!

Had an AMAZING run at Mighty Sounds...the photos speak for themselves...there's some shows where the vibe is just there...the vibe was TOTALLY there....the response to our new stuff has been amazing...I'm really really happy right now...We got to catch up with our homies in H20, sans a few of the guys for these festivals....it's always nice to see people you've toured with when you are a million miles away from home...ok maybe not a million....but a lot! Same goes with the Serengeti fest....good to catch up with some members of Flogging Molly & hang out with our new drinking buddies Valiant Thor....where's the hard liquor?! Great show sans some technical difficulties...and it's not everyday we get to open for GWAR!!!!




Munich-

This show was awesome…Sweaty, real….rock n’ roll….the ghost in our room that night was super NOT awesome. The fact that some people knew about it, and didn’t share…super NOT awesome! I would have slept in the van for sure over this…IT was strange because I had this gut feeling not to go up to the club flat. I actually didn’t even make it up there until 40 min after we played. When I realized I was the only one up I got a little creeped out and laid down only to hear door opening and closing & scratching on the wall….horrible stuff….

But the show was good! Ha ha….and Pernod from Big Cheese came out to the show to bring us some magazines…he gave us the cover, which I’m sure will help out the shows….we were totally stoked on the turnout last night…..it’s starting to not even feel like an hour long set at this point….

I need to change my guitar strings when we get to the next venue for sure…..3 shows and one super sweaty one is too much….gotta make sure we don’t have any malfunctions….

Thanks to everyone who came out to Munich….you guys were rad even though we were in a sauna…Sometimes that’s the best though!

Writing & guest starring....

Lisa Johnson & I doing what we do!!!!



We've been home for a while....writing, writing, demoing and now, just now finally everything fell into place. There's something about a record that just can't be forced. I've never felt like a song is something you yourself create. It's like it has a mind of it's own...some are better than others (for the record, everything on out new record IS AWESOME) So the story goes something like this...We did some ghetto recording sesh at AMP in North Hollywood before we left on the Street Dogs tour. It was ok....then we came back and took some time to really live and grow and work on our songwriting...We've heard that from everyone! You think that people in the business push "LIVE SHOWS"...no, you're wrong....truth be told the live show is the fun part, the REALITY is that good songs make your career...slow, fast, dance, doesn't matter as long as it is good. Think about all the bands you've gone to see where you can't wait to hear them play that one hit! Now if, in theory you work really hard to build your fan base and have lots of these jems people can't wait to hear, well that my dear translates into an actual career! You can put out a record every year and people will buy it, but if you hold off and put out some serious quality, it's like currency...like GOLD!!!! So Civet girls spent the holidays doing holiday stuff and NAMM in January....then the light went off...and it went off so fast and so bright I still can't even wrap my head around it. We started writing some of the best stuff that's ever gone through this band. And we wrote together! And shit got crazy....I'm glad it did because all I really wanted to do this time around is write the record I knew that I was capable of writing. Something true and something hard....Not a sellout record. Just pure civet! Suz and I figured out our (Dare I say it?) FORMULA for our perfect songwriting process! This is great because I feel like because we are sisters and have that unique bond we are able to push each other harder than an outside person would be able to do....

We are in the studio as I write (ok....not AS I WRITE, but last week and tomorrow ;) Our official demos turned out so well we decided to just pave our own way, and as reviews of the material started coming in there's no doubt in my mind we made the right decision. Somtimes it's really hard to be strong and stand up and take responsibility for things and be a big girl. I really truly feel like this record is going to make a lot of people really really happy (ourselves included)and it's a lesson to stand up for what you believe in and above all just go with your gut feeling about stuff!!!!! You don't need someone to hold your hand and tell you what to do, you know what to do!

Ok....now that I hope everyone is super excited about the record and I got to get out my 2 cents on it, it comes out October!!!!! Hope you guys continue with your love and support we've come to depend on, ha ha xo

In other REALLY COOL NEWS (!) I did a song on the William Control Record (NOIR)...it's just a chorus thing, but I was excited to have the opportunity to work on something of his since I really respect him as a musician. That record comes out JUNE 8th and the hot and talented Lisa "i won't hang out until suz is 21" Johnson shot all the art for it! Pick it up!!!

I'm gunna go back to blogging a lot more, i feel like now that i'm almost done writing the record I've got a lot to say and no where to channel it! AHHHH! ha ha....don't be scared....it's all good....so does that mean that the record is just the musical expression of the blog? hmmmmm.....food for thought....

The biggest little city in the world!

Ah a weekend of shows in small towns…sometimes these are the most rewarding runs! Playing for the starved masses last weekend was not only totally fun, but it was a much needed rock n’ roll ego stroke for me and the girls. It was a definite TURKEY... which is our code word for three really great shows in a row…hey if it’s good for bowling, it’s good for us!

