Fucking weird! Not only had I been getting drunk upstairs at the Whiskey the night before, but then, there I was eating vegetarian spaghetti with Alice Donut and 7 Year Bitch the next night. I was supposed to have interviewed 7 Year Bitch at the Whiskey show, but like I said, I got drunk that night. But it was all good because Selene assured me we could do the interview down in San Diego the next day. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about the interview beforehand-I mean, this was an interview with one of my favorite bands! But after hanging out with them that first night and smoking some pot with Liz, I was feeling a little more confident. My girlfriend Leanne and I met up with the band down in San Diego, and then they invited us to go have dinner at the world-famous Italian restaurant Fillipi's. It was just too surreal-slurping up spaghetti and crunching on garlic bread with the women from 7 year bitch. Then the show at the Casbah (San Diego night club) went off, even though they had to play a short set because we took so long swilling down tomato paste and starch. After the show we went outside to do the interview, and I have to say they're probably some of the coolest people I've ever met. We talked about everything from Liz's Girls Against Boys fetish, to old friends Stefanie Sargent and Mia Zapata. It was a fucking blast, and I want to thank 7 Year Bitch for being really cool and honest about the questions I asked. If you haven't seen them play live, you need to. And if you're a fan, read this interview! Thanks Selene, Roisin, Liz and Val.

Fizz: How long did it take you to record Viva Zapata (their latest record)?
Liz: We recorded it in three weeks, and mixed it in one-is that how it went?
Selene: No, we recorded it in two weeks, and mixed it in three.

Fizz: So when was the decision made to dedicate the record to Mia (Zapata, murdered vocalist of The Gits)?
Selene: Right after she died, the day of the wake. We didn't even have any songs written yet.

Fizz: You just knew you wanted to do a record for her?
Val: Yeah, and call it Viva Zapata.
Liz: It was totally obvious. We never even had to discuss what we should call the record or anything. It was just so clear that we had to do something for Mia.

Fizz: Seattle has lost a lot of people, a lot of musicians, the past couple of years.
Liz: I know, it's really bizarre. I hope that trend is over.

Fizz: I'm always saying how weird it is that both of your records are in memorial to someone who's died. On the third record I hope no one else is gone.
Val: We hope not, too!
Liz: Yeah, we've all talked about that before.

Fizz: So do you all get together on the song writing? Is it collaborative or what?
Selene: I just write the lyrics; i don't write any of the music. I just tell them if I like it or not, and we usually work it out that way.

Fizz: OK, well about that song writing of yours, Selene. What inspired the song "Damn Good and Well"? (surprised oohs and ahhs from the band) Because that song means one thing to me, but it could mean something totally different to you.
Roisin: Well, let's start with what it means to you.
Liz: Yeah, what does it mean to you?

Fizz: For me it relates to a situation me and my girlfriend were in with another woman. Just a weird situation we found ourselves in.
Liz: Oh, like a love pentagram? (laughter)

Fizz: Yeah, like a love pentagram.
Selene: Hmmm, what inspired that song? OK, first of all, musically, I just wanted to do something slower. I had written the lyrics, so then I just told Liz how I wanted the rhythm to go, and she came up with this bass line. We actually put that together when we were on our first tour in Europe. So musically that's how all of that came together, but the words...

Fizz: Yeah, the words, who are the three people you tell to go straight to hell?
Selene: (laughs first) None of your business!
Roisin: That's really funny, Selene, because I was going to ask you the same question when we were driving down today. Who are you talking about in that song?
Selene: I'm not going to give out any names, but I went through three really intense relationships in a short period of time. It was right after Stefanie (Sargent, original guitarist) had died, and I was pretty raw at that time. Each relationship got pretty fucked up in their own weird and little, unique ways. So "I know damn good and well, and I told all three of 'em to go straight to hell"-because finally, I guess I had come to the point where I was over it. Then, "Damn, you're ornery, good, I'm glad you're gone, well, you've been waiting for way too long..."-is talking about each of those three people, so "...so long."
Liz: Usually nobody ever gets that detailed of an explanation of Selene's lyrics.
Selene: Yeah, I usually don't talk to people about my lyrics that much.

Fizz: I guess I picked the right song to ask about.
Selene: "Don't let your emotions get in the way of a really good time"-is like maybe just wanting to have sex with someone and leaving it at that without getting emotionally involved with them. You know, just having sex with someone because you need to have sex. But I can't seem to do that, it always becomes a relationship somehow. So sometimes I wish I could just not get so involved, is what that lyric means. And then...how does it end?
Liz: Wow, Selene is giving you the longest answer to any interview question ever.
Selene: Then it goes, "You should've known better, I said I do, I know the best..." not like I hate these people I'm involved with, these are good people. Maybe what I'm doing you might think is fucked up, but i'm sincere about what I'm doing. It's not just some frivolous waste of time, to me. It means something. I don't know, does that make any sense?

Fizz: Yeah, I think I understand what you're trying to say. I love that song. It's one of my favorites off of Viva...
All: (in unison) We like that one, too.

