Member Since: 5/30/2006
Band Website: velvetmafiatheband.com
Influences: Exerpt from an Interview by Derek de KoffAnyone can get up on stage and make music. I never studied music and had no idea what I was doing when I formed The Weenies. I got my education on stage.
When did you form The Weenies?
Back in '85. Dean And The Weenies. We were a club band. We used to play Rock And Roll Fag Bar and some of the other clubs. It became something of a phenomenon. I did this song called "Fuck You" in the film Mondo New York. From that I was able to get a recording contract with Island Records. They signed me based on my performance of "Fuck You" but when they realized I was a gay activist and a drag queen, they freaked out and found an excuse to dump me. They released my record in an unmarked brown paper wrapper and then said that they were dumping me because the album wouldn't sell. (Laughs.) They printed out thousands of CDs of "Fuck You" and then decided to get rid of them. They dumped them into a dumpster behind the Island offices. Homeless people pulled them out of the garbage and sold them for a dollar on St. Mark's and it became a huge phenomenon. That's how I really established myself as a performer back in '87.So Island Records probably isn't releasing this one.
No, Trip Records is putting out this album. They're a small independent label based in Miane, where I'm from. It's a gay-owned label and they have a definite political agenda. The themes in my material are consistent with the kinds of projects they want to promote.
Would you say you have a political agenda?
I would say I have a social agenda. I grew up in the '70s. It was a very hard time to grow up gay, and very hard for me to pretend I wasn't. I've been motivated primarily by trying to be as visibly and openly gay as possible, and hopefully make it easier for people who are growing up now.
Generally, your subject matter revolves around drag queens, hustlers, crack whores, rock and roll fags...
Well, I write about what I know. (Laughs.) Those are the people that inhabit my world, but you rarely hear them or see them in popular culture. I really wanted to show people the reality that I know with my lyrics.Good titles on this album. "HIV: Her Infinite Vanity" is one that sticks out a bit.
"Her Infinite Vanity" is about how you just can't escape AIDS, even if you have it. It's there, every time you meet someone new. It permeates all facets of our lives and makes me very angry. That song is really just an expression of my frustration about HIV.
When you perform, how does the audience react?
Never had a negative reaction from an audience. Never. We're always met with unbridled enthusiasm. It doesn't matter where we're playing or what kind of audience we're playing for. In fact, straight audiences tend to be the most enthusiastic. I find it astonishing, actually. I think it's got a lot to do with middle-class guilt, you know? All this material dealing with drag queens and hustlers and drug addicts... Maybe everyone is feeling oppressed by mainstream culture, and that's why they respond the way they do - they react to the fact that I'm trying to tell it like it is.When The Weenies fell apart, I started doing dope for awhile. I was a heroin addict throughout the entire Bush administration. When I stopped doing drugs and got my life back together, I'd pretty much given up any hope of continuing with music... but I was watching this video of Tina Turner doing "A Fool In Love" and it moved me so much that I started crying and I started to think I was staring into the face of God. Don't worry, I know that sounds incredibly cheesy. But I went back and listened to my old songs, and some of them had really held up. Strangely, I ended up meeting (bass player) Little Mary Feaster that same day. We hit it off instantly. Twenty minutes later we were up on a roof-top, smoking a joint, and planning to form a new band.
What kinds of music do you listen to?
I don't listen to it ever. It's like eating donuts when you work at Krispy Kreme. I spend so much time making music and thinking about it. When I come home, all I want to do is watch daytime television. Jerry Springer twice a day. My husband is Puerto Rican and he listens to classical disco all the time. He's the dictator of the stereo and I don't ever attempt to use it. (Laughs).
Influences?
I have many, but I don't listen to them... Lou Reed, The B-52's, Cher and Stevie Nicks... I worship Stevie. I've been in every single Stevie Nicks tribute that Jackie 60 has ever done. It's bigger than Christmas for me. I spend a month getting ready. I literally can't sleep the night before. My cat is named Stevie Nicks. So I have influences, but I never listen to them.-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------
Record Label: They threw the records in the trash.
Type of Label: None