DEVO’S ‘Something For Everybody’ – A Chat with Mark Mothersbaugh

July 15th, 2010


by bill biss
Devo hasn’t lost a bit of their zip on the new CD called Something for Everybody. It’s very clean Devo and as the band is known for, the songs combine a double dose of clarity and cleverness.
 
The group is headlining the San Diego Pride Festival this year. So, for those across Southern California who have “devolutionized” with Devo since their very first album in 1978, come on down to the festival on Sunday night, July 18 at 7:15 p.m. to be thoroughly entertained with their live performance.
 
Mark Mothersbaugh took a few minutes out of his schedule to talk with The Rage Monthly about the new work and share a few memories along the way.
 
The Rage Monthly: Let’s talk about the new song, “No Place Like Home.” A piano intro in a Devo song? (both of us start laughing) I love the tribal feel in it too and the lyrics “You can’t have a rainbow without the rain.” Who wrote this one and did Judy Garland have just something to do with it?
Mark Mothersbaugh: I tell ya, TCM is my favorite TV channel. She’s embedded in my brain, that’s for sure. I see her movies all the time. I’ll tell you the history of the song. I actually wrote the music to be the main theme for a movie I was scoring at the time called Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
 
It was the first piece of music I played for the two young directors. It was their first film. They reacted to it really positively. Then I wrote something else for the picture and that first piece didn’t get used. I loved the theme so much and thought it was a great song.
 
So, I took an instrumental copy of it and gave it to Jerry [Casale, Devo bandmate]. He came back the next day with a whole set of lyrics. So, we have to ask him about Judy Garland (laughter).

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Ariel and The Hired Guns – Rocking the San Diego Pride Festival

July 12th, 2010

An Interview with Out Ariel Aparicio

 

by bill biss
Ariel Aparicio is a husband, father, restaurant owner and rocker. This dynamo of Rock and Roll energy mixed with his fiery Cuban spirit will take the Latin stage of this year’s San Diego Pride festival stage.
 
His latest hit on LOGO is called “Lucille” and is a fun spin through the nightlife scene and a few transvestites along the way. Right in the middle of Pride season, Ariel spent a few minutes on the phone from New York with The Rage Monthly.
 
He’s got a great sense of humor, obvious musicianship and he is furthering exposure to other out gay artists also. For performance time on Pride Weekend, July 17-18, please go to sandiegopride.org or arielaparicio.com.

The Rage Monthly: For someone who had never heard your band before, how would you describe the musical vibe of Ariel and The Hired Guns?
Ariel Aparicio: I call it Rock n’ Roll. Wow. What a surprise huh? My influences run from classic rock, “New Wave” and punk…it’s all in there. I’d rather just generalize it and call it “rock.”
 
Hopefully those who listen, maybe they’ll come up with their own term of endearment (laughter). It’s constantly trying different things. It probably will never be just one particular sound.

Rage: I really like your latest one called “Lucille.”
AA: Thanks, now “Lucille” sounds totally different than anything else we’ve ever done.
 
Rage: That recently hit NewNowNext on LOGO. How has the response been so far?
AA: It’s been fantastic. I’m really excited. I’m kind of like a twitter geek and I’m constantly on there and it’s got amazing response. Right after it debuted, it also hit the MTVmusic.com website. It was phenomenal. Just under twenty-four hours, it went to number 21 on the charts. It’s just been great.

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Wanda Sykes – Standing Up for Comedy and LGBT Rights!

July 5th, 2010
 
by bill biss
“Make them laugh…make them laugh. Don’t you know everyone wants to laugh.”
 
Those lyrics could easily be Wanda Sykes’ mantra. The comedian, actress and author has taken her perspective on life, LGBT rights, and the current issues at hand and turned it into comedy gold.
 
The out activist and mother of two twins is coming to the Starlight Theatre at Pala Casino on Friday, August 27.
 
The Rage Monthly thought it would give you the heads up early, as her show is sure to be a sell-out.
 
Here, Wanda Sykes shares a bit of her own brand of humor, her take on LGBT rights and charity work and just why she became a comedian in the first place.
 
The Rage Monthly: You have a comedic gift for bringing light to a situation. Your original take on gay marriage, for instance, really makes sense in a comedic way. How would you describe your style of comedy writing and what subjects draw you in to talk about on your current tour?
Wanda Sykes: Oh boy. I guess my style is grounded in reality. I always like to start some place where it’s either something that’s going on socially or personally, current events or whatever and start there.
 
It’s even better if there is a bit of hypocrisy going on (laughter). I really love that, especially with politicians or the people in power to bring down. Yeah.

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Alec Mapa Stands Up for Equality

July 5th, 2010
 
by tim parks
While actor and comedian Alec Mapa has brought laughter to the masses with his widely known characters on Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, it is his real-life role as an advocate for a wealth of LGBT causes, which he takes very seriously.
 