Fizz: That was the first song on my list to ask you guys about. Another one I'm curious about is "The Scratch." That song is just for fun, right?
Selene: "The Scratch" is excellent. That's a really fun song. Actually we were in the practice space-me, Valerie, and Roisin. Liz hadn't gotten there yet, but Val and Roisin were just playing this Kiss riff and they were really going off. So then I just started yelling into the microphone, and it was sounding really good. After that I was like, "Fuck, this sounds great!", so I just started writing lyrics down.
Liz: It was Valerie who started that one. Val says to me, "just write an AC/DC-type song. I'm sick of playing this weird seven-eight time shit. Let's play a regular rock song, you know."
Selene: Then Liz came in and fucked with the bass line a little bit, and it all came together that way. That song came together really fast musically and lyrically.

Fizz: Yeah, before your last record came out it was on this L.A. Times phone line that you could call and hear the song "The Scratch." I called it up and recorded it onto my answering machine.
Liz: Where did they get it from?
Selene: Well, the first time we recorded it was on this one compilation record. It was right after we had written it, and it came out really slow. Then after we took it out on tour it ended up coming up in speed a lot. So when we re-recorded it for our last record it's way faster. That first recording, if anyone gets that compilation and hears that, it sucks because it's too slow. It's so much better on the new record.

Fizz: The version I heard on the phone was the one from the record, I'm pretty sure. It was about two weeks before Viva Zapata came out.
Selene: You know, Eddie Vedder used to have "No Fucking War" on his answering machine. The first time he contacted us about opening for some show-I met him somewhere, and he's all, "Hey, we're doing this show. Here's my number. Call me, we need to talk about this show." He told me that our song was on his machine or whatever, but I didn't quite understand what he meant. So then I call his house a couple days later, and it's my voice and we're singing on his answering machine! I'm like, this is fucking weird! That was wild.

Fizz: OK, so what about the "The Cat's Meow"? What are the lyrics, and what is the meaning of the song?
Selene: God, we never even play that one. How does it start again?
Liz: "There's so many good reasons for you to keep your mouth shut..."
Selene: Oh yeah, that's just a little ditty. That song has so many cliches in it; it cracks me up. Sometimes it's really funny to sing because it has so many cliches.

Fizz: What's that one line, "A little lick..." How does that go?
Selene: Well, it's a cat, you know. "A little lick..." (everyone laughs)
Roisin: (to Selene) And then you go, "You can beat it with a stick."
Selene: Oh God, there are so many cliches in that song. What the fuck is that song about? I can't even remember all the words right now.
Roisin: (to Selene) Well, don't look at me.
Liz: She doesn't know what it's about.
Selene: Yeah, let's come back to that one a little later.

Fizz: OK, what about the song "Hip Like Junk"? Is that in any way related to Stefanie Sargent?
Selene: No, that song is not related to Stefanie, and it wasn't written about her in any way at all. Stefanie wasn't a junkie. I mean, that song is about somebody who's got a really bad habit. Then they get their shit together, and they're doing good, but then they'll come up to you and they're all fucked up again. That happens to a lot of people I know. So that song isn't about one person in particular, it's about a couple of people I know. It's just about dealing with the frustration of knowing someone really well who can't realize that something's totally fucking up their life. And you just have to sit and watch them fuck up their life.

Fizz: When I first heard that song I related it not just to Stefanie, but to a lot of people who have died with the stigma of drug overdose hanging over their head.
Selene: Yeah, or they'll OD and practically die, and they'll get the shit scared out of them. Then they go back and do it again! It's like fucking wake up! That's why I wrote the line, "Can I bounce, bounce a rock off your head."

Fizz: (to the rest of the band) You guys can chime in anytime here.
Selene: Yeah, I'm rattling off.

Fizz: Well, I'm learning so much just talking with you, but how come you guys don't just include a lyrics sheet with your records?
Selene: I get scared sometimes. I don't know.

Fizz: See, I'm the type of fan that has to know the lyrics to every song. It really gives me better insight into the bands I listen to.
Liz: But isn't it better sometimes not to know the lyrics to a song, and then you can make up your own?
Selene: It's good both ways. I like to read people's lyrics, too. Sometimes when I read lyrics I'm amazed. I'm like, "Fuck man, these lyrics are really stupid." Other times I'm like, "Fuck, those lyrics are awesome, I should put that in my song." (laughter)

Fizz: I guess it's good both ways.
Liz: It's usually pretty easy to understand the words on our records, isn't it?

Fizz: It usually is, but sometimes Selene will sing something, and I won't be able to make it out. So me and my girlfriend Leanne will be driving around listening to you guys, and when the song comes to a part we don't know we just kind of go, "Blah, blah, blah, murmur." (laughter)
Selene: When Roisin first got in the band, we were practicing "Chow Down" and Roisin is all, "Selene, what's that one part where you say 'You're coming at me like a hundred dollar bill'?" I started laughing so hard! Because it's, "You come in and lay down your hundred dollar bill," which is really close, but it was just too funny when she said that.
Roisin: Yeah, and then I had this mental picture of some guy running down the street in a $100 bill costume! (laughter)

Fizz: That's funny because I always thought it was "You're cumming in me like a $100 bill"! (hysterical laughter)
Liz: Well, you know that song we were talking about earlier—"The Cat's Meow,"—I used to think Selene was saying, "Searching for the Eiffel Tower." I was like, "That's cool, Selene's singing about Paris." (Parisian laughter)

Fizz: (to Selene) So it's not even just me that doesn't get all the lyrics, even your band doesn't know what you're saying sometimes.
Selene: It's entertaining though, because it's really funny when people come up to me and tell me what they think I'm saying. Sometimes I'm like, "God, I should switch it, that sounds great!" (laughter)

Continue with Part 2

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