West Indian Girl

how we draw em up in the locker room

oh what a sad farewell it is. our third and final night of the residency went down last thursday. this night was probably the most fun of them all…but only by inches though. i was really impressed with tremblexy and loved the polyamorous affair. that’s them in the pic (below) with me after the show. nynex who remixed the first track on our vol. 2 remix record was spinning throughout the night. it was a great time, probably because we got to play our  newest, coolest and freshest material. these new songs are more of a singular collective mind space and feel great when we play them. the next cd is gonna be hot, dark and dirty. once again, i want to thank all of the bands that played with us during our residency  as well as all the fans that came out. it was a very special set of shows that probably won’t ever happen again. im very glad we did this because it made us a better band and actually brought us all closer together. holy shit im gonna cry 😉

eddie and sissy of the polyamorous affair

So the advance copies of new remix cd’s arrived yesterday and as it turns out I messed something up that deserves a public apology. Strangely enough when I cracked open one of those puppies and looked at the credits I was joking with our drummer Mark that they spelled his name with a “c”. He didn’t fall for it but seconds later Nathan looked at it and said that they had in fact spelled his name wrong. DOHHH! His last name is Van Hala, not Val Hala as it was printed. Val Hala happens to be a word in Norse mythology that literally means “hall of the slain” but more commonly refers to the viking heaven. HAHA…um…shit…sorry Nathan, i feel terrible. I mean it could be worse though…at least they spelled 2 words in your name right…you’re the only one with three….and it’s only one letter. Plus, Val Hala is kinda cool. Maybe it’s a sign it’s time for a name change….or not…or maybe it’s time for a public apology from the guy that should have caught the mistake. Me so sorry, Nathon.

bummer

The show last night was good, strange, sad and ugly at times. Good because there was once again a room filled beyond capacity to see the bands. Strange because we have never played that selection of songs all together without ever incorporating our signature material. Sad because we dedicated a song to my friend Brett – i guess emotional would be more apt than sad….but it was almost overwhelming. Ugly because we weren’t exactly as transitionally smooth as we would have liked..ie starting to play song 5 instead of song 4. No matter how you look at it though, in retrospect it was a success. The songs came across and the exit polls supported that this show did in fact kick ass. check out the photo gallery for pics from the show.

I would like to thank Mere Mortals, Mondo Domingo, Klum and DJ Pants Off for bringin’ it. They were a big part of why the evening was so successful. Looking back on it, the one thing that bothered me about the set was the lighting. I hate playing in red light. Not sure if it’s a vision problem I have but when I’m in red light I can’t see the fretboard on my guitars and it really fucks with the ease and naturalness of my playing. My eyes have always been like that. It’s almost like playing blind, and unfortunately I’m no Stevie Wonder.

set list for show 2

As u can see from the list we did play 2 new songs, honey money and shangri la, from the next cd. I think this next show will consist of the first 5 songs as brand new ones and the next 4 as “hits”. The evening should be intense. We’re playing a song called dirge which happens to be one of my favorites.

I just found out one of my old friends died in a motorcycle crash the other day. brett smith was one of a kind – he was one of the most charismatic people i have ever known. he moved to florida around the time i moved to california. even though we havent talked much over the past few years our friendship was the kind that would shift back into it’s natural place when we saw each other. brett and i had history. plain and simple…we were both from the same town in mi, were roommates in ann arbor, and we were also both bass players.  we were great friends thru some some pretty crazy times there. brett was a tough dude…he lived on the edge. brett was one of those people that i really didnt have to say a word to – it was understood that we would always be friends.  he was the kind of guy that had your back. seems like those people are few and far between. i wish i had a chance to talk to you again brett.

The first night of our residency at Spaceland was a complete success! I would like to thank all the bands that played with us…Roll The Tanks, Casxio and Hearts of Palm (UK) – they were all great.  In case you missed this show our set consisted solely of songs off our first record: 1. Visions 2. Miles From Monterey 3. Trip 4. Dream 5. Hollywood 6. Still Lost 7. Northern Sky 8. What Are You Afraid Of? 9. Encore: Honey Money (new song). Thanx again to all of our friends that showed up, it was great sharing this special evening with you. Be sure to check out the pictures up now in the photo gallery.  I would also like to remind everyone that next Thurs the 13th we will be playing songs just off of our second record “4th & Wall.”  Again, if you along with any of your friends would like to go, just email info@westindiangirl.com to get on our guest list. These shows are a way of giving back to our fans in Los Angeles who have supported the band for the past couple years. Please spread the word and join our party…it’s on us.