Maris: Wendy and Raina, I’m at a loss for words. It is my custom to begin all my interviews with an all important question about your wee wees.

RAINA: Can’t help you there.

WENDY : Sorry.

I’ll think of something. While I do, why don’t you tell me how did you both meet?

RAINA: We met at Amarillo Texas in Amarillo College. It’s a junior college there. I was a vocal major. Wendy was a band geek and a whore (laughs) Well, actually I was the whore. And I saw her toting around her big ol’ bass amp down to jazz practice. We just used to say “hi” to each other. That’s pretty much how we met.

How did you start making music together.

RAINA: A mutual friend of ours in Amarillo, Mark Stevens, played lead guitar. He was forming a band and had everyone already including Wendy. He asked me if I wanted to come in and do some background vocals.

WENDY: You have to understand we were doing like, old country, like, George Jones. I think the hippest song we did was “Johnny B Good”. (Laughs) But I already knew how well Raina sang. Even though we kind of only knew each other from school, from just saying “Hi” in the halls, I had seen her sing in a small bar. She sang karaoke. She sang the Whitney Houston version of “I will always love you”. She made like a hundred bucks in tips (laughs) So when Mark said Raina was coming over to sing some backups I had Melissa Ethridge’s “Like the way I do” cued up on the tape deck and I said, “we are doing this song!”

You DO have an amazing voice. Do you have a background in gospel or something else?

R: Nothing in gospel. My Mom doesn’t sing and my Dad doesn’t sing. I don’t know who I got my voice from. My sister actually has a great voice, but she never chose to pursue it. I didn’t get serious about my voice until I was in High School.Then I began pursuing it seriously. By the time I was in College, the one thing they liked about me was that they had to tell everyone else to sing louder. With me, they had to tell me to hush a little bit because I had such a powerful voice.

Has your voice changed since then?

R: Well I used to smoke a lot. Once I stopped, there was a total clarity. My voice was totally stronger.

Did you want to sing rock and roll from the beginning?

R: Yeah, in College they asked me what I wanted to do. I said I want to be a rock and roll singer. I think they pretty much looked at me like I was crazy. They felt I should study something like opera. When Wendy and I got together, we pretty much just clicked on the same vibe, music-wise. We wanted to do acoustic rock, you know, rock and roll. Just letting yourself go and doing whatever feels good.

At what point did it become DEAR MARSHA?

W: Well after the band with Mark ended, Raina and I wanted to keep playing together. We both had such similar musical interests that instead of just being a bar band, we wanted to do original stuff. We started writing songs and we played a couple of coffee shop gigs in Amarillo. We moved up here in February of ’96 and that’s where it began here.

How did you get the name DEAR MARSHA

W: You don’t know who DEAR MARSHA is?

JERRY: I know who Marsha is.

W: She doesn’t have any arms or legs and she rides around on a skateboard on Colfax (laughs) I think there are only three people in the whole world who know the real story behind who DEAR MARSHA is. Not even our band members know.

But I am Maris The Great, and I should know. 

R: Marsha would kill us. 

Is there a real Marsha?

W: Yes there is. She’s on the CD. If you look closely you can see her in the background in the CD photographs. In every CD we do, she will be in there somewhere. 

Are you both lesbian?

W: Yes

Are you both lovers?

R: Yes

For how long?

W: Five and a half, six years

When you started adding members, was the initial idea to make the band a lesbian band?

R: No. That’s too many people PMS-ing (Laughs)

Did you want to appeal only to the gay community?

W: No. You know what? As far as our music is concerned. Our music is for everybody. Anybody that wants to come and listen to it. Our music to us is our business. It’s our work. When we are at work, it doesn’t matter who you sleep with or what you’ve been doing. When we are at work, it’s work. It doesn’t have to do with anything else. The reason we write music and play music is for people to come and enjoy it, and anybody who wants to come and see us is welcome. Gay people, Black people, Straight people…zombies (laughs) whoever, it shouldn’t matter. What’s cool with the crowd we have now is people can just come as they are and they can have a good time. That’s always been what we’re about. 

EMILIA: When I joined, I didn’t know who was gay or straight. It didn’t matter. We come together for only one reason. To make music, to be professional, and to have fun

Speaking of fun, let’s talk about your live shows. I’ve rarely seen a band have so much fun on stage. Where does that come from?

W: I don’t know. (Laughs) I think we kinda picked our member’s based on that. Wendy and I played acoustic in coffee shops for so long. We wanted a rockin’ band behind us for so long that when we got it, we were so excited, that the enthusiasm just started to come out on stage. When we started picking our members, we picked people that had a little bit of personality behind them. The first time Jerry played with us, you could tell he was ready to bust out!

Jerry, when was your first gig with DEAR MARSHA?

JERRY: Well, my first official gig with DEAR MARSHA was at a pool party (Laughs) We got free food though, so it was OK. My first professional gig was at Herman’s Hideaway for the “Rock Out AIDS” benefit. I’m up there playing for like, 1200 people. It was pretty fucking cool! (Laughs)

Have you played with other bands?

