we will be touring extensively in the new year and are looking for a sound man to become part of our permanent family. if you’re interested and have done sound (on a professional level) before then please contact robert james at info@westindiangirl.com leave your phone number and brief description of your experience. this will be a great job to have.
F10
well, we are in the middle of working on some new songs for the next record. the songs sound great. i’m really proud of how pro everyone has been in the studio – it’s great working with this crew. this next record is going to be very interesting. we have a few shows coming up in november but that is only for the lucky few in costa mesa and san diego. i think december will be more of the same – recording every night with maybe a few shows in AZ, NV, and CA. 
oh yeah as far as that pic below goes, that’s mariqueen as a model for plasticgod products. she looks amazing (but what else is new right?) congratulations mariqueen we are all proud of you and looking forward to vogue in the near future. believe it or not she’s modeling a necklace in the pics…i think if you use a magnifying glass you can get a good look at it;)
as far as some other random things go – well, rob is now living at the studio, carter is moving deeper into the heart of hollywood, i’m getting kicked out of my place in 6 months.
so – we have new shirts and stuff up in our store. they rock – take a look. if you’ve ever ordered from our store you can appreciate how we ship out our merch. wrapped in packages that look like they’re up to no good and should be searched. gangster.
ok so I finally added some more show reports. scroll down or check out the show report column on the right to read about the m theory in-store, the last show with turin brakes in s.d. and the solana beach show with sound tribe sector 9. I’m finally kicking it back into high blogging gear folks so watch out. oh yeah i also added a links section to the blog below the show reports.
If you’re curious as to what we are doing now we are banging out songs for our next record in our studio downtown. the shit is sounding awesome. downtown L.A. sure is depressing though. it’s like crack central a few blocks away. our block seems to be getting a bit more sketchy these days cos some real crazy street people have started crashing there. when i say crazy i mean crazy…like talking to themselves as well as talking shit to my dog crazy. if had a ton of money i would get them all hotel rooms but i don’t.
oh yeah, if you ever happen to be watching the AMC channel on tv listen for us cos they will be using “what are you afraid of” in their month long promos. “Miles From Monterey” was also used in the new Fox show called Bones. i didnt hear it but i’m sure it sounded cool.
F.TEN
we have a myspace account. i know i know, what is the world coming to, right? listen, i know you all have one, i had one. if you don’t already have our band as your friend, chop chop and get adding.
you know you’re going to click this…
bigkiss.
mariqueen
ps – hey this is Fran, fyi i rarely answer mail on our myspace account so if you need to get in touch with me just do it via this blog ok. otherwise mariqueen will be writing you back (which i’m sure every guy is really going to bummed out about. yeah, right)…
If you have the chance you might want to listen to a live on-air acoustic session we are doing this friday at 3pm (PST) on KEXP in seattle. KEXP is another great station like xpn in philly, kcmp in minny, det in detroit and of course our own kcrw in la. listen to us here at the KEXP site. robert and mariqueen are going to play a few west indian girl songs -it’s gonna be cool cos most people haven’t heard these songs performed like this.
tour starts in new york this thursday
hey everybody i’m sorry i havent been updating the blog lately but that is because i’ve been so busy getting ready for our FIRST EVER US TOUR. thank God our tour is about to start. yeah, it’s gonna be great. we will play 16 shows in 23 days. i’m so excited to go on this tour just because we’re gonna get better as a band. to date we have played only 26 shows and after this tour our we will have played 42. that’s a big jump for us. i just hope another tour follows this one because west indian girl loves being on the road.
as i type this carter and tommy (newly hired helping hand) are driving all of our gear out to nyc. just getting our vehicle this weekend was a big mess or as we say in italian un casino de la madonna. i was at the uhaul place for 5 fucking hours yesterday only to accomplish nothing. the van that was rented to us had both it’s brake lights not functioning. as result of this the uhaul place wouldnt let us hook up the uhaul – plus it’s pretty dangerous driving across the country with no brake lights. we were supposed to get a new van this morning but that never arrived so this afternoon i was back at the uhaul place for 3 hours trying to figure out what to do. this time rob joined me for the festivities. right before the uhaul place closed we decided to rent a pickup truck and 6×12 trailer. we drove it off the lot and parked it right outside the uhaul place just so we had it ready for the van (whenever it arrived). meanwhile our idiot van rental company never got us a van and at the last minute (8:30 pm) told us a brand new suburban was on it’s way over. the suburban actually rocks…gps, bose speakers, leather seats…it’s dope. we finally got that bitch hooked up to a trailer and loaded with all our equipment around 11:30 pm. carter and tommy officially took off around midnight. they’re gonna have to drive their asses off to get to ny in 3 days. i kind of wish i was going with them. at least they have a nice ride. the suburban isnt going to be so nice when we have 6 people in it though…it’s gonna suck major ass.
