I
showed up to Amoeba Records on Tuesday May 23rd, and caught The
Ditty Bops as they were
on stage
doing their sound checks. An upright bass,
keyboard, violin and accordion were amongst the instruments
being checked, aside from those in Amanda and Abby's hands.
It didn't take them too long to get the sound they wanted
and relax for a bit before putting on their "teaser" show
for the growing crowd of music lovers before they take off
on their cross country bicycle tour.
A few
seconds later Abby
and Amanda approach me and
ask if I'm from CarFreeLA. "Yes," I reply,
asking if they were ready for our brief interview. Lucky
for me they were. To tell you the truth, it was a bit intimidating.
Not the fact that I was talking to two of the world's newest
eco-heroes, but the fact that they were constantly surrounded
by video cameras and photographers filming their every
move; and now, due to my proximity to them, mine as well.
In case,
you've been on Mars or something, let me explain why I
was there to interview them. The
Ditty Bops have
recently put Neil Young to shame and are doing something
not many other people can say they have done... Today,
Thursday May 25, Abby and Amanda will be mounting their metal
stallions and departing on a cross country tour to promote
their newest album, Moon Over the Freeway.
For
those of you that missed them at their Record Release Party
last night at the Derby on Morning
Becomes Eclectic on KCRW, don't worry, I've got
pics and vids below. Anyway, we
were about to start our interview when Amanda pointed out
the signatures on her boots. Check out the videos below,
you
can't see it but those sexy
boots she's got on were meant for walking and have been autographed
by Nancy Sinatra.
After
admiring her boots, we then went on with the intervew.
I started with the usual question, considering that they
don't look
so
crazy, I wondered how they come up with the
idea of touring cross country on their bicycles? Abby takes
this one and says "it's not crazy, it's ridiculous" and
points out that they aren't the first to try to pull this
off, "we're just following in their footsteps," she
says. I follow up with my next and obvious question, are
you nervous, excited, anxious? Do you feel you're ready?
Like any professional tag team duo Amanda sports this next
question telling me that they're excited, almost ready to
go, and just preparing
the last of their stuff... Including some sewing she was
proud to add.
My following
questions were mainly about how to keep up with what they
are doing. In case you would like to follow along, aside
from their web site fans can follow Abby and Amanda on
their tour via their weblog and photo blog, which they
confirmed for me that they will be updating along
the way. Links are on their
site where you can
also catch their tour dates, purchase their new CD, as
well as
their sexy biker calendar.
Did
I mention they also have their own TV show? Check it out.
These girls are just as wired as they are creative so
you can
catch
the shows on prettythingsss.com. "With
3 S's Amanda points out." Put two S's and you might
find yourself on a porn site which Amanda confirms they are
in no way affiliated with.
I wrap
up the interview just in time as they are swarmed in the
last few minutes before they hit the stage asked to
sign autographs and talk to a few fans. But don't worry,
if you hurry, you can see them today before they take off
on their tour. Just hop on your bike and head out to Venice
at the corner of Rose and the Venice Boardwalk at 10am.
The girls have invited you to join them on their tour,
so
go for it, even if you can only make it for the first leg
of their trip up to Malibu. They'll be waiting for you,
but not for long. They've got a tour to do.
VIDEOS
