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Pleasant Gehman
and all that glitters...
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She was punk before punk was cool. She hung out with Darby Crash and the Runaways and Exene and The Dead Kennedys. She went from 'zine publisher to booking punk clubs to fronting her own band to acting to novelist...and that's only half of her accomplishments as an L.A. scenester.
Meet Pleasant Gehman.
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"I used to cut high school in '75-'76 to hang out at The Runaways' rehearsals," Pleasant says of her radical beginnings. "To this day Jane Weidlin from the Go Gos says I was the first person to introduce her to punk. I was roommates with Belinda Carlisle at my house Disgraceland (see related story on my Celebrity Skin page). I also had one of the very first L.A. punk fanzines, from 1977-1981, called 'Lobotomy: The Brainless Magazine'. We later changed it to a saying I saw on Frederick's of Hollywood shopping bags-'Lobotomy: Where Glamour Is A Way of Life'- as a total joke 'cause we were all so poor and broke living in one room and eating Top Ramen. 'Lobotomy' interviewed everyone, including The Damned, Blondie, Billy Idol, The Jam, Siouxie, The Cramps - most of whom became friends. And local bands like the Go Gos, Germs, Bags, X - most of who were already friends. We also had pin-ups, 'The Lobotomate of The Month', including people like Joan Jett, Debbie Harry. Boys as well as girls."
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Pleasant founded the cow-punk band Screamin' Sirens in 1983. This band featured Rosie Flores on guitar, and some times lead vocals, who would go on to have her own solo career on the alternative country-western scene. Screamin' Sirens - a name derived from "the sirens that sang to sailors and drove them to their deaths in Greek mythology", and also as a tribute to the one and only Screamin' Jay Hawkins - existed in one form or another until 1990. The wild women released two albums, Fiesta (1984) and Voodoo (1986). If you should ever rent the freaky movie 'Reform School Girls' you'll hear my favorite Sirens' song, "Love Slave", on the soundtrack. It was around this time that Pleasant co-wrote a movie (with Max Tash) called 'The Runnin' Kind', which The Sirens also starred in as the bar band.
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As a side project, Pleasant put together a group of very talented friends - Iris Berry, Texacali Jones of Tex and the Horseheads, Johnette Napolitano, Debbie Pantino of Razebrae, Annette Zilinskas of The Bangles, and Debbie Dexter - to form The Ringling Sisters, which was a sort of spoken word and music group.
"We started out by publishing our own Xerox poetry books, then turned into a band. We released a full-length CD, Sixty Watt Reality in 1987...we never toured but played Southern and Northern California a lot."
At some point during this time Pleasant started taking her writing more seriously. I knew the name 'Pleasant Gehman' becuz of the music she made, but then I started seeing her a name in BAM Magazine as a contributor. And I still have one of those Xerox poetry books around some place. This aspect of Pleasant's career particularly interests me. She went from a snotty punk rock writer to a novelist with a handful of books under her bondage belt.
"At age 17 I started my fanzine and that was the same year I became a professional writer. I wrote for the early punk newspapers SLASH out of L.A. and New York Rocker. I also started writing the gossip column "La Dee Da" for L.A. Weekly, as well as doing features for them. Unfortunately, I used to cut typing class to get high so although I could write pretty well I couldn't type, like, at all! It'd take me 9 hours to type up an interview that could've been done in about forty minutes! It was crazy. I swear, I used to hand in my assignments on school notebook paper, handwritten in pen. I don't know how anyone put up with me!
"The book stuff started at South By Southwest in 1994. Gary Hustwit, a publisher of music books, wanted to start doing literary stuff and he came to a reading I was doing with Ringling Sisters and wound up publishing books by me and Iris Berry."
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Pleasant currently has 4 books in circulation right now. There are two books of poems and short stories, Senorita Sin (1994) and Princess of Hollywood (1997) - both with Incommunicado Press. A sort of cool guide-book called The Underground Guide to Los Angeles (1999) and a book of short stories called Escape From Houdini Mountain (2000) - both with Manic D. Press. Other books that Pleasant has contributed to: Death's Garden and Hell On Wheels to name only two.
