05/24/05 - Rock? Oh, baby
As a local band member is finding out, it's a tough business for new moms

By Elana Ashanti Jefferson
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

Revelers stumbled around Boulder's Pearl Street Mall on a recent party night as Anika Zappe chugged a non-alcoholic beer and strapped a Gibson SG guitar over her inked-up belly.

Better known as Anika Cuda - one-third of the female-fronted, wig- and hot pants-clad Denver garage rock band Hemi Cuda - the guitarist stepped to a microphone on the stage of a Boulder music dive. She was joined by bassist Karen Exley and drummer Ryan Klassen.

There was a fourth, albeit de facto, band member: Zappe's unborn baby, who if not keeping time could at least feel the beat.

Hemi Cuda, which is going on hiatus, plays its last gig of the year Saturday at the Bluebird Theater. Exley is preparing to take her place as the most recent bassist tapped to round out a certain high-profile "sleaze metal" band out of Atlanta.

And Zappe? She is starting a family.

Her choice meant facing the perception that successful bands do not include rock 'n' roll moms. While women in other professions have made inroads juggling bassinets and boardrooms, the rock world hasn't exactly embraced the notion of backstage diaper stations.

"A lot of our hopes and dreams are intertwined," Zappe said of Exley, her rock 'n' roll sidekick for nearly nine years. "We depend on each other for mutual commitment. (Karen) was happy and supportive, but I know there was some trepidation."

Zappe's reality check arrived when Hemi Cuda talked with a well-connected West Coast producer about working on its next album, which the members hope generates even more buzz than 2000's "Classics for Lovers" because of Exley's coveted new gig.

"He felt like the other shoe was going to drop," Zappe said. "He said to Karen, 'I'm just not sure how much I want to pitch you guys to labels if Anika is going to leave and get pregnant."'

There are so many challenges in combining motherhood and rock 'n' roll - or any other career - that three years ago a collective of musician-moms launched Mamapalooza, a performance and merchandising cooperative that hosts events in major music cities. Documentary filmmaker Jackie Weissman was so moved by the triumphs and struggles of creative moms that she's making a feature-length film on the subject that includes Sleater-Kinney singer Corin Tucker.

Heavy-hitting country music manager and Denver native Anastasia Brown said performers with families should put themselves in the shoes of industry bigwigs.

"Moms do have a challenge in overcoming the worry that someone will invest money (and) that investment will become riskier because of the mom's love of her children," said Brown, a celebrity judge on "Nashville Star" who is best known for discovering Keith Urban.

"This person is going to invest a million dollars in your career," she said. "Imagine what that's like."

Brown, who is a mom, said there is a flip side to this: Women are increasingly doing music on their own terms. "Sometimes challenges make for bigger success," she said.

Stars such as Suzanne Vega, Erykah Badu and Celine Dion can enlist nannies and adapt tour buses to accommodate music and family. But tour life is hard enough on adults, let alone kids.

Consider the Osbournes, who infamously hauled along their children during Black Sabbath's commercial domination - and dad Ozzy's darkest debauchery - exposing the kids to a lifestyle that arguably prompted their own substance-abuse issues.

The Cudas remain optimistic.

"We have dreams of getting a little bus and touring around and having a road kid," said Zappe's partner, Jake Bennett, a sound technician and metalsmith. "We're pretty good about helping each other out."

On the other hand, one of Zappe's former bandmates, Chanin Floyd of The Geds, opted not to tour and play live sets as much now that she's a mom.

"There are distractions (from music) like babysitters and making sure your child is happy and well," said Floyd, a hairstylist who, in a previous band with her husband (Geds guitarist Tim Beckman) was once signed to Island Records.

"(The Geds) have talked to some labels but they've had a hard time because they know we have a kid," said Floyd, who looks to rock moms such as Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Exene Cervenka of X as role models.

And how do the kids feel?

Twylla Kekaula Vennum grew up in the shadow of rock 'n' roll. The 17-year-old daughter of soul-rock vocalist Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum of The BellRays said by e-mail that she relishes the reaction she gets when kids learn her parents are rockers. She was thrilled when her generally staid high school drill team performed to a song her mother recorded with the Basement Jaxx.

