BOYSKOUT : Girl On Girl Action At The School Of Etiquette 'School Of Etiquette' album

Girl On Girl Action At The School Of Etiquette
An Interview with BOYSKOUT
Interview by Todd E. Jones
toddejones@yahoo.com

In the word of glossy dancing female pop singers, some women wish to do something exceptional and distinctive. Mazzy Star, Stereolab, My Favorite, and Mojave 3, all have special female vocalists / musicians who contribute a unique style to music. Boyskout, is an all-female punk, new-wave band from San Francisco. While their influence of 80?s punk and new wave is evident, their music has a contemporary feel. Leslie Satterfield?s vocals and guitar work is complemented by China Lajczock?s vocals and keyboard melodies. Caroline Mills (on drums) and Hannah Reiff (on bass) are the rhythm section. These 4 ladies are not only beautiful, but are extremely talented and just extremely damn cool. Signed to Alive Records, they first got some exposure on The Sound Of San Francisco compilation. Their sexy music video for Back To Bed (directed by Leslie Satterfield) not only shows the band in raw form but also explores the sexuality between them. In the video, the ladies kiss each other and hang out under the covers with only T-shirts and their underwear on. There is a sexual mystery about the band too. Are they lesbians? Are the bi-sexual? They are called Boyskout (as in they scout for boys) but they have songs like Girl On Girl Action and display their romantic sexuality with each other in their videos. Their debut LP School Of Etiquette? is a tight, sexy, new-wave/punk masterpiece that instantly satisfies yet gets better with age. The hypnotic bass line on Back To Bed is just a taste of the passion of their LP. Songs like Secrets , Imaginary , Ecstasy , Girl On Girl Action , New Black and Jesse James all have weird and wild keyboards, strong use of guitars, and sensual vocals. Their music rocks without being annoyingly cacophonic or needlessly loud. Boyskout have found a balance between pop music and dirty new wave/punk. They have made an album that is tight and loose at the same time. It flows with punked out grace yet is has the energy of a drunken orgiastic high. There is not one bad track on the entire LP. No one is doing anything like this these days. On a cold February evening, I spoke to the entire band Boyskout about sexuality, music, San Francisco, drugs, and much more. The ladies of Boyskout are about to re-write the rules for the ?School Of Etiquette? with a little girl on girl action.

T.JONES: What goes on?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: We love each other, we hate each other, and then we love each other again.
CARRIE MILLS: And we make music also.

T.JONES: Boyskout?s debut album is called ?School Of Etiquette?. Tell us
about it.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: We recorded the first half in April 2003 and went back into the studio September 2003 to finish the album. It was recorded by Jeff Saltzman in Berkeley.

T.JONES: What is the meaning behind the title ?School Of Etiquette??
CARRIE MILLS: The title comes from the name of one of Boyskout?s first songs. It?s also a parody.
HANNAH REIFF: Play on words. Using the phrase ironically since the lyrics of the songs would not play into traditional etiquette.

T.JONES: What is your favorite song on the LP?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: ?Ecstasy?.
CARRIE MILLS: ?The New Black?.
HANNAH REIFF: ?Identity?.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: ?Circus Song?.

T.JONES: What song took you the longest to do? Why?
CHINA LAJCZOCK: ?The New Black?, it just took a long time for all the pieces to fit right.
CARRIE MILLS: The song ?Back To Bed? was the first song we recorded and it took us a while to understand how we best worked in the studio.

T.JONES: What song took you the quickest to do? Why?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: ?Circus Song?. Its short and simple.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: The song ?Jesse James?, all the riffs on the different instruments are very similar.

T.JONES: In the video for ?Back To Bed?, there are two woman kissing and you also have a song called ?Girl On Girl Action?. Are you lesbians? Bi-sexual? Are you just experimenting? Are you all like that or just some of you?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Yes. We don't want to be pigionholed into a stereotype. I for one have had relationships with men as well but I don't want to be labeled as ?Bi? or any other label. It really depends on the person for me.

