Dan Monick

inside i formed after the break-up of the Sharp Ease and were still deciding on their band name when they did this interview. They are now officially called inside i. This will be their second show.

When will your band have a permanent name, if necessary?
Paloma Parfrey (vocals): We’re Los Angeles right now.
Tamala Poljak (synth/guitar): I’ll tell you when we have a name.
P: It’s the only thing wrong with the band. Part of the beauty of it is that we’re all opinionated, and the fact that we actually have a harmonious relationship as a group is amazing. The ony big hump to get over is a name. I don’t care—we can not have a name for a while.
Oscar Santos (bass): We have a symbol. We made a sigil. I have it on my computer. I heard you have to…
P: Masturbate to it?
O: Which I don’t think we’ve done. Blood or jizz has to be involved.
Christene Kings (drums): We should all pick a night and report back. It has to be the band jizz. We can call ourselves Le Jizz.
P: The genuine aspect is we’re all natives. Except Oscar. Oscar kind of is.
O: I came here illegally.
P: He’s the ultimate L.A.
O: I didn’t cross the border—the border crossed me! But it’s all been handled now—you can print my name.
What felt different at the last Sharp Ease show and the first Los Angeles show?
P: Saying goodbye and saying hello—there’s a lot of polarity in that. The drama is probably almost as high—saying goodbye is a little higher, since you know you won’t be playing the songs again. For me, the audience reaction was different: some people obviously did not like it, and the people who did like it were blown away—saying ‘that’s the best thing I’ve seen you do ever!’ To me that’s the best compliment—an extreme opinion! I think the music of Los Angeles is more flamboyant in a way—not in a hooker sense—
What’s a hooker sense?
P: Oh, you know what I mean! I think we shed our skin a lot more. I don’t think there’s anything to hide behind, and everyone gives their all in the process and the performing. The songs take forever to write, but it’s great!
T: In a lot of bands that really made a difference, they had something about them that was extreme, and sometimes with current punk—let me emphasize that: current punk! There was punk and then ‘current punk’—and often in current punk, people can be contrived. So what if you just let come out what comes out? I don’t think anyone said, ‘Let’s try really hard not to sound like Led Zeppelin.’ We’re allowing the authentic personalities of everyone to come out, and trust that what that creates is truthful. Because anyting truthful will be what matters.
What are your authentic personalities?
Isaac Parfrey (keys/guitar): We’re still learning.
T: Relationships are typically about communication and compromise, in terms of learning to negotiate space between each other, and how to have agreements and disagreements that are productive.
P: Oh, but can we talk about what Oscar said at a meeting? The most profound things he said in his life! How we all have egos and baggage and we should listen to Isaac as a leader because he doesn’t have baggage and ego.
I: As soon as he said that, it gave me an ego.
C: And we’re really lucky, too. I’d say everyone in this band is a performer. You can say everyone’s a performer since we get on stage, but I’d say in the sense that we put on a show!
I: And we relish it.
P: You know what my mom said on my birthday? She’s like, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen you be upstaged before! Tamala is a great performer!’ And I was like kinda mad!
T: You asked about people’s personalities—one thing I wanted to add is being in a creative environment with anybody, it’s like a really sacred opportunity to get to know someone in a way you can’t otherwise. It’s like being in a relationship, obviously, but you get to know other triggers and sensitivities and how to talk to each other. I don’t think that happens as easily in a straight-up friendship. When you’re creating something together, it’s like a little baby you’re taking care of together!
P: Can you put that I need a job in this interview? That pays ten dollars an hour or more?
O: And I’m single—very single.
Some of you are original Smell personnel—what’s it like to watch how it’s changed?
O: For me the Smell is just fucking rad. I lived in the Valley in high school, and I was there in North Hollywood—I think it’s cool that it’s changing and morphing into something new and fun. I’m glad we have it! And I’m glad it’s gonna be there for whoever comes next.
