by Tamara Palmer
“From the heart and honest.”
– Vera Ramone King
Vera Ramone King’s book Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone documents her 17-year marriage to the bassist and lead songwriter of seminal punk rockers The Ramones. In vivid and loving detail, she recounts the rise and demise of her lover and best friend, who succumbed to a heroin overdose in 2002. She offers the untold story of how she continually kept him alive even amidst bouts of terrifying abuse from her husband, illuminating a vital link in the band’s masterful and enduring legacy.
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by Tamara Palmer
“We were fans of the Smiths and Morrissey.”
– Nina Diaz: Girl In A Coma
Morrissey and his legendary former band The Smiths continue to have a far-reaching impact on music and style, reaching artists and fans across international and genre boundaries alike. Some, such as San Antonio-based rock trio Girl in a Coma (sisters Nina and Phanie Diaz and Jenn Alva), who are second-gen fans, have paid the ultimate homage by naming their group after one of his songs – in this case, 1987’s “Girlfriend in a Coma.”
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by Nicole Powers
“Yeah, maybe I am a little crazy, but whatever.”
– Marilyn Manson
There’s nothing half-hearted about the new album from Marilyn Manson, The High End of Low, which explores love, hate, revenge, loss and despair. Off stage, many find Manson’s passion disconcerting, but the singer/songwriter considers anything that veers towards apathy to be inherently “worthless.” It’s therefore not surprising to hear that during the recording process Manson pushed himself and his band to extremes, the resulting album returning him to the kind of form he’s not seen in a decade.
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by Fred Topel
“You don’t have to look like me to be considered beautiful and sexy.”
– Brittany Daniel
When the aliens come, the only ones left to fight back will be the good looking Hollywood heroes. Independence Day gave us Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Vivica A. Fox. Signs left us in the hands (and basement) of Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. Now Skyline has strapping male leads Eric Balfour (who plays Jarrod) and Donald Faison (Terry), to keep their girlfriends safe and fight off invaders. Brittany Daniel plays Candice, described as Terry’s self-absorbed socialite girlfriend.
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by Ryan Stewart
“If you met yourself in person, would you see only faults?”
-Duncan Jones
If the new film Moon puts you in mind of David Bowie’s lyrical, space-is-a-lonely-place ballad, “Space Oddity,” that’s probably not a total coincidence – it was directed by his 38 year-old son, Duncan Jones, who formerly went under the much less conservative name, Zowie Bowie. After years of directing commercials and trying to move on from what he describes as a youth marked by isolation and periods of self-discovery, Jones has emerged with a new identity as a respected indie filmmaker.
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by Jay Hathaway
“I had been in a sexually hibernated state of mind…”
– Kevin Barnes
Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes has been experimenting with pop music for almost 20 years, all the way back to recording home demos in high school. He started of Montreal in 1997 in Athens, GA, and fell in with the Elephant 6 collective, which included bands like Elf Power, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The Apples in Stereo. Since then, of Montreal has put out nine records, including Barnes’ biggest critical success, 2007’s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
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by Nicole Powers
“There’s something inherently scary about kissing a cannibal.”
– Diablo Cody
“I constantly want to feel like I’m in danger,” says author and screenwriter Diablo Cody during our interview. This statement reveals a lot when you consider Cody’s resume. She punctuated a rather mundane series of office jobs by moonlighting as a stripper, phone sex worker, and a peep show girl. While still working for “the man” she documented her experiences in the sex industry in a very public space — a popular blog called Pussy Ranch. Subsequently she penned a full-blown memoir, entitled Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, which was published by Penguin imprint Gotham Books.
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