First up was Stockton, where we played for Middah, who I kept calling Mike….i don’t know why I do this, but once I get things in my head its just really hard to get them out. The worst part is that I know him…I’ve known him for years! He came out to our first ever Stockton show where we played the American Legion Hall with The Generators and the Forgotten. The show was rad, the relationship drama on tour with me at the time SUCKED! There is nothing worse than trying to do a job and having a bf get in your way (let me clarify we are speaking EX) It’s hard to do shows with significant others because everything is magnified by a zillion…. So there we were, back in Stockton….about three hours early. This is the phenomenon in rock n’ roll that we like to refer to as “hurry up and wait”. This happens all the time, it will never change…..so we checked out sketchy Stockton as they checked out us….we went to MOO Burger and Roxie got the “NO MOO” love it! We hung out in the Plea For Peace and it started to rain! EWWW! Rain on tour = not your friend! We played with a whole bunch of cool bands…definitely rockin’ their own vibes….The MexiVandals (not their name, but def the band) opened and it was good….then Asiago (btw my fav bagel at starbees) graced us with some serious pipes and songwriting that we promptly told them they would be stupid not to take it to Tooth and Nail and make some serious x-ian rock cash! The Black Horde played too…..Now we played with them at The Blackwater Café last time we came through town and I swear they sounded like the BRONX. This time around, not so much….more “metal or die” style….Skateshoes, the singer (whose house Civet has crashed at in the past) was actually wearing a priest suit! We were up! It was an awesome show with a really really great pit as well as some tough as nails little kids and the pretty made up chicks….it’s always funny to me to see how different all our fans are….We played a great show and I almost lost my teeth to the mic…



Round 2 was amazing! We made a not so hot decision that I paid for later to brave the I70 to avoid snow….mmmm, not so much…hit the snow…needed the chains…took me like 4 hours of zombie like driving to make it over the mountain….We almost got stuck in the chain off area when our chains got wrapped around the wheel well…it was like 20 degrees, snowing and all the girls were sleeping…. I didn’t want to wake them up so I got the Fed Ex guy to help me. Had to put my tail between my legs when he said he had offered to help me put them on and I had shot him down! Why does all this stuff happen to me? I’m bound to be put in a situation where I’m humbled if I don’t watch myself. It never fails…It also helps me to be a better person on a daily basis. Note to self – take help when it’s offered the first time!


We rolled into The Nugget and decided to camp out here…this was a great casino with our number one prereq, a starbees! I also got sucked into some serious gambling while there….that never happens to me, but I really felt like this one machine kept paying off (NOT!)! We loaded in to vixens and reunited with our homie Chapin to celebrate his new ownership of vixens! This man is the ultimate enabler….he doesn’t drink, but when he starts handing everyone shots you sure feel like he does!!! We passed on a soundcheck….now this is always a dilemma ….but all of my friends in bands will agree that great soundcheck = shitty show and vice versa….so why even go there? Last nights’ show was on, we know and love vixens sound system and we knew the fans were gunna be there…we went for it!!! No check and off to a great interview with friend and uber fan Chris Payne at KR-something Reno….that was easy….the only thing I ever worry about in group interviews is us sounding kinda snobby or maybe even a little stupid…it’s just that when we are all together shit gets real funny really fast..and after a zillion of these interviews that, let’s face it…all ask the same shit, you kinda sound like a robot occasionally…..So for the record, we’re really smart, and NOT assholes…..just easily amused.
Show was off the hook at Vixens that night and Youth Brigade n’ 7 Seconds, MIsfritz played awesome as well….the pineapple vodka just tasted like just pineapple and definitely snuck up on us!!! I was (kinda) the last man standing as the girls had to rescue mission Rox and left me at the club…..my conversations consisted of this (and this is how you KNOW I was a goner) – medical marijuana curing cancer, the REAL meaning of being a punk rocker, and reintroducing myself to a guy I’ve known for years, just didn’t recognize…..duh! So finally someone came to get me (cause you KNOW civet girls to NOT walk to the hotel alone)… I had a run in with a “poison” apple and missed a few calls from the bf and was smart enough to pass out in the hotel bed on my stomach (JUST IN CASE!), although I was kinda naked at least I was safe about it!
The morning met me with a, yeah… you guessed it, wicked hangover…We hung out with Chapins’ baby and hot wife Jo for a while, then some serious Olive Garden to nurse our hangovers….the big joke at the OG was that everyone in the lobby was “going to dinner” and we were sitting there not talking, just playing on our phones and not speaking a single word to each other…I wanted to stand up and explain to all these fine people that we are on tour and we’re more than ok with silence….and that when you are with someone for days you just coexist….especially in a band setting…ask anyone! Totally not weird fine people of Reno!


