OUT OF PRINT

GHR 05

THE NEW GIRL ART TREND BAND
A Certain Sacrifice
Cassette

Sarah Carlson, Jon Rueter, Mary Becky Cortez, Joey Caperton, Kristin Schilt,

The legends, recorded by Tod Ledford. He says of the project, “They wanted to do a few songs on 4 track, but then ended up asking to spend an hour perfecting the subtlties on each little track.” The results are garagy, and from the heart. An urgent struggle to create is captured on magnetic tape. Their stage sets looked like Broadway musicals, or street theatre actions.

11 songs, 30 minutes.

The following interview was conducted in 1997 with Sarah Carlson, singer of NGATB.

Hi Sarah. I hope you have time to answer some questions for the interested public about the now defunct ngatb.

FIRST OF ALL, HOW DID YOU GUYS MEET, AND WHY DID YOU WANT TO BE IN A BAND? WAS IT OTHER PERFORMERS THAT INSPIRED YOU? IF SO WHO? IF NOT, THEN WHY? WHY ROCKNROLL?

Well, I have to say that we were really first inspired (Joey, the drummer, and I) by our first, original performance together, Senior Saloon, Senior Talent show, Arlington, High 1993.
But I always loved music, singing, dancing…And rock has this immediacy and intensity that’s alive and visceral. I Like Spontaneity, freedom, momentary whims, meaningful music on the lips and ears of people who are open to feel it.

I always wanted to sing and be a part of a live performance. I moved in with Joey for 2 months when I moved to Austin. She was just collaborating with Jon, Becky, and Kristen. None of us had ever really been in a band before. I was writing a lot, and Joey knew that I sang, so she kept hinting that I should be singer. So we decided to try it one day. I really thought it would be great fun. When I heard Jon’s guitar playing, I really liked it, and immediately felt that I could relate to it. So we made up a song that day, Mise-en-scene, and Kristen and I collaborated and sang. I think it felt really fun and intense, and exciting to all of us. Everyone just rode on this current, and we all fed it with our individual input and energy.

THE NGATB SHOWS WERE ALWAYS ABOUT MORE THAN PLAYING THESE SONGS. THERE WAS THE STAGE DECOR AND THE WAY YOU GUYS DRESSED THAT MADE IT MORE OF AN EVENT OR MADE IT SEEM MORE IMPORTANT SINCE IT WAS SO ORGANIZED. JUST WHAT WAS IT ALL ABOUT?

Well, in New Girl, we weren’t coming from just a musical background. Kristen did zines and was really interested in Riot Grrrl and feminism, I was really into art and writing, Becky was really into arts and crafts, Joey and all of us were into being silly, and I think we were all into costumes or fashions and how they could function in different contexts. So, I think we were people playing music, not musicians playing instruments. This meant that when we conceived of a show or performance, we approached it with more than music in mind. Whatever came to our heads, and seemed exciting and engaging.

I REMEMBER ONE SHOW WHERE YOU GUYS WERE DRESSED AS GHOSTS. TELL ME ABOUT THAT SHOW AND IDEA.

That was a Halloween show. Becky is from San Antonio, and there is a myth there about these railroad tracks where in the 1950’s, a school bus got stuck and the kids were stuck inside. Now, people go to those same tracks, and they say that if you park on the tracks, the ghosts of the children will push you to the other side. We really liked the idea of being kids.
We wrote this monologue from the kids perspective, and dressed like ghost children. We set it to music, and performed it on Halloween. We call these short, experimental, musical interludes interjections.

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE OTHER THEMES OF YOUR SHOWS?

One time we had a football, spirit rally theme. We dressed in our take on a cheer leading outfit, jon wore this jersey, it was like the fifties. We had a painted banner that we jumped through at the end of the show, and we threw out spirit sticks full of candy and messages.

HOW DID YOUR SHOWS OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN GO? WERE PEOPLE RESPONSIVE?

I think they went pretty well, but sometimes there wasn’t enough of a crowd to create an intimate experience. I remember playing a show in Dallas where there’s not a very large, organized community, and the stage and set-up were so big, that the audience was really dwarfed. This was really different than how e started out, playing at peoples houses. These were always free, fun, and intense.

I THINK YOU GUYS HAD AN ORIGINAL SOUND. BUT WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES THAT LED YOU TO THIS SOUND?

I don’t know. We never spoke about influences, but I’m sure they infiltrated our music from various angles. We liked to experiment. I think Jon’s guitar playing has a Sonic Youth influence about it. Kristen was really into lots girl bands that seemed to influence her vocal style. Joey was playing drums, and Becky, bass, for the first time. I think they just played from the gut. I tried to sing from the gut, out of the emotion of the writing and notes. We all tried to perform from our guts.

WHAT DO YOU USUALLY EAT FOR BREAKFAST? Many times I eat coffee and a roll. Now that school is out, I’ll eat fruit.

DON’T YOU THINK THAT PANCAKES ARE GREAT FOR DINNER? Yes, I used to. We always had pancake dinners when I was growing up.. Now, I just can’t make them as well as my mother did.

WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE JAPANESE BOXWOOD, SUMAC, OR TURK’S CAP IN YOUR FRONT YARD?

Whatever is beautiful. Let it grow, let it grow. I like having sky and green around.

© 1997 Golden Hour Records

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Their first release was on Golden Hour Records on the Austin Live Houses tape compilation. Soon after was followed a full length cassette release called A Certain Sacrifice as GHR 05. The band’s live shows were always a mixture of surreal stage settings and guerilla style art actions. They played their last show in summer of 1995, The Cellophane Show, and then formed Rock Hudsons.