The Color Guard answered my interview questions partly in e-mail and partly blabbering in the car on the way to a Long Island show! So this is all from April 2004. (Photo by Nina Kyle-left to right: Caryn, Lalena, Josh, Jeanne.)

• Introduce yrselves!...LALENA: I'm Lalena Fissure, singer and guitarist for the Color Guard. I came from Texas for art school in NYC. But I was already hooked on making music, so that's what I do most passionately now. Art just pays my rent!/JEANNE: I'm Jeanne, Bass Guard. I'm here to change the face of music and rock out! World domination! I'm a typical Brooklynite -- I like to knit and drink wine, and I work too much. And I'd probably lose my mind if I didn't have a place to bike./CARYN: Halloo! Caryn Havlik is who I am. I do drums, infrequent backing vocals, baking, and clowning around (shared by Josh). I'm a closet jock who can't sit still for very long. I like long bike rides for maximum saddle-soreness, late-night coffee, moonlit swims, and have a secret admiration for frosted blonde big hair./JOSH: I'm Josh Zisman, guitar and backup vocals. I'm a slave to the music, where it goes I must follow.
• Why did you choose the name 'the Color Guard'? Any of you involved in this in high school (hehe)?...LALENA: My high school didn't even have a football team! I went to Houston's version of the 'Fame' school, but I was in Art. Our original lead guitarist Valerie came up with the name, but I liked the idea. The color guard carries the flag of an army or team. They have the honor of guarding the 'colors', or essential principles of the group. And I think our 'colors' emerge from our four personalities combining to create our unique style and sound. So that's the flag we carry./CARYN: I wasn't around back in the day when the name game was played, but I love the 'dark pop' tagline to quickly describe our sound. I had neither color guard nor band experience in high school, sadly. I was too busy getting busted for cavorting in cornfields with younger men./LALENA: In high school? They must have been pretty young!/CARYN: Well, one or two years younger. Anyway, I did try out to be a cheerleader once, to replace some friends who got suspended for drinking. I did it to prove how dumb and easy it was. And then I was like, 'Wait, this is HARD!' And the short skirts were tiny!
• JEANNE: I like 'dark pop'. That fits./LALENA: What do you think of 'melodic art-rock'?/JEANNE: 'Art-rock' makes me think of Talking Heads. I don’t think I own any./JOSH: I’m all about killing labels anyway./LALENA: I think of 'art-rock' as being like prog, but without the negative connotations. I think our sound turns out to be an ornate, melodic rock. We tend to write songs with lots of different parts. Josh's guitar gives us a psychedelic, almost wild streak (in an amusing contrast to his innocent-boy persona...which is begging to be corrupted, ladies). But it's habitually reined in by my obsession with melodic and harmonic order -- it makes an exciting tension, like struggling to keep a snorting beast in a pen. Jeanne lays this over a matrix of rococo bass lines, and the dichotomy becomes truly beautiful. We pull it off course sometimes by switching up time signatures, and Caryn relishes that kind of thing. Plus her forceful drumming keeps us from getting beat up on the playground for all this artiness. Then we pile vocal harmonies on top of it all, which is very challenging to pull off live but sounds so fantastic when we get it right. We know when we're being totally melodramatic, cheesy, or pretentious, and it makes for a really good time.
• What do you consider yr influences?...LALENA: Lately it's been the Gathering, The Mars Volta, Queens of the Stone Age, Opeth, Bach's fugues. In my life in general, including my parents' stuff: Kraftwerk, Jerry Jeff Walker, the Melvins, Kittie, the Butthole Surfers, the Breeders, the Underworld, Green Velvet, the Misfits, Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Yes, the Cocteau Twins.../JEANNE: I like the Cocteau Twins a lot too. I probably have ten or twelve of their 12-inches./LALENA:...Willie Nelson, the Cure, Fleetwood Mac, Duran Duran, the Police, Mexican trios, flamenco, Jethro Tull (and I'll even admit it!), Rush, late Beatles, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kate Bush, Black Sabbath, Bjork, Public Enemy, Big Black, Bauhaus, Stevie Ray Vaughan, PJ Harvey, Nina Hagen...is that enough?/JOSH: She forgot Jimi Hendrix./LALENA: Josh and I share a taste for psychedelia./CARYN: Late Beatles, At The Drive In, early Butchies, Aimee Mann, Fugazi, the Pixies, obscure 3rd wave ska, Gutbucket, the Funky Meters.../JEANNE: From New Orleans? They're CRAZY!/CARYN: Yeah! And music from the Catholic church, and Sarge (and Chad Romanski's drumming), and 50 Foot Wave./JEANNE: For me, the Pretenders, the Minutemen, Blondie, and I love the Shins. Bands that really make me go out and make music? Duran Duran, the Smiths, Siouxsie. And I own a lot of embarrassing stuff too/CARYN: I have the Falco record!/JEANNE: And, like, Kajagoogoo! The Pretenders was a show that was a life-changing experience. The drummer had water on the drums somehow, and it splashed every time he hit!/JOSH: Was it sweat-water?/JEANNE: And The Smiths opened for them!
