Countdown to Spinning & Shining: Jessica Sun Lee of The Sun Lee Sunbeam

First a bit of Spinning And Shining news... 


* Boston Band Crush is giving away free tix + a CD and/or t-shirt from each of the 6 bands playing the EP release show THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AT MIDDLE EAST UPSTAIRS.  All you have to do to enter is send an email to bandcrush@googlegroups.com with subject "SPINNING AND SHINING" before Friday morning!  A winner will be drawn at random that afternoon.

* The ENTIRE Spinning and Shining EP is now available for streaming at http://thisblueheaven.bandcamp.com...  We would love to hear your feedback!  Oh - and please do not forget to learn the chorus to A Serious Mistake for our big sing-a-long!!! 

* If you haven't already voted for "Generous Soul" in this week's Boston Emissions New Fave Local Song Poll, please hop on over there and give us your love!  We promise to love you back!

...and now for the good stuff.  I want to introduce Jess by saying that she's someone I admire a great deal - not only for her many great talents and the fierceness of her creativity, but also (and especially) for her emotional honesty and willingness to dive under the surface of things that most people are content to ignore.  My high school English teacher told me that the world couldn't afford to lose people like me (which is where "this world needs who you are" from the Generous Soul chorus comes from, by the way), and though I'm still struggling to understand how those words apply to me and how I can live up to them, I can say with absolute conviction that they apply to Ms. Sun Lee.  The world needs her not-looking-away courage and expression.  Lucky for us, she's generous with both!

JESSICA SUN LEE, THE SUN LEE SUNBEAM

What about a career path you haven't pursued, but might later or would if you had time or even another lifetime?

My goal is to die writing–mostly fiction novels, but I don’t want to limit it to that.

Do you ever have pre-show moments when you wish you didn't have to perform?  What would you rather be doing on those occasions?  

I seriously think a pre-show quicky would be the best way to quel my anxiety, but that’s usually not possible due to the logistics of what needs to be done on those nights.

What do you believe in?

Seeking the truth and understanding within myself and others, as difficult as that can be.

What's one thing you don't know but wish you did?

What it’s like to be fully and unconditionally loved and understood because of who I am, and because who I am is a undoubtedly a part of something bigger. Being abandoned as a baby has surfaced some emotions I repressed until recently because I felt it’d be ungrateful or wrong to feel them. It’s like I shut off a big part of myself because of what I didn’t know. Those unanswered questions, I’ve discovered, are all intertwined with the rest of what I do, think, and feel. The good news is: it supplies a nevereneding stream of longing and the desire to belong to something important. And that fuels all of my art, writing, and music.

Upcoming stuff?

As The Sun Lee Sunbeam is wrapping up our last couple of shows and recording our final EP, I’ve been working on a different style of music, forming songs from the bass instead of the guitar. I feel like I’m going through musical puberty all over again. It’s both liberating and exciting to shape a new sound, as it’s a totally different approach for me to write this way. I’m constantly buzzing from it and look forward to playing it live when it’s ready.




(I love this track from The Sun Lee Sunbeam and they are STELLAR live, so do NOT miss their ***second-to-last show ever*** this Saturday at Middle East Upstairs - they go on at 10:15 - right before This Blue Heaven!)

Countdown to Spinning & Shining: Naked On Roller Skates' Leesa Coyne

Who needs wordless Monday when you've got friends to write the words for you?!

All this week on the blog I'll be featuring the frontwomen from the supersweet line-up I (humbly) put together for our EP RELEASE SHOW AT MIDDLE EAST UPSTAIRS THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 7TH!!!!

Before I turn the blog over, I just want to make a quick request to you for support.  This Blue Heaven's tune "Generous Soul" (track 3 on Spinning and Shining) is in this week's 100.7 WZLX Boston Emissions New Fave Song Poll, so we've made the song STREAMABLE on Reverbnation and Facebook!!!  If you dig what you hear, please CLICK HERE to vote for our song this week!!!  Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!