"That was definitely the best feeling I've had knowing my mom was singing and making people happy," Vennum wrote.

But downsides exist, the teen said.

As rock road warriors, her parents had to miss their daughter's prom, softball games and the college application process. And when Twylla was younger, the couple struggled to make ends meet, forcing them to give up the family house and move in with her grandparents. But Kekaula Vennum said for her, the pros outweigh the cons. "I've learned a lot from my mom about how to talk to people, stand my ground, know what I want and not sacrifice, just from listening to her give interviews or ... negotiate some contract," she said.

Dressy Bessy chanteuse Tammy Ealom made an unconventional choice when negotiating motherhood and music. Ealom's daughter, now 18, spent recent years living with her grandparents, a decision she says the family reached together because it was best for mother and daughter.

"I am a huge part of her upbringing and life," said Ealom, preparing to tour in support of Dressy Bessy's fourth album, out next month. "She may not live under my roof but (she is) definitely under my guidance."

Hilarie Sidney, drummer for the former Denver band Apples in Stereo, came up with a different plan to care for Max, her son with ex-husband and fellow Apples member Robert Schneider. On the road, the Apples employ a second, kiddie van, and enlist a nanny. For an upcoming recording trip to Norway, Max will spend time with both his stepmom and stepdad while the Apples are in the studio.

"I always knew it could work because of bands who toured with their children like Sonic Youth and Low," Sidney said. "Having children is more important than music, but I don't see why you can't do both."

Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.

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From Salt Lake City Weekly by Randy Harward:

It starts on the school bus. En route to or from school, or yet another field trip to Hogle Zoo, we boys stared out the window, scanning traffic for cool muscle cars on which to call dibs. At school, we’d traverse the playground, egos fortified by our gleaming white Kiss or AC/DC T-shirts and mental showroom of cherry automobiles. The girls thought we were cool-at least in our minds-but out of confusion or animal stupidity, we didn’t know to care.

Eventually, we came around. Girls, and their various mystery goodies, rose in our esteem. They became as cool as-perhaps even cooler than-Kiss and cars. Cherry took on a whole new meaning. This was the beginning of our downfall. We’d unwittingly supplied the blueprint to our destruction. Calculating ladies have bided their time in implementing any plan derived from the knowledge, until now. Hemi Cuda have arrived.

The Denver, Colorado, trio-pseudo fembots Anika Zappe (guitar, vocals) and Karen Exley (bass, boots) and token male Devon Rogers (drums)-might be the indecent insurrection. Touring the country on feminine wiles, guitar wails and exhaust fumes, Hemi makes men beg thrice: to hear hot-rod jargon roll from juicy red lips, for tasty licks in songs about fast machines and easy action, and for acknowledgement in a wink or a spank. Even jaded male Jello Biafra waited in line to see Hemi Cuda’s live debut. But while such evidence points to feasible female dominance, that’s not necessarily the goal.

“Pleasing men and conquering them can be one and the same,” says Zappe. Exley adds: “I like men a lot. However, I don’t really see the point in ‘conquering’ them. … Although it is nice to remind them that women are far superior beings.”

The ladies call themselves Hemi Cuda after their “mutual love of all that is fast and powerful,” says Zappe, adding her now-ex-boyfriend used to “get wood” whenever she dropped car lingo like “Hemi” or “positraction.” Their boozy, bluesy power-trio sound is a manifestation of environment-both Exley and Zappe come from musical families-and intrinsic, undiluted femme fury.

“We are sexually empowered, thinking women who must be reckoned with,” says Zappe. “We play fast, loud and raunchy and we don’t need a reason. We are the reason.”

She kids you not. Hemi Cuda is, in many ways, like the Amazonian Viking chick adorning the cover of their album, Classics For Lovers (Pop Sweatshop Records). The curvy, helmeted warrior-shown wielding a busted, bloody Gibson SG and bitch-dragging a man-instills fear and throbbing turgidity. They’re the embodiment of the “Sweet Pain” Gene Simmons once sang of. You want to run to and run from Hemi, but if you’re smart, you stand still and take it. God help the dumbass-particularly one in Fort Wayne, Ind.-that reaches out for a handful.

