The first personal contact with him was about a year ago I got a message on my answering machine from him asking me if I had a nut cracker. Apparently he was working on an album with Rufus Wainwright and needed a nutcracker for some song. Anyway, it was convenient that he called because I was looking for a drummer for a live show I had the next weekend, so I called him back and we ended up playing together, which resulted in immediate ecstasy on my part, as the moment he started playing the drums I began dancing wild and my lipstick fell out of my pocket and I stomped it into the ground - bloody red kisses and broken plastic smashed onto his wooden studio floor!

"Needless to say we got along so great we quickly became good friends and were making plans for future in no time. The first plan actually was to go to Mexico, which we did this past summer. We spent most the time there in Mexico City recording vocals in a laundry room on a rooftop in Colonia San Rafael, and we ended up playing six shows and drove all over the country, especially the North. It was so great.

"We're going back in January to finish mixing my album in Tijuana. The direction of this record is really different from what I've done in the past. I feel like I've found my sense of rhythm with it, as I spent the first five months alone with the 808 drum machine...I really just wanted to create something that I could have fun dancing to. It's also been great chance to collaborate with people - Toby's playing drums and percussion on most of the album, also there's some guest musicians such as Budgie (Creatures, Siouxsie and The Banshees) who is also playing drums and marimba.

"But Toby is a real professional and has a natural stage-man-ship about him. His style is influenced by jazz and Latin but he's also very timeless which is so charming. This past summer we played some shows and did a recording with The Extra Action Marching Band from San Francisco. I really love them and would like to do more stuff together."

Jessie Evans & Toby Dammit play the Liquid Lounge as part of Ping Pong on Saturday, December 15. Support comes from Gay Against You.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment