Boy Wonder

Wonder Wear (CherryDisc)
An interview with Paula Kelley, Paul Natale, Jake Zavracky, Bruce Caporal

by Sheril Stanford

What could be better than a great party, with tequila, beer, cassava, plantains and other Caribbean goodies, attended by guests with the perfect mix of intelligence, charm, humor, bite and bad taste? An interview with those crazy kids called Boy Wonder at the Green Street Grill, that’s what. Ah, if only there was space to tell the whole story… It all started when…

Paul: Is this gonna work with all the noise here?

What, you don’t care if this is accurate, do you? So, you guys have a brand new disc, Wonder Wear – What’ve you been up to since recording that?
Paula: Well, we just did a video. The director, Jeff Hudson, picked the location, but he left a lot of it up to us. Mostly he dealt with the visual aspects. It’s set on the steps of the Trinity Church. We got yelled at by a couple of priests.

Jake: Yeah, we’re takin’ on the church, baby!

Why DID you pick Trinity Church?
Paula: Well, it was mostly the aesthetics. We didn’t overstay our welcome, but we were able to finish the video. It was a really nice day and there were a lot of people around. There were all these 13-year-old girls asking Bruce for his autograph.

Bruce: Yep, they all seem to come to me.

So what’s on the menu?
Jake: What is plantain? Isn’t that cow innards?

Paul: I think it’s a cross between a potato and a banana…

Paula: And cassavas are potatoey-parsnippy.

Jake: I thought they were a melon.

That’s casaba. I think. So, give me the history of the band in four easy lessons.
Paula: Bruce and I met a couple of years ago through the bass player and guitarist who were in the band before Jake and Paul. They told me that they knew this awesome drummer, and it turned out to be Bruce. Bruce and I played about a year with the other guys.

Jake: My roommate Dave, who was in the Pills, met Paula, and I was in a band with Paul. Dave told me Paula was looking for a guitar player and I thought, “I’ll fill in.”

Paul: It was here, the Green Street Grill, that I first saw Paula playing, with Jake filling in, and I asked Paula if she was looking for a bass player and the rest, as they say…

What do you guys do in real life?
Paul: I work for a talent agency. Booking wedding bands…

Paula: I work at an advertising agency, doing accounting and research. I like it, but then I’ve only worked there a couple of weeks.

Bruce: I landscape.

Jake: And he gambles illegally. AND sells drugs.

Bruce: Jake doesn’t work.

Jake: I gamble, too.

Huh. I pegged you for a cab driver.
Jake: Wow!

Paul: That’s the most accurate description of Jake I’ve ever heard!

Paula: If it was safer, I’d love to do that!

How’d you like working at Fort Apache?
Paul: We LOVED it.

Paula: The Fort was great. I’d worked there before with my band Hot Rod. CherryDisc suggested we work there, and also, I was hoping to work with Tim O’Heir again.

Did he come up with ideas for you guys that blew you away?
Paula: Definitely.

Paul: Like layering sounds on top of sounds. We went in to the studio with that in mind, but he added stuff that really solidified the songs.

Paula: He kinda whipped us into shape. There were songs where our tempos vacillated so much and we had no idea. Also, I tend toward a lot of reverb on my vocals and instruments. For instance, on “Life Isn’t Fair,” we had it really washed out, really reverb-y. Tim wanted it really dry, almost ’80s sounding. And it’s so much better. When I hear my vocals dry, the way we did it on the disc, I realize it’s a lot more potent. I’ve learned to not go so much for the pretty girl voice. Also, I pay a lot more attention to my lyrics. Now I feel like I really want people to hear them.

So why no lyric sheets?
Paula: It never was a real issue. We just didn’t think of lyric sheets as a given…

So the writing…
Paula: I write, Jake writes, and Paul writes some, too.

On Wonder Wear, it seems like you each pretty much sing your own stuff.
Jake: I try to use Paula’s vocals a lot. Sometimes even when I sing, Paula will sing a verse. Food.

Paula: Mmmm. Fresh mozzarella…

Jake: Hey, it’s only a matter of time ’til your cow innards come.

When you write, how does it work?
Paula: I may be watching TV and playing the guitar at the same time and something will grab me. The music comes first. Often a lyric or phrase will come with it. Sometimes it’s inspired by an event, but often it’s nothing identifiable.

Jake: I always start with the music, too. Paula and I never talked about this before, but what she just said is exactly the way it happens for me. I always sit in front of the TV…

Paula: …with pay-per-view pornos on…

Jake: Actually…

Paula: Both of us pretty much have the whole song written when we bring it to the band. Sometimes I’ll say, for instance, `This is what I envision the drums to be like…’ but Bruce will have something that’s much better than my idea.

Bruce: But Jake’s a pain in the ass, basically, about us playing whatever he’s got in mind.

Are you a dictator, Jake?
Jake: A-hem, we’ll talk about this later.

Paul: Sometimes you have an idea in your mind and you just have to give it up. Someone else may have another idea, and it’s not like yours is worse, but still, you just have to give it up.

Paula: It’s part of being in a band, I think. Occasionally, we’ll each get stubborn, but mostly, you want to develop a band identity. A band needs some cohesion. I think what appeals to me about a band are the dynamics.

Paul: For me it’s a family kind of thing.

All: Awww…

Jake: When you’re working together, though, it’s always better to come in with a full song, a complete idea of what you want.

Paula: Jamming is fun, but if you want to get the job done, it doesn’t work unless you’re REALLY on the same wavelength.

Bruce: We are, though. I’ve been in bands with people I don’t even like. It can be done, but with this band, that’s not the case.

So, when’s the last time you guys got in a fight about the band?

(Laughter all around).

Paula: We fight all the time. Over stupid stuff usually.

Paul: The fights are real serious, but then a few minutes later, it’s over.

Jake: They’re usually very quickly resolved.

Paula: We were talking about this recently. I think our friendship is really deep, so the fights mean nothing. We’re just so comfortable with each other. You know, it’s a lot easier to yell at someone you know well, who’s familiar. Band issues can be really touchy.

Yeah, when you’re doing something creative like music, there’s so much bound in that relationship – insecurities, egos…

Paul: It’s tighter than a marriage.

All: Whoa!

Are you married? Does your wife know this?

Paul: Uh, wait a minute….

Jake: Paul declines to comment about anything involving past relationships…

So, the record release party…

Paula: October 10 at T.T. the Bear’s.

And the new Boy Wonder disc is out on September 23?

Jake: In fine stores everywhere. And it’s called Wonder Wear.

Tell me about the cover of the disc.

Paula: Bruce used to work in this place that had all this cool old advertising stuff, and we really liked it.

Jake: Hey, I’m making a retarded face in that picture.

Paul: I look very angry. I look like I don’t wanna be there.

Bruce: But Paula and I look great.

Anything in particular you want to say about the record?

Paul: Well, how happy we are with CherryDisc.

Paula: We love CherryDisc.

(Assent from all. I tried to get them to say something bad about the label but they wouldn’t do it).

Paul: They have a great web site, with information on lots of great bands.

(See for yourself – www.cherrydisc.com).

Paula: They don’t have that “we own you” kind of thing. They treat us like our relationship is long term. It’s great because I’ve been in situations before where when you call, have to go through four or five people before you actually get to your A&R guy. Even with an indie label, it’s hard to overcome that barrier.

Paul: John has always been a real business savvy kind of person, but he knows how to keep that separate and when to just be a regular guy.

So, what else about Wonder Wear?

Paula: What did you think of it?

I love it. I especially love your vocals. The combination of very bitter lyrics delivered in such a dulcet voice is very effective. I didn’t see any cover credits for keyboards, but I think I heard them…

Paula: There were a lot of keyboards, actually, but they were used very subtly.

Was that plinky