Tells Exley, “He thought it’d be a good idea to rub ice cubes up my leg. My boyfriend at the time was playing drums with us and saw the guy conspiring. He gave him a warning and the fucker did it anyway. On the last note, I kicked his glass out of his hand with my big-ass boot. Glass and booze flew everywhere, but the folks who got splattered cheered. He stood in a corner the rest of the night, ashamed a beautiful woman cut him down. It seems to remind them just how pathetic they are.”

Whether Hemi Cuda aims to dominate or not, they’re obviously capable. Zappe even claims, “Many in the land will bear the smell of Hemi on their lips.” So how does one avoid the carnage?

“The best way to fall into my favor,” says Exley, “is to have integrity and be honest. General respect is something I expect. There’s nothing that grates my nerves more than men who don’t know me, have no couth, and think it’s a compliment to make derogatory sexual comments. Do they really think that works? Come on.”

“Offer to buy a drink or help lug my amp,” chimes Zappe, “and don’t be upset if I decline. Give me an interesting conversation, packed with humor. Be a deviant, but be obedient. And bring me Happy Meal toys! Still wrapped, please!”

Therein lies the secret of surviving the revolt. Women have their own weaknesses. We love muscle cars and Kiss; they want to be treated like ladies. They love us as much as we love them.

“I prefer to be the lover, not the fighter,” concludes Zappe. “Besides, a good intelligent mind does so much more damage.”

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From Razorcake / Issue #9 Aug/Sept. 2002 (pg. 79)

by Donofthedead

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by Patrick Schabe
Associate Music Editor / PopMatters.com
As a resident of the Mile High City, it always excites me to see a Denver band do fairly well in the music biz. With Big Head Todd and the Monsters, the Samples, and the Apples in Stereo being some of our only big-time exports, it's not like Colorado has exactly been known as a hotbed of musical talent, even though some very talented bands exist in the Denver area (anyone who mentions Kip Winger gets kicked in the head). So the fact that Denver's own Hemi Cuda has been slowly making headway in terms of attention from critics and fans, especially following in the wake of their recent release, Classics for Lovers, on the Pop Sweatshop label.

     I called Karen Exley, the Cuda’s bass player and sometimes vocalist, from the Wonderland dog track, for a dose of speed-rock gospel. As my millions burned thanks to panicked greyhounds tripping over each other and stopping mid-race to lick their nuts, Karen laid the Hemi Cuda story on me. "It just kind of happened. I was in this band called ‘Self-Service’ at the time, and Anika ( Zappe- guitar and vocals) had a band called the Hectics, that broke up. So, her and the other girl that was in the Hectics had a new band together, but they never had a bass player, and I would see them around town and give them shit about not having a bass player in the band. Eventually, they hunted me down, and we started rocking." Karen’s obviously in a rush to get to something cooler, a little devil-speak, a little trash-talk maybe, but she’s dutifully tracing the lineage anyway. "And then Julie, the other girl, she quit after like the first or second show." I ask her what happened to Julie. "She wanted to stay home, be domestic, and plant flowers", she laughs." Which is ok, we’re a lot better musically without her. " I note that Hemi Cuda decided to forge ahead with a boy on the battery, dissolving the she-rock factor. "There’s not any girls in town that can actually rock", Karen tells me. We’ve gone through four different drummers so far. We’re on a quest this summer to find a permanent drummer. It’s kind of a pain, you know. We want to play all these shows, and we have to find another drummer for every gig and teach them all the songs." I ask her why Hemi Cuda have such a problem finding drummers. A question just about every rock band in the world is trying desperately to find an answer to. "It’s just hard to find somebody with the level of commitment we want", she says. "A lot of people in Denver are happy with their little comfort zone, and don’t want to leave." She tells the tale of the last Hemi-casualty. "We found this one kid that really wanted to play with us. He was going to school for drums, he had tattoos, the whole look. We wanted somebody young and ambitious, so we were psyched. Then the first day of practice he bailed out. He said he had to get a job for the summer", she says, sounding disgusted. Obviously, the hip young cat got a little to close to the rock n’ roll flame, and he got burnt. "Exactly. You know, school, corporate jobs, that stuff is going to be there forever. You should rock while you still have the chance." Right on, sister. "So that’s the problem with the drummers, it’s not that we’re a couple of bitches. Plus, the view back there is pretty good", she laughs. 

