The Shanghais

Oakland’s The Shanghai’s are audio Fun Dip for your soul. Imagine yourself as that stiff, flavorless dipstick that comes separated from the rest of the party in a standard Fun Dip packet. You put on some Shanghai’s records, bounce around the room for a while and suddenly you’re covered with that sweet, colorful sugary goodness for the entire neighborhood to enjoy. You’re a changed human being after hearing The Shanghais music whether you know it or not. They play fast, loud, catchy, beautifully simplistic Ramones-y punk songs. Yes, indeed the skies are a little brighter, those kids playing outside the bedroom window aren’t so loud, and the world just may be okay for a little while longer. 

Interview by J Castro

Let’s begin with introductions. Who’s all in this outfit and what do you all do to keep the Shanghais rolling?

NATALIE: We have Dani on guitar, Laura on drums, Trevor on bass, and me (Natalie) on lead vocals.  Well, we have been playing pretty consistently since we started out two years ago. We just practice when we can, hang out when we can, and go to as many shows as we can.

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

NATALIE: Dani and I were friends years ago when we both lived in Philadelphia. When I relocated to the Bay a couple years after she did, we reconnected. She’d always played in such rad bands so I was really hoping she’d want to do a girl group with me, and she did! Laura was the drummer of one of the coolest girl bands in the Bay, Dirty Cupcakes. When they broke up we knew we had to get her. We are all Pookie & the Poodlez fans so we were super excited when Trevor joined us on bass after our (totally awesome) first bass player, Devin, moved to Minnesota. He’s just one of the girls.

Your music has been compared to bands like The Ramones and Nikki and The Corvettes. Music that has been scrutinized for its simplicity yet remains highly influential. If music like that is so simple, why do you think it’s so hard to do well? 

NATALIE: Hmm, I mean, to me, a great pop song is a great pop song, regardless of the complexity of the arrangement or the guitar solo. I think its truly understanding that it’s pop aesthetic that makes a difference. And don’t try too hard, which is, I guess, easier said than done.

You guys just released a new EP on the Italian label Surfin Ki Records. How did you hook up with those fine folks?

NATALIE: Our friend Dan Shaw made a funny music video for our song “Too Cool to Cry” when it came out last summer on the No Rules! No Fun compilation. My friend Morten Henricksen really dug it and passed it on to Carlo at Surfin’ Ki. We lucked out and Carlo emailed us saying he loved the song and wanted to release a 7” with 4 new songs. It was a good surprise for sure. 

And speaking of your new EP, you did a video for the first song “Sick of You”. Can you tell us a bit about it and did you enjoy the process of making it?

NATALIE: Videos are ridiculously fun to make. We had such a good time with the first one that we couldn’t wait to make another with Dan Shaw. As a director, he definitely makes the process incredibly low on the pressure and high on the fun. This time around we decided to go on a picnic, get bullied by some jerks, and then explode them with Rock N’ Roll. It took us only a few hours to shoot it at Mosswood Park in Oakland and we were so stoked when that dog ended up in the final video.

In the video a bunch of evildoers come and ruin your picnic. In the scuffle, you find your instruments. It reminds me of this quote I read about how elitist Prom Queens and bully Quarterbacks rarely end up doing anything cool. They function only to fire up and drive the geeky kids to creative or scientific greatness. Do you agree with that philosophy?

NATALIE: Of course I want to say yes! Weirdoes rule, because they do! And though I’ve seen a lot of elitist prom queens achieve some creative and scientific greatness and some weirdoes do nothing, I do think the idea of the late bloomer blowing everyone away is very romantic.

I noticed on both of your EP’s that the subject of your songs tends to revolve around relationships.  Is it a conscious choice not to write about social or political issues?  Even The Ramones finally broke down and did “Bonzo Goes To Bitburg” after all. 

NATALIE: Ha ha, hey man, we write what we know! And the news is a huge bummer. I guess we do try to keep it light and a little laughable. It’s just a coincidence that everything we think is light and laughable seems to revolve around boys. And you’re right about the Ramones. They did get mildly political on their like 11^th album J since we are only on our second EP I think we still have some good “pop for pop’s sake” years left, haha!

When starting out, is this the sound you all had imagined in your heads for The Shanghais or once you got going did it take on a life of its own?

NATALIE: We knew we wanted a girl group sound with lots of harmonies, lots of hooks. Our original motto was “everybody sings!” The first song we learned together was a cover of the Fabulettes “Try the Worryin’ Way.” But once we started playing it took on a life of it’s own. We wanted to keep the girl group aesthetic but play faster, faster, faster! So we did.

Where can people go to hear Shanghai’s music?