Mapa is scheduled to bring his unique brand of guffaw-ridden material to the Birch North Park Theatre on Friday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. and will be kicking off Pride weekend along with fellow comedian Dana Goldberg for “Stand Up For Equality,” which is literally and proudly presented by the Human Rights Campaign.
 
The very busy 45-year-old, who corresponded with The Rage Monthly via e-mail, dished about the end of Ugly Betty, a possible return to Wisteria Lane and his label of being “America’s Gaysian Sweetheart.”
 
The road to his reign supreme of the previously mentioned title began, circa 1987, with his first credited acting role as Peng in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Supermom’s Daughter.
 
If he was able to write a new Afterschool Special, which tackled a multitude of teen angst from 1972 to 1997, he would script a high school melodrama that could speak to the youth of this country with “But I’m a Quarterback!”
 
“Here’s the premise: an absolute jock who bullies every single misfit in school gets knocked out at football practice,” he explained. “He wakes up in a gay teen’s body, the very one he harasses everyday and experiences what its like firsthand to be harassed and bullied 24/7.
 
The gay  teen ends up in the jock’s body for a day too, and REALLY enjoys the locker room for the first time. The jock, of course, wakes up wiser, more compassionate and, in my script, totally gay and in love with the big sissy.”

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Julianne Moore Talks About Her New Film – The Kids Are All Right

July 5th, 2010
 
by bill biss
The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenka with a screenplay by Cholodenka and Stuart Blumberg, takes a realistic, poignant and humorous look at a modern family in Southern California.
 
Annette Bening and Julianne Moore portray two lesbian parents Nic and Jules, respectively. Their children [Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson] discover their biological father played by Mark Ruffalo.
 
What ensues in the process tests the strength of the moms’ relationship after 20 years of life together as partners and raising a family. The film is brilliantly acted with a vibrant screenplay and is a fresh alternative to the current summer’s blockbuster crop of films.
 
The Rage Monthly had the opportunity to sit down with Julianne Moore in Beverly Hills recently to discover more about this unique film experience and her thoughts on creating a very human and true-to-life role in The Kids Are All Right, opening on July 9.
 
Julianne Moore met Director Lisa Cholodenka several years back at a women-in-film luncheon. Moore told Cholodenka how much she loved her movies such as Laurel Canyon and High Art.
 
Moore asked her at the time, “Why hadn’t I seen the script to High Art? Seriously! I never saw that script.” Laughing, Cholodenka and Moore stayed in touch and the director sent Moore the script for “Kids.”
 
The actress signed on for the film about five years ago. In the interim, Cholodenka had a baby through artificial insemination from a sperm donor and gathered the financing for this film.

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Debbie Reynolds – A Great Lady Gives an Interview

July 5th, 2010
 
by bill biss
In the Hollywood heyday of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, MGM Studios was the crown jewel of Culver City.
 
The publicity department created the slogan “More Stars Than There Are in the Heavens.” One of those brilliant stars who is still very much earthbound and twinkling is Debbie Reynolds.
 
The Academy Award-nominated actress and Emmy-winning TV star of Will and Grace, Reynolds is bringing her own special talents to Welk Resort in Escondido from July 28 through August 1 with two evening performances on Wednesday, July 28 and Friday, July 30 at 8:00 p.m. and three 2:00 p.m. matinee performances on Thursday, July 29, Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1.
 
There has always been an optimism and strength in Debbie Reynolds. She has an overwhelming career in Hollywood and has had an overwhelming personal life at times.
 
Debbie Reynolds describes her philosophy in getting through life, “Day by day…and I wonder what’s coming at me the next day. I always go by a five-year plan. I get through today and I’m not going to get upset for five years.
 
I always picture a long tunnel and at the end of the tunnel, there’s a light. I know I can make it to that light and I’ll take five years to get there. Now…I’ve gone through many tunnels (laughter). So, I just keep trying. I never give up. That’s the philosophy of my family and that’s how my daddy and mother raised me to never give up.”

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Ronnie Kroell – Model, Human Rights Activist and Political Science Student

July 5th, 2010
 
by bill biss
Ronnie Kroell came upon the public’s attention as a contestant on Bravo’s Make Me a Super Model.
 
His down-to-earth appeal, intellect and humor caused a sensation on the first season. The openly gay man was really one of the first at the time to spark the term, “bromance.”
 
He had quite a crush and camaraderie with a straight and married contestant on the television show. Since then, Kroell has branched out into the world of runway modeling but has always been an interested party in the development of acceptance for LGBT people while also spreading the gospel on human rights for all.
 
Just last month, he appeared in his birthday suit for Playgirl magazine. It was his idea to cross boundaries with the spread with the hopes of creating dialogue about male nudity and sexuality in the process.
 
As he gets wet for our July editorial, The Rage Monthly wanted to dive in to learn more about his thoughts on posing in Playgirl, his passion for modeling and Political Science, plus the one thing he’s working on now to change within himself. Ronnie Kroell is a force of nature…both physically and mentally. Read on.
 
