WERE YOU EVER IN BANDS BACK AT HOME ON THE EAST COAST?

No. I started playing after [I left New York]. This band called Betty Blowtorch, I kinda knew Bianca a little bit and I was friends with the record company, the A&R girl, and when Bianca died, I really got involved with the family and I was helping out. And then I learned more about her story, that she just started playing in her late-‘20s, she got clean for a year and then she started playing in bands. I was like, if she can do it and be so cool, then I can do it. I didn’t learn how to play until I was 26 or something, that was when Bianca died. So I learned how to play and then a year after that I started making bands. This is actually the first band I ever had on my own, where I’m writing songs and all that stuff.

HAVE THERE BEEN ANY LINE-UP CHANGES?

Yeah, what’s funny is since this was my first band, it started out I knew a lot of people in bands because I always promoted, I always really loved music, I’ve been flyering since I was like 14 for bands. So everyone wanted to support me, like, “Isn’t that nice, Mia wants to [have] a band.” Everyone in the band has left and come back. [Laughs] ‘Cause they’re like, “We’re just helping you out.” And then it’s time for me to find someone else and I get someone else and they’re like, “You know what? I think I wanna be back in the band.” Everyone did that except for the bass player. Blare was actually in Betty Blowtorch, they got into a huge fight, the band broke up on the road, and then Bianca died and all this stuff, so Blare wasn’t talking to anyone. Now she’s talking to Sharon again and they have a band together. So she left us and she’s back with her old band. Now my new bass player, she has another band where she’s the singer and guitar player.

OKAY, ‘CAUSE I SAW ON THE RECORD YOU HAD BLARE. SHE RECORDED THE RECORD WITH YOU… SO WHEN YOU PUT THIS TOGETHER, YOU PRETTY MUCH KNEW WHAT SOUND YOU WANTED TO GO FOR?

I didn’t really know the sound I wanted to go for, I just really like punk music, rock music. Since I was a teenager I was hanging out in the Village, going to The Continental. When I first saw THE LUNACHICKS, I thought, “Oh my god! I can never be like THE LUNACHICKS!” And now it’s funny ‘cause I know some of those girls, and I’ve played with some of them, even.

WHO, LIKE THEO?

No. Gina, I really like her and hung out with her. And Becky Rack was one of the drummers. She wanted to play with me for a little while. And then one of them actually did a tattoo on me. Squid. It’s so weird because when you’re a teenager you never think you can be to that level. And then when I got older, I was like, “I can play too.” It’s cool because when you’re hanging out with guy bands, guys aren’t really that interested in – they’re like, “We can do it better. You can’t do it.” When you hang out with girl musicians, they’re more likely to help you and say, “Why don’t you try [playing].” So that’s how I got into it. After Bianca died, I was helping out and roadie-ing for Blare’s new band, BLARE BITCH PROJECT. I was doing back-up vocals, practicing. So out of [that band], the last members, they were in my band. Punky was playing guitar for a minute, Blare was playing bass and Chase was playing drums. That band broke up and now Chase is back playing drums with me. Everything’s all mixed up. [Laughs]

ONE THING ABOUT GIRLS HELPING EACH OTHER OUT MORE, LIKE THAT’S THE THING. I DON’T KNOW WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOUR BAND IN THE PRESS, LIKE THEY MAKE A BIG DEAL TO SAY “FEMALE-FRONTED” OR SOMETHING. I HAVE THIS THING THAT IT SHOULDN’T MATTER. YOU KNOW, THAT WHOLE MINDSET, “IT’S GOOD FOR A GIRL BAND,” AND THAT KINDA PUTS IT DOWN. LIKE, HOW ABOUT WE’RE JUST A GOOD BAND.

Exactly. At first I wanted a girl band because I wanted to show how cool it was to be all girls and girls can be really cool.

YEAH, LOOK AT LIKE YOU SAID LUNACHICKS. I ALWAYS LOVED 7 YEAR BITCH…

And L7. I know the L7 girls. A lot of them are out here. But the thing is, that’s what happened with me. I’m like, I don’t wanna have all girls just to have all girls; I just want a really cool band. And it’s funny because actually there was a guy who saw us play in San Francisco and he was interviewing THE BLACK HALOS and I was sitting on the couch with them and so [he] thought I was just some groupie or whatever. I didn’t even realize he was being rude to me ‘cause I guess I don’t pick it up very good. It was funny because on his Website he said, “I was being condescending, saying, ‘Look at this girl, whatever,’ but then she went on stage and, boy, she really rocked. I’m gonna learn next time not to just judge girls.”

YEAH, OR EVERYONE JUST THINKS YOU’RE THE “GIRLFRIEND.”

That’s happened to me. The last show we just played, I went through the back door and the bouncer was like, “Um, excuse me, honey, you have to go through the front. Only bands go through the back.” And I’m like, “Okay, sweetheart, I wanna let you know I’m IN the band,” and he’s all, “Oh.”  […] Even in my own band, when I’ve tried out other band members, they’re like, “You’re not playing that right,” or “I don’t want you to sing that way…”

LIKE, “IT’S MY BAND!” [LAUGHS]

I know! But I’m not like that. That’s my problem because I’m always like, maybe they’re giving me a creative opinion and I want everyone to put in their own two cents, and then in the end it turns into this whole thing where I’m like, okay, never mind. And that’s what I like about my guitar player and my drummer, they’re never condescending. Chase has played with lots of cool bands, Dee Dee Ramone and The Genitorturers. He’s never said he’s better than me or anything. And I’ve been playing with Johnny for a long time, and Johnny would never say, “Yeah, you’re a girl…” That’s why it’s really important who you have in the band because it really makes a difference.