While she still writes for L.A. Weekly, Pleasant's interviews and musings can also be found from time to time in Spin Magazine, Genre, L.A. Magazine, Musicblitz.com, and iVolt. Even though she has just published her fourth book, Pleasant is already working on a new book project called The Party Girl's Guide To Beauty and Romance ("A kind of fake 1950's etiquette book"). PLUS, she is putting together a collection of her music spanning over two decades, and also a book of her memoirs...which I personally will pay twice for! Can't wait for that stuff. I asked how she can stay so motivated in a town like Los Angeles. A town that seems to be a big detractor.
"Everything inspires me! The barrage of cultures, movie history, diversity, faded glamour and, usually, the weather. Let's put it this way, there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do! I wish I had more time and more money just to realize projects. I'm used to doing things on a shoestring budget - my punk roots! But it would be so nice to have the funds to do crazy stuff. I don't even care if I get rich. I just wish money was not an issue."
In the early 1990s I'd read an interview in Spin that Pleasant did with Nirvana. I asked her about it and other big rock star interviews she's done.
"Pat Smear was my first boyfriend after I moved to California in 1975 - we were both still in high school. When I interviewed Nirvana, after he joined, he said during the interview, and in front of the whole band, 'Did you know you were the first person I had sex with?' That, of course, totally broke the ice! I have so many favorite stories I've done. It's hard to pick one. One of the craziest interviews I did was with Faith No More for Spin. We were supposed to do it here in L.A. but then the riots hit, and the band had to leave for a tour. Spin was like, 'Would you like to join them in London?' I said of course! So I hung out with them for four days. They were playing Wembley with Guns and Roses - that was nuts! Mike Patton (singer of Faith No More) and I got all drunk and went to Piccadilly Circus strip clubs. We went mini-race car driving with Guns and Roses. It was crazy...I'm not a 'normal' writer. It's weird. Regular journalists, they pretty much only write. But I'm a performer and I do creative stuff as well, so I'm kind of in a category by myself. Last summer I was go-go dancing on tour with the Go Gos. Dan Matthews from PETA saw me and the other girls dancing and hired us to dance at a PETA benefit with the B-52s. I dragged Pamela Anderson up onto my platform during "Love Shack" and me and her and Natalie Raitano (who stars with Pam Anderson on the t.v. show VIP) and Rosanna Arquette were all dancing together. Then, VIP wound up using the footage in an episode. So, I got to be on VIP. It's funny, crazy the way things work out."
Earlier, Pleasant touched upon another favorite subject of mine, filmmaking. Being that she is a writer; a well-known figure in her local music scene; and, also living right smack in the middle of the movie making business - I want to know if she sees herself getting more involved in the music industry.
"I love film work. I love doing movies, videos, television. Movies I've been in: Thrashin', Back to the Beach, Vendetta - all in the Eighties...I wrote a video script for - of all people - Bon Jovi. It was based on an article I did about homeless kids living on the streets in Hollywood. The song was called 'Lie To Me'. At the end of the video was a public service announcement with an 800 number for any kids on the streets in trouble, they could call for shelter or counseling. It was an awesome project. I also wrote a play, which went into production out here called Common Threads. I co-wrote and co-directed it with my friend Brandi Centeno. I acted in it, did recorded voice-overs for some of the scenes, and danced in it. One thing I don't think you know about me is that I have been a professional belly dancer for the past eight years. The play was all about women and oriental dance - the correct term for belly dancing. It was about how it's been going on for over three millennia, and how it changes women's self-image; how it heals the body - the spiritual aspects of it.
