Interviews

May 1st 1999
Snap-Her's embryonic beginings were in Stuttgart Germany but they quickly found themselves in the employment of Nena Hagan backing her for the first four months of 1995.
Aside from the two full lenght CD's on New Red Archives, Snap-Her have released a number of 7" Singles "Name Brand Society" (Triple X Records), "We're Snap Her and you're fucked" (Real George Records), Criminal Mind (Roto Records, Spain), Pick your poison (Damaged Goods, England), Rustbucket (Finyl vinyl, Germany), Nice Girls don't play rock & Roll (Household name, London, England). We caught up with Andi and Elaine before their 1999 Europiean tour.

NRA: You are about to set off for Europe, how many tours have you done over there, and which country gives the strongest response for you.

Andi: The June 1999 Snapher tour will be the fourth for Snap Her. The best responses that I have noticed the most have been, Italy, Hungary, Poland & the U.K.

NRA: With so many line up changes, you are pretty much an old timer now with Snap-Her, why do you think its so hard to get a third member to fit in with you and Andi?

Elaine: (Laughs)

Andi: Playing in Snap Her is fun work, most people who have joined this band have had the misconception that I would just be one big, everlasting party. That becomes a problem with me, because I have busted my ass to get Sanp Her where it is the the punk rock map, so if someone is gonna join the band, they are gonna have to pull thier own weight. For example, if you decide not to help pay for t shirts, badges, or stickers, don't come up to me later on and ask "where's my cut?" Also, some have been shocked that no matter how hunover they are on tour, they still have to move equipment, everyone does. Too many people want all the glory without the hard work. Elaine, however, is unlike the others who were only a brick on my coat tails.

NRA: Andi, tell us about this TV thing on the East coast next week.

Andi: Ah yes, My friend Erin Gravina invited me to appear with her and her maternal unit on a tv talk show called "Forgive or forget". The topic was about how supposedly one cannot suceed in life looking as punk as we look. So I went on the air to prove them wrong.The air time will be listed on the Snap Her holtline as soon as I find out! The number is 323-960-7604.

NRA: Since this interview we learned that the show will air May 10th on channel 13

NRA: Elaine, is there any residual problems from your car crash?

Elaine: Yep. I don't know how much everyone knows about my accident, but I'll give you a quick run down. 1) 1 Broken lower left rib 2) 1 crushed pelvis (4 separate, but equally painful breaks) 3) 1 broken sacar (small lower vertebrae) 4) 1 broken Iliac (smallest lower vertebrae) - the last two items = 1 BROKEN ASS! 5) 1 lacerated spleen 7) Severe head trauma 8) multiple ugly cuts and bruises - especially on my hands (They went through the windsheild).
As far as lasting effects: I was really lucky. Everything is expected to heal. In fact I was something like 95% healed by the end of the second month after the wreck. All the doctors were amazed. I was scheduled for at least a year of therapy, but I didn't need any of it. I was ready to go back to work (I'm on a Y2K team - saving L.A. from destruction! We're VERY busy right now) in the middle of the first month, but the
doctors wouldn't write me a note. The only thing that's supposed to stay with me is the vertigo. I spin. It's just like when a person is too drunk..... only I don't need to spend the money on the alcohol. Some days are dizzy days and some days are very dizzy days. Sometimes I spin quickly and sometimes slowly. Sometimes it changes speed unpredictably. I usually end up with extrem nasea and spend the day on the brink of puking. It comes and goes, but I have been prescribed medication that is supposed to help on the bad days. Also, my ligaments and tendons are expected to take another 6 months or more to reattatch completely. If I move wrong, it can be very painful. I just have to take it easy for a while, I guess. Oh yeah, my posterior is usually in some degree of pain. It doesn't really ever stop. That's eventually supposed to go away though.

NRA: Wow that's extensive! It didn't stop you drumming with Exene Cervenkova of X last week at The Joint though. What was that like for you?

