MANHOLE INTERVIEW

RCN: WeÕre live here at the Rock City Office with Terri of MANHOLE and weÕre gonna see whatÕs going on with the band and all the good road stories...

TERRI: Yeah, donÕt ask me silly questions, OK, like what is the meaning of Manhole...

RCN: At first I didnÕt like the name Manhole because I thought it had something to do with --

TERRI: --the sexual connotation?

RCN: Yeah

TERRI: Well thatÕs the whole thing is that - I think itÕs kind of cool our name is Manhole becaue with a woman and three guys itÕs like, you know, that might be what they think at first. And then when they see it, I think that disappears completely.

RCN: Right, when I found out there was a girl singer, my whole image of Manhole changed.

TERRI: I thought of the name and it was like, the reason I thought of it is because I saw a manhole open on the street one night, and I thought, thatÕs pretty tripped out, kinda scary down there, I wonder whatÕs down there, and I got like wondering about it and I thought that would be a good name for a band. Sounds kind of sexual but then it sounds like street level, scary, dark, covering up all the shit...I donÕt know, it seemed kind of cool.

RCN: It sounds like gay sex...

TERRI: Well you know what it is, itÕs the gay bar on ÔMarried with Children.Ó

RCN: So youÕve been on the road in Europe a lot...how did that go?

TERRI: It went good -- we crashed a bus, we had a bus accident in East Germany when we were on the first leg of the Type O Negative tour, and almost died from that. And then we made it out safe and sound, then we got thrown off the Fear Factory tour, cuz we got a little rowdy..

RCN: Somebody got into a fight?

TERRI: I got in a fight with a security guard - he was beating up a kid in front of me. And, my band jumped in to protect me when all the rest of the securtiy tried jump on me, and it turned out --- weÕre a hardcore band, we donÕt fake it, we do what we do. Sometimes shit happens and sometimes you donÕt go to a show and say ÔThis is what the show will be like tonite,Õ and weÕre gonna follow directions. I have a lot of mixed feelings about our first tour. A lot of good things came of it and a lot of really bad things came of it.

RCN: Well, you seem to have come back with more self-confidence.

TERRI: Well, hanging around with Pete Steele every night - you get to be really self-confident when you got a big brother whoÕs like...

RCN: Type O Negative?

TERRI: Yeah, they were like our brothers. Biohazard...cool, so cool, Madball, Dog Eat Dog - we bonded with a lot of cool people out there. We were very nervous on our first tour, we didnÕt want to make waves, and we got treated like shit, basically, got treated like animals by certain bands.

RCN: I hear that that happens.

TERRI: Well, it happens when you tour with at band like Fear Factory, thatÕs what happens. You get treated like shit by rock stars. But when go out with bands like Type O Negative, Madball, Biohazard...who are down and real, fuckin they treat you with respect. And they get respect in return, cuz in order to get it you have to give it. And thatÕs what a lot of people have a problem with me, but you know what? IÕll respect someone as long as they respect me, you know? And if not, fuck Ôem.

RCN: Before we go any further, letÕs get the names of all the members of the band.

TERRI: Marcello Palomino- heÕs our drummer, Scott Ueta - heÕs our guitar player, Enrico ????? - he is our bass player. And Terri me - screamer.

RCN: At first I didnÕt know if it was Terri because you spell it..

TERRI: Yeah, I made up that spelling when I was in 6th grade. There were four TerriÕs in the class and I wanted to be different.

RCN: So you were a rocker way back in 6th grade...

TERRI: No, I wasnÕt a rocker back then, I was a little quiet girl...

RCN: So you turned out different--

TERRI: Slightly.

RCN: So you started out as a rapper with EZE?