"I did a film tentatively titled Shadow Hours...Lydia Lunch wrote these hallucination-dream-torture scenes. It was through her that I got the part of a rich, spoiled woman with a Nazi mistress/lover. In the Fall of 2000 I'm going to be in a movie called Firecracker, written and directed by Steve Balderson. It takes place in Kansas in 1947 at a carnival. I play 'Estelle', a four-breasted burlesque dancer. It's a true story. The movie stars Karen Black as the main character 'Sandra'. I play her best friend. Other people starring in it? Sally Kirkland, Harry Dean Stanton...It's gonna be great.
"I've done a couple of television things. Played 'Mata Hari' in a show for The Learning Channel called Top Ten Spies...I've done many, many music videos including Ricky Martin's 'Shake Your Bon Bon', which I belly danced in."
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I regret to mention that I forgot to ask Pleasant what exactly a 'bon bon' is. But as you can see this is a woman of many talents and if she says she has a 'bon bon' to shake, dang it, I ain't gonna question her further. And she was right, I didn't know she was a professional belly dancer. This intrigues me enough to pursue the subject.
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"The correct term for belly dancing is 'oriental dance. In Arabic they call it 'raks sharqi', which means 'dance of the orient' or 'dance of the East'. Nobody knows exactly where the dance came from but it's been in practice for over three thousand years...The Western misconception about belly dance is that it's done to titillate men - NOT TRUE! This dance has always been performed by and for women. It's sensuous but not overtly sexual...I started doing it just for fun and within a matter of months it took over my entire life. I danced for The Saudi Arabian Royal family. I danced for Hillary Clinton at an election-eve gala. The list of stars I've danced for at the restaurant where I work - Moun Of Tunis - is crazy! Here goes: Sharon Stone, Marilyn Manson, Johnny Depp and Kate Moss (when they were together), Laura Dern, Geena Davis, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, etc etc. The most gratifying/horrifying dance experience I ever had was dancing for the Rolling Stones - which I've done twice! Imagine knowing you had to perform for MICK JAGGER! He smiled the whole time. He looked just like he does in pictures. He tipped me hundred dollars. I kept the bill for months. I felt like a teenager on The Partridge Family or something. Finally, I just spent it! You can't always KEEP what you want!"
Amongst all her other 'hobbies', at the time of this interview Pleasant had a showing of her artwork. Yes, she paints too. It seems no weird coincidence that Pleasant Gehman is friends with someone like Johnette Napolitano as both women have a helluva lot in common as far as having access to so many outlets for their creativity and their talents. Most people are lucky if they can keep ONE portion of themselves happy at any given moment. Like Johnette, Pleasant's creative muses are never far away. Her enthusiasm is pretty contagious. Hell, she's giving me all the incentive I need to finally pull off The Loudth Faire Tour I've been babbling about forever. And, yes, I'm gonna beg Pleasant to be a part of the tour. But I'm wondering if other aspects of movie making have ever caught her attention long enough to consider a potential career change? Would she want to throw away a life of being in the spotlight for a life of behind the scenes in Hollywood?
"I would definitely consider doing behind the scenes movie stuff. I love to do make-up. Actually, I'm teaching a stage make-up workshop in Las Vegas (which happened in August). I do make-up for a lot of people in photos. I've done make-up for Johnette Napolitano for photos and videos. One time I painted her all up and styled her to be The Virgin of Guadalupe for a photo session. Another time I painted sets for a Concrete Blonde video. I also painted a stand-up bass for Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick for a video -it was painted like a sky with cherubs and clouds and falling roses. There's also a leather jacket in The Hard Rock Café at Universal Studios that I painted for Johnette that has a Guadalupe on it too. Originally, before I even started writing I thought I was going to be a visual artist. Some other art of mine is in my first book, Senorita Sin; on the cover of the Rock For Choice CD that came out a few years ago; inside my spoken word CD, Ruined (1993); the cover of the second Screamin' Sirens CD, Voodoo; and, inside The Ringling Sisters' CD."
With all the stuff on this woman's plate it made me wonder what was going on with her music these days. Has she been so side-tracked by life in Hollywoodland that she has left both punk and rock far behind? When the hell was the last time Pleasant was in the recording studio?
