NOVEMBER 2006
ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM INTERVIEW

Storm Large Keeps it Real

My interview with Storm was so beyond my expectations.

Storm talked for at least an hour and she responded to my questions, ALL questions that I may have had for her. There was not anything that she was unwilling to talk about. I tried to stay away from conversation about Storm's mom, and her drug past. I didn't want to potentially upset her before a big show. However, she went there.

A couple times, through out the interview, the Balls band members would come into the room, and every one of them was genuine, very welcoming and laid back. Interesting and surprising to me how much more vulnerable Storm seemed to me in person once she sat down to talk.

~ Tamara (X)
 

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: We can start with what your musical influences were growing up?

S T O R M: We weren't a super musical family, but my dad had an old 8 track that I loved, and I played mostly Johnny Cash on it, John Denver, Miriam Macaba, she's from South Africa, and lets see... Jesus Christ Superstar. And then as I got older, I started listening to my older brothers records, the Beatles, Abby Road. The Kinks, Give People What They Want was probably my first favorite rock record. And then from there I just kind of liked stuff that was exciting, stuff that made me feel excited.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Is there a particular song that you played over and over and over that really got you excited, you know that really spoke to you or that you can remember

S T O R M: Ha! Hungry Like a Wolf by Duran Duran for a minute.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Okay...

S T O R M: Well a lot of songs, I had a lot of favorite songs. Like Oh Darling on Abby Road actually… What else did I love? I loved I love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett. When Joan Jett did it, it was amazing. Yeah I get gluttonous with, you know like any kid, you know, [you] love something, you listen all the time.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: So you said there wasn't really anyone musical in your family?

S T O R M: My dad and mom could both carry a tune. My brother John has played in a band forever. He's got a fantastic voice, but he didn't really do it professionally. He does it professionally now; but more coffee house stuff. There was the only music going on in the house really was what the kids played. John, my oldest brother, played or introduced me to Kiss, Aerosmith, Led Zepplin. My brother Henry was more into sports, so I kind of followed along in my oldest brother's footsteps in terms of musical tastes. And then I went into punk rock and new wave and stuff.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Who did you like in Punk rock?

S T O R M: I liked Black Flag, Dead Kennedy's, I liked industrial for a minute. Skinny Puppy, Scraping Fetus Off the Wheel (laughs), The Cramps, classic old stuff. Then in high school, I started getting into the New York underground like Lou Reed and Patti Smith.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: So you really had to search out for it?

S T O R M: Well, I would hear things that I liked, and I would find out what it was. I would see people who I thought were cool, listening to things, or talking about things and I wanted to be cool, so I would seek those things out. People I thought were cool were punk rockers and rebellious scumbags. Basically, (laughs) so I followed in their footsteps, which led me down many bad paths. But here I am.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Doing great! Can you tell us about the beginnings of Storm Inc?

S T O R M: Well my first band was actually Flower, and that was in 92. Yeah around 92 in San Francisco. Kind of a Led Zepplin, Jane's Addiction, kind of trippy metal band. It was a lot of fun, very experimental. I had never been in a band before, so I just made noise. Then got with some poppy guys, and became Storm and Her Dirty Mouth. And then I wanted to rock a little harder, so I got with Storm Incorporated - which was the same guitar player and bass player I had since Flower, but it was intelligent, but a little harder. But still I wanted to do a little more rock, and I have yet to... pursue, more, heavy, rock stuff, just like pumping you fists in the air and like kicking furniture over kind of music. I like that stuff. I like writing it. I think Ladylike is that kind of song, and so I want to continue in that direction.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: New version kicks ass…

S T O R M: Dave (Navarro) did a great job…

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: What about the beginnings of Storm and the Balls?

S T O R M: We started as a joke. I moved out here in 2002, and from San Francisco, and I was so sick of music. So sick of being in bands. So sick of the whole fucking industry, the whole bullshit, attached to ‘you need to get signed', you need a record deal'. I had been making a living, but, there was a lot of pressure.

I was 32 when I moved out here and you know ‘your'e so old' and... ugh, whatever, fuck this. I was just kind of jaded and, it wasn't fun any more. It was like trying to impress everybody and people looking to see if you've got what they are looking for and so not fun.

It was so much fun when I could just express my self and be like "btzhhhh" and it wasn't like that anymore. The people I was playing with were pushing me towards trying to get a deal and trying to go big. And I was like if it goes big it goes big, I don't want to change who I am, you know.

