The guy introduced himself as a music supervisor from Hollywood who was in town doing research on female fronted bands for a major motion picture and he needed an assistant while he was in town to run the camera and make the bands feel more comfortable. He figured if he had a female punkrocker riot grrl on his team, the
girls would open up. He wanted me to be there for a bunch of different interviews but I only did two of them . 1993 was the technological dark ages compared to now. If I had a cell phone back then I might not of missed one of the interviews we were suppose to do with this band called Magnapop, but such is life. The one important interview of this experience was with the band 7 year Bitch. You see 7 Year Bitch was suppose to be there with The Gits, but because the lead singer was murdered 3 weeks earlier, The Gits were no longer a part of the interview and 7 Year Bitch were here by themselves. Right away their manager told us that the girls were very, very upset over Mia's death but were still up to do the interview. So we made our way to an empty hotel room were the interview took place. As soon as the band met me I felt as if I had known them for years. Some kind of powerfully deep energy entered me that day. The interview was basically them opening their heart about Mia and how Mia was the one that got them to be a band in the first place. It was a deep interview. The whole time I felt as if a part of Mia's spirit entered me and when I look back on how I looked back then, I was a miniature version of Mia Zapata when she had her dreadlocks. I became friends with the members of 7 Year bitch and later that night I met them at the Knitting Factory and we shared some beers while Val Agnew, the drummer from 7 Year cried on my shoulder over the loss of Mia Zapata.
I saw the girls in 7 Year a few times after that, once in the fall of 93 when they played a NYC show which I got on tape and to this day I am working on getting it transfered to DVD. Anyway I had my own drama going on that year and it was not until 94 when The Gits entered my life again in the form of their posthumous Enter the Conquering Chicken LP. From that time on Mia was an angel to me. Since I was suppose to meet her until this disgusting inhuman brute took her away from this life, she came to me anyway in the form of a guiding angel.... but more as a friend. Through her music, my dreams and my super natural life, I did meet Mia. I know that if we did meet that day when we were suppose to, I might have fallen hard for this soulful punkrock angel that might of cradled me in her arms with the light of her friendship and love. Somehow we go deep. Her spirit spent a good deal of time with me, when there were others that needed her more I imagine. But I know for a fact that her spirit guided me and gave me strength through many hard times during the 90's and through much of my heroin addiction during the last few years of the 20th century.
Anyway now there is a movie about Mia and The Gits. I saw it for the first time in 2005 at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) and it was then that i met the band, finally, and caught up with my old friends from 7 Year Bitch. It meant a lot to me that the remaining members of the band remembered the interview they were suppose to have. It was an amazing 2 days and I will never, ever forget those 2 after parties.
Now finally in 2008 the movie is being offically released on DVD and in theaters. Tonight was the official Seattle premiere with one of the film makers speaking and one more after party at The Comet Tavern here in Capitol Hill, which was the last place Mia was seen 15 years ago today, July 7th. I went and was a guest of the Producer which meant a lot to me. The after party was nice, but not near as fun as the ones in 2005. Those parties need a blog for themselves alone!
The Gits will always mean a lot to me. I will always love Mia Zapata and the friendship that was taken from me before it even started. I look forward to my friendship with Steve the drummer. I am hoping to do something creative with him sometime in the future. We both have a lot to work out creatively from the year 1993. I know for a fact that I never got over events in my own life from that year, in a way I understand how they feel, I had something taken from me too. But that is another story.
For more info goto:
www.thegits.com
www.thegitsmovie.com
to listen to some songs now goto:
http://www.myspace.com/thegitsrule
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