If you like sweet pop music served up with a side of snark, you’ll love Adrian and the Sickness, the Austin-based, all-female power pop trio fronted by guitarist/songwriter/ vocalist Adrian Connor.
AATS, as she calls the band, got together in 2004 and has put out 3 studio albums and a live CD/DVD set on Adrian’s own Fantom Records. Both Adrian and drummer Melodie Zapata play in Seattle’s legendary all-woman AC/DC tribute band, Hell’s Belles, with bass player Heather Webb rounding out ATTS. The band’s latest album, the newly-released B.F.D. was produced by Go-Go’s bassist and fellow Austin resident Kathy Valentine.
![Hell\](http://blog.ourstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hells-belles-300x199.jpg "hell\")
Hell's Belles
It takes a formidable guitarist to undertake the role of a female Angus Young and Adrian has taken the gig (inherited from Hell’s Belles founder Amy Stolzenbach in 2002) to a new level, stalking the stage like Angus and sending her trademark dreadlocks airborne every chance she gets. She wails on iconic classics like, “Highway to Hell,” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” But it is in Adrian’s own project, Adrian and the Sickness, where her own songwriting and playing strengths take center stage.
I asked the busy and outspoken Adrian Connor to compare and contrast her bands, her two musical homes and how she got my very favorite Go-Go to produce her album.
CD: You are in two bands that are both really busy. How do you juggle your time?
AC: I think what is most challenging these days is having to split the weekends up during a month. Adrian and the Sickness and Hell’s Belles are both bands that people want to see on the weekends. I’ve noticed more and more these days that it’s harder to get people into the clubs for a rock show on a weekday. When AATS tours, we have to use the big cities for the weekday shows and the small towns for the weekend shows. We generally have great shows in the most offbeat places. A band in AATS’ position, fighting for attention and popularity, we struggle to bring an audience. It’s almost like, people expect us to be a shitty band and that our shows must be shitty because we play clubs. We are a great band, though, and it’s been really frustrating trying to prove ourselves and build an audience. Thank God for Hell’s Belles. It provides me with the ability to play my guitar for a living. It also allows listening to music, being creative and spiritual; a full time job.
Adrian (left) and the Sickness
CD: Last I heard Hell’s Belles was Seattle-based but you and Melodie are in Austin! How does that work?
AC: We play frequently enough between weekends and private parties that practice is something we can do at sound-check. As far as travel, Melodie and I will fly up to the northwest for shows. Or if Hells Belles are playing other areas we’ll all fly in and meet.
CD: How and why did you end up moving to Austin?
AC: I love Seattle —it’s a beautiful place —but as far as opportunities for me, they were non-existent. I couldn’t even find musicians that wanted to play the kind of music I was writing. I had to play coffee shops acoustically which would be fine if I was playing folk music. But this is rock ‘n’ roll. You’ve gotta have drums.
CD: How did you end up working with Kathy Valentine?
AC: Patrice Pike and Kathy Valentine met at the Austin airport during Patrice’s stint on [the television show] Rock Star Supernova. They had a conversation about great all-girl bands in Austin and Patrice told her about us. Kathy looked us up online and liked what she heard. She’s really into guitar like I am. I think she understood what I was trying to do and took the reins and helped me make my music better.
CD: How is the Austin scene different from Seattle’s?
AC: I only see one small side of the Seattle music scene being in Hell’s Belles but I get to see some pretty kick-ass openers every once in a while. Austin has a lot more bands and more people in general going out to local shows. Don’t get me wrong, a band has to work very, very hard to build an audience here. But it’s not stylistically limited. There’s blues, country and the local experimental rock thing is huge here. There is a small hard rock scene, but it’s really struggling. Hard rock isn’t very popular these days. There is also some jazz but the Seattle jazz thing is way more kickin’. As long as you are good at what you do, you have a chance to exist as a business and possibly grow in Austin. Also, there are discounted medical, dental and mental heath services here for musicians. You can get therapy almost for free. I use it all the time as “trying to make it” can drive you crazy.
CD: I’ve read that empowering women is important to you. Is that easier now than it was back in ’02?
AC: It’s the same. I see that element way more with Hell’s Belles because what we do is so masculine and I think our approach is a little masculine. I’ve always loved women performers more than males and I like empowered females. AATS is very involved with the Girls Rock Camp in Austin. Heather Webb [AATS bass player] does band coaching and teaching and Melodie and I also teach. Girls Rock Camp Austin is our contribution to empowering women.
CD: Do you ever turn into Angus onstage with The Sickness?
AC: Yes, anytime I’m not singing and we are playing something that is fast and aggressive.
CD: Other female guitar players you admire — and why aren’t there more?
AC: Orianthi is the latest greatest technical player out right now. She’s way better than I will ever be, technically speaking. I love Allison from the Donnas. Other than that, there isn’t any other girl guitar player I can think of that I admire. I really think that there aren’t more popular female guitar players because rock ‘n’ roll is not popular. The general public seems to be more interested in music that is based on electronic drums and synths. There’s not a lot of room for guitar heroes in modern popular music. Orianthi is so technically proficient, she should be on the cover of guitar magazines but she’s not. That says a lot about who buys guitar magazines and what they want to see.
CD: What were you doing prior to Hell’s Belles?
AC: Playing in horrible bands and learning how to play guitar. I recorded my first solo album. It took two years to do it because I only made $800 a month working at UPS. Plus it took the recording process to help me finish writing the songs.
CD: How did you get into Hell’s Belles?
AC: I had met [former lead singer] Om Johari a while back. When Sylvia, the rhythm guitar player quit, they asked me to try out.
CD: What inspires your songs?
AC: Mostly other artists’ songs inspire my music. Sometimes even their words. I’m really starting to concentrate on words. I really like abstract thinking with words. but sometimes straight up is great too. I know I’ve done mostly the latter in my writing. I love listening to new music and anything that is good, stuff that makes me also want to sing.
CD: Anything you want to do that you haven’t done yet?
AC: Yes, be more popular and less obscure. I really had fun co-writing with Kathy Valentine. It’s fun to work with someone you can trust when you’re making an album. I would love the opportunity to work with her again. And I hope time will lead me to other people that I can continue the collabortaion/writing/making awesome music process with. I would also like AATS to land an opening spot on a big tour. AATS has mostly struggled so anything besides struggling or quitting is what I want to do.