T.JONES: Because of the ?girl on girl? imagery and lyrics, have you experienced any prejudice?
BOYSKOUT: No.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD Being from San Francisco, we have not experienced any prejudice.
HANNAH REIFF: San Francisco and New York are largely open to sex and girls being with girls. It?s the small towns I?d love to play where kids aren?t exposed to open attitudes about who they want to be.

T.JONES: What is the creative process like? Is the music written first or the lyrics?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Both, together, it varies.
HANNAH REIFF: On the recent songs we have been working on, we all bring in fragments that get stretched and bitten then, sewn back up by band-mates. It?s seems to work so far.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: One of us brings in an idea, either a riff or lyrics and it unfolds from there. For me personally, I've done both, written lyrics / music first, but it usually comes together at the same time.

T.JONES: Who writes the lyrics?
CARRIE MILLS: Leslie and China wrote most of the lyrics for this album.

T.JONES: In the video for the song ?Back To Bed?, you ladies are drinking wine. What is your favorite wine or other alcoholic beverage?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Port.
CARRIE MILLS: Bourbon.
HANNAH REIFF: Sangria, accompanied with sloppy dancing and serenades.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Cabernet Sauvignon or Jameson Whiskey.

T.JONES: Do you smoke pot? Are you for the legalization of marijuana?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: I don?t but I think it should be legalized.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Occasionally, yes.
HANNAH REIFF: Lots of cash is spent on ending the dangerous habit of smoking weed. Funding pot busts is stupid when schools don?t have a dime. Certain things get demonized.

T.JONES: How did the members of Boyskout meet and eventually form the band?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Carrie and I were in another band together. I started Boyskout and recruited her into it and we both quit the other band.
HANNAH REIFF: I was the last addition to the band. I met Leslie and Carrie at this dive bar in San Francisco. It was dollar drink night and I was really poor but one of them bought me my dollar drink.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: China was working as a coffee girl when we met. We needed a keyboard player because we were about to leave to go play some shows in Portland and Olympia. I asked China to come along.

T.JONES: How did you get involved with Alive Total Energy Records?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: We got an email one day from someone who had heard about the band and this led to a chain of events which brought us to Alive.

T.JONES: Can you explain the meaning behind the song ?The New Black??
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: It?s about becoming someone?s new found object of affection.

T.JONES: How often do you practice?
CARRIE MILLS: Between 0 and 17 times per week.

T.JONES: If you could pick anybody, what artist or group would you like to collaborate with in the future?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: I?d like to write a song with Chan Marshall.
CARRIE MILLS: I?d like to play with Missy Elliot.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Jimmy Rogers, the yodeling cowboy.
HANNAH REIFF: David Bowie, in his Ziggy Days.

T.JONES: Can you explain the meaning behind the name Boyskout?
CARRIE MILLS: No, I still can?t.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: We chose it during the time that a Boy Scouts of America troop leader was being persecuted for being gay. We thought that it would be a ironic twist.

T.JONES: Are you in romantic relationships? Married? How has being on the road (or just in a band) affected the relationships?
CARRIE MILLS: Being in a band is like dating 3 people but never getting any action from the relationship.

T.JONES: Who are some of your major influences?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Syd Barrett, Chan Marshall, Joy Division.
CARRIE MILLS: Television, Art Blakey, and Eric Satie
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Mildred Bailey, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, various accordion and Romanian music.
HANNAH REIFF: Sad, classical piano, the Stones, Debbie Harry and Cyndi Lauper, and this guy on the subway that made a rubber band sound like a saxophone.

T.JONES: Abortion ? pro-choice or pro-life?
BOYSKOUT: Pro-choice.

T.JONES: Death penalty ? for or against?
BOYSKOUT: Against

T.JONES: Where were you on the September 11th terrorist attack? How did you deal with it?
CARRIE MILLS: I recall finding out when I woke up to move my car from where I had parked it on the sidewalk after a gig. This was in San Francisco.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: I woke up to my housemate crying on the phone. I thought her mom had died.
HANNAH REIFF: In San Francisco, taking the mission bus.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: We didn?t believe that it was grounds for our country to start a war and killing more people.