i’m really sad to announce that tony is not going to be making this trip with us. yeah this is really bumming me out but hey, look where tone is going to be staying. he’s going to stay with the dog whisperer from the national geographic channel. for real, cesar millan is going to be rehabilitating tony at his dog psychology center. tony is great with people but he is dog aggressive. so on one hand i’m totally stressing about this but on the other hand this will probably be the best thing in his life cos he gets a chance to socialize with a huge pack of dogs. who knows how much fun he could have if he just lightens up and decides to blend in with the other kids. he might meet a lady too. summer love. i hope things work out for the kid.
about to em”bark” on a tour of his own
F.TEN
i just wanted to post our tour dates again as the show in providence got moved to portland, maine. we’re really excited to get out to all these cities that we haven’t palyed in yet. it should be a blast. we will have tons of cool merch too – new t-shirts with an elephant on them (a nod to our new video which i will be posting in a day or so), women’s tanks, buttons, and best of all a limited edition tour litho. the litho is really cool – printed, silk screened, numbered, signed (if you want) and ONLY 200 made. yesterday night i finished making the new merch sign…what a bitch because i only had one stencil for each letter so it was painstakingly slow. but it’s done…it is what it is…a massive homage to our superiour merchandise (it folds too). all the new merch probably wont be available online until after our tour but i’m gonna try to make it happen before that.
so the last few days we have been demo’ing new material for our next record as well as cleaning the studio up. i cant wait til we finish writing this new batch of songs. right now they all seem to be 8 minutes long though. so check this link out – it’s another interview we did a while back for rhino online. i just saw the video for what are you afraid of and it’s pretty cool. look for it.
7/14 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
7/15 Boston, MA – TT the Bear’s
7/16 Portland, ME – The Big Easy
7/18 Annapolis, MD – Ramshead Tavern
7/19 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
7/21 Toronto, ONT – The Mod Club Theatre
7/23 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
7/24 Chicago, IL – Double Door
7/25 Minneapolis, MN – Ascot Room @ The Quest
7/28 Vancouver, BC – Richard’s
7/29 Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe
7/30 Portland, OR – Doug Fir
8/01 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
8/03 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
8/04 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
8/05 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
random notes: this morning when i was walking tony i met shelly winters (won an oscar in 1959 and 1965) …she was in a wheel chair but she was wearing some gangster shades. she said she’s going to our troubadour show…for real. i dont think she understood what i was talking about but she seemed like she was still having a good time. then while i was on my way to the dentist i got pulled over by the beverly hills police and they gave me a ticket for not wearing my seat belt. fuck, i wish my truck would beep when i dont put it on…i just forgot. sucks. no cavities though. a bit later on while i was waiting at a stop light (with my seat belt on) anthony keidis from the red hot chili peppers drove past me in a light green vespa. strange. —F.TEN
hey everyone, due to circumstances beyond west indian girl’s control we were forced to cancel 3 upcoming shows (see below). the first two are ones with The Coral in San Francisco and Seattle and the third is the massive Street Scene in San Diego. yes, this totally sucks…believe me when i say that we are way more bummed about this than you are.
SHOWS CANCELLED
6/15 San Francisco – Slims – w/The Coral
6/17 Seattle – Crocodile – w/The Coral
7/30 San Diego – Street Scene
BUT…on the bright side of the things we are announcing our first official U.S. tour with Turin Brakes who are also on astralwerks. this tour is going to be a great summer treat so mark these dates down as it will be our first time in many of these cities. more dates might also be added at the end of this tour so stay tuned for more info.