Elaine: I'm still in shock. She's very down to earth - Just another person trying to get from A to B. She's soooo friendly. She even helped me carry my equipment to and from the show (despite puddles and rain). She was and still is one of my all time biggest heros (heroine ?). It's kind of funny; Yeeeaars ago, Sam (the guy that played guitar that night) and I used to get together and spend hours playing (attempting to play) songs that we all really loved. Inevitably, we would end up doing like 98% X songs. I would sing John Doe's parts and Sam would sing Exene's lines. We weren't trying to be funny, I just couldn't sing Exene's notes. John's harmony's were easier for me. It was really rediculous. I haven't told that story to Exene yet. She'll probably get a kick out of it. We're supposed to get together next week and record some songs. More details on that as I get them. It's one thing when you play with people and you don't especially care if they like you or not. It's a little freightening and a lot stressful to play with someone who you really want to approve of you. I got the call on a Thursday and was informed that the show would be on Sunday (two days away). I'm finally getting my color back (I held my breath for days and turned a deathly shade of blue as a result). I'm just glad it worked out okay. I might have suffered permanent psychological damage, if it had sucked. It was also a big moment for me when I looked up from behind the drums and realized that the two people directly in front of me were John Doe and Exene Cervenka...and that I was up there with them and we were all up there together looking down at a VERY packed room and the people were yelling and screaming for US. It was really great!


NRA: You seem to be in a lot of fetish magazines, but rather than attracting the “dirty old men”, most of the response, at least from the mail we get is from teenage girls. Do you think you are becoming a roll model of sorts as a strong independent woman?

Andi: I hope so, I keep myself rather busy writing short stoies for fetish magazines such as "Whip & Chains", "Encore", and "Extreme Fetish" I also provide photos to go along with them.I also sometimes do videos specializing in the B &D, S & M arts, as well as operating my own dungeon space. I sometimes even do performance art. This line of work is not as lucrative as is once was, however it seems to make me happy. I am now in search of female submissives, for fun and for videos, any interested parties should contact me at 310-287-BOOT (over 18 please)

NRA:  It’s been a while since the second album “Queen Bitch Of Rock 'N' Roll”, which is still doing well, what are the recording plans for the next CD?

Andi: This year we are working on new songs for our y2k full length. The label as of now is still unknown we are searching for the right one.

NRA: So what’s the story with Elaine on stage with the buissness and a mop at morcombe in the UK? We printed the photo in our catalog.

Andi: Elaine & I were on stage during the Business set at Morcambe Dome(holidays in the Sun) when someone handed me a mop since there was so much beer and sweat splashing around the stage. I quickly handed it to Elaine, and she did the job! I had to document this historical punk rock event.

Elaine: Yes, well we were a couple of weeks into the tour and "tour decay" was beginning to settle in. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's the condition aquired when you've been cramed into a confined space with too many smelly people for too long and you're hungry and dirty and uncomfortable and premenstrual and you still have another 100 miles to go and then you have to play and do it again. It gets to where the persons involved will either blow up in a rage, have a mental or emotional breakdown or get silly. I got silly. The Morcombe Dome was filled to capacity. The Business came on and we couldn't even see them from the floor. We decided to try to catch the set from back stage. Unfortunately, back stage was packed too. We were kind of bummed out because there was no place with a clear view. In despair, I mentioned to Andi that the only place with a clear view would be ON STAGE. Andi's eyes lit up and off we went. At first we were well hidden behind the enormous amps on the stage, but as others caught on to our idea, it became more and more crowded and soon we were plainly visible to the audience. At one point, a guy in a suit was pointing at a big beer spill on the stage and walks over to Andi and hands her the mop (I guess he thought that she was with the maintenance crew or something). After we stopped gigling about it, I suggested that Andi go out there and do "her job" (start mopping). She wouldn't, but I would. I grabbed the mop from her and went out there. Andi just happened to have a camera with her (she wanted pictures of the Business) and she got a few of me while I was out there.

NRA: The photo's are hilarious. These beefy Brit guys up front and you behind moping.

Elaine: I started playing it up and joking around when I realized just how many people were getting pictures of it. It was like a photo shoot or something. I did my best Check Berry and a few other "mop substituted for guitar" poses. Then Mick gave me a menacing look and that was that.

NRA:  I guess that’s it anything to add?

Andi: Yes, I would like to thank all of our wonderful fans all over the globe for thier support, especially the ones  in Europe/U.K. who are the most appreciative of our hardwork. Keep the fanmail coming in with an S.a.s.e. or I.R.C. please. my email address is punkrockdiva@earthlink.net also, the Snap Her hotline exists for you, the fans call it anytime 323-960-7604 Ciao!

Elaine: Nope. Ta.