J: I’ve played with about, 25, 30 bands since I started when I was 17 years old. I guess I call myself pretty disciplined as far as what I want to get into these days. I’m very choosy. 5 to 6 years ago, I wanted to do anything that would challenge me technically and musically on the bass. I realized that’s not gonna get you anywhere except with a bunch of musicians that like what you’re doing. Unfortunately, the people that are gonna come see you play aren’t a bunch of musicians. It’s the general public. I’m playing for the general public. I jump up and down because people like it. I play simple shit, I write cool shit that everybody can get into.

How did you connect with DEAR MARSHA?

J: I was actually playing with this little outfit called Tequila Mockingbird. It was heavier stuff, kind of like, Big Head Todd’ or maybe R.E.M. We played with them (Dear Marsha) at the Bluebird one night. And I saw how much fun they were having on stage. And I realized that I should stop playing for myself and start playing for everybody else. 

People want to be entertained

W: People want to be knocked on their ass. That’s what it’s about.

J: So we had such a shitty gig that night because our lead singer was wasted, that I gave my two weeks the next day. I emailed the girls complimenting them on their show. And we just started corresponding from there. A month later, I was in the band. (Laughs)

Are you straight?

J: I am blatantly heterosexual. My balls hit the ground when I jump on stage (Laughs)

Do you ever get turned on by the fact that some of the woman in the audience might be making out?

J: Not usually, because I’m into what I’m doing. I try to keep this as professional as I can. (Laughter around the room)

OK…Emilia, the Bulgarian chick. You are classically trained. How did you go from playing with so many orchestras to playing rock and roll?

EMILIA: Because I’ve played in so many orchestras…you just lose yourself. You don’t have the creativity. You can’t create. You always have someone to tell you what to do, how to do it. You always have a conductor. When you play in a band like Dear Marsha, you put a part of yourself; you put your heart into it. Even if you fall on your fucking ass, it’s your performance. It feels good.

What’s it like playing with DEAR MARSHA compared to some of your other projects?

E: I played with Michelle and the Book of Runes for a couple of years. It was an excellent experience. They are wonderful people. It’s a different perspective. Obviously, I played drums with them and now I am playing drums with DEAR MARSHA, which I enjoy much more. The energy the audience gives charges me. Everything combined; it gives me what I needed. What I was looking for. I remember the first time I saw Dear Marsha play was at Herman’s. I was there playing with Michelle’. I had never heard them before. And I was just amazed. I was just sitting in the corner going “Fuck yeah!” I just saw that they had so much energy. And I thought that’s what you have to give. That’s what it is. 

You combine your playing on stage a lot with Dave. Does that go smoothly?

E: Oh yeah. Dave is a wonderful guy. We are getting to know each other a little more. It takes time. It takes getting to know someone personally, away from the band. We have gotten so tight because we traveled (As a band) together to Texas. You get to know someone when they are eating, when they are sleeping. Dave is a wonderful musician. It takes a little time to get polished.

Are you straight or gay?

E: I’m lesbian.

Why doesn’t DEAR MARSHA have it as a part of the show that you come out to the front of the stage and make out with another chick?

E: Nobody else is making out so why should I?

Because you’re a babe.

E: To me, it’s like, what’s with this gay or straight? You find somebody you like…to share. I love men as much as I can love women. For me there is no difference. You just find one…human who you want to share with. I’m not prejudice. It’s not like I don’t want to be around men. 

How does the band get along?

R: We get along very well.

How do you handle band psychology?

W: With alcohol (Laughs)

R: We really don’t have any problems. Everybody is doing this because they love it. I mean Wendy and I chose all the members but even more than that, everyone chose each other. These are people we really want to play with and really want to be around. We love each other so much we should be sleeping with each other.

J: The band that sleeps together stays together (Laughter)

E: And I want to say once again, when I joined I didn’t know who was gay or straight. It was never brought up. It isn’t part of the creative process. 

When you found out that Wendy and Raina were lesbian, did you want to have a three-way with them?
(Laughter around the room)

E: Oh yes, everyday (Laughing) We have our S&M parties. Jerry beats us. (More laughter)

I know Dave is straight. What about Warren?

W: Warren likes pussy. He has a cat (Laughs)

Warren pulls the band in a heavier direction. You, Wendy, pull the band in a softer direction with your acoustic.

W: I think it’s a nice contrast, what we’ve got going. Catalina, from Denver Music Plus said we don’t get in each other’s way. It’s the same thing for Emilia and Dave. They don’t stomp on each other’s tone.

E: We share. I love everybody in the band because they are all such wonderful musicians. I feel so comfortable because it feels like home. You cannot find six people who are more like a family than we are.

R: We got lucky finding everybody in the band. You couldn’t ask for better musicians. And their personalities. If you are a great musician, but have a shit attitude, I don’t want to play with you.

Jerry, being you are influenced by Primus and Rush, do you wish DEAR MARSHA would go in a heavier direction?