T: I’m from the Jabberjaw era. Jabberjaw was like the Smell now—such a community—and to watch it leave was such a lonely feeling. In terms of ethically, the two places are similar.
C: The Smell gives so many kids and bands hope! ‘Whoa, a cool all-ages space! We can play shows and do our thing!’ It doesn’t have to be music—it can be dance or whatever. And since each show at the Smell is put on by volunteer bookers—each night is different. All the kids who love noise, and that community is all tight: ‘We love noise—we love this shit!’ And then the kids who like more pop or melodic or the emo or whatever—the Emo! That’s a good name!
I: And it’s expanded geographically. I go to different areas of L.A. and hear kids that are 14 or 15 talking like, ‘Hey, did you go to the Smell last night?’ You’d never hear that years ago.
C: And it was quoted on Six Feet Under. The main character Claire was like, ‘Yeah, I went to the Smell last night!’
T: If we didn’t have the Smell, we’d be fucked—if we hadn’t had the Jabberjaw, we’d have been fucked. With the industry here, it makes the hole even bigger.
Is it too soon to guess what might come next?
T: I want more art rock bands! I wish people would stop redoing what has been done a million times. Where are the conceptual bands? The genius songwriters? We need some geniuses! It could be that I’m a little older, but I feel like I keep hearing music I heard in high school. I’d just like to see people get a little more cerebral.
O: More soul bands, more funk bands, more political bands!
T: L.A. bands and politics—
C: It’s so wimpy!
T: They suck! I mean, it’s not like we’re the Clash…
C: But I think too many bands in L.A.—they won’t write about current political strife, they won’t make social commentary with their songs about what’s going on now.
P: Even if they live as anarchists and socialists, they’ll be cryptic in their message. A lot of people are political at home but not in their art or their job. But at home. Which is actually the most important thing.
C: But I feel like—people are hungry. They want something to be a soundtrack for doing things—for how they’re living life. You look at the ‘60s and ‘70s and people were writing songs that really meant something and made an impact on tons of people who maybe never thought about things that way. It’s whole different message. Things are so turned inward.
I: I think that’s what Oscar is talking about. R&B and soul and funk—there’s not a lot of soul in conceptual bands. There could be more soul in that punk kind of vibe.
What was the last great L.A. band that did that?
T: Black Flag. Was there a band since Black Flag?
O: There was a moment at least for me in the mid-‘90s—there was a lot of really conscious music that was kind of coming out of the Latin rock scene, and somehow that died. But when Rage went big—and I’m not picking them, but there were a lot of anti-war shows I went to when I was younger, and I don’t see that now! I remember an anti-4th of July fest, the Free Tibet movement, a lot of cool bands in L.A. doing the political thing… One thing I’d like to see at the Smell or see happening—Juan from Abe Vigoda just put out a bulletin on Myspace asking people of color what they think about the Smell, and to me that’s important. To me that we’re able to be people of color in the community playing in bands—that goes across the border for indie and punk. I think the Smell is going that direction.
C: I just want more Mexicans in my life!
P: I really like Medusa. Medusa has blown my mind the most since my like… aliveness. I used to go to Fais Do Do all the time and see her perform. I saw her do spoken word that was really amazing. She really brings politics home. I think that’s one of the beautiful things in L.A. I can go to Fais Do Do—it’s not like I’m in a part of Oakland I’m not allowed to be in. I’d still be the weirdo, but I’d be accepted as the weirdo.
C: In L.A., misfits recognize other misfits.
T: I think a lot of musicians in L.A. are political people. They’re not absent-minded or close-minded—it’s not like musicians are not political. It’s just the band aren’t making political statements.
O: Entrance has some political lyrics. One of the last shows I went to where the guy on the mic said straight political stuff was Guy from Entrance.
What’s gonna happen at your second show?
O: I just want them to say ‘Who’s that bass player, and can I have his number?’

INSIDE I WITH ANNA OXYGEN, ESPS, CALIFORNIA STALKER AND DIZZY ON THUR., MAR. 27, AT CHARLIE O’S, 501 S. SPRING ST., LOS ANGLES. 9PM. / 21+