• Have any of you ever played in any other bands? If so, which ones?...LALENA: I first sang and played bass in a goofy punk trio in Houston called Catbox. We had a Hello-Kitty-type logo we called Yo Pussy! It was me and two older guy artist friends of mine. From them I learned about guitars, the basics of writing a pop song, the drive for catchy melodies and the need to kind of sneak a joke in when I can. When I got to New York for art school, I met Holly and she and I formed the Hissyfits in 1996. We went through a number of drummers as it was getting off the ground, then Portia joined, and finally Greil Marcus discovered us and wrote about us in Interview magazine. That was really cool, but I left the band anyway because I wasn't enjoying it anymore-we weren't getting along. But while it lasted, we inspired each other a lot, learning how to harmonize in cool ways vocally, and challenging each other to write better and better songs. Holly really instilled in me the value of putting on a good show, having good stage presence./CARYN: I was on hiatus from a mathy noise-pop chick band called Broadband. We're active again, though, and that's going well. Before that I played in a cowpunk band-Johnny Zhivago and the Near Death Experience. Others: the Strap-Ons (sloppy indie gurl rock) and Splendour (kind of Cure-ish, with keyboards)./JOSH : I was in a few bands throughout life, but this is the most active one by far...I was in a free improv duo called Hailbop, the other bands never had stable names.
• What elements do you think each of you bring to the Color Guard?...CARYN: I'd like to think that I bring a shot of punk-ass to the band, a willingness to deal with odd time signatures, campaigns for stop-start rhythms, and a love of harmonies./JOSH: I try to bring influences from every which way and cram them in until they work.
• I know right now you are playing with quite a few new members...can you tell the story of how this came to be?... CARYN: Lalena is a poacher of drummers. I sent out a band-spam to the effect that Broadband had disbanded and a few nights later, she and the Color Guard had their way with me. Ooh!/LALENA: People come and go; that's just part of the band experience. I'm proud of the fact that we're still really good friends with everyone who's been in this band. Playing music has led me to become friends with some great people I'd have never met otherwise./JEANNE: We have platonic boyfriends in Sweden!/JOSH: And a girlfriend!/LALENA: They're an excellent pop band called Garbo. Jeanne and I have been the backbone of this band since the start. We met Josh through a friend, and he's been in the band longer than any other lead guitarist now. Even though Caryn just recently joined, we've actually known her for a few years because she auditioned two drummers ago (a 'drummer' is a unit of time for us). She broke her finger before we got to play with her again, and we needed a drummer urgently, so we went with Jake. But alas, clearly it was destiny that Caryn be member of the Guard!
• You have some new material you are working on/recording...can you give us a little scoop about what it's like?...JEANNE: It just gets better and better./JOSH: It's INSANE!/JEANNE: Our style is a lot more cohesive.../JOSH: Like tape?/JEANNE: No, that's AD-hesive./JOSH: No, but tape can be cohesive too!/CARYN: The new material is spacey, sticky, over-the-top, and heavy./LALENA: Our new album will have variety, like the first one. Or more. We get bored easily, so we like to try different angles. It's more fun that way. The overall feel of the new album will be a bit moodier. There are several rockers, and then two are wild cards: the one in which Jeanne plays flute, and the one from the perspective of Mary Magdalene's (hypothetical) spurned female lover.
• Which of yr songs do you like the most or least, and why?...JEANNE: I like the stuff where there's a lot going on vocally. To see if we can make four-part harmonies work in a rock way. I'm most partial to the Mary Magdalene song...a whopper of a ballad. All it needs is doo-wop girls, or maybe a James Brown-type guy in hot pants to grunt along./JOSH: Is that a hint?/CARYN: I can loan you some short shorts I have./JOSH: What size is your waist? Mine's 35 or so. But I'd like some dragon pants, like Jimmy Page./CARYN: I think that I like 'The Moral' the least because I keep changing what I'm doing drum-wise and become more frustrated with each new version. We're big into sound experimentation, including many different textures and a variety of instruments. Just don't compare us to Jethro Tull, please./LALENA: PLEASE compare us to Jethro Tull!/JOSH: Okay, that's too many Jethro Tull references./JEANNE: We obviously have Tull-tension. I just love it when I pick up the flute and can see people in the audience going, 'NO! DON'T DO IT'!/LALENA: As far as my song preferences, I always like new ones the most, because they're new! I think we're all that way.
• Do you enjoy experimenting with sounds or prefer to sticking to a 'tried and true' one?...JEANNE: I don't know any musicians that don't like to experiment./JOSH: Well, there's cover bands...