So I came here not wanting to do music. I wanted to be a chef. So I started bartending at this place…this guy who owns Dantes, Frank, and he was a fan. And he said: "Oh my God! Come work in my bar. Will you sing in my bar?" I am like, "No, I am not really doing music anymore." And he was like, "What? Well you can bartend here, if you need a job." So I started bartending there. And every couple of weeks he'd be like, "You think you could maybe do something acoustic, maybe? Just get together with a guitar, maybe do something... You know you know I would love to hear you sing."  And I would say, "No, not really into that."

Then Frank got into a pinch. This was a couple of months into me being here. His Wednesday night became open, and he needed someone to fill it, and he said, "You know I could really use your help. If you could just do anything, you could get up and whatever, you could sing a capella."

And so we started as a joke pretty much…and we would do heavy metal punk rock songs and turn them into jazz lounge songs and that turned into mash ups, and that turned into taking songs and putting them together, and then experimenting with music and then having fun with music, and then it was fun again. It was like every Wednesday we would make 50 bucks each, and drink all night for free and it was lots of fun.

And then it started becoming really popular and the place started filling up every Wednesday, and people were writing about it and talking about it all over the coast, and thought it was really intelligent and really cool and really entertaining. And that was five years ago, and its just it got bigger and bigger and bigger. Its funny...

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Did you ever find out who turned in your tape to Rock Star?

S T O R M: No. Was it you?

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: No! (laughs)

S T O R M: Everybody that asks me that, I am waiting for them to confess.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Should have said yes...

S T O R M: Be careful though...  I might attack you, mother fucker! People ask, "Did you find out who turned it in?" I'm like, "Was it you?"

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Seriously, you never found out?

S T O R M: I have my suspicions, and if it's the person I think, she'll never tell. But I don't know, it could be someone that didn't think it was a big deal, you know?

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Did they send a video of your YouTube stuff or what?

S T O R M: Video of the Balls performing.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: A lot of people love you over at Rockband!

S T O R M: Oh good! Yeah that's what I heard, that's amazing. So that's cool.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Everybody that's seen you since the show raves.

S T O R M: Good I'm glad. I was actually worried about getting off the show and having sung a bunch of classic rock, and then my original finally, but doing a bunch of songs that you know I don't normally perform. And then [people] seeing the Balls which is kind of different. I am glad people have embraced it. That's cool.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: One of the spoilers went to your show in LA. I don't even know if you know what a spoiler is?

S T O R M: I learned. [They] told me what it was.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: She went to almost all the shows, almost every after Rock Star show, and thought yours was one of the best!

S T O R M: Oh good, and that was a bad night for me too.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: And she started out not so much a fan, she didn't get you right away.

S T O R M: Nobody does.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: When [we] saw you do Ladylike with Dave...

S T O R M: That was a great night!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Oh my God!

S T O R M: I so shocked!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: It was electric...

S T O R M: It was awesome! I saw some pictures of us onstage, I was like, he licked me! It was like, Jesus, Dave!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: I actually started liking him that show.

S T O R M: Yeah, he's a great guy. He's a lot of fun, he's a good guy.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: You're a great inspiration of the modern woman. Many people and fans of yours, that I have talked to really admire how you take the high road with the press, when you were on Rock Star. Was there a person you were mirroring, or were you self or life taught?

S T O R M: Life taught. I am an exuberant, moderately pessimistic person. Which kind of contradicts. I have high expectations for myself, and for people around me. But, I spend a lot of time assuming they will let me down. But, the only thing I can control is myself. I can't control what's going on around me, nobody can. But I can control myself. And how I react to it.

And in a high pressure situation, the best thing to do is take the high road and to maintain an even keel. Try to keep peace and, yeah, it keeps me sane. Cause I had kind of an insane childhood and you know when you are a kid, and you don't, every thing [is] kind of out of control and all over the place, you know. There's no floor and you just spin. And that's a terrible feeling. I don't like that feeling. That's the out of control feeling, when you are trying to control things, you feel so out of control. But, when you relax, and you're just kind of like you know what? The worlds going to shit, and thank God its not my fault, but I can't do anything about it. So I just have to make sure my immediate surroundings are copasetic, you know. So it was kind of life taught.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: How long have you been in this place? I'm sure it's a progression into that? Or did you just have like in a lightening moment? Do you remember from a young age, being like this?

S T O R M: I don't remember. It's a gradual process. I am still not done growing. You know, none of us are done growing. I still have a lot of things about myself that I want to change. You know I want to become better, become stronger. I found that becoming stronger means becoming more flexible. Not becoming more assertive. It's becoming more relaxed.