     When I first heard the name ‘Hemi Cuda’, I thought maybe they were chicas or something. I ask Karen what the fuck a Hemi Cuda is, and how she chose it for a band name. "Julie booked some shows for us, so we had to come up with a name." You know, this is something I’ve noticed in my many days in the rock and roll trenches. Guys figure out the name, look, and theme of their bands before they even learn to play their instruments. Girls wait until the last minute, figuring it’ll all fall into place. "We all had some cool ideas, but none that all of us were digging", Karen says. " And then I thought about how when I was little, my step-dad was a total gear- head. He had a ton of hot rods, and he had a Hemi Cuda. Little kids in elementary school can be pretty ruthless, so they used to make fun of me a lot, and it wasn’t until later in life that I realized how fucking cool it was that I got dropped off at school in a purple Hemi Cuda everyday. That car is one of the most bad —ass street cars ever made. So we were like ‘Yeh! Hemi Cuda!" Another legend born of revenge for playground cruelty. I ask her if they actually own a Hemi Cuda. She laughs at me. "Those cars have a blue book value of like a hundred thousand dollars." I tell her she ought to put the car down as part of their first big record contract. "Fuck yeah, a pink Hemi Cuda. We could make it from Vancouver to San Diego in 4 hours!"

     We get to talking about Hemi Cuda’s slut-chic look. "Our shtick, with the matching wigs and stuff, came together over the past couple of years", Karen says, talking about the sexy-crazy-cool image. "We always tried to co-ordinate the stuff we wore on stage, but after we started with the wigs, things got more over-the top." I ask her how the image plays with the great unwashed. "There’s some people in Denver that hate the shtick, you know, but it’s not like we don’t rock. It’d be different if we sucked, if we couldn’t play and we just relied on our looks." Hemi Cuda could get by being dog faced drivers, given the ferocity of their rock and roll mayhem, but pretty pictures still make for a better story. "Totally. We see the value of all aspects of performance. You go to see any band in town, and all the guys, they’re wearing exactly what they were walking around in all day. Not that that’s a big deal, or anything, but that’s one of the things that separates going to a show from just listening to a CD- incorporating all the senses. That’s why we always smell so bad", she jokes.

     ‘Classics For Lovers’, the new album, bursts out of it’s cage like a tiger, the "Hemi Cuda theme" opening the proceedings with a ripsaw buzz-punk riff and a full-throated roar of "Hemi-fucking-cuda!" like the revolution has hit the streets. Songs like ‘Do What I Please’ and ‘Betting Man’ follow a similar greased path of speed and raunch. A couple of tracks, however, in comparison to the rest of the record, sound…a little girly. "Well, we’re girls, what the fuck do you expect?" Karen counters, with a laugh. "We had a few songs that, for awhile, we wouldn’t play because we didn’t think they were tough enough, but fuck it, ya know? They’re good songs, so why not play them?" Fair enough, but ‘Karen’s theme’, with it’s wistful ‘Oh, did you know you’re the only one, the only one…’ is a far cry from the theme song’s ‘Got my bitch up front and my nitrous in the trunk’. "Actually, the title of that song is to distract you from the fact that it’s really Anika’s theme. She had a broken heart, and broken hearts are always good material for songs." Anika didn’t want to cop to such frailties, but Karen didn’t care. Everybody already knows that she’s as hard as nails. "It kind of summed up my attitude anyway", she says.

