The Joans :: punk rock meets Mommie Dearest
The Joans are a band that take the idea of music far beyond the lyrics, chords and rhythms of an enjoyable tune. Rather, this Chicago-based band has a mission, one carried out in full drag: To give Joan Crawford the punk rock spirit found deep inside her legacy as a Hollywood legend and gay diva supreme. Led by vocalist David Cerda, a.k.a. Davey Joans, the band is taking their underground following into the light with this week’s release of their debut album, We Are the Joans.
EDGE recently had a chance to talk with Davey, the Joan who started it all, on his adoration for Ms. Crawford and how it all came to be.
Loving Joan
EDGE: How are you doing? Tell me a bit about this journey of forming a Joan Crawford-in-drag tribute band.
David Cerda: We’re glad we’re finally able to release the CD! We don’t have a record label, so we’re basically doing it ourselves. We waited until we’d gathered all the money and aligned our schedules to make time to do this because we all work full-time and have other things going on in our lives, too. Luckily, we all wanted this to happen and hopefully it is going to be worthwhile.
The band formed in 2007, and it was an idea I had for a fundraiser for my theater company [Hell in a Handbag] because I love Joan Crawford. We tackled the role of Joan in a few stage productions, and I always wanted to try doing rock n’ roll music, though I was always afraid to. Honestly, the idea of incorporating the two seemed like a natural thing. It really inspired me to write the music, get on stage and do it. When I first told Taylor, our lead guitarist, about it, he was really into the idea as well and it was fairly easy to get people on board.
EDGE: Did everything think the idea was a "natural thing"? It’s a bit obscure!
DC: Everyone thought it was a fantastic idea! I don’t know if it’s my weird circle of friends, or what. People do think it’s unusual, but it just works. Joan is really a larger than life character. She was a trailblazer ahead of her time in terms of independent women, constantly reinventing herself with a long career in movies. Just when you thought she was washed up, she would return in a new genre, Just like a Madonna or Cher, she did what had to do to survive.
That serves up a lot of inspiration and the well doesn’t go dry for music ideas. Some of the songs are just about being tough and independent, in addition to the ones with specific references [like "Mad at the Dirt"]. A lot of people either loved [the idea] or weren’t sure, but when they saw it, they realized it works. It seems like a gimmick, but I think we have the music to back it up. There’s some substance to it. It’s something that you really have to commit to -- If you believe you’re Joan, then they will, too. We get inspiration from her life and spirit, her tough-as-nails persona. It’s all very punk rock.
’What the hell is this?’
EDGE: The band has performed all over the place in the past few years - do you have a favorite show? A strangest?
DC: We really loved playing the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, because the fringe scene out there is really big. We sort of fit into that crowd, all dressed up, fish-netted and wigged. I felt conservative sometimes compared to some of the people walking around naked! We had a really great time there. It’s not really strange, but sometimes we have a crowd that doesn’t really know what to make of us. Maybe they didn’t come to see just us, we come out and here’s a 6-and-a-half foot tall drag queen on stage dressed like Joan Crawford. They just look like, ’What the hell is this?’ It’s always fun to win them over, I love when we surprise and ambush people.
EDGE: You recently opened for Cyndi Lauper at Milwaukee Pride. Was that an example of an ambush?
DC: There were some people that got into it, and some who weren’t quite sure what to make of us. It was a huge crowd and when you open for someone like Cyndi, they’re there to see her and not to see us ... We won over some people in the end and it was a fun gig. It was great to open for her, though we didn’t get to meet her.
EDGE: Would you count Cyndi among your musical influences? Who else would be in that group?
DC: For me personally, people like Cyndi certainly because she has always had such an individual style and remains true to her vision. I like early new wave - from the late ’70s and early ’80s - with music like Blondie, The Ramones and The Velvet Underground. We’re sort of like a mixture of new wave and early pop. I’m also a big fan of ’60s music, particularly girl groups, with people like Nancy Sinatra and The Shangri-Las. Also Eartha Kitt, Rosemary Clooney, any big brassy divas. Taylor is also a big Beatles fan, I think all musicians love the Beatles. We draw from all kinds of sources.
EDGE: What would you tell potential audience members to prepare for with a Joans show? Or is it truly best experienced when ambushed?
DC: I think they should just prepare themselves to have a good time. We’re there to entertain. We are characters on stage, sort of like KISS with their makeup or the B-52s with their wigs. On stage as Davey Joans, I am that and my voice and body changes. There are things [he] can get away with that David Cerda can’t. They should prepare to have a hell of a good time. We’ll accept them as they are, they can wear Gap khakis or leather and rubber and we won’t care.
EDGE: You said there are things Davey Joans can get away with you can’t - do you ever fall into the role offstage? What about Joan has resonated so much with you?
DC: It’s second nature. Sometimes I want to snap into it and just turn into Joan when I’m at a grocery store and getting bad customer service. I’d break out with a "This is appalling" and slap someone ... I do think there’s a little bit of Joan in me and it’s one of those things you can’t pinpoint exactly why. I’ve just always felt an affinity to her and I definitely do have my Joan moments.
Discovering Joan
EDGE: It’s like being a double agent.
DC: Yes, it is! Officer, that was Davey Joans, he gets out of hand sometimes, but he’s a star. The world is different for stars.
EDGE: How did this affinity first develop?
DC: I remember watching her on TV for "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane." I used to watch it late at night when I was little and I’d always fall asleep, but I remember being fascinated by it. Who is this woman? On the Carol Burnett Show, she used to parody old movies including Joan Crawford movies and that made me interested as well.
EDGE: How did your family react to your growing fascination with Crawford?
DC: I kind of saved most of the Joans stuff for after I moved out of the house! But they’re very pleased and proud, they’d seen me perform in drag in other shows before. They know what this is and maybe they wouldn’t have planned this for me, but now they’re getting older and mellower. I think they realize I’ll be taking care of them when they’re older, so they better just sit up and enjoy the ride, otherwise it’s Shady Pines for them.
EDGE: It must be a big relief to finally have the record coming out.
DC: Yes, people have been asking for one for a long time. Outside of Chicago, because of Youtube and Myspace, we have all these pockets of fans around the country, so hopefully with the CD and video, we’ll get more fans and see how far this goes. We don’t have expectations of being huge rock stars. We are women of a certain age and can’t jump in the van and go all over the country, but we would like to spread the Joan love around.
EDGE: Given the nature of your music, you must attract an interesting fan base.
DC: We had this fan - Nigel the Gay Pug - who lives in Jersey. He’s one of our biggest fans and writes on our Myspace: "Dear Joans, Woof woof, I love you." He’s made us Joans pictures and all sorts of things. And all the drag queens us too - we have drag fans all over the place, so we’ll see. It’s funny when some of the people who tend to like us are housewives, people who look all clean and innocent!
EDGE: With the drag queens and gay dogs behind you, it seems like the sky’s the limit for the Joans.
DC: Right, with a fan base like that, we’re sure to hit at least #37 on the charts!
The Joans are playing their official record release show at Schubas Tavern, 3159 N. Southport, on Fri., Sept. 4, at 10 p.m. The Handcuffs and The Wanton Looks open. Tickets are available at www.schubas.com or by calling 773-525-2508. Log on to www.thejoansband.com for more information on the band.