I like describing it as becoming a circle. Things just kind of roll off. You don't ignore them or deny them. You accept them but you don't "Haaa! Haaa... Ahhhh! Ooh, ooh!" - you know fight and rage? You know? Just try and let it come and let it roll and let it go.

So it's a process. I mean I'm no fucking monk. I flip out on the road. I want to kill people when I'm driving. I have the worst road rage. And I will talk a lot of shit about - I will scream at the television - you know about the news, and about what ever. And I will flip the fuck out. But, you know, every day and every way, I am getting better and better.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Its all you can do really.

S T O R M: It's all you can do man. Nobody's perfect. No one wants to be. Well people might think they want to be...

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: When you learned you would be on Rock Star: Supernova, what did you do to prepare? Did the producers ask you to change anything?

S T O R M: Nobody asked me to change anything. What I did to prepare, is get my body into as good shape as I could. I didn't know what the gym situation was going to be. I'm kind of a health freak. I tried to have as many dinner parties as I could with friends, to say goodbye. But, no, the producers didn't ask me to change anything. CBS was a little concerned about my sexual history, about my criminal history, about my drug history. But in the end, they realized I am mature, and been through a lot, and I'm well beyond it. And, yeah there [are] nude photos of me out there; but there is nothing that you'd see in Tijuana. You know? So, that was their main concern. But no one asked me to change anything.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: So, would you talk about your criminal history? I have heard in interviews about the drug background...

S T O R M: I was arrested for possession and contributing to the delinquency of minors. I was 18, they were 17, it was their fucking drugs. And I was arrested for aggravated assault. But they kept me in the car, and they filled out all the stuff. But they let me go in the end because I had been assaulted. He grabbed my ass and it was really really horrible. He had been attacking, like physically accosting women in this club, and got me. And I just I laid him out! And busted up his face really really badly, and I got collared because, you know they saw me - blood literally on my hands. And he was like, "Wahhh she attacked me." And then a bunch of women came out of the club later, and they were like, "That fucking guy, you fucking give her a fucking medal man, fuck yeah girl!" And I'm sitting there crying "He grabbed me." So they let me go.

But it was a blip on my record, apparently. Because, [later] I had stopped a bar fight, and by stopping the bar fight, this woman tried to press charges, cause I had held her against a wall. She said I had attacked her or something. But I was trying to hold her off of someone else, while the other person was being restrained. She tried to press charges against me, and the assault came up. I talked to the chief, and was like, "Dude." And so it got wiped off. And I was just 18, it was my first offense, and its gone, that's gone too. But, you know, it comes with the fucking territory. I am lucky I didn't get arrested way more, way more. I'm lucky worst didn't happen. Being arrested sucks, especially when you're coming down off coke. Ohh...

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: How did you change things around? When you are addicted to drugs like that... Was there something that happened?

S T O R M: Yes. I had a partner. Junkies usually have one. I had a drug partner. What would happen, we'd go score - come back to the apartment, we'd get high. He'd pick a fight, and make me leave, so he could use all the rest of the drugs. It was really great, and I fell for it every time. So I lived up the street, or actually down the hill. We both lived on Haight street in San Francisco. He lived one block away. And I was lame. We had got into this horrible, horrible fight. But I was trying to stay. I wanted to stay, I wanted to do the rest of the drugs. I wanted to just be high and smoke and sit in the house with him, and he was being so horrible. He was really a brilliant man, really brilliant, brilliant brilliant musician, but just intense. So I stayed and laid down next to him, and he was just venomous to me. And I was just laying next to him, waiting for the evil fountain to end. And in my head, this very clear very calm voice said, well, you feel pretty bad don't you. You know if you were dead you wouldn't feel this way. If...

So, my childhood was my mother always trying to kill herself. She would always try to commit suicide in many different ways. And we would all see it, the kids would all see it. So to me growing up, suicide was never ever ever ever ever, as fucked up as I ever was, never wanted to kill myself. And when that voice came into my head, I was like, Ok, we're done here, we're done. So I stayed the night. I kept doing drugs for a little while longer and finally I just kind a walked down the hill, and let myself get sick. And over it, it took a long time, quite a while, but I did it.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: You did it by yourself?

S T O R M: Once I was past the major physical illness, probably a month afterwards I started going to therapy. Tried to go to NA, but it just didn't jive with me. It was too... bunch of people making me want to get high. They were so fucked up.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Talking about it all the time?