SHOWS ADDED
7/14 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
7/15 Boston, MA – TT the Bear’s
7/16 Providence, RI – The Call
7/18 Annapolis, MD – Ramshead Tavern
7/19 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
7/21 Toronto, ONT – The Mod Club Theatre
7/23 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
7/24 Chicago, IL – Double Door
7/25 Minneapolis, MN – Ascot Room @ The Quest
7/28 Vancouver, BC – Richard’s
7/29 Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe
7/30 Portland, OR – Doug Fir
8/1 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
8/3 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
8/5 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
new show reports will be up tomorrow – here’s a link to an interview we did recently for SFburning just to tide you over—F.TEN
yup, if live in los angeles this should be pretty cool. the roosevelt hotel has just been re-done and the pool is opening – kinda old school palm springs meets old school miami. just say you’re there for the Fischerspooner/West Indian Girl after party and you’re good to go with full access to the pool bar and lunge area. this event happens wed june 1st after the show. it is being brought to you by none other than hiedi goodtimes (the best promoter in la) so you know its gonna be rad. the address is 7000 hollywood blvd., but you enter off of orange st and there is valet parking. see you there star stalkers –F.TEN
so if you’ve been keeping up to date with our adventures you are of course aware that we will be filming a video for the song What Are You Afraid Of on May 11th. due to the video’s concept we might very well be in need of a few more extras. the scene we are going to be shooting takes place in front of a beautiful Hindu temple which will be set up like a street fair or bazaar. we are looking for people from all walks of life: young, old, a wide variety of races, from conservative looking people, tourists, to the hip, etc. etc. there will be a 6 hour call from noon until 6pm and you will need to bring two wardrobe changes. last but not least there will be NO PAY for the work. yup, this is purely for the sake of being in our video and not getting paid just like we arent getting paid. if you are interested this might be your big break (not really, but it will be something cool to say you did and hopefully one day you will see your face for a split second on MTV). anyway, if you want to be an extra and can be in the LA area that day let me know and the producers will be in touch. we will need your name, phone numbers and email. send all emails to info@westindiangirl.com or leave me a comment or both. remember, a star is born every minute.
ok ok, so it’s been a while since the last post. hey, sorry about that but a bunch of stuff has been going on. so, let’s get to the bad news first. unfortunately for the midwest we wont be playing there in may. we have just 2 gigs and they’re both out east:
5/20 in New York at the Mercury Lounge
5/21 in Philadelphia at the Tower Theatre for the NonComm Convention
now the good news for all our fans on the west coast (esp sf and la) is that we are going to be playing a bunch of shows in june: the fischerspooner dates i mentioned before and now 3 new shows with a band from the uk called the coral. once again we are support on these bills so get there early and cheer loudly.
6/1 – Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda (w/ Fischerspooner)
6/2 – San Diego, CA – House Of Blues (w/ Fischerspooner)
6/3 – Anaheim, CA – House Of Blues (w/ Fischerspooner)
6/4 – San Francisco – Fillmore (w/ Fischerspooner)
6/14 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour (w/ The Coral)
6/15 – San Francisco, CA – Slims (w/ The Coral)
6/17 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile (w/ The Coral)
after the seattle show we will continue on thru portland, denver, salt lake, phoenix and eventually back to la where we will play a special show at cine-space. june is going to be a hot month.
as far as the video goes…well, it’s finally going to happen and i think its going to kick ass. let’s just say it involves an elephant, a little girl and a hindu temple…more to follow—F.TEN
oh yeah – here is an ancient chinese proverb sent in by our k.c. fan chris (frob) flathers. Squirrel who runs up woman’s leg not find nuts. i dont know where he gets these but they’re funny.
sorry, no nipples for ya but we’ve finally got some new merch in stock – here’s the breakdown on the women’s shirts. we’ve got 3 designs – the astral magnet, taj mahal and the west indian logo (and thankfully a great model in mariqueen). the logo shirt on the right is a classic, it’s extra soft and sexy and we’re only making it in one color – heather black with light silver print. the astral magnet design is the image taken from the west indian girl votive candle. the taj mahal design is pretty rad because it’s just our logo without the name.
astral magnet in sky blue — taj mahal in pale mint
as far as the men’s shirts go well there are 3 as well – the astral magnet, the taj mahal, and the famous flying W. the taj mahal in slate grey happens to be my personal favorite (as of this minute) because the printing on it is insane – 3 colors, black, white and grey. rob is wearing it in the pic on the right. im kinda into the fact that it just has the west indian w on it and not our name. i like just having the icon on it – that w is to west indian girl as the tongue is to the rolling stones. my man sean mosher-smith designed this shirt as well as our icon… we love that guy. anyway, as far as the other shirts go check out chris’ and mark’s titties below.
