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INTERVIEWS
Synthesis
w/ Aimee Echo
Source: Synthesis
Interviewer: Laney Erokan
Imagine being the only woman on tour with 15 guys. Yeah, some of you would
be scared and some jumping for joy. But TheStart’s Aimee Echo knows the good
and the bad of representing the fairer sex. In both bands she’s been in: she’s
been the lone female, she was the only female on tour with the UK leg of the
OzzFest and currently, TheStart is on tour with Weezer and Cold, where again,
she’s only woman — but she can take it.
Echo, a longstanding figure on the Los Angeles music scene, started out in the
experimental art-rock group Human Waste Project and now has moved on to today’s
punkish new-wave group, theStart, and things are looking up for the new band.
They’ve toured with Sugar Ray and Uncle Kracker (who she says is “so Skynard.”)
and they’re touring with Weezer—next up is going on the road with Incubus.
Echo, who listens to Radiohead, Weezer and The Cure religiously, has seen a
lot during her time in the biz and now she’s in a band (with a remaining member
of Human Waste Project, drummer Scott Ellis, guitarist Jamie Miller and bassist
Jeff Jaeger) where the hard road to fame and satisfaction is a little easier
with quality musicians and a working band-philosophy.
Another part of being in a band for Echo is dealing with a predominately male
industry, but Aimee remembers to wear a skirt once and a while and can take
whatever the guys dish out. Once, a friend asked Echo what she would keep if
she had to give up all her articles of clothing, and she said a parasol and
an incredible pair of Mary Janes.
How did you end up on tour with Weezer?
I had met Brian about 500 times and he wouldn’t remember who I was, (he’s been
to my house for parties) [and] the last time I saw him I said we’re in a band
on your label and I think we should tour together, just brazen and bold like
that and I gave him a CD. I’m a big Weezer geek. It’s an honor. One of our friends,
Scott, is playing bass with them.
Ooh, I heard about that show when the guy jumped on stage and attacked him...
Oh, that was our friend Davey who did that. They made it all sound all bad,
but that was our friend Davey from Stanford Prison Experiment. The security
guys beat him down.
What’s it like being the only woman on the tour?
Always. I’m always the only woman.
What’s that like?
It’s really hard. Not to complain about it, but it’s not an easy thing to do.
Because everyone in the industry already looks at musicians like their idiots
and then if you’re a woman, oh boy are you an idiot. It kind of works to your
advantage some times, but being the only woman on the tour is of course the
best thing in the universe. I’m the little princess and I have 15,000 older
brothers; it’s amazing. But, I’m in a band with three gorgeous, adorable, well
mannered, brilliant men and I’m the luckiest girl in the entire universe. I've
always been an only child, so I don’t really know how it would be to tour with
girls, [and] every now and then I have to get up and make sure and be a girl.
Because I’ll walk around in my sweats all day and the next thing you know I’ll
be cussing and checking out chicks. I remember to wear a skirt everyday and
paint my nails and wear makeup, or else I’ll turn into one of them — and I have
before. It’s funny, and I’ll say lascivious, horrible things. It’s also awesome
because now I understand the male psyche so well.
Tell me about your band...
I am a lucky person. I've been able to do this and live, well I’m not living
well, but I am happy. I don't have to do the things I used to have to do anymore.
When you really get down to what your purpose is on the planet, I am lucky to
be living the one I chose for myself. I think especially in our society, we
already don’t have enough leisure time to get to any spirituality. [People]
work these nasty jobs, they go home, they medicate, watch the TV and go to bed.
That’s not living, that’s barely even surviving. I’m so blessed. To be able
to be in two bands and have two record deals — either I’m good, (laughing) or
I’m lucky. I’ll leave that up to other people to decide.
You’ve got your second shot now.
It’s weird, because when I left Human Waste Project, I quit because I wasn’t
happy with the direction. We all started to grow apart musically, but Scott
and I stayed together. The other two guys wanted to make the heavy music and
I said, ‘You know what, I've been on stage after Soulfly and before Pantera
and I don’t want to do it anymore.’ Because I was denying my femininity 100
percent. I had to feel so macho and I've never felt as small as I did that day
when I went on before Phil Anselmo. Because I was the only girl singer on that
festival...Ozzfest in the UK, but we weren’t a metal band anyway. We had elements
that were very, very heavy, but we were an art rock band. When I saw my name
in the press, ‘High Priestess of Nu Metal,’ I freaked out. Growing up, metal
was metal and punk was punk. And I was a punk rocker. It was weird for me being
thought of as metal. And when I started this band everyone was like, ‘oh, you’re
going in such a different direction,’ and I said, ‘No, if you listen to me and
I what I was doing, it’s not much different than what I’m doing now.’ It’s me,
its not like I can change. I think this [TheStart] is much more complementary
to my voice. We wanted to be experimental and I think this band is really trying
to write good songs.
How would you describe what you are doing now?
I think in spirit we’re really a punk rock band, not in your three-chord stuff
that’s going on right now, but if you look back through the history of punk
rock, it’s about being different and I don’t think were retro, but we utilize
synthesizers and the sensibility of late ‘70s punk and new wave, but I think
we’re doing it different than what they did back then. Well, at least to me
we’re different, therefore we are punk.
What are you looking forward to right now?
I’m definitely looking forward to the next two tours. [Especially] this tour
right now, because I get to watch Weezer every night. And the next tour we’re
going on is with Incubus. And its really cool, because we’re hitting a crowd
that really enjoys music and different kinds of music, too. It’s awesome to
know that people who love Weezer are out there watching us. I’m not going to
deny I would love to be really successful doing this. And I don’t necessarily
mean bucketloads of money, which I wouldn’t turn down. And I hope that we’re
successful right now, because there is a stagnant feel in the industry and a
lot of the bands sound the same right now. Everyone is following the same formula.
It’s pretty macho and testosterone driven — and I’m not saying this with a closed
mind. To me, Nirvana was testosterone driven in a good way, to me Jane's Addiction
was testosterone driven in a good way. This is just a little dumbed down and
I think that if we can bring people back to song craft and opening people’s
mind… And, honestly there hasn’t been a woman in a long time that has been able
to transcend gender. I haven’t seen a female do that and the closest thing to
that, I think, was Jane's Addiction (laughter) and Perry's a boy. I mean, really
being a strong force on the planet, not to put down any of the women who have
come before me, because there are some really strong women out there. Like Patti
Smith, Chrissie Hynde is incredible, Siouxsie is incredible…what a brilliant
career; even my contemporaries, like Gwen and the No Doubt kids, Garbage; I
hope the best for them. But I think that it would be so awesome if gender could
be left out of it. You know, like she’s a woman but it doesn’t fucking matter.
They rock. And if on my tombstone it read, ‘she was a woman and still rocked,’
that would be rad. And not to go down in flames like Janis.