Okay!  Without further ado, I'm gonna start this thing off with a bang and let the sparkling frontwoman for our band-soulmates Naked On Roller Skates take the stage!  I sent my interview questions to all the ladies of the week, asking them to select 3 or more to answer... but Leesa answered a whole bunch (all of 'em?) so this should provide you with some fun Monday reading!  Enjoy!

***UPDATE, Wednesday 8/4:  See...this is why I do photos on Mondays.  I'm just not, like, in writing-gear yet.  As a result, I'm afraid, I have been much more expressive with my specific adoration of the later-in-the-week babes than with Leesa, which creates an absolutely FALSE impression that I have nothing to say about her.  So let me just fix that retroactively right now.

Leesa is one of the women from this line-up that I've gotten to spend some real time with.  In fact, I don't mind telling you that after our first real encounter with Leesa & Travis (the GP of NORS and Leesa's lucky beau) at karaoke night at Razzys, Stu & I made a conscious decision to stalk pursue friendship with the pair.  I can't speak for Stu, but I can tell you what drew me to Leesa: NO BULLSHIT. And let's face it, this is a culture in which bullshit thrives (and vice versa). Philosophers have written on it. It feels and is inescapable. But every once in awhile you meet someone who seems utterly incapable of it. They say what they're thinking, they mean what they say, and they do so in no uncertain terms. And yes, of course it's intense, but it's also completely freeing. Because their humanity is on full display and as a result, you feel you can be what you, in fact, are... which is human, too.

I decided recently that the true "it factor" that makes a rock star a rock star is the ability to exude strength while expressing honest vulnerability. In other words?  No bullshit.  Yeah, Leesa's got it.  And you gotta love her for it 'cause she leaves you no other choice.***


LEESA COYNE, NAKED ON ROLLER SKATES

What kind of "shows" did you put on as a kid?  Any favorites?

I used to put on routines with my cousins (who were about the same age) where we would dress up and sing into hairbrushes. We were called “the fashion girls.” I was like 10ish at the time.

Who/what are some NON-musical influences on your music?

My neighbor Laura who taught me how to play guitar and that you are never too old to try something new. Other neighbor Tom who supported me when I first started playing music, his wife Jane who still supports me. My grandmothers, one who played guitar and another who has been way ahead of her time.

If you had to choose another genre of music to learn/perform, what would it be?

Bluegrass or electronic music (like Danger Mouse or Faithless). Bluegrass cause it is so simple and honest. Electronic cause it leaves so much room for experimentation.

What about a career path you haven't pursued, but might later or would if you had time or even another lifetime?

I would really love to be a landscaper or a garden designer. Me and a couple of my lady friends joke around about starting an all female landscaping business called Bitches with Hoes. It would be cool to start a business for Boston’s first roof top organic farm, too. Anything outside that is working with the earth.

Do you ever have pre-show moments when you wish you didn't have to perform?  What would you rather be doing on those occasions?  

I love to perform, which comes with being a Leo. The only time I would not want to be on stage is when I am missing something important going on with someone I care about or when I am super sleepy. At which point I would rather be sleeping.

Describe your band dynamic, in three words.

One Hot Mess

What is the strangest thing you've found yourself doing since being in a band?

Other than excel spreadsheets. Parading around in the freezing cold with nothing but a pink sparkly dress and roller skates for my recent photo shoot for the record with Kelly [Davidson]. Pretty sure there are other more strange things I am just not thinking of at the moment.

If you could open for anyone (let's say in all of history, 'cause that's more fun), who would it be?

Led Zeppelin  - Just cause it's mother f*ckin Zeppelin!!!

 

Describe the perfect scene of solitude for you.

I am a pretty high strung person until you put me on a beach somewhere, I can basically sit there for hours content listening to the ocean, watching the waves roll and seeing the gulls fly.

Where would you like to travel?

Machu Picchu in Peru and to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatina in Spain!

You may or may not know that I've recently become obsessed with Doctor Who, not that it really matters except to provide context for this question:  If you had access to a time machine (and a superhero time lord, if need be) and could go anywhere in the universe at any time in its history, what/where/when would it be?

Female Queen in Egypt around the time the pyramids were built so I could see if humans really made them or if it was just some sort of aliens that did. Only as a Queen though cause women’s rights really suck for the peasant folks pretty much any time before the 1950’s and I just can’t deal with some man telling me what to do.