T.JONES: Since the attacks on the World Trade Center, censorship has become a big issue. It seems like many artists have to pick a side. Are you going to pro-American government or anti-American government? Patriotism in songs has become a controversial issue as well. The definition differs from person to person. Some artists believe that being patriotic means that we stand behind our government and faith in their decisions and actions. Others view being patriotic as voicing their opposition and concern with actions our government has taken. How has music changed in recent years in regards to the heightened sensitivity to socio-economic and political factors?
CARRIE MILLS: Our music reflects how we choose to live our lives. While we don?t set out to make political statements in our music, our daily life is our statement.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: We are involved in bands against Bush.
HANNAH REIFF: I?m glad the elections are rolling around. Our government?s foreign policies are embarrassing but any history book will tell you that is nothing new. Slogans are absent from our music, instead the lyrics are quite personal, in a narrative style.

T.JONES: Favorite books?
CARRIE MILLS: Dante?s Inferno, Middlesex, George?s Marvelous Medicine.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: The Little Prince, anything by Jeanette Winterson, The Wake World.
HANNAH REIFF: Recently, House Of The Dead and The Vice Magazine book.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: My life to Live.

T.JONES: Favorite films?
CARRIE MILLS: ?Apocalypse Now?, ?Spellbound?.
HANNAH REIFF: Recently, ?Lilya Forever?, ?Bowling For Colombine?, and ?Beat Street?.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Anything by Charles Bukowski.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: ?Band Of Outsiders? ,?The Hunger?.

T.JONES: Favorite foods?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Sushi.
CARRIE MILLS: Sushi.
HANNAH REIFF: Fish tacos and a beer.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Dumpster bread.

T.JONES: Word association. I am going to say the name of an artist and you say the first word that pops in to your head. Okay?

T.JONES: X-Ray Specks.
HANNAH REIFF: One hit wonder.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Saxophone.

T.JONES: Sex Pistols.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Fish and chips.
HANNAH REIFF: Mind the gap.

T.JONES: Joy Division.
HANNAH REIFF: Leslie is in their fan club.

T.JONES: Portishead.
HANNAH REIFF: Lovely.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Bad-ass.

T.JONES: The Strokes.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Bar Bathroom.

T.JONES: Mojave 3.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Desert.

T.JONES: Dead Can Dance.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Dead Can Dance.

T.JONES: Spiritualized.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Spaceman 3.

T.JONES: Curtis Mayfield.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Beautiful.
HANNAH REIFF: Influential.

T.JONES: The Verve (Richard Ashcroft).
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Cheek Bones.

T.JONES: Blur.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Brit Pop Vision.

T.JONES: Happy Mondays.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Factory Records.

T.JONES: The Fall.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Drums on a pillow.

T.JONES: My Bloody Valentine.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: The drummers is our friend.?

T.JONES: Cocteau Twins.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Ethereal.

T.JONES: George Bush.
HANNAH REIFF: Monkey.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Lies.

T.JONES: What was the last incident of sexism you encountered? What happened?
CARRIE MILLS: We try to let incidents of sexism fall below our radar.
HANNAH REIFF: This guy started telling me how he knew I wanted to fulfill his fantasy of him with 2 girls. Maybe me and my girl were interested? I gave him some points on coming up with original lines. We ended up friends when I had to get off the train.

T.JONES: There are 2 singers in the group. Who sings what songs? How do you decide who sings which song?
CHINA LAJCZOCK: I sing ?Eye Make-up?, ?Girl on Girl Action?, ?Circus Song?, ?Sunday Morning?, ?Boy School?, and half-and-half on others, the songs decide themselves.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: I sing lead on ?Jesse James?, ?Secrets?, ?Back to Bed?, ?Ecstasy?, ?The New Black? & ?Vitamin C?.
HANNAH REIFF: Carrie sings also at our live shows. She does a little a cappella song with the drums.

T.JONES: What is the biggest mistake you have made in your career?
CARRIE MILLS: We?ll let you know when we make it.
HANNAH REIFF: Letting Leslie have whiskey often leads to undesirable effects.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: I usually drink wine.