"The last recording I did was about a year and a half ago with Johnette producing. It was spoken word and music. We collaborated, turning some of my stuff into songs. She did the music behind some of the pieces. One song that I wrote with Kristian Hoffman - who plays with El Vez and Ann Magnuson - is in the movie Pep Squad. It was just released in Europe, directed by Steve Balderson, who is the writer/director of Firecracker - the movie I'm the four-breasted burlesque dancer in. I went to the Cannes Film Festival with Steve and Johnette and wound up belly dancing there for a Turkish television channel!"
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Here now is the infamous handful of relevant and irrelevant and perverted questions:
What bands or artists excite you at the moment?
"The best new thing I've heard lately - and it's not available yet - is Lydia Lunch's new musical/spoken word stuff produced by Nels Cline with Carla Bozulich (of Ethyl Meatplow and Geraldine Fibbers) doing back-up vocals. It's great jazzy, noiry kinda like a female Tom Waits. Also, I saw Britney Spears' Hawaiian Special on t.v. last night, and I thought it was so much fun. But I'm a sick puppy!"
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What was the last arena rock concert Pleasant Gehman attended as a full-on fan?
"KISS' first reunion tour with the make-up back on, and I absolutely loved it. It was awesome! The whole place was full of crazy KISS fans with their kids in make-up. If UFO's had landed they would've had no idea what was going on!"
Molly Hatchet or Bon Jovi?
"I'd say Black Oak Arkansas."
Why does Courtney Love get bad-mouthed so much by the media and some music fans?
"I think Courtney Love gets bad-mouthed a lot because she's an easy target, and outspoken. Actually, as you can tell from her interviews she's very intelligent. But I wish someone would tell her that the coral lipstick and housewife hair really has to go. She could be glam in better ways!"
As a journalist - you have 5 minutes with each of the following people...what is the one question you ask each?
YOKO ONO: "Why do you allow the image of you and John Lennon to be exploited on billboards for Apple?"
ARETHA FRANKLIN: "Do you think things would've been different if your career was just starting now, and how?"
CHER: "Can I please have some of your 1970s stage wardrobe?!"
EVEL KNEIVEL: "Can I ride bitch?"
As a vocalist - Name a classic pop or rock song that you would want to duet with...
GEORGE JONES: "The old country song 'After The Fire Is Gone' or 'Jackson'."
SPORTY SPICE: "Actually, I'd have picked Ginger Spice. Sporty bogues me out"
STEVIE NICKS: "I'd wanna do 'Magic Man' by Heart."
ICE T: "Me and Ice T. and Stevie Nicks could do 'Two Ladies' from the soundtrack of the musical Cabaret."
As an actor would you rather have a make-out scene with Billy Bob Thornton or Angelina Jolie?
"It'd be Angelina. Definitely."
What's a good 'first date' activity?
"Fucking."
Best film ever made?
"Either The Wizard of Oz or Cabaret. I've seen both, like, forty times."
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Best pop song ever written?
"Off the top of my head I'd have to say 'Good Vibrations' by the Beach Boys. But I also very much lean toward 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker' by The Ramones."
New Kids on the Block or Backstreet Boys?
"Can I just say that neither of them hold a candle to Duran Duran?!"
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Let's plug your website!
"You can find my site at www.dikenga.com and go to the box that says 'Plez'. Steve Balderson made this site for me. My site is basically just gonna have photos of me and my paintings and info on my various projects. And samples of my writing, reviews of my books, upcoming dates, excerpts of current writing. Basically, it's for promotion. There's also links to where you can buy my books and CDs. There will eventually be music samples on it, or interviews. It's great Steve has done this for me. I'm eternally grateful."
You must love your life. Hell, I love your life!
"I really love writing. Some times it comes so easily to me and I can't believe I'm getting paid for it! Not that I didn't 'pay my dues' for years working as a waitress, bartender, and at temp jobs. I did. And I finally reached a point about eleven years ago when I said, I'm either going to live off what I enjoy doing or become a bag lady! I don't have a shopping cart yet!"
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