TERRI: Yeah, I was on Ruthless Records, I put out a record there. I had a couple videos on MTV, I was platinum blonde, I looked very different. Then I went in to do a second album and worked with Salt N Pepa, alot of different people, DeeLite. I was telling my boyfriend, Joey Castille, who was in Sugar Tooth at the time - he was turning me on the the whole rock thing, cuz I was really straight into rap, that was my vibe. And he was like ÔOpen your mind,Õ and sort of introduced me to a whole other world I wasnÕt really into. I played with Sugar Tooth, I had them come in and do a live song for me and we re-did ÔRunning with the DevilÕ by Van Halen. We called it ÔRhyminÕ with the Devil.Õ In the rap world they like to refer to white people as white devils - it was a very racist-type thing I was dealing with in that world. I did this and brought it to EZE and he was like ÔOh, no, no, no. What are you, a rock chick, now? What is this shit?Õ IÕm like ÔHey man this is cooler than Body Count.Õ I had seen Body Count, then after all these bands started dropping I was like, ÔShit, I wanna be doing my shit, I wanna be doing a band.Õ This is so much more me, so aggessive and like real. In the rap world, itÕs all well and fine, but itÕs like sexist, racist - as a white female, I had the worst of both ends. It was like so hard - I was always trying to prove myself - just a nightmare. I couldnÕt do the lyrics I wanted to do, I couldnÕt say what I wanted to say. I donÕt regret it becaue I learned a lot from it, and I grew to be who I am now. And alot of people like to say, ÔWell, this chick crossed over, she has no right to be in this world.Õ That was like saying ÔIce-T, you have no right to do Body Count.Õ You know what IÕm saying? I have every right. If I want to do country music tomorrow, IÕll do it. I have every right. You grow up, you change, you get into different things. People like to talk shit about Metallica right now, saying they changed their image, they did this and did that. You know, they have a right to do whatever they want to do. I donÕt degrade somebody for moving to another level of doing something, or trying to be a little hipper, whatever. I just degrade people who are totally fake about it when theyÕre just putting it on as an act. Like if I was ÔI wanna be a metal chick,Õ but really every night IÕm going out to hip hop clubs like ÔYo, baby, whaz up?Õ I still got the rapper in me.

RCN: It seems like you fit in the rock world.

TERRI: ItÕs so much more comfortable. I donÕt walk on stage and the first thing is ÔOh, itÕs a white girl.Õ

RCN: Your music still has some rap influence.

TERRI: Yeah, weÕre trying to move away from that with the new stuff. Basically, I came from the rap world, so thatÕs what I knew. Now IÕm a singer. Someone like Amy from Human Waste Project, sheÕs a singer. I look at her and totally respect her for what she does. I think sheÕs fabulous. She looks at me and she respects me for what I do is completely different. I think we give a lot to each other, as far as good and evil counterparts. I donÕt think IÕm a singer - IÕm a vocalist, whatever that entails. I think on the new album weÕre trying to bring out a little more of everything.

RCN: So youÕre going to record a new album...

TERRI: Yeah, weÕre going to record a new album (laughs).

RCN: But right now youÕre back in L.A. and playing some shows...

TERRI: Doing some shows, writing the new record, doing some press and some things weÕve ignored, cuz we left on tour to Europe and it was like -- gone and didnÕt come back for 8 or 9 months. The Roxy show the other night was really cool, it was like a welcome home show.

RCN: Yeah, it was good...

TERRI: Made me feel really good, I felt like, wow...

RCN: YouÕve graduated--

TERRI: Yeah it was cool. I think weÕre going to do the Whisky too. We want to play for the kids - there were a lot of kids who didnÕt get in that show that night and we were really pissed off about it so we want to do another free show...

RCN: But the WhiskyÕs not doing their free shows anymore--

TERRI: TheyÕre not? Well, maybe theyÕll do one for us! I want to do some at the Dragonfly too, but the problem is itÕs over 21 and a lot of our fans are under 21, so itÕs hard.

RCN: Club 369 has good shows...

TERRI: Hell, no. I like the guy who worked there, no offense... No Doubt can go play there.

RCN: What are your favorite local bands?

TERRI: Snot, of course. Lynn sings on our record. Oh yeah, he sings on ÔDown.Õ I thing Lynn Straight is one of the best frontmen IÕve ever seen, and he better not let this go to his fucking head. But it will. HeÕs a great person and a good friend of mine and heÕs really really inspiring. I seem to be more inspired by me, cuz thereÕs not a lot ot women doing what I do. I think Human Waste Project is really great - their new album kicks ass. One of the albums coming out that I like is Coal Chamber. We had our difficulties with Coal Chamber in the beginning, but I really like those guys, and itÕs good to see a girl up there kicking ass. IÕm really proud of them and would like to tour with them sometime. ThereÕs a band coming out on Noize called Flambookie. A lot of people donÕt know them - excellent frontman. ThereÕs a lot of cool shit in this town.

RCN: You music is really aggressive. You say hardcore, is that the description?

TERRI: We used to say street-core, but now weÕre like sinister streetcore, I donÕt know what the hell we are now. I used to be really activist--

RCN: Like womenÕs rights?

