heres ambers last interview, with death pangs zine/ruby

so much for the suicide pact

namby pamby

birth of duchesses:
Duchesses started without me, but it was unwittingly
conceived by Alice (gtr) and I (Amber Alert!/vox) in
2005.  We met in Portland when I was 'on the run.'  We
were drawn to each other preternaturally.  She went
back to San Diego and I got caught shoplifting.  I was
returned to San Diego and put into an inpatient mental
health treatment facility.  Upon discharge, she and I
reconnected (though in secret--I was in lock down
essentially), continued our affair and flirted with
the idea of collaborating musically.  I ended up in
treatment again and that's when she started playing
with Eva (bass), experimenting with variations of
sequencer/sampler approaches to punk, with elements of
sonic ritual.  They did some recordings and got Traci
to come play after seeing her practice in the drumline
after school.  The three of them jammed for a few
months before I got the chance to get ahold of Alice
again.  She asked me to sing or do whatever I wanted
in the band and I was hesitant as I'm not really a
musician. I mean, I had violin and piano lessons
growing up but I didn't really want to do that.  I
relented and came to a practice.  Turns out Alice
invited me to join without talking to Eva or Traci
about it!  There was certainly a "who's this bitch?"
vibe in the room.  But we all adjusted to each others
personalities to a workable extent, got a handful of
songs together, recorded an ep, found a label to
release it (apoprecords.com), played a handful of
shows and did this in spring 2006, without my mom
finding out (major violation of my "probation").  At
the end of summer '06, my paternal aunt agreed to have
me live my last juvenile year with her in Portland.  I
got my GED, got a job and my mental health has
improved tenfold.  That allowed me to go on tour with
Duchesses (they may have gone without me), without the
fear of being brought in by the police as my mother
easily could have gotten our tour itinerary and IPB'd
my whereabouts.  But, truly, life is beautiful.  I'm
happy to be able to say this. 

concept album:
We will commence writing for a full length LP this
summer and fall.  Our first batch of songs tackled the
subtle and overt undertones and topnotes of teenage
sexuality, emotional attachment, separation anxiety,
rejection, contempt and resentment, as well as body
image issues, gender dysphoria (so yesterday!), drug
trips and their accompanying revelations and
delusions.  While these are qualities and experiences
that tend to affect most, if not all, materially
embodied entities, young and old, I personally feel
that in order to overcome the binds that shackle us to
a life of inconsistency and unhappiness, we must look
closely at the roots of the causes of conflict,
internal and external.  And while I'm no remarkable
philosopher, its apparent to me that the great 'crisis
of the modern world' boils down to the crisis of
identity.  And identity is a shapeshifting demon that
possesses its hosts in many forms:  racial identity,
sex and gender identity, national identity, cultural
identity, subcultural identity, commercial
market/demographic identity, religious identity,
political identity, familial identity and so on and so
on...  The plan thus far is to put identity and the
identity industry under the microscope on the upcoming
record. By no means is the record going to be a 'call
to action' against identity or identity politics.
Duchesses is not an outlet for political activism.  I
have no desire to abolish identity nor the schisms
that accompany ill chauvinism.  I just want to shine
the light upon identity and help people identify their
own sub/unconscious relationship with their own.  We
hope to have the record finished by the end of 2007,
as there may be some interruptions, distractions and
other life modifications (higher education, travels,
tours, etc).

manifesto/muffin recipe:
I am not at liberty to divulge as yet as there is not
enough space within your digest, but I will let it be
known that i have been working on two manifesti that
are in the edit phase and may be revealed concurrently
with our debut LP.  It is uncertain if the manifesti
will represent Duchesses ideology, as I am an
individual and Duchesses is a group of individuals.
Not a political unit but descendants of families, and
as a result, representatives of those families.  We
have to take this all into consideration when
expressing ourselves as such.  But the manifesti you
ask about touch on themes approached in the concept
album, as well as topics such as universal rhythms and
cycles, vibrations, and true eternal identity.
As far as muffin recipes...I don't have any but Eva
makes some really good blueberry ones and puts this
weird green butter on top.  I get so giddy and sleepy!
Plus she uses vanilla yoghurt instead of eggs! Yum!
Muffins are the new cupcakes!

kindred spirits/muses/musical allies:
Oh god!  There are so many!  I'm a bit worried I may
neglect to mention some...  Carla Bozulich, Bobb
Bruno, Weasel Walter, Saboteurs, Fred Nemo, Child
Pornography, Shearing Pinx, Mikaela's Fiend, Grey
Daturas, Ill Ease, The Pope, Mushrooms Patience,
Eugenics Council, Erase Errata, Silentist,
Subarachnoid Space, Nate Carson, The Better To See You
With, Period Blood (and The Menses), Muscles Johnson,
Elizabeth Raffer, Durga, The Vaginals, Rabbits,
Danava, Business Lady, Switch Bitch, Me Con, DJ Rick
Ele, Faulouah, Jonny X, Waldteufel, Sexual Tourist,
Bulbs, Hips, Birthday Injun, Chocolate Money, Ryan
Sixes, Gravy At Sea, Magick Daggers, Twin, TJO, Slums,
Sara Jaffe, Sarah Dougher, Jim and The Smell, Friends
Forever, Tender Buttons, Riververb, Soft Shoulder,
Glacial Ghost, Shoplifting, A Silver Mountain Zion,
HRSTA, Gabe Mindel, Die Monitr Batss, Laibach, Bonfire
Madigan, Slapshot, Crass, Fred Frith, Dagmar Krause,
Chris Cutler, Tim Hodgkinson, The Work, Malaria!, Tony
Williams, B-52's, Alejandro Jodorowsky,
Celebration/Birdland/Lovelife/Jaks, Throwing Muses, 50
Foot Wave, The Breeders, Cocteau Twins, Lush, The
Banshees, The Easy Cure, Goblin, Kate Bush, Residents,
Ved Buens Ende, Aristide Massaccesi, Dada, Sex Gang
Children, Poison Girls, Coil, Univers Zero, Shub
Niggurath, Magma, Sun Ra, Cervantes, Albert Ayler,
Celtic Frost, Voivod, Quorthon and Boss, Jo Bench,
Lanie the Ripper, Trio Bulgarka, Life's Blood,
Citizens Arrest, Nausea, Andre Breton, the bhakti
cult, Dr. Laurie Weeks, Lexapro, Eileen Myles, Dodie
Bellamy, Jessalyn, Paul, snacks, violence (not the
band), conflict (not the band), Conflict (the band),
Vio-lence (the band), Slipknot (the one that had a 7"
on Revelation back in the day), Kong, Darkthrone,
Burzum, Absurd, The Game, Old (the old one, not the
new one), Richard Pryor, Scorpions, Electric Sun,
Confessor, Cro-Mags, Rudimentary Peni, KUKL, Death In
June, NON, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt (I'm in
love with...), PLO, Israel, Babylon, Zion, China,
Cuba, devils, angels, our friends, lovers, families,
those who've helped and those who hate.  Empathy for
the devil.  Its a tough job but someone's gotta do it!
>X<
amber alert!
RIP Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:17:13 -0700 (PDT)