NATALIE: Theshanghais.bandcamp.com and Facebook.com/theshanghais

What looms on the horizon for The Shanghai’s, any tours or LP’s in the works?

NATALIE: We are just riding the wave, waiting to see what opportunities come our way and hoping to sell some 7”s. 

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Nikki Corvette

     Nikki Corvette’s music has been described, quite accurately I might add, as the perfect blend of The Ronettes and The Ramones. Garage bands around the world have been trying to imitate her sound ever since her debut album Nikki and the Corvettes came out in 1980 on Greg Shaw’s legendary recording label Bomp! Records. Although her name didn’t attain the household status that some of her peers achieved, it didn’t make Nikki’s music any bit less relevant. In my opinion, she hit all the marks a lot of her fellow lady rockers of that time missed. It’s more playful and light hearted than Joan Jett’s first records and less of a show boat than Blondie’s Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat LP’s. Nikki Corvette continues to play her unique brand of sharp, sassy, and fun Rock N’ Roll with as much charisma and bounce as she did back in 1980 with a new crop of musicians she helped inspire. How’s that for the ultimate homage!

Interview by Jay Castro

You started writing and performing songs with one time guitarist for The Romantics Peter James. How did you meet him and was it him that inspired you to want to write and perform music?
I met Pete when I was 16, his best friend was dating my best friend and we dated for a while. We both liked the same kind of music and went to every concert and show possible. I learned a lot about music from him, but I always wanted to sing in a band. We stayed friends after we broke up and then started Nikki Corvette and The Convertibles together and co-wrote all the songs so he really helped me realize my musical ambitions. Our very volatile relationship did inspire the lyrics for “You Make Me Crazy.”

Nikki Corvette and The Convertibles were formed in a bit of a hurry due to the fact that you had shows booked but no band or songs. In retrospect, do you wish you would have had more time to rehearse and maybe gather your thoughts a bit, or do you feel you benefited by having your career starting off with a bang and not over thinking things?
I was friends with this guy Skid Marx, he played bass and was booking a club called The Red Grape and I was always saying I wanted to be in a band so one day he told me he booked a show for me. So Pete, Skid and a drummer, Bob Mulrooney, aka Bootsey X, put some songs together including a couple I had written with Pete and we did the show but we never rehearsed, just learned the songs separately. Not only was the sound check was the first time we ever played together; it was also the first time I ever sang in a mic!! The show was packed, everyone I knew was there and I knew after the first song it couldn't ever be worse then that!! We got booked every weekend for the next 3 months from that show and we still never rehearsed! It's really hard to say what would have happened with more time to practice, etc, it might have been great but I think the way it happened was best. It was crazy and spontaneous and scary but with time to think, I might not have jumped in; I wasn't a great singer and that might have stopped me. I believe it was fated to happen this way and I'm glad it did!

From what I gather things became a bit romantically complicated with you and some other Corvettes, former boyfriends, etc. Do you feel like this contributed to the breakup of the band in '81?

Like I said before Pete and I dated when I was in high school and his next girlfriend, Lori Jeri joined the band about 6 months after we started playing and that was never a problem. Most of the girls in the band had musician boyfriends who weren't always happy when their girlfriends went on tour, but I don't really think that had anything to do with the band breaking up. I think it had just run its course although Pete, Lori Jeri and I continued to work on other projects together over the years.

To me, the first Nikki and The Corvettes record on Bomp has a sort of sweet sunny disposition to it, a bit more of a West Coast feel and less of what one would think of as a Detroit or New York resonance. Did you have a particular sound you were shooting towards or was it more of a feeling or a 'vibe,' for lack of a better word?
Nikki and The Corvettes had so many influences and inspirations and wanted to be like all of them. I always wanted to be more punk and Pete wanted us to be more pop. The album just ended up being our combination of all of that but my voice was just kind of cute and girly and plus I've always been just super happy and excited about life so that was probably more the sunny West Coast feel, plus I love California, lived there for 24 years, so I'm very much a Detroit California girl. I don't think we tried to sound a certain way, it's just what evolved, what we had to work with, doing the album ourselves and who we were.

In 1997 you published a book called Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven. What is it about and what led you to want to write a book?
It all started as a game Lee Childers, photographer, manager for Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers and Levi and The Rockats, part of the Bowie, Mainman, Warhol crowd and on and on, and I used to play when we were bored at work. We would try to list all the dead Rock Stars we could think of and I decided it would be a great book for all the crazy people like us. I had wanted it to be an encyclopedia of dead rock stars, how they died and where they were buried; a lot of my friends and I like to visit their graves but didn't know where many of them were buried. In the end, I had to cut in down drastically because of time issues, deadlines and the overwhelming scope of it but it's still my dream to publish the definitive book of rock star deaths and a map to their graves.