I NOTICED YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT BRODY FROM THE DISTILLERS ON THE ONE-SHEET YOU SENT ME…

I really loved The Distillers, especially that ‘Coral Fang’ record. I just love her style, and some people say I have a similar sound to her.

I ALWAYS THOUGHT SHE SOUNDED SO MUCH LIKE COURTNEY LOVE…

I know some people say I sound like [her]. The younger crew, they think The Distillers, but the older people that know about Hole, they say, this sounds similar to Courtney Love.

SO ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A LABEL TO PUT THIS OUT? I CAN’T IMAGINE THAT YOU’RE NOT… IT’S SO HIGH QUALITY.

I really appreciate you saying that. It’s hard because I’m really hard on myself and since I haven’t been playing for years and since I’ve heard a lot of comments about me, that I’m not the best player and I’m not the best singer, I always take that to heart and I’m like, I have to be better – I don’t wanna present something unless I believe in it. The band is a stressful thing. Right about now is exactly when I started letting people know about it. You’re one of the first people I said, “Hey, maybe you’d wanna review the band or something.” I would love to get signed to a label and get support so I could tour around and get distribution so I could have CDs in the stores. And my favorite place to tour is the bars. I love playing small clubs all over. It’s so much fun playing San Jose, I love playing in Orange County, they just love punk rock over there. You’re basically just playing on the floor and everyone’s all around you. I don’t know if I’ll ever be a band that’s a huge stadium band but I’d love to be able to play all over America. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to be in a band too because I’m like, I’m never gonna get anywhere. I don’t have a lot of money, so I’m not going to be able to take trips all over, so it’d be cool to get to play and have a reason for being somewhere and you get to meet all kinds of cool people. I love going on tour. I love gas stations. […] I’m happy with not reaching this high level because it’s more important for me to be true to myself and to experiment and figure out who I wanna be and be that person than to have to worry are 100,000 people gonna like me?! I’d rather just do it because it’s from the heart than playing a stadium. But if the stadium people want me, then I’m not gonna complain. [Laughs]

HOW DO YOU GUYS GO ABOUT WRITING?

It’s usually either me or Johnny. I’ll mess around with the guitar until I come up with a riff I like and then I’ll bring it in and I’ll say, “What do you think about this?” and if they like it, then we’ll just start jamming on it and I’ll start making up words. We both are the type that need to be by ourselves thinking about what we want and then we’ll go into the studio with it.

SO YOU WRITE THE LYRICS AFTER THE MUSIC.

I get a feeling for it first. I’ll hear a type of sound in my head and I’ll make some yells or whatever. There are some songs actually that I play that I don’t have any words for and I make up stuff every time. [Laughs] Before when I just used the house microphone, everyone heard me but didn’t know what I was saying so I’d just make up anything. “Yeah! Peanut butter! Jelly!” But now that I have this [better] microphone I better get on the ball.

YEAH, GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

I’m actually writing words for songs I’ve been playing for six months now. We’re gonna record this weekend and I have to have the words.

WHAT’S INFLUENCING YOUR LYRICS?

I’ve always written since I was a kid, always had a notebook. I’d always write little poems to say how I’m feeling and [my parents] wouldn’t know what I was saying, they’d just think I was crazy. I love to write. But now it’s a little different with music because if you just write without hearing the music, it may not fit into it. I guess because I’ve been writing so much, it’s easy for me to just come up with stuff and I just get a feeling from the song. If I feel it’s a sad song, then I’ll write something sad. It’s about a feeling and I just make stuff up as I go along. Most of it’s about me. Which is kinda sad. I feel like I should write things that are more important about the world or something, but it’s more oh boo-hoo, I’m sad or I’m angry. Most of the songs are how I met somebody. I’m really kinda nice. So it’s my time to not be nice. I don’t really curse much but when I’m on stage I’m like, “MOTHERFUCKER, FUCK YOU!”

GET IT OUT, YEAH.

I don’t have to be an asshole because a few nights a week I can scream and curse people out. It gives me room to be cool during the day. It’s like therapy. I don’t know what I’d do without a band.

THE MOST DIFFERENT SOUNDING DEFINITELY HAS TO BE THE LAST SONG, MORE MELODIC.

Yeah, that was the first one I ever wrote. That was my Tom Petty song. [Laughter]

CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING SOME OF THOSE IN THE FUTURE?

Maybe one day if I have more time I can do solo stuff and put in things that are more melodic, but this band is a really aggressive band and there’s no way I’ll even be heard if I try singing that way, so it’s like I do what fits the band the best. We’re going more towards really energetic. I like being aggressive and people like that too. I love seeing pits and people jumping around and acting crazy. That makes me so happy. It’s more entertaining for me and for them than to do the melodic stuff. But there will always be a place for Tom Petty in my heart.