DECEMBER 1999

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM SPOTLIGHT
Slushpuppy

Slushpuppy was formed in 1997 when old friends, Dawn Botti (lead vocals/rhythm guitar) and Jeff Gardner (bass), re-united for a jam session. Add lead guitarist, Mike Jones and head crackin', cymbal slamming, drummer Gary Szczecina, and the rest is history. I caught them at the Rebar Lounge in Manhattan, and if you've ever seen Slushpuppy live, you'll agree they're a fun band. And if you haven't, then get on a plane heading East and look for the paw prints!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Your bio reads, "Few female-fronted rock bands possess the aggressive vocal talents necessary to pull off dynamic, power rock, but instead fall into the quiet, mellow female pop that is so prevalent on today’s radio air-waves. . . not Slushpuppy!" It’s an absolutely accurate statement, but what makes you so different?

JEFF: Clearly our lead vocals are the major reason we stand out, in my humble opinion. It’s so rare to find singers, especially female singers, with the power and depth of Dawn’s voice doing the kind of music we’re doing.

GARY: I would have to agree with Jeff in that our biggest asset is certainly our lead singer Dawn Botti. Besides the fact that she has an amazing voice, Dawn also has a natural presence on stage, she belongs there, and you feel that watching her perform.

Of course she can probably be more relaxed and confident on stage being flanked by good musicians. Not to sound arrogant, but it certainly inspires your own performance when you have confidence in your band mates especially when they can take it to the next level on stage.

DAWN: There definitely seems to be a lack of harder rock female artists out there today. I think the major labels have been pushing the Sarah McLachlan’s of the world ever since the Lilith phenomenon.

I was hanging with a bunch of college students at a Bush concert recently and we were all having a hard time trying to name any current heavy female-fronted popular rock bands other than No Doubt and Hole. That’s just fine with me, though, Slushpuppy is happy to help fill the void!

JEFF: Yeah, it’s not so much that we’re musical innovators as we are introducing an extra, unfamiliar and exciting element to music that listeners should already feel somewhat comfortable with. We’re not the female version of Korn, certainly. 

I also dig our backing vocals. Sorry, a shameless self-plug.

DAWN: As a band, we really try to write good songs, with good melodies. Armed with that, I can really show off my voice and give the crowd a good show. I think the audience can tell we’re having fun and that’s what’s important.

This is the first band in which I feel like my vocals actually “fit” with the music and that’s by design. I don’t have to hold back or try to be something I’m not. We choose to perform the songs that help show off my vocal style so I’m having a ball!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: You’ve been playing together for two years, where do you want to be two years from now? 

DAWN: Well, I’d love to have a modest recording contract and be on the road playing in medium size venues or opening up for major acts. We all know that to make it in this business you have to be willing to take lots of baby steps.

JEFF: I would love to be touring to back our first album. And to have our own studio and record label, of course.

MIKE: Two years from now? Yeah, I’d like to be touring in support of a CD.

DAWN: Also two years from now I’d like to be twenty-one again, but I think we’ve got a better shot at the record deal!

GARY: Well, being the newest member of Slushpuppy and married to the lead singer, I would love to collaborate more on future song writing. I suppose this is only seems natural as bands go, but I think we're still a young band and have really only scratched the surface of our potential to make great music together.

The timing hasn’t been right for Dawn and I to be in a band together for quite some time, but now that we are I’m looking forward to that process with her and this band.

Oh yeah, and it would be nice to make a living at it too!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Okay, we’ve got to address the bald guys in the band. Is it by choice or what?

DAWN: The ad in the NY Village Voice read “Bald Musicians Wanted” …only kidding.

JEFF: I never felt it was productive to pick a fight with genetics. I can always wear a wig if necessary. Yeah, right, under the hot stage lights. That would come off in about two seconds. I guess for me it was never a problem because when you get right down to it I have a damn nice shaped skull.

MIKE: Why try and prove to be something I’m not? My hair is not an asset that I’m worried about, besides I want to look more like Jeff.

GARY: The only thing I have to say about that is if they ever want to borrow some, I have plenty!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: So what is your image?

DAWN: Good question! That’s something we are trying to hone in on all the time. We’re definitely a “fun” band. And I don’t try to hide my “grrly” cute side.

On the other hand, we are a true rock band, with loud wailing guitars, screaming and all. I love the combination of two seemingly incompatible influences. We use lots of pink and black in our promo materials to try to reflect that.

But we’re always struggling with the proper balance of the two. Ya know, always asking, Is this too cute?, Is this too heavy?

JEFF: Yeah, that’s an important question for us, actually....I think we’re sort of a cross between Garbage - note the two bald guys flanking the babe lead singer - and, I don’t know, ...old Heart? Anybody remember what their image was?

I guess I’m thinking like well, we’re not as grungy as Hole, we’re not as wild as No Doubt, we’re not punky....hey, I think I’ve got it! Garbage meets Sheryl Crow. She wears leather pants a lot. Dawn has leather pants - which we don’t see often enough - and Dawn plays guitar too. That’s us. Garbage Crow.

MIKE: Rocking chick lead singer and rocking guitars. No fakes, just straight out being ourselves. Having fun and bringing the audience with us. 