S T O R M: Talking about it all the time. How fucking great it was to be high, and why they had to be sober. They made me so want to get wasted, so I went to therapy [instead], and that helped. Pretty much once a week. I went to this woman's office and looked at her diploma and looked at her, and I'd go, "Crazy?" She's like, "No." Then, "Cool thanks. Here's your 30 bucks." Then one more week...

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: We can go to some fun stuff…

S T O R M: Cool.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: This is Rock Star mansion stuff I guess. Who in the mansion spent the most amount of time getting ready in the morning?

S T O R M: Jill, maybe? We were downstairs. Dilana and Zayra, and Dana were upstairs at first, then Zayra lived with me.

Lukas was out in the, out in the circle, I took a long time because I'm late, I'm just late. But Jill, I think, Jill took the longest. Because she had so much gear, she wore a lot of stuff for a while. (laughs)

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Who had the largest alcohol tolerance if you want to talk about that?

S T O R M: Tolerance? (laughs) Because we all got drunk, I don't know who had the highest tolerance...

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: If you were a bass player in your band and you had to chose a contestant that you were on the show with as your front person, who would you choose?

S T O R M: If I had to choose someone from the mansion to be my front person? I'd have to consider how good they are, but that I'd have to be in a car with them or in a van with them, in hotels with them. Magni? I could travel the best with Magni. I think Magni is cool enough on stage; great singer, really passionate, and I could travel with him for miles and miles and miles and miles. Dilana [is] awesome too. She has her moments. Dilana and Lukas are probably the best front people. I would want them to front the band because they are the most exciting and interesting. [But], Magni's the easiest to travel with, he's most laid back.

One of the Ballz: I think that Texas gal... What's her name?

S T O R M: Patrice! Patrice has her moments too. Patrice is very intense as well. She's intense in a really a cool way, which makes her music so amazing, very very intense gal.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: What did you think of Zayra?

S T O R M: I love Zayra! I would have Zayra front the band too, just cuz she's so fucking funny. She's great, she's fantastic.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Do you keep in touch with any of the Supernova boys, besides Lukas?

S T O R M: No.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: You and Dave Navarro had this chemistry on stage. It was electrifying. And you now have this new version of Ladylike, which kicks all kinds of ass. We talked about that, not to mention those funny Spread Radio shows, those were hysterical!

S T O R M: I know, yeah! (laughs)

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Do you think you and Dave will work in the future together?

S T O R M: I hope so. I liked working with Dave. Even though he's a guitar god, you know this big famous guitar slinging guy, he, I think put down the tastiest most supportive guitar. With no wanking whatsoever. Very conservative approach to the song, which just brought a lot out of the song. And he's funny, that guy is fucking funny. I love hanging out with him, he's a good guy.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: I could see that!

S T O R M: I would love to work with him, but he's really busy, he's getting ready to go on tour with The Panic Channel, but you know, who knows how long that tours going on, if it stays in the States, if it goes on to Europe. [It] starts in January, you know, but I would love to work with him again.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Did you every get any kind of contact about the fact that you were not on the tour?

S T O R M: Not officially no, did not get officially contacted until I wrote myself a letter to them, to Sanctuary Group, the people that had all the answers. And they had all the answers...

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Since you went through the process of the show, and its over, is there anything you would change if you were the producer of the show, the format of the show, to make it better for the contestants and to the viewers?

S T O R M: You know what, I haven't seen the show yet, so I don't have anything to base it on. In terms of being on the show, it was my first experience being on a television show. It was hard for the reasons it was supposed to be hard, to get the kind of show that they wanted. Sure, there are a lot things that could have changed to make it easier for us, but then you wouldn't have gotten any drama.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: And lastly, Lukas has a Posse, Toby has the Hoochies, and Storm has the Storm Troopers...

S T O R M: The Hoochies? (laughs)

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: How would you describe your fans?

S T O R M: Storm Chasers, or Storm Watchers... They have a name?

Davey: No, never really came up with one.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: After being with them last night…what did you [think]?

Davey: They're crazy. They're awesome!

S T O R M: Well one thing we noticed about our fans, they cut a wide swath a demographic, come from all financial backgrounds, all ages, all fairly intelligent.

Interview conducted by
Tamara Van Beckum (X)
Interview Edited by
Elisa Sherman
Photos by
Elisa Sherman and Tamara Van Beckum
ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM


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November 18, 2006

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