Ronnie has described his Playgirl spread as “an art project.” Here he elaborates on this description and his decision to pose nude in the magazine. “Playgirl contacted me about six months ago. In the beginning, I was a little hesitant.
 
I wasn’t sure if it was something I wanted to do. I also saw that it could be a really great opportunity to really be an artist and share some things that have been close to my heart for quite some time.
 
How I feel about American’s view of sexuality and how we have kind of demonized and made filthy the human body. As a model, I realized that the body could also be viewed as art and beautiful. At the end of the day, when we drop our labels both figuratively and literally, we’re all the same.”

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Andy Bell – There’s No Stopping Him Now

June 7th, 2010

by tim parks
There is a very good reason that Andy Bell has titled his newest solo effort Non-Stop, as the 46-year-old Erasure frontman is showing no signs of slowing down.
 
His latest offering is just as the title refers to, a non-stop ode to dance music, which is sure to get your body moving and your blood pumping upon its release on June 8.
 
During our conversation, Bell’s blood got to boiling (and rightfully so) as he lambasted everything from being seen (or rather heard, as the case may be) by radio stations as merely an artist from the 1980s,and the media frenzy surrounding much-speculated about music stars who come out to fanfare.
 
While he has been open about his sexuality from the get-go in his 25 years as a musician.
 
Ricky Martin may want to watch his back, so to speak, if he were ever to meet Bell in a dark alley, as it wouldn’t be a close encounter of that kind. Musically speaking, the falsetto-voiced phenomenon is already taken, as Bell has been betrothed to his partner-in-rhyme, Vince Clarke, since he answered a want ad for a singer in 1985.
 
“I think when you’re working with someone else, it’s as if you are in a kind of marriage, and it’s a collaboration,” he said. “You have a certain kind of respectfulness for them. I think when you’ve been with somebody for some time; you tend to bring more baggage along with you.”
 
Bell, who had previously packed light for his 2005 solo CD, Electric Blue, relayed that the creative process for joint ventures and personal ones alike aren’t too terribly different. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t write with Vince, really, that I wouldn’t write on my own,” Bell stated.
 

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Larry Birkhead – Life After Anna Nicole

June 7th, 2010
 
by bill biss
It’s been over three years since celebrity model, television reality star and blonde bombshell Anna Nicole Smith tragically died of a drug overdose at 39 years old.
 
Some would say she died of a broken heart after the passing of her only son Daniel.
 
The tumultuous press that followed and the work of those in the medical field determined that friend and lover Larry Birkhead was the father of her second child Dannielynn—born shortly before Anna’s death.
 
Losing a loved one for anybody is one of the most difficult things to experience. Larry Birkhead knows this first hand but is now ready to let a bit of his physical attachment to Anna go. 
 
On June 26, Birkhead, along with Julien’s Auctions, is allowing Anna’s countless fans across the globe a chance to own a keepsake or possession of her’s at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
 
Speaking with Larry Birkhead during his press junket in New York, The Rage Monthly found him strong in remembering the important things—and also reveling in the joy of being a father to Dannielynn.
 
The Rage Monthly: I read your quote, “I realize you don’t have to have something in your hands for it to be a memory.” This is a self-realization on your part that saving money for Dannielynn’s future is really what counts—while at the same time helping underprivileged children through Anna and Daniel’s foundation. I think that’s really super.
Larry Birkhead: Thank you. A lot of people don’t get it right. They think it’s just a fire sale of Anna Nicole memories. It’s not really that. That’s not what it is. It’s basically a long, thought-out process and a year in the planning.
 

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Vicki Lawrence is Laughter’s Lady

June 7th, 2010
 
by bill biss
“Miss Vicki” is how Lawrence describes her stage persona while her alter ego Thelma Harper affectionately known as “Mama” takes center stage during her current touring show Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show.
 
The comedian is no stranger to the spotlight as Lawrence endeared herself to the public on television as one of the stellar performers on the long-running The Carol Burnett Show.
 
Her countless antics opposite Carol and the cast truly created a cornucopia of laughter and memories in the annals of television history.
 
Lawrence then went on to add more merriment for her star turn in the television comedy Mama’s Family. Her natural humor, down-to-earth philosophy and true talent continue to shine bright.
 
The Rage Monthly had the great pleasure to talk with Vicki Lawrence and share a few laughs and memories.
 
The Rage Monthly: You’ve said that your show Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show is not a retrospective for you. Will you elaborate on that?
Vicki Lawrence: When we put the show together, Harvey [Korman] and Tim [Conway] were on the road. They were doing really well with their show and their show was sketches…we used old sketches from the Burnett Show basically.
 
So, when I decided to put a show together, I decided I don’t want to go backward. I knew I had to bring Mama out of the closet because everybody loves her so much. But I really wanted to bring her into the new century and make her modern.
 

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