T.JONES: Many singers do guest appearance on more electronic or dance tracks. Would you ever consider this?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: I?d do it if I liked the music.

T.JONES: What Boyskout song would you like to remix? How would you approach it?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: ?Jesse James? is currently being remixed by DJ Kin from Foxgluv.

T.JONES: What songs would you like to cover?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: ?Never Say Never? by Romeo Void. ?I Might Like You Better If We Slept Together?, ?Did I Ever Tell You I?m In Love With Your Girlfriend? by Irvin.
CARRIE MILLS: ?I Came To Your Party Dressed As A Shadow? by Piano Magic.
HANNAH REIFF: ?Ode To Billie Jo by Bobby Gentry.

T.JONES: What is the favorite part of your live show?
HANNAH REIFF: When people put down their beers and start swaying, bobbing, or making moves on the dance floor. At a show in San Francisco that we played, people jumped on the stage and started having sex on the corner of the stage.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: When everything comes to life, the music pours out of you like blood, sweat, snot, and tears and pours over the audience. You're both feeding off of each other.

T.JONES: How has your live show evolved?
CHINA LAJCZOCK: We all have become more comfortable and have come into our own.
HANNAH REIFF: Like China said, we?re more comfortable. I actually really love shows where the stage is on the same level as the people who are there to watch the band. Those shows always have more interaction going on.

T.JONES: What do your parents think about your music?
CARRIE MILLS: No matter how many times I play our music for my family, I?m asked ?Is that you singing?? When I say ?No, that?s me playing the drums?, they get bored and start talking about other things.
HANNAH REIFF: My mom wants to help promote our upcoming show in Northampton. She?s excited about the band.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: My father wishes he had given me more of a Christian upbringing.

T.JONES: What has been in your CD player, tape player, or on your turntable recently?
CARRIE MILLS: The Seconds, The Inevitables, Vetiver, The Warlocks, Vaz.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: The Coachwhips, Devendra Banhart, Low Flying Owls, Two Gallants.
HANNAH REIFF: Death of the Party EP, Oakland, ?Baby Lemonade? by Syd Barrett.
CHINA LAJCZOCK: Black Heart Procession.

T.JONES: Do you believe in God?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Yes, but not in the traditional he?s-the-man-upstairs sort of way.
HANNAH REIFF: I can?t get a name or picture in my head, but I think there is a connection of all these little energies that is bigger than all of us.

T.JONES: What turns you on?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Confidence.
HANNAH REIFF: Odd flaws and eccentricities.
CARRIE MILLS: People who are emotionally unavailable and charismatic.

T.JONES: What turns you off?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: People with no regard for their health.
CARRIE MILLS: When people are nice to me and want to form a healthy relationship.
HANNAH REIFF: Lies.

T.JONES: Do you have many male groupies?
CARRIE MILLS: Yes, we do.

T.JONES: Cremation or burial? If buried, what do you want on your epitaph (your gravestone)?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: I?d prefer to be cremated.
HANNAH REIFF: Here?s the plan - give away all the organs they want and then, cremation.

T.JONES: What is next for Boyskout in the future?
CARRIE MILLS: We?re working on new songs, possibly an EP out soon.
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: And a world domination tour.

T.JONES: Any final words for the people who will be reading this?
LESLIE SATTERFIELD: Check out ?School Of Etiquette? by Boyskout!

Thank you BOYSKOUT!!!

Todd E. Jones
toddejones@yahoo.com
tjones@knightsbridge.com

Official BOYSKOUT Website
www.boyskout.com

Quicktime Video for Back To Bed
http://www.boyskout.com/videos/video.mov

Quicktime Video of Boyskout LIVE:
http://www.boyskout.com/videos/echoecho.mov

MP3?s
Back To Bed
http://www.boyskout.com/mp3/backtobed.mp3

Secrets
http://www.boyskout.com/mp3/secrets.mp3

Girl On Girl Action
http://www.boyskout.com/mp3/girlongirl.mp3

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BOYSKOUT : Girl On Girl Action At The School Of Etiquette - School Of Etiquette