What do you believe in?

Karma

What do you know for sure?

1+1=2

What's one thing you don't know but wish you did?

Are we really just someone’s dream.

What're you reading or watching, lately?

The Omnivores Dilemma and Californication

What is your favorite moment in the course of a show?  (general or specific)

I got to spike a microphone at this battle of the bands I played in like 5 years ago it was one of the first shows I played with a band instead of solo acoustic, I felt so f*cking rock n’ roll!!!

When do you find yourself aware of yourself *as a woman* in the band context?

Sometimes when people are looking at me funny cause I am putting makeup on in the ladies room before a show or the time I needed to have the waitress at the Plough N’ Stars help zip up the back of my dress. Or when Kelly and I talk about “girl things” at rehearsal and the boys get weird’d out.  Never in a bad way though its all been good fun.

  

(Enjoy these three killer tunes from Naked On Roller Skates - they'll have an EP coming out soon, I'm told - and be sure to catch them at 8:00pm SHARP this Saturday at Middle East Upstairs!!!)

Meet This Blue Heaven: Stu/GP

 

me: aha!

  hello!

Stu: well good morning!

 me: got any coffee in you?

 Stu: presently imbibing.

 me: great!

  when you wanna do our interview?

 Stu: oh i thought we just started!

me: rock.

  let's play free association first.

  ready?

 Stu: set

 me: rock

 Stu: plymouth

 me: turkey

 Stu: rollup

  (huh)

me: twister

 Stu: hardly know 'er

 me: you win

  or wait

  does that mean i win?

 Stu: we'll call it a draw.

 me: okay.

i'm nervous about this interview!

  weird.

 Stu: you should be. i'm one scary s.o.b.

me: i can just feel everyone (our bandmates especially - one in particular has already checked the blog three times this morning) waiting for this one...

  yeah. you're terrifying for sure.

  okay

  let's do this.

 Stu: oh, that was me, sorry.

 me: heh

  rrriiiiiiight

  who are you?

Stu: i'm Stu. i play guitar and sing a little in This Blue Heaven.

 me: you're the first to get that right! good job! A+

  you know, the problem with this interview is i already know all this stuff. every question would be leading. like...

  did you get a lot of A's in school?

i know of course you did, so if i ask you that, then it's like i want everyone to know you're a smarty pants.

  so

  i guess i should just ask totally bizarre questions, maybe.

 Stu: wait i want to answer that one!

 me: do it

 Stu: ahem.

  i got a B in math in 5th grade, and a B+ in theoretical physics II senior year college.

me: ...

 Stu: the rest were A's. BOOYEAH.

 me: smarty pants smarty pants

 Stu: oh man, was i pissed about that B in 5th grade.

still am. i was robbed. we was robbed!

 me: do you think of yourself as a perfectionist?

 Stu: does the tin man have a sheet metal...

  sure, yes.

me: what's the earliest memory you have of being frustrated that something wasn't, y'know... right.

  "perfect"

 Stu: hm.

having a hard time thinking of one. i guess for me it's about stuff that i have control over, so...i think i end up working on it til i'm happy. frustration is just an early part of the process.

  but i do remember in middle school one kid calling me a perfectionist and i took it as name calling and got really upset :)

 me: really! was it a mean kid?

Stu: oh--not really.

  in general i mean. lots of kids could be mean sometimes and really nice other times.

y'know. that whole growing up thing.

oh! also in middle school, maybe 6th grade there was a group writing project in english class, where we got put in small groups. i wasn't happy with what anyone came up with so i basically did the whole thing myself. that might be the earliest memory.

although it was sort of out of necessity b/c no one else was really trying.

GOOD STORY STU.

me: i think that's a perfect story.

i hated group work for the same reason.

and now we're in a band.

  mark described it as an enlightened democracy

  any idea what he meant by enlightened?

Stu: i avoid politics.

 me: me three.

  how would you describe the band dynamic in three words or less?

Stu: position players.

 me: twss

  what's your position?