the flying W in brown — the astral magnet in red
the astral magnet happens to be the OG of our t-shirt line by the way. the first run of shirts with this design was white on black and only 30 were made. george “the hardest working man in showbiz” abi-hanna is rockin this design below. we love george… [note to virgin records…pay him more money].
george on his honeymoon in brazil
SO, “where do i get one” is what you must be asking. well, right now the answer to that question is your shit out of luck. haha, well, sort of…yeah you are unless you go to our shows you cant get them yet. if the guy working on our site (todd calvert) ever fucking finishes our our store page you will be able to get them online but for now…sorry charlie —F.TEN
hey guys, just got word that we are going to be opening for fischerspooner on all of their west coast tour dates in june.
the dates are:
6/1, Henry Fonda Theatre Los Angeles, Ca
6/2, House of Blues San Diego, Ca
6/3, House of Blues Anaheim, Ca
6/4, The Fillmore, San Francisco, Ca
more tour dates are on the way.
—F.TEN
just got confirmation of a great show we’re playing in philly.
5/21 Tower Theatre – Philadelphia, PA also on the bill are bob mould, sun volt, jason mraz and my morning jacket. cant wait to play the tower…should sound amazing there.
plenty more dates are on the way. prepare yourself.
—F.TEN
west indio girl
the photo shoot with marc goldstein went extremely well. our first day of shooting was monday. we drove out to a remote area in indio, ca. and got some pretty sweet shots. it was our first “real” photo shoot with mariqueen. there are so many different variables to consider when doing a group shot. overall cohesion is what you look for and i think this depends on a few variables such as wardrobe, comfort with yourself, ease in front of the camera, and group togetherness. in the end i think we got some good stuff. the next day we woke up early again and went on location to a bar called the white lotus. normally this bar is packed to the gills with hollywood scenesters but on this sunny afternoon it was just filled with west indian girl people and therefore a very great location. once again i know marc got some great shots.
band with the crew(victoria,marc,jesse,odessy)
after all the good times at the white lotus we switched locations and went downtown to our studio roof top. our studio is on the 5th floor. for these pics goldstein was experimenting with exposures of up to ten seconds in length cool shit man. the other picture is of mariqueen with victoria and jesse (make-up and stylist).
well…do i have to even say it
F.TEN 5:05pm
oh yeah – there’s a tour being promoted saying we will be opening for the wonderstuff on their U.S. tour. we will not be doing that tour…repeat….not doing that tour. we will be touring though and i will post all the dates as soon as i know the details —F.TEN 8:53pm
SXSW tour poster
SXSW is official and the Astralwerks showcase is going to rock. It’s gonna be great to hook up with Phoenix again as well as meet some of our other label mates that evening. The night before (on friday) we will be playing in Dallas at the Gypsy Tea Room. I will post more details about both theses shows soon. — F.TEN 5:38PM
i would like to take this opportunity clear the air about something. the views and comments expressed in this blog are 100% all mine unless otherwise noted. often times my opinions might not be shared with by the rest of west indian girl and it is important to note this. basically, i write everything in this blog and if i have said something that has offended you please take it up with me and not anyone else in the band. the buck stops here. so, for example, if i say the drummer of a band we had open for us was acting like a little bitch during our sound check…i’m the one saying that, not chris carter or mariqueen or lewscious or rob. if i say i hate another band or someone is a douche bag i’m the one saying it. i mean, this blog can’t always be a love fest with pc icing on it. ok enough said. let’s get on with happier thoughts — F.TEN 11:25pm
hey everybody, we’re back and the show reports are going up soon. i really need to get a lap top so i can update from the road. i think i’m going to order a g4 power book. mariqueen has one and i fell in love with it. anyway, once i get that baby the reports from the road will be fast and furious. as far as the next few show reports go im happy to announce that mariqueen will be contributing some of the text for them or at least some of her thoughts concerning each gig. hopefully i can get carter and robert to chime in down the road as well. i had 292 emails when i got back home. after deleting the pharmacy and mortgage spam i discovered a few emails from photographers that were at some of the shows we played. they were kind enough to send the pics they took so i will be posting these along with some of kevin reid’s too. i am still out of it, the drive back from seattle was silly —F.TEN 10:56pm