     I ask her about the Hemi Cuda sound, and what flavor of the rock inspires them. "Anika likes a lot of garage stuff, real basic, stripped down 3-chord rock", she says. "I listen to a lot of metal, a lot of hardcore, but the music I write is usually never like what I listen to." Metal? After talking with Karen for a half an hour, I find scant evidence of head banger chick-ness. She hasn’t even called me ‘dude’ once. "I like Pantera, Slayer, stuff like that." Thankfully, there’s no thrash metal shredding going on in the grooves of ‘Classics’, but Roadsaw’s trademark motor-stoner tones slip and slide throughout the proceedings. Speed-stoner rock? "Anika plays in another band that’s total stoner rock", Karen admits. "They’re called the Super Bees. They’re kind of a Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age kind of thing. But that’s Anika’s thing, I don’t want to talk about them to much, this is about Hemi Cuda." Something tells me that Karen’s not down with the stoner rock brotherhood. "Aww, I like some of it, but most of that stuff is just band wagon rock. You know, like someone does something that’s cool, and everyone just kind of jumps on the bandwagon, and starts doing it too. It’s just not very original music. Not that what we do is all that original either", she laughs.

     Ok, so Hemi Cuda didn’t invent hot chicks with guitars, but they have made good use of a winning formula. Here’s another point where girl bands and guy bands differ. Guys develop a sound, and then they’re done. Who needs songs, baby? We got a killer tone. Case in point, every European stoner rock band. Girls, however, go through the trouble of actually writing melodies, harmonies, hooks. "Oh yeah, we’re hookers", Karen jokes. I wonder if Karen sees any ‘Cuda hits in the future. "Yes. I’m confident in saying that. I mean, we get a lot of college airplay. We probably wouldn’t get signed to a major label or anything, but I think our songs are good enough to be hits, yeah." As far as Hemi Cuda are concerned, rock and roll ain’t no loser’s game. "Our first show was sold out, and Jello Biafra was waiting in line to get in", Karen beams. Likewise, as far as the new album goes, nobody’s complaining. " We really haven’t gotten any bad reviews", she says, "Which is surprising, I figured somebody would hate it. " She pauses for a moment, searching for a negative spin. "We got a good review in this Denver paper, and this guy wrote a letter about it, saying how bad he thought we sucked. That was encouraging", she laughs. "That kind of stuff really makes me want to rock hard."

     I ask Karen to take me to the big show, so to speak. What’s the live Hemi Cuda experience like? "A lot of shit talking", Karen says immediately. I figured as much. Couple of live wires, tearing the place up. "Do we start fights?" She asks, repeating my question. "No, we finish them. Well, Anika doesn’t, she’s, uh…" Karen struggles for diplomacy. "I’m kind of the aggressive one of the two of us." I ask her if she’s happy with that dynamic- ‘Karen’s the loud one, Anika’s the quiet one’. "Oh, she’s not quiet", Karen corrects me. "She’s just stoned". She laughs. " I don’t think that I’m so aggressive that I’m mean. I have a reputation for finishing a couple of things that people started with me, but I’m actually very, very nice, and goofy. Like Marmaduke." Marmaduke with a spiked collar and a dog bowl full of superman juice, maybe.

     Speaking of dogs, mine just limped into last place, and I’ve got to get the hell out of this race track while I still have shoes to walk home in, but it wouldn’t be a Sleazegrinder interview without one good road story. Karen is happy to oblige. "It was our first tour, and we were on our way from LA to Phoenix to play with the Street Walking Cheetahs, and we forgot about the time change, so we thought we were going to be late. So we’re speeding down the highway, going like 110 miles an hour. Our drummer’s driving, and meanwhile me and Anika are in the back, getting our whole shtick together, so that we’ll be ready for the gig. I’m wearing this corset, it’s got head- lights that light up on the boobs, you know, like fenders and tail -lights, and stuff? So, I’m putting this on, and we’ve got these crazy wigs on, and this cops pulls us over. I hear the siren, the ‘whoop, whoop’, and we’re like, ‘fuck’, because nothing’s going right, and now we’re getting stopped by the cops. So the cop walks up to us, and he looks at me and Anika in the back, and then he turns around and gives our drummer a thumbs up, and drives off! I was all ready to give him a story, ‘I’m sorry officer, I have a head light out on my dress!" I’ve got to admit, that’s a classic. "Our tours are all about rock and roll excess", Karen readily admits. "We have tons of stories like that, they just tend to get lost in the wash of our poor memories."