Livin' Large

Nearly everyone knows who L7 is. This female rock group is one of the toughest of all time, and ever since the band first hit the racks in 1988 with a self-titled debut on Epitaph Records, their raunchy, grinding hard rock sound has set a benchmark for other female groups. Of course, most have failed to reach that mark.

Within their school of rock, L7 has constantly grown, found new avenues in which to explore heavy rock music, and has forged a path that most all-girl bands are afraid to tread on. L7’s forthcoming album, Slap Happy, finds this seminal quartet farther down the same paths they originally pioneered over 10 years ago.

With Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner on guitar and vocals, Dee Plakas on drums and the latest addition to L7, bass player Janis Tanaka (co-founder Jennifer Finch left just before the band recorded Bricks Are Heavy, and Gail Greenwood departed just before the recording of the upcoming Slap Happy), L7 is set to hit the road again, doing both an opening slot for Ministry, and performing one-offs in smaller markets, like Chico, CA. Aside from touring in support of Slap Happy, this will be L7’s first road stint as an independent band in some time, the group having recently formed its own label, Wax Tadpole Records. (The name comes from the first song, "Bit the Wax Tadpole," on their first, self-titled Epitaph release.)

However, the formation of Wax Tadople is not the dying throes a band who couldn’t be picked up otherwise. Rather than deal with all the requisite major label crap (the band had been signed to Reprise in recent years), L7 decided to take off on their own, and a partnership with Los Angeles uber-indie, Bongload Records, was exactly what they needed. The idea behind the move is to maintain the highest level of independence possible, and seeing as how L7 has always made their own rules and made music by their own standards, it just seems natural.

This past summer, in preparation for the release of Slap Happy and the subsequent tour, and out of a desire to have a little fun, L7 rented two planes—one in LA and one in New Jersey—with custom banners, flying not only in the face of convention, but over the crowds of two of the biggest road shows of the summer. The first banner was sighted over the Lilith Fair in LA, reading, "Bored? Tired? Try L7." The second banner was flown over the Van’s Warped Tour in New Jersey, reading "Warped needs more Beaver… Love L7." Not only did these stunts get a few laughs from concert-goers, but the press was all over for a short time, and L7 made some great headlines. What else would you expect from L7—candy and flowers?

The Synthesis recently had the chance to talk with L7 guitarist and singer Suzi Gardner, who was at home in Los Angeles with her dog, in the midst of a morning full of interviews. She had slept in and the phone was ringing at a regular intervals throughout our conversation. Still, despite all the distraction, Suzi was thoughtful, insightful and as friendly as her band is full of fire.

It was a slang term from the be-bop jazz era that meant "a square." If you said so-and-so is really L7, it meant they were square. You put your hands together to form an L and a 7. Are you familiar with the song "Woolly Bully?" There’s a reference in that song that goes, "Let’s not be L7/ Come learn to dance."

I’m very proud of it, I think it rocks. We’re really proud of the record ‘cause it’s really DIY.

Yeah. We parted with Reprise in ’97. We went into writing mode and we started examining our options for record labels. We were looking at independents and major labels, but there’s been quite a shakeup in the music industry with a lot of merger crap going on, and we realized that if we kept on trying to find a home, if we kept on pursuing it in that respect, we most likely wouldn’t have an album out before 2000. When you go to a label, you have to wait for a release slot. We just though this was the time to do it ourselves. Otherwise, we’re not going to have product out. Also, we’ve always been really hands on, and so this just an extension of that, it just means we have to do a little bit more work. We are also fortunate to be partnered with Bongload Records, and those guys have some experience in the record company world, and they have a lot of knowledge. Between our label and their label it’s a really good thing, and it’s working out really well. We also like the idea that, with our own label, we can release with more frequency now.

Well, we go in spurts [chuckling], but we actually have some unused material right now. We are planning to do an EP with some different mixes of stuff, I think in February. That’s a really good thing though—to be able to release with frequency, because it sucks to have a record in the can and be on a label that has you wait for eight months to find a slot.

Right, we had started recording the songs we’d written. It’s not really old stuff, but we had started the recording process while we were trying to figure out what we were going to do, and then bells went off, and it was time to do it ourselves.

Donita and I are the writers. We either write together or on our own, and bring on songs that way. But it all ends up being a group effort with everybody helping. That’s pretty much how it goes.

Well, of course it affects you when it doesn’t work out with someone. There’s always that period of, like, "oh no." But we didn’t really skip a beat with either of them. Gail was a great addition to the band, but geographically, she is firmly rooted in Rhode Island, and the East Coast/West Coast thing just didn’t work out. When we first got together, it seemed like it would be a fine thing, but it’s just too much space between us. So we’ve found West Coast person, Janis, to tour with us.

Well, it’s pretty crazy. I enjoy touring, and there’re parts of it I don’t enjoy, but I won’t harp on that. I can’t complain. I love taking the stage every night, I really do. It’s a good thing.

Versus what it’s like on the record? Of course. It’s impossible, unless you’re doing a lot of sampling on stage, to completely get everything in there. There are nuances and things done in the recording studio that, like I said, without sampling, would be impossible to do. We get as close as we can. Both things are good in their own respect. We’re not so overboard with doodads on the record that it sounds really different. It’s just a different feel, though. It’s live, it’s in your face.

Aw, jeez, I can never think of them when I’m put on the spot. It’s like "who’s your main influence?" I don’t know. There’re a lot of good tour stories, but I’ll just say that sometimes, it’s more Spinal Tap than you could ever imagine. And sometimes, it’s just downright surreal.

Yeah, that’s a source of much enjoyment, though it’s kind of a thorn in our side. We don’t do the technical end, and sometimes we get really busy and we can’t update it as much as we’d like, but we do respond to letters. And that is a source of much amusement.

Yeah, we do to a point. I mean, you gotta keep the Hinkleys at bay, but I enjoy it when we work on the site and addressing specific letters. I have to laugh, but it kind of gives me hope for society, that some of these people are so wacked. I mean in a good way—they’re nuts, completely. Though, there are some letters we read and think, ‘Oh, they’re trying too hard.’ They’re not sincere in their insanity. But it gives me hope for the future if there are those kind of people out there.

The motivation was making kind of a statement—not bagging on those tours—that some more women need to get off their asses and start making some heavier music. There’s a shortage of women in the heavier side of rock and roll, and what we were basically saying was, what’s the alternative?

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