I’ve been thinking lately about how I would like to look when I’m performing. I have a certain “look” that I love but I also have elements that I want to incorporate into that look and that’s where I get tripped because. I have a tendency to love rather antiquated styles and that, thanks to the steam punk and punk cabaret movements, has seen a wider resurgence lately. This is good on one hand because it means that there ends up being more available accessories for me to collect since there’s a market for them now, but on the other hand it also means I’m up against some gorgeous competition in terms of overall style. Case in point Miss Amanda Palmer and Miss Meow Meow:
I think it’s inevitable that there would be some similarities between whatever I do and what other people who love that style do—I mean, after all, we’re all drawing from similar influences; it’s all in interpretation. For last night’s look I was drawing from way, way back. Namely, from 1920s and 1930s movie stars like Mary Kornman:
If you haven’t heard of her, you can learn a bit more about her here: http://www.marykornman.com/ . Her childhood style was gorgeous. Anyway…I ended up trying to primp my hair up with mousse and hairspray and an hour with a curling iron but, alas, my hair is so damaged and traumatized that it maintained a nice 1970s Gilda Radner poofy-ness for about 20 minutes before flattening out into loose, flat curls. Oh, well. I added purple eyeshadow up to my eyebrows, heavy black eyeliner, and called it good. I don’t have any close-ups of my make-up, but here is a photo to give you an idea of my overall outfit:
The sticker on my belt is an addition given to me by a wonderful little girl (by little I mean three years old) who was my constant fan during the show. It was quite funny, really—her mother would try to bring her over to Alex’s side of the stage to see what he was doing and she would fight and demand to be brought back over to me. I find that adorable even if it is only because I, in her words “look like Coraline.” Also a compliment. The child has good taste in movies.
The lead-up to the show itself was stressful to me because I have yet to remember/get used to the idea that rock shows rarely start when they’re listed to. It was doubly complicated because Alex was playing with Blue Mire as well that evening and they learned quite late in the game that it would be best for Alex to play with them first and then come over after instead of the other way around as we’d planned on. So after a bit of apologetic conversation from me with the other bands we switched our first place slot with Take One Car. Take One Car, by the way, are a great group of guys. My cousin is their drummer, but I’d think they’re a great group of guys anyway. They’re a bit too loud for a small venue like Slainte but I think it went well considering.
I’d like to take a brief moment to plug both The Stereofidelics (who are not only breathtaking live with their multi-tasking and talent but who have been touring non-stop for the past 9 months) and Dead Man’s Clothes (they’re one of those rare bands you would be hard pressed to cram into a category). Dead Man’s Clothes is local so if you’re in Portland, ME see them live; Stereofidelics are more likely than not coming to your tow soon so check out their schedule:
http://www.myspace.com/deadmansclothes
http://www.myspace.com/thestereofidelics
On another side note, I heard from Meg (the awesome girl who booked both this show and the first one for me/Gin Circus at Geno’s back in July) that Ian, the owner of Slainte, said that last night’s show was possibly the best show that Slainte has ever had. I’m honored to have contributed to that if it’s true. Even if it’s not, I’m still glad to have been a part of it.
Alex arrived right in time, just as T.O.C. was playing their final song. It was an uncomfortable dynamic but I’m not absolutely certain what all of that means yet so I’m going to lock it up and let it ferment into something more tangible before I explore it or figure out what that means for future gigs. We’d already agreed to step way back from the momentum we’d developed with the band so if that was our last show until heaven knows when I wouldn’t be surprised. We’ll see. I’m getting ready to explode into Solo-ness so stay tuned for that. I’ve come too far this summer to give up on singing/performing my music now.
That being said, there’s a few videos floating around from the show and here’s two of them: Backstabber (the slowed down version to play up on Alex’s new baritones guitar), and Dresden (I’ve had a few people ask and, no, the song has nothing to do with the Dresden Dolls, it was a waking dream I had that I wrote down verbatim and we put it to music):
I think my voice is maturing. I know this because I don’t recognize it when I hear it in these videos but I’m impressed. Good thing I don’t have to think about how to sing, it just happens.
This Tuesday I’m taking press kit photos for my solo press kit. Even if things were the most hunky dory they could ever be in the whole entire universe with Alex, I think I’m growing into too dominant a personality to stay in a band forever. It’s just having to happen much sooner than I expected. So it goes. I’ll post about that photoshoot after it happens, though.
That’s it for now. I leave you with an evil looking photo of me where I am either casting a spell, preparing to eat someone’s soul, or possibly both.
-Aubin, conqueror of (musical) worlds.
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