GARY: I’ll leave the image crafting to Dawn. Does anyone really notice the drummer anyway, besides other drummers? My job is to help Dawn pick out a really sexy outfit. Sex sells! Funny how some things never change.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Do you have any special insider’s advice for the many indie bands out there who are looking for a break in NYC?

JEFF: I leave this to Dawn.

DAWN: Get to know the club owners. Go to a club early before the crowd starts to form or on an “off” night and introduce yourself. Package your material professionally and follow through with phone calls. Finally, recognize that, unfortunately, the determination about whether you’ll get asked back depends ninety percent upon how many people you brought to your show and ten percent upon how good your music sounds.

GARY: Persistence! But be yourself. Don’t come across as arrogant, like the club owes you something. Be professional and be grateful to get your foot in the door, no matter what night it is, you never know what it could lead to.

Also, network with other bands. Too many bands are just out for themselves.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Okay, enough about the business end of things! What are the re-occurring themes that run through your music?

DAWN: Ah, sex, sex and more sex. No, really most of the songs are “relationship” based. The ones that I write are somewhat autobiographical - but not necessarily contemporary, meaning that I’ll go back and think about the way I felt about something when I was eighteen and try to write about it now.

It’s funny because I’m married to our drummer, Gary, and when I bring a new song to the band I think he’s at first trying to figure out if it’s about him or someone else. If it’s about someone else, then he’s trying to figure out who!

I’ve also started to write about this whole idea that we’re trying to reflect with the band’s image as well – that a woman can be sweet, cute, sexy and strong, dynamic and powerful all at the same time.

JEFF: Yes, relationships. As I sit here and think about it I realize that all our songs are about two people. Geez, maybe we should throw in SOMETHING about the government? I guess we’ll leave that to Rage Against the Machine.

I always felt it was easier to write about something familiar, and having been through some rocky personal relationships in the last few years I guess it just felt natural to take a feeling or a situation or even just an isolated event and use that as a jumping-off point for the lyrics. And I’m sure Dawn has done the same.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: You’ve got MP3s available on your website. Do you intend to release a CD sometime soon?

JEFF: You betcha.

DAWN: We’re in the studio as we speak. Our debut CD, entitled Unleashed should be available by January 2000! So far, it sounds amazing!

As for the sound clips on the website now, we’re not all that satisfied with them. The live clips are ok, but the sound quality isn’t that good, and the studio clips are with a different drummer and guitar player. When our debut CD is released we’ll put up some better sound clips on the site.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: And finally, is there anything else you want the world to know about you?

JEFF: Hmmm....what a simple question! Ok, I’m an Aquarian. Short people with stubby fingers can still play bass. The name Slushpuppy was my idea, don’t let Dawn tell you different.

If you come to a show you will have fun and we will make you smile!! We love our music but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. I personally love going to a gig and seeing the performers smiling at each other on stage, really enjoying themselves.

It’s nice to have a stage show, choreography, whatever, but I’m much more impressed by musicians who get out there and are obviously having fun with what they’re doing. Not to pick on Rage Against the Machine or that whole genre, because obviously bands like that have hit a nerve in certain parts of the population, teen angst, I guess. But I never really got into bands that put on an act that was so clearly “an act.” 

Like I used to be an Adam and the Ants fan. Oops, am I dating myself too much? They would come out wearing a combination of pirate/Native American costumes and makeup - yes, boots, puffy shirts and feathers and war paint. And it was an “act” but nobody took it seriously - everyone was having fun, audience, performers, etc.

Ya know, guys, I think I just found our new image! With Slushpuppy you may not get the feathers but you do get the fun. So even if we never hit the big time, I will always enjoy what we do. I guess that’s it!

DAWN: Well, you might get the feathers too. Depending upon my mood.

MIKE: What do I want the world to know? Well, I love playing my guitar, I love playing it loud, I love playing it soft, I love to shop for guitars, I love to shop for amps, I work a day job so that I can shop for guitar stuff, I love old amps with matched tube sets, I love celestion green back speakers, I love guitar effects, I want to buy a guitar synth.

I want Slushpuppy to become successful as a rock band, writing and performing our music. I wish Jimmy and Stevie were still alive and Clapton was dead. Er, eh, the Clapton thing might be too much.

DAWN: I want the world to know that you should never ask Jeff or Mike that question or you’ll get some ramblings - as you did!

But really, well, I don’t know if I want the world to know this or not – but it IS a part of who we are … so here it goes. I’m going to give the ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM readers a shocking “exclusive” here.

Everyone in Slushpuppy has day jobs! Yup, that’s right. We’re all working stiffs posing as rock stars at night. And these jobs aren’t just the “pay the rent” types. Both Jeff and I are lawyers, I do entertainment law and Jeff is a litigator. Gary’s a computer graphic designer and Mike is a software developer/consultant.

Some people think that the band must be “just a hobby” for us since we have other “careers” – but it’s really not true. We’d all give up our “safe” careers for a chance to follow this dream.

Oh, and we have to plug our website! The address is http://www.slushpuppyrocks.com. The site contains sound clips, lots of photos of the band and some of our sexy fans and tells you where we’re playing next and how to reach us or buy the CD.

GARY: Music is such an awesome creative outlet. All the popular original music you hear on the radio or MTV came from musicians like us, out there following their dreams. So get out there and support your local music venues, you might be surprised by what you hear.

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