In 2003 you released the "Love Me" b/w "What's On My Mind" 7” on Rapid Pulse Records. The first record that was released that marked an end to your recording hiatus.  How did that project come together?
After a long hiatus from music I started playing again occasionally with a young all girl band called The Pinkz. I got a message from Russell Quan, Bobbyteens, Flakes, Mummies and too many other bands to name, that a friend of his wanted me to play his festival called Rock Action in Minneapolis. I called his friend, Travis Ramin, intending to tell him no but he somehow convinced me to do the show with him and some local musicians. The show was great and Travis and I became really good friends. Next thing I know he wanted to write and record some songs so we wrote 2 songs over the phone, I was in LA, and we recorded them in Minneapolis. Pretty soon we started doing mini tours, East Coast, Midwest, West Coast and then Japan and eventually decided to make a real band of it and we became Nikki Corvette and The Stingrays recording several more records together.

In releasing the Wild Record Party album in 2005, you covered the gamut of pop music, everything from late 70's Punk to late 50's Rockabilly and Doo Wop. Is this a sort of homage to your influences or are these simply songs you've always just wanted to let loose on?
It's kind of a combination of reasons. Some are songs I had always loved and covered in the past, some were songs I just wanted to record and most of them were either a direct influence or representative of my many varied musical influences. There were also a few that were requests of other band members and a few that were compromises between us. It was just a fun record for me because I'm just a true fan, always have been, always will be and it was the chance to do a lot of songs I wouldn't normally do but that I was a fan of.

You have records on many different labels and collaborated with a lot of people through out your career in music. Have you ever thought of compiling your music into a sort of career spanning 'Box Set' collection?  Because that frankly would be super fantastic.
I hadn't really thought about it until I read this question but I kind of love the idea! There are a lot of records, especially the Japan only releases, which a lot of people haven't heard and there are some songs on those I'm quite proud of. I think it would be interesting to do, especially to re-release some songs I'm really proud of that were only released in Japan. Some of the recent work I've done is more grown-up and I'm trying some different styles of music and I'd like people to see another side of me. What do you guys think???? I would love to get some feedback!

There have been a number of books and memoirs written about the NYC music scene in the mid to late 70's. You were right there in the middle of it. There's even a story of David Johansen writing an English paper for you when you were in high school! Have you ever seen a passage or read any book that just completely misrepresents those times or anyone you've known from back in the day? Anything you that's made you think to yourself "that guy has it all wrong!"
Although there is nothing I can think of offhand, I am absolutely sure there are many instances I have thought this but that doesn't mean it didn't truly represent what the writer felt, it's all relative and personal to everyone in a different way. I have found in talking to people about shared experiences that we viewed them very differently even if we were together and I'm sure I've said stuff about things that happened, that someone else said "No, that's wrong." As far as the Johansen story, I was a college freshman and had stayed up all night hanging with The Dolls, I had an English paper due in a couple of hours on Desire Under The Elms and Johansen actually did help me write it. I got it turned in on time and gave him credit for the help.

You've been involved throughout the years with many young artists, everyone from Amy Gore to LA's The Pinkz, who I saw open up for The Real Kids and totally held their own, and The Donnas. Have these collaborations been a key factor in keeping you inspired to continue to play and write music?
I really love working with different people because they open me up to different styles of music and yes, they very much inspire me to try new stuff and keep me fresh. I'm a little scattered/ADD/easily bored so all these people keep me excited.

What does Nikki Corvette have in store for us in the near or not so near future?
I have so many projects in the works it's insane!!! I am currently working on songs/singles with Hunx from Hunx and His Punks, Kepi Ghoulie from Groovy Ghoulies, Morten Henriksen from The Yum Yums, Kevin Preston from Prima Donna and King Khan as well as writing songs for an album with my band The Romeos. Some Rock N' Roll Art shows with this amazing San Francisco artist Dirty Donny, a book project in the very early stages I will be doing with Deniz Tek, Radio Birdman as well as a mini West Coast tour this winter and tours of Japan, Spain and possibly more of Europe and hopefully Australia next year. I just released a single “He's Gone b/w Rockin' Romeos” with my incredible Italian band The Romeos, right before our last European tour, it's sold out but hopefully we will repress it soon. I have 3 songs I co-wrote with producer Mike E. Clark as well as some vocals that will be on his Zombies Rule record later this month. I am constantly finding new projects and beyond what is already in the works, I'm not even sure what's in store but I will keep working, playing and rockin' as long as people are interested and I'm having fun!!!

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