Hey! It's an Interview! With Chandra Trembly of The Loaded Revulvas
by Matthew Toledo - 2/23/2005
Thanks to school, my band, and my job, my weekends start Tuesday nights at 12:00 midnight and end Friday night. It's an odd schedule for sure, but it lets me explore a side of Athens I typically don't get to experience: the weekday crowd.
I found myself sitting at the bar at The Union with a notebook opened up to a blank page, attempting to get some face time with the bartender, Chandra. She's the bass player for the only completely all-female rock band in town. There hasn't been a truly penis-free band in Athens for over 11 years. The name of that band eluded everyone at the bar no matter how hard they searched the bottoms of their highball glasses for an answer.
An all female punk-rock band around these parts is something to note. But there are more reasons to remember them than just their sex. There's the name: The Loaded Revulvas--a clever pun on the female anatomy if I've ever heard one. Then there are the people.
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Lead singer Cara Chatfield bartends at The Mine in Nelsonville. Guitarist Kari Smith and bassist Chandra Trembly bartend at the Union in Athens. Their drummer, Jessica street, won two regional Emmys for her work as the host of a local kids television program called "Hey, What's That!"
The strange stats continue: Jessica's boyfriend, Mike Makosky, plays Guitar for the local punk band Schwienhunden along with Cara's boyfriend, Jeremy Simmons who plays drums and Chandra's boyfriend, the lead singer known around these parts as "Pencil."
"We like to call Schweinhunden 'the boyfriend's band'", said Chandra with a C H as she slid me another PBR.
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The Revulvas were formed quite recently -- less than six months ago. Although Chandra and some of the others had been doodling on their respective instruments for over a year now, the paint still hasn't dried on this quartet. Hence, the usual questions about an upcoming CD or planned tour didn't apply. Plans like those are still in the air.
What I could find out about the band was that the members practiced together twice a week, every week. Their goal for the moment is to play for fun, and yet still maintain a serious professional attitude when it comes to sticking to a practice schedule.
I envy them the learning curve they are currently riding. And the rush they are going to experience because of it. When you first start out in a band, every experience is so very new. Over a short period of time: your skills improve, your brain finds out all sorts of little tricks to help you perform better, your fingers get stronger, your timing improves. It's like your body is on musical steroids. Then, you reach the first plateau. It's a painful place of self-doubt where you gain a hyper-sensitive sense of your abilities as a musician untainted by the thrill rapid advancement. It's a stagnant place that reeks of sour grapes and bitter resentments. You ask yourself, "Is this the best I will ever be at this?" If you're lucky, you eventually learn a new trick which launches you into another quantum leap, another ride on the learning curve.
Curve aside, it was time to get to brass tacks. Back to the interview.
Perhaps it was the beer talking when I asked Chandra, "I read somewhere that when a bunch of women get together in one place on a consistant basiss, all thier special freinds eventualy start visiting at the same time of month for all of them. I would say that this scientific fact would be a fair way to measure how much time you spend with your bandmates. It's a quantative measurement of time spent in practice, not qualative one. So, are you"
"Lets just say our moons are in alignment", said Chandra in between laughs and blushes.
Now seemed like the perfect time to ask a normal question.
"Could you write down some of your band's influences?", I asked of Chandra as she passed by. Standing in the business side of the bar, Chandra, who has the prettiest hand writing I've ever seen for a bass player, took pen in hand and began to write down some names using a perfectly formed quasi-cursive style of handwritting with a's that look exatly like upside-down e's.
The Gits, AC/DC, Squat, Jesus Lizard, Avengers, and the Supersuckers.
If they sound anything like their influences, they'll be a straight forward rock band with catchy riffs and lots of angst. But since there "chicks" there's the added sex-appeal thing.
Lead vocalist Cara Chatfield, who also did piercings at Art Apocalypse in Athens, writes most of the lyrics for the band's originals. Typical subjects for a song include female serial killers, creepy child molesters, ex-boyfriends, and sitting at the Union getting drunk. Upon hearing this, the adjective in their band name, The Loaded Revulvas, took on new meaning.
The Loaded Revulvas already have a few shows under their belt. Their next will be Friday the 25th at the Union in Athens, Ohio as part of the FREE FROGNET party. After that, you can catch them March 19th at the Union with the Drop Dead Sons, The Drag Line Brothers, and the Snails as part of a fundraiser for Scott Winland's upcoming Union compilation CD.
At approximately this moment Chip McIntosh, CEO of FrogNet, walked in the door. "How fortunate", I thought to myself, "Now I could kill two birds with one large stone by interviewing Chip about the upcoming FrogNet bash." Read Next Story [ link ].