Truckee was cute…small….reminded me of one of the tiny venues we played on the Guttermouth Tour in CA a zillion years ago…..lots of super slippery ice and no one to help load….live in a dive show….love it!!! The turnout was great, but the downside was that most people who were at the show the night before were there….how is this bad you ask? Uh, because they already bought the merch! We played with the super rad and stand up hilarious Saddle Tramps…We played pretty much the same set, still slightly under the weather, but it was super fun! I was so in the swing of playing shows that I wanted to keep going!! We left and hauled ass back to LA….3 days was great, but can we do some 3 weekers now?!

My Love Affair w/ Fender! (NAMM 2010)

This was our second year at NAMM…it feels really good when you play something big one year and everyone loves you enough to invite you back the next year…not that we aren’t lovable like that ha ha! We played for Fender/Gretsch which is basically the same company with one having more classic old school vibe and feel and the other one being the typical rock guitar…Now don’t get me wrong, I‘m a Gibson girl, but a fender strat WAS my first real guitar…I remember wanting one really really bad because Courtney Love played them. I started off with a Squire (Fenders' more moderately priced child) and later moved on to a real Fender. My first guitar was black and I remember having a Cramps sticker on it and a pic of Courtney Love (of course!) I played a set of two shows/back to back nights at some club in Westminster that isn’t even around anymore…with this ridiculous wanna be Kiss copy band called FiFi Larue…the shows were good, unfortunately some jerk stole my guitar when I made the mistake of not packing it in the van (at this point we’re talking mini van, not uh, van van…) My second fender went the same way…she was gorgeous, baby blue and managed to sound amazing although I was still playing out of a shot to shit Rickenbacker amp… I remember playing the 3rd or 4th annual Mad Monster Party that we used to play every year at the knitting factory… Someone stole it from the back room along with my coffin case. That sucked… and to this day I am a straight up Nazi about someone watching the gear at all times… I always just brushed off the loss of the guitar, cause after all it’s just stuff… but I’m SURE at this point in my life if I lost the Gibson I would surely lose my shit.
NAMM, oh yeah! NAMM! So Fender put us up in the Double Tree the night before so we didn’t have to deal with the NIGHTMARE that is parking at NAMM… Now if you haven’t been to NAMM it would surely blow your mind… even for the mild gear head it’s overwhelming… all the new guitars, psuesdo-rock celebs everywhere! One out of three people looks like they came from a time machine set to the 80’s… Mick Mars was there, Yngwie Malmsteen, Strung Out played, Kerry King, Slash, etc, etc...
We played the Fender stage which is inside and set up like an auditorium…it was cool, but honestly like the vibe wasn’t there… we were rocking and a lot of these people were trade show old people mixed in with our crowd… See namm is weird because you CAN'T buy tickets, so fans CAN'T get in… so when you see a whole bunch of people singing along, which thank God there were, then that means that your fans also work for companies… extra cool! So our set was good… there we’re a ton of cameras and the video looks pretty sick as do some of the photos, but truly my favorite set was the second one, down on the motherfucking floor super punk rock style. This was where we played last year, on the floor at the Kim Falcon booth…There’s just something about playing right there that has super good vibes… I was able to jump into the crowd and really “ACT OUT” I like that… that’s when I really feel it and am stoked… Chris Pontius loved it, and you know we love him! Other pseudo big fan moment was Dhani Harrison (George Harrison’s son) watching from the side of the fender stage and telling us how much he loved it when we got done… BTW he rolled up in a bullet proof escalade. Just sayin. So we played and it was great, both sets….it was only like 3:30 by that point and I was exhausted as I’m sure all the other girls were too… we walked around shaking hands and kissing babies and later after watching Strung Out’s set we headed off to a delicious sushi dinner with the Strung Out dudes, Michael Shultz (the homie) Billy the fender marketing genius and a few others… Sushi was cool, but I couldn’t wait to get some sleep and go round 2 as a spectator at nmamm the next day!
I rocked out on the Malcom Young model Gretsch which actually sounded pretty sick after I let a super tech friend rewire the sob to run hotter...I shot some stuff for Altitude TV which is now REVOLVER TV(more on this in a bit!) and the day was pretty packed, but in a good way!
The rumors were true! Rancid actually came out and played the Gretsch floor stage on Saturday… It was nothing less that phenomenal…it was good to be a punk rocker that day…I really really felt proud…it was one of those moments that really make me feel proud to do what I do and be a part of this hellcat family. I actually got teary eyed! And I wasn’t too big shot to sing along with all the other fans, cause this was real! I later ran into Corey Parks (Nashville pussy/Chelsea girls) who was there promoting her new cabinet line (super sick and white!) It’s funny because everyone is there promoting SOMETHING! It was good to see all these people (Tim, Corey, Michael) who believed in the band and gave us their love and support… that’s why we are where we are… we give them mad props and love! Viva Namm 2010!