J: Not really. Because heavier is not what really is making it these days. It’s whatever’s the catchiest and the most trendiest. I think we have all of that.

W: Jerry and I were once talking together and he said “The thing I like most about this band is that we write happy tunes. We write fun tunes.” And some times we do write something that is a bit more emotional. It’s whatever is on our minds at the time. I think our type of music will always be alive in the music industry and alive in the music circuit. We might not be the trendiest, but I think our type of music will always be alive.

Let’s talk about the album. When was “Woo Hoo!” released?

R: It was released in August of ’98. It’s almost two years old.

Why have you waited so long to record the follow up?

R: I think we wanted to get all of our musicians settled in. We didn’t want to do another CD with hired musicians.

Was Woo Hoo recorded with studio musicians?

R: Yes

Let’s talk about some of the songs. Tell me about “The Lie”.

W: I wrote that one night. It was actually about Raina. I didn’t know Raina that well. The band had just started, but one of Raina’s ex’s was so jealous about Raina’s talent. Raina kept going back to that, even though it wasn’t productive. So, I was home one night. I was by myself and I was drunk. And out the song came. It was just something that I felt at the time. I could just feel Raina’s frustration. She didn’t want to be alone and this other person didn’t want to be alone. But they stayed with each other out of necessity, even though it wasn’t productive for either one of them.

“Loma”

R: Loma is my grandmother. Actually, we called her Lucille. Her name is Loma Lucille. Right after we moved up here, my mother came up here for a visit. While my mother was up here, my grandmother passed away. For my Mother, that was really devastating to her. She felt really bad about being up here while my grandmother was sick. She thought that was the wrong thing for her to do. But you can’t really determine when someone is gonna die. When I was at her funeral I bent down and kissed my grandmother and said “I’m gonna write a tune about you”. One day, about a year later, I was home alone. Wendy was at work and it was one of those autumn afternoons. I opened the screen door (of the house) and all this shit happened in like about 5 seconds. There was like a storm brewing. All this wind blew. The leaves were blowing across the yard and it started raining. And I suddenly could feel within all that noise my grandmother’s presence. That’s why I put all those sounds in the song. It’s all about those people that feel there is a something past death.

“Can Man”

W: Raina and I were bartenders in Texas. This little man named Jesse came into the bar. He lived off his Social Security, the first of every month, which was real minimal. And then he collected cans the rest of the month. So everybody who were regulars in our bar would bring in cans for him. So when he came in, we would give him cans. His head was a little cocked over because he had his neck broken in a fight. He had lived a really hard life. His kids and his family had abandoned him. That song was about him.

Did he really die?

W: No, we made that part up.

(Laughs)

Do you do it live?

W: Not at power shows like Herman’s. It’s too soft. It kills the crowd.

You put a lot of cover’s in your live shows. How do you choose the songs you are gonna do?

R: Well we started doing Lenny Kravitz when Jerry joined.

J: Lenny is the man!

R: We’ve been doing Janis (Joplin) and Melissa (Ethridge) since the beginning. Those two never fail to get a good reaction out of the crowd.

Are there any songs you don’t do now that you would like to in the future?

E: Yeah, (singing) Let’s get physical…physical…(Laughter around the room)

J: We’re thinking of doing “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone”, by The Monkees. And the Red Hot Chili Peppers…(singing)…I want to party on your pussy, baby…(Laughter)

In retrospect, are you happy with “Woo Hoo!”?

W: Yeah, but those songs now, the way we play them, do not sound like the CD. There is so much more heart and energy in the way we play them now.

When will you start on a new album?

R: We want to wait until we really have a good connection and we’re tight and we’re polished. Hopefully we will be starting a new one by the end of the year.

How do you think the next album might differ from “Woo Hoo!”?

W: More energetic

R: Funkier.

What else is going on in DEAR MARSHA’s future?

R: We are looking at a couple of companies that are interested in sponsoring us.

What about getting signed?

R: We are gonna take that as it comes. I don’t want to sign for the wrong reasons. These days, so many people can have their own record label. It’s totally possible to do things independently, up to a certain point. When you do that, you’re not giving up 90% of your profit to the record label.

What’s the benefit of being on a label?

W: The benefit is that they can put you on tour. That’s why we are trying to get some sponsorship. So that we can get out and tour.

R: We decided that after the last Austin gig that…it was so good, and we got asked to come back, that we all came to the conclusion that we need to get out there as much as possible. Eventually, we will probably be only performing in Denver like, once a month.

Well we can start wrapping it up. Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

R: We love you!

W: I think we have an awesome crowd! Our crowd is really loyal. They come out in flocks.

R: We get compliments about our crowd. They drink a lot. They tip very, very good. They don’t get into fights and they don’t act like a bunch of dumb asses. They’re out there to have fun. Probably the best compliment to us is that after we get done playing, even if there is another band above us on the bill, our fans all leave! Our fans are the best.

I have my wee wee question! If you both had a wee wee for one day, what would you do?

R: I think I’d probably hold on to it all day long.

W: I would pee standing up! (Laughs)