TERRI: Well, IÕm down for womenÕs rights, obviously, thatÕs my basis of Manhole - talking about things like rape and a womanÕs right to choose, and all these issues. When we started out, I was really activist. And thatÕs still inside me but IÕve graduated to talking about other things. When you hear ÔAll is not WellÕ and you think of a rage or a down set, they would mean like all is not well in the political system or in the media. I look at it as an internal thing - the personal side - within your soul, being, your heart. Everything in our record is very love/hate, good/evil, nice/naughty juxtaposition. And I think thatÕs definitely what the band is. ItÕs funny because at the last show alot of people were saying ÔGod, you got up in a dress. That was so weird.Õ And I was like, why, so what? The clothes donÕt make the woman, the woman makes the clothes. I could wear a pink mini skirt and still be Terri B. of Manhole, and IÕm still gonna get up there and show the angst and aggression that I try to get across. But itÕs all not like...I donÕt get up and say IÕm trying so hard to be tough. Or try to be mean, or call somebody out or say the word motherfucker. ThatÕs not what IÕm about and I think a lot of people are really misunderstanding a lot of me. ItÕs not about that. My lyrics, my things that I do, come from a very love basis. A lot of the people I talk about on the record are relationships whether theyÕre male or female, female/female, family, daughter, whatever. TheyÕre from love standpoints. ItÕs not like I hate everybody. I just canÕt sing them all sweet and get the point across. I donÕt go looking for a fight onstage, but IÕm not going to walk away from it either.

RCN: ItÕs the kind of attitude youÕve got to have to be up there--

TERRI: To be with the boys. To play in the league, youÕve got to to wear your skirt...Some of the bands we tour with, they treat me like a sister. And theyÕre like really protective, like ÔDonÕt fuck with her.Õ At the same time, they respect me. Everybody was like ÔWhatÕs it like touring with Biohazard and Type O Negative - they probably all hit on you...Õ To be honest with you, they were the ones that were really cool and ralways espected me. I donÕt have a bad thing to say about these guys.

RCN: Did you get new tattoos?

TERRI: Yeah, after Type O. I started feeling a little angst-filled about my band members.

RCN: WhatÕs up with Manhole now, whatÕs your next adventure?

TERRI: Right now, weÕre just gonna write for the new record. I think weÕre going to go back to Europe in a couple months to do a few festivals. Out in Europe, the festivals are like 80, 90, 150,000 people. We played a couple on this tour, we did a grass pop in full force, there was like 65,000 people. Both we played were Down sets and it was really awesome. I love that band so much and I really respect them. It was great being in Belgium and like running into our friends. Especially when on such a miserable tour.

RCN: Yeah itÕs great to run into someone you know in a different country.

TERRI: So weÕre just going to get our new stuff together and weÕve got few things in the works. Try to do a couple more shows in L.A. and just have some fun.

RCN: So how does the rest of the world compare to L.A.?

TERRI: ItÕs very different. I swear itÕs like this. I love to see all these places, but thereÕs no place home. And, when you need to go to the grocerey store and 3:00 in the morning and you canÕt even do it a 5:00 in the afternoon and youÕre in Germany. I mean these places, theyÕre so bacwards. Our band is a real strange thing like in Europe. 3 days ago I just shot for the cover of Kerrang! and itÕs like the band is really big in Europe. For some reason, a few magazines took a big liking to us and they just really helped us and pumped us. We come home to L.A. and even though we walk down the street in Europe and everyoneÕs like ÔItÕs Manhole,Õ we walk in L. A. and nobody knows who the fuck we are. A lot of bands are like that, were theyÕre really big over there and here nobody knows who the hell they are. Same with a lot of European bands. We really need to concentrate on breaking in the states. We went out and busted our ass for 4 months in the states and played for a lot of kids, but our records werenÕt in the stores. WeÕre playing for 1200 kids a night, and selling 60 shirts a night -- it becomes really frustrating. IÕm up here doing this for a reason. If youÕre not getting the record in strores, then youÕre fucking me. You start to feel a little frustrated. We wanted to go with Noise because we wanted to get our stuff out. Before it was too late. We wanted to get out there and be seen...

RCN: Are they doing a good job?