 Stu: wait does that sound no fun?

  i tried to work team in there somehow.

 me: sounds plenty fun to me...

absolutely

aaron dodged the "roles" question a bit... is it a squishy issue?

 Stu: interesting.

  well i think we all play the various roles at some point.

 me: mm.

what's your favorite role in the band?

 Stu: i think i'm the indian chief.

  (can you say that? my high school mascot was the "Indians.")

my brother called me that once.

 me: where i grew up, you couldn't be an indian for halloween.

  it was on a list.

  along with witch

  hippie

  basically anything a person could conceivably be

 Stu: you couldn't be a hippie?

 me: although come to think of it

  i don't think rock star was on that list.

  those jerks.

yeah the iowa city list was featured on that show...

  politically incorrect?

  was that it?

 Stu: with bill maher, yes.

 me: that's the one.

  so, now you see.

 Stu: said the blind man who picked up a hammer and saw.

me: are you saying that in your dad's voice?

 Stu: i'll try to type it in his voice now:

  i SEEE! said the blind man, who picked up his hammer and SAW ...

 me: you still need to call your mother.

 Stu: crap.

 me: guilt!

 Stu: it's been like a year by now.

me: maybe she's forgotten she even has a third child.

 Stu: (not true, for anyone reading. MAYbe 6 months.)

 me: terrible.

 Stu: (also not true.)

 me: ...

 Stu: (okay true.)

  (haha NO not true!)

 (::nodding::)

 me: i can see it will take a really good question to get us out of this loop.

  so... how 'bout them sox?

Stu: 3 in a row!

 me: twss

 Stu: oh HO!

 me: all right

 Stu: k how bout this:

  ask me what i did this morning.

 me: (i'm gonna pull a fred and barney on you right now to demonstrate who's in charge of this operation.)

  no that's a terrible idea.

  gah.

  hmmmm

  oh i know!

  hey stu, what'd you do this morning?

 Stu: great question mackenzie!

 me: thanks!

 Stu: why, i bought a new guitar!

 me: wait NO WAY

  which one did you get???

  the blue one?

Stu: i got a blue early 90's telecaster plus.

 me: holy crap!!!

  did anyone else bid? did you get it for the price it was at last night?

 Stu: with the humbucker lace sensors in the bridge.

me: (that must be for the folks at home 'cause i don't know what that is.)

 Stu: nope, i was the only bidder! i'm telling you, these auctions that end first thing eastern time are totally rigged in our favor.

  first thing in the morning.

 me: genius.

  well good for you!!!!

 Stu: yay!!!

  MAYbe will have it in time for the EP release show. maybe.

me: what're you most looking forward to about that show?

 Stu: the naked audience.

 me: oh um

 Stu: oh wait am i confusing this with mark's interview?

 me: yeah, if the world conformed to mark's version of ideal, well...

there'd be no shoes, probably no clothes for most people, and probably no mornings.

  sounds okay actually.

  what's your ideal audience? in one word

Stu: so to answer your first question, i'm looking forward seeing if we can pull off all the surprises we have in store.

 me: like when we all get naked halfway through the set?

.... oh whoops.

 Stu: and also playing with so many great bands who are also great friends.

 me: ruined the surprise.

  that is nice, isn't it?

 Stu: GAH mackenzie. thanks for RUINING the big finale.

 me: guess we'll just have to think of something else.

 Stu: socks maybe?

 me: or shorts

that'd be a real shock.

 Stu: or jorts.

 me: ugh. no jorts.

 Stu: jean jackets and jorts.

  and doc martens.

 me: you're killin' me smalls.

  if you could open for anyone in all of history, who would it be?

  wiat.

  *wait

  perfect audience, first.

try to keep up, will you?

 Stu: oh, right.

  smiling.

  and arms anywhere but folded.

 me: (i'm having a swoony moment.)

  yes. like in their pants.

  or, better - in each others' pants.

let's shoot for that.

  okay now the opener question.

Stu: great question!

  hm....

  hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

 me: oh c'mon, i know the answer to this.  let's get on with it so i can imagine fooling around with the edge backstage

Stu: well there is an obvious answer: U2 in 1992, Zoo TV tour.

 me: actually he wasn't as hot then.