• You come from nyc, quite a big melting pot. How would you say women in music are treated in the area you play in?...JEANNE: I think NYC is better than most places; when we play with bands from out of town, we're an oddity. Like that band at Plaid-wait, they were local, weren't they?/LALENA: When I took in the first load of gear, I swear I heard them say, 'We’re playing with GIRLS'? I thought they were joking-I mean, the singer for the Lunachicks booked the night!/JEANNE: One of them said Caryn looked beautiful with the fan on her hair!/CARYN: Well, I thought that was funny./LALENA: They did laugh at us a bit, though./JOSH: Well, they were cock-rock. And they denied sounding just like Soundgarden!/CARYN: We're always eye-candy first and musicians later. I'm not sure how I feel about that...other than I suppose it's still an advantage, albeit a slight one. Here in NYC, we're somewhat outnumbered as a gender and still have to work 45 times as hard as guys to be taken seriously...at least drummer I feel that way. Response varies-at least 'wow, you're good for a girl' is not heard too often./LALENA: In our day-to-day experience, the NYC scene seems very equitable. But I do notice that all the bands that sort of rise out of anonymity here (and everywhere) are always either all-guy or mostly-guy bands. There are tons of great bands here that happen to be all-female or mostly-female. Can I plug them? Triple Creme, Cookies Downtown, Boyskout, P.I.E., Eyelash, Broadband, Zia, Mahavatar...I don’t know, maybe I’m deluding myself and there aren't as many as I think. But I know for sure that female rock bands are even more of an exception in the industry. Women pop artists are safe only if they're solo artists or non-instrumentalist singers backed up by men. I don't really get it-women rockers are SEXY! And everyone knows sex sells!
• What sort of attitudes have you experienced about yr music?...CARYN: Our music has all these rich layers, and sometimes I worry that, with the recent throwback to 'garage rock', if people don't 'get' us. But on the flipside, hopefully we'll avoid being flavor-of-the-month./LALENA: We get really good responses from a lot of people, but I also think other people don't know exactly what to make of our stuff. Like, they don't know where it fits in. Hell, WE don't know where we fit in! It probably makes it harder for us, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Who wants to fit in? That's boring.
• Out of all the shows you've played, what was yr absolute favorite?...JEANNE: One of the best moments had to be at the Polish disco, when the owner shut everyhing off and yelled, 'I never do rock show again! This place have 500 people on weekends'! Some of the best times were at the New Wave Cafe in New Bedford. Wait, I take it back-Southpaw is the best./CARYN: What's New Bedford?/JEANNE: All these kids come out, and stay all night long! We played once with this band Holy Cow. The singer was insane! In the vein of Klaus Nomi and Iggy Pop. He shaved his chest and looked like a lizard!/LALENA: It's in Massachusetts, and we usually play with the Hidden, which is an honor anyway. There are some great photos on the site./JOSH: So many shows, there's always something to take away from any show. But I must say our shows with Garbo last October were pretty awesome./CARYN: Plaid was super-charged, very exciting, and we were well-taken care of. The low point had to be the out-of-town show that followed 3 days later, when mid-song a piece of my equipment broke. Baaaad./LALENA: You can't ask for better luck, though, than finding a replacement piece behind the stage! We like playing at events that feel like special occasions. We played a fundraiser at the Chinese Cultural Center, and like 75 people were dancing! I was so excited I had trouble singing. We book with friends' bands as much as possible, like the Domestics, Caramelize, and Man in Gray, because then it's a party. We recently played at Plaid, like we were talking about, the party hosted by Theo. A few weeks ago Courtney Love was arrested there! Abby Ehmann's parties are always great fun-she used to do Click+Drag, and then Kitsch Inn. And we love playing at NJ grange hall shows booked by Sara Scalper! (Hehe, aw, shucks!)
• Lyric-wise, what do you write about a lot?...LALENA: My subject matter is kinda all over the map. We have songs about science, animals, changing seasons, and confusing breakups. I only have trouble with love songs! I feel intimidated-so many great love songs have already been written! We do have one love song on the new album, though, and I don't think it's the lyrics that make it great-it's the way it sounds, all the cool parts and harmonies. It really sounds like stormy weather to me.
• Do you have certain political or social issues you focus on?...LALENA: I don't really like to mix politics overtly into music. I think making art is a political statement in itself./CARYN: If I'm ever lyrical, it tends to be about relationships, and not political material. I've got no agenda other than good music that makes people bounce up and down, sing along, or shake the booty.
• What are you trying to accomplish with yr music?...JEANNE: I want to make music where time stands still for a while.
• What have you learned about yrself through being in this band?...CARYN: I'm still on the learning curve for The Color Guard, but I think that clear communications between mates are always key. That's a good life lesson too./JEANNE: I've learned that there's always more good music./JOSH: Yeah, definitely.
• Do you think being a part of a group like this is a life-changing experience?...LALENA: Being in this band has definitely made me a better person. It's a big responsibility that we have to one another in a band. We really have to respect each other's time and feelings. We have to be really up-front with one another and set expectations, and compromise constantly./JOSH: What she said.
• Any lessons that performing has taught you?...CARYN: Um-always wear cute underwear./JOSH: Don't touch the mics on a shotty stage, especially with your mouth, or there's a high probability of receiving 120 volts on your tongue./LALENA: Performing has made me feel great because over several years, I have overcome a major phobia of mine-stage fright!!!
• Is there anything else you'd like to add about yr band, yr experiences, and yr lives?...ALL: Thank you, Sara! KILL YR TV!!!