TERRI: They give us amazing tour support. ThereÕs a lot of stuff they do for us thatÕs really good, but then thereÕs the bad side of it, too - the distribution sucks. But thereÕs stuff that needs to be worked out. ItÕs really hard. Ross Robinson produced our record and did a really good job. I think itÕs a really good record, but now itÕs time to make a great record. And I think itÕs time to make an amazing record. You have a career. You have to move up and move on - you have to grow a little, change a little, and you gotta incorporate new things and try new things. I think this band was very scared to try new things in the beginning. We were like Ôwe donÕt know what we want to do here.Õ If we wouldnÕt have gone out and toured...we know who we are now. We werenÕt really sure who we were. We hadnÕt lived together for 9 months on the road, even a month. This is to every band thatÕs out there thatÕs about to go on tour - your realize you didnÕt know the people around you and you get a rude wakening. That goes for me too. They thought I was crazy in the club, then they have to live with me on tour itÕs a little different.

RCN: YouÕre even more crazy (laughs).

TERRI: Yeah, oh my god. You just find out all these different personalities when youÕre thrown into a room together and youÕre told youÕre going to live her for the next so and so days...you really have to - itÕs an adjustment.

RCN: But you did it. You seem to have come out of it, like I said, with more confidence. When I saw you onstage it seemed like you were in control.

TERRI: Thank you. WasnÕt the best part when that guy jumped up and started singing ÔHard TimesÕ and did everything wrong.

RCN: And you were trying to take the microphone away from him.

TERRI: It was just so funny.

RCN: Did you know him?

TERRI: Yeah, heÕs like my little brother. I really enjoyed doing that show cuz like Lynn got to get up and sing with me. Out on the road, we were in Boston when they were recording their record and he got up and did a show with me out there. It meant a lot me, you know, he was really cool. And we played with Human Waste Project - that meant a lot to me, too.

RCN: DidnÕt they headline last time you played together?

TERRI: TheyÕre from Orange County. They have more of a following out there, and we have a more a following in L.A. TheyÕre going to be huge. I think itÕs a great record and sheÕs amazing and has a lot of talent. I think that band has come a long fucking way and so have we. IÕm really proud of her. ThereÕs a lot of women in this business who...everything is a competition. People like to pin me and Amy against each other. Like ÔsheÕs doing this like you...Õ You know, weÕre a lot a like - we just have different color hair. WeÕre doing two separate things.

RCN: TheyÕre on Hollywood Records... Anything else you want to say, have we covered everything?

TERRI: Yeah, whoÕs this horrid nightmare that works for your magazine named Anna?

RCN: Anna Love?

TERRI: I guess thatÕs her name.

RCN: She disappeared about 6 months ago. I donÕt know what happened to her.

TERRI: She wrote something not too positive about me in an article. I ran into her at a party and I was like ÔHi, care to tell me what you said now?Õ YouÕre magazineÕs always been really cool with us, given us really nice reviews - itÕs been really cool. Any review you get you keep in the beginning, it helps. Any magazine thatÕs around and wants to talk with you, you never get the attitude that ÔIÕm too big to talk to them,Õ you know what? Everything helps. Somebody told me the other day you got an article in Rave magazine, itÕs a porno magazine. And IÕm thinking, great, you know. But how many people are going to read that review? A hell of a lot of people. IÕm not posing for the magazine, but theyÕre reviewing the record. You know what? ThatÕs cool. Always try to get as many people out to see your band to help you out, to get kids. ThatÕs the reason we had so many kids at the Roxy - weÕve done a lot of free shows, alot of benefits, weÕve paid our dues. Cause someday weÕre not going to be able to do free shows. We want kids to go ÔIÕll pay10 bucks to see this band, cause theyÕre worth it.Õ ItÕs all about paying your dues - you still have to pay Ôem. All the people you see on the way up, you see on the way down.

RCN: IÕve seen a lot of bands come and disappear. I think bands need to keep playing and keep the publicity--

TERRI: One really sad thing that happened this year was that Prong broke up. That was one of my favorite records this year. It was weird seeing Tommy in Danzig.

RCN: IsnÕt your boyfriend in Danzig?

TERRI: Joey, but heÕs not my boyfriend anymore. HeÕs the best drummer in the fucking world. IÕve been in this town for so long and seen so many people switch bands and go from this to that. ItÕs so hard keeping your band together and not like kicking everybody out when you get in a fight. You know, like really believing in what youÕre doing and sticking with it. A lot of people have that problem with Manhole. Our record is scared of us ÔCanÕt you just be a little more cute?Õ No, honey, IÕm not just a girl, IÕm much much more. People just want you to conform to everything. I think if you really stick to your guns and what you believe in - you believe itÕs real and it becomes real.

RCN: You just gotta to have the attitude. ThatÕs a wrap, Thanks for your time Terri, Keep those kids slamminÕ, and weÕll see everybody at the next Manhole show.