 Stu: but as brandon would mock that one...

 me: bah.

 Stu: BAH.

  ok final answer.

 me: well

 Stu: sticking to it.

me: what do you say to the U2 haters?

Stu: OH GO F*CK YOURSELF YOU COLD HEARTLESS JERKOFFS.

  ahem.

  did i say that out loud?

 me: oh you bleeped it out for me!

  thanks!

  how do you feel?

 Stu: dirty.

me: ...

  in a good way?

  sorry, i'm still backstage with the edge.

 Stu: right, me too.

 me: let's move on, shall we!

  awesome.

  um.

  i had a good one.

what was it?

  ...

um.

  of all boston musicians, who would you most want to scuba dive with?

Stu: that's just crazy talk.

 me: fair enough. walk on the beach with?

 Stu: wait.

i'd scuba dive with Tad from Sidewalk Driver.

 me: and the romantic walk on the beach?

  still tad?

Stu: hm. present company excluded?

 me: (swoony moment #2)

  yes - outside this blue heaven.

Stu: this is a romantic walk?

me: it's on the beach. just saying.

  (travis richter is holding his breath right now.)

  (and probably just spilled his coffee.)

 Stu: (was gonna say...)

 me: (poor trav.)

 Stu: has to be current?

me: uhhh i guess not?

 Stu: ok kim deal.

 me: mm

  maybe she'd like to join us with the edge backstage....

 Stu: maybe!

me: okay how about if you were going to take a member of the boston music scene (current now) with us on the tardis?

  (that's the doctor who time machine for the folks at home who don't know, but if you don't know you REALLY should watch the show and i'm not gonna tell you again.)

  (today)

Stu: i'd love to hear brendan boogie trash talk the Doctor.

 me: ha!

where/when in the universe would you want to go first?

 Stu: the beginning!

 me: really!

 Stu: that might not be theoretically possible though.

 me: (swoon 3.0)

i think they go to the very end of the universe at some point in the series.

 Stu: (maybe i'd have a better grasp on that if i'd gotten a better grade in theoretical physics.)

me: twss

 Stu: oh! "grasp"!

  good one, peter.

 me: yeah yeah ha ha

  what do you believe in?

Stu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBfdl6hNZ9k

 good night.

 me: haha ha ha

  do you know that video has no sound?

that's so, like... existential

 Stu: no it does, only on 1 channel.

  put in your other earbud!

  (twss)

  (ouch)

 me: oh i have all the sound shifted to the right one. can't have both earbuds in at the same time.

  that's not existential at all.

  omg i love susan sarandon.

  okay, but what do you believe in?

Stu: i believe life is the universe's way of marveling at itself.

 me: (do i really need to count the swoons after 3?)

  what do you know for sure.

Stu: you live, you die.

  also, arrested development is and will be the greatest sitcom ever.

 me: what's one thing you don't know but wish you did?

Stu: if the tardis could travel to the beginning of time without disintegrating. that would be helpful in deciding how much stock/time/fantasy to put into this Doctor Who question.

b/c it's really tugging at my core.

 me: what is your favorite moment in the course of playing a show (general or specific)?

 Stu: (really? nothing? tugging?)

 me: (that's what your mom said.)

 Stu: ( )

 me: :D

Stu: when the music takes over and you suddenly realize you haven't really been conscious or in the way of it, and several songs or even the whole set has gone by. it doesn't happen all the time but it's magic when it does!

sometimes your mind gets in the way of the music, y'know?

 me: i do.

  do you think of yourself as a mystic?

Stu: not on the whole? but it's important to chase that sense sometimes, i think.

me: right now on facebook, the boys are (not entirely unobnoxiously) scrambling to say how well they know you... and, ironically, that the gist what they know is that you're a bit of a closed book.

  what do you think would surprise them the most about you?

Stu: i don't know!

drawing a blank.

 me: are you a closed book?

 Stu: i don't think so.

  i'm just not a movie :)

  you just have to open it, see.

 not literally.

  that would hurt.

 me: what are you reading, lately?

 Stu: that's a little personal, don't you think?

  j/k

 i'm re-reading watership down.

  cute little bunnies.

 me: aw, there. now aaron can say TOLD YOU.

 Stu: also all the music rags.

  as per usual.

 me: do you read poetry?

  i have a favorite poem question on my list...

 Stu: not of my own accord :)

 me: yeah yeah

 Stu: shel silverstein's "my beard"

 me: okay one word answers, fast. ready?

 Stu: set.

 me: what makes you happy?

 Stu: kitties.

 me: what pisses you off?

 Stu: waste.

 me: what cracks you up?

 Stu: vonnegut.

 me: what freaks you out?

 Stu: money.

 me: (you needed another guitar! don't worry!)

  what makes you go "hmmm"?

 Stu: interviews.

 me: what turns you off?

 Stu: heat.

 me: do you hate me for locking us out of your room the other day?

 Stu: nope.

 me: whew.

 okay tell the folks your myers-briggs type.

 Stu: INTJ*

# moderately expressed introvert - 44%
# moderately expressed intuitive personality - 38%
# moderately expressed thinking personality - 25%
# moderately expressed judging personality - 33%

 me: typical ;)

 do you think of yourself as moderate?

 Stu: moderately

  sure, yes. except for my "extreme" vegas getaways every few months.

 me: HO!

me: oh - and aaron wanted to know if we're closer to the kind of music you want to be making.

 Stu: closer :)

 me: that's just the kind of answer that'll drive him batty. :)

 do you wanna ask me anything?

 Stu: ok yes. when are you going to work in some mandolin or guitar in the band?

me: hmmm...

  probably after i'm done with your mom.

 Stu: well she's been wondering the same thing, so.

 me: you win. :) maybe i'll take the mando on vacation.

  OR

 Stu: totes.

me: maybe you'll let me play your new blue guitar!

 Stu: maybe.

 me: you still haven't fulfilled that promise.

  of letting me play the electric with the volume cranked (or at all).

  that's how you got me to audition in the first place.

  so thanks for nuthin.

 Stu: oh. next rehearsal!

me: :)

  k

  are we done here?

 Stu: you're the boss!

 me: i could do this all day!

  (twss x 3)

  oh

  one more question.

is it 5 - 3 = 2 or 5 - 2 = 3?

 Stu: yes.

 me: see how much you've accomplished since kindergarten!

what's really bugging me right now is that i thought of like 12 great questions for you in the course of this interview and then forgot all of them.

 Stu: i got nothin'.

 me: probably because of the swooning.

  or the chocolate croissant i had for breakfast.

  terrible.

 Stu: lucky!

me: way'll. can always do a follow up.

  all right you're off the hook!

  now back to ichat.

 Stu: goodbye everyone!

 me: thanks for the lovely conversation!

  have fun storming the castle!

 Stu: goodbye FW!

INTJ: The outside contractor
INTJs are solid, competent personalities who may seem aloof and even arrogant, but who are typically highly skilled in any field which interests them. INTJs are confident in their skills and knowledge, self-assured, and imaginitive; their exceptional problem-solving skills make them ideal architects, auto mechanics, and tools of the evil empire. While it requires the driving will to conquer of an ENTJ to imagine the Death Star and the evil genius of an ENTP to invent its devastating weapons systems, the skill and technical prowess of the INTJ is what makes the whole thing work.
The INTJ sees life as a problem to be solved. For that reason, the INTJ is the person a company brings in from the outside to streamline production processes and identify redundant assets for termination. The INTJ's combination of analyticial problem-solving skills and complete and utter disregard for the morality or consequences of his actions also make him ideal for the job of hatchet man, CIA operative, and helpdesk operator.
RECREATION: INTJs are often baffled by the strange and incomprehensible recreational rituals of other people, such as going to parties, watching television, and having sex. Instead, they prefer to spend their leisure time installing twin missile launchers in their cars to deter tailgaters and playing chess with megalomaniac CEOs of the Tyrell corporation.
COMPATIBILITY: Silly person, INTJs don't have relationships! They may, however build their own friends.
Famous INTJs include J. F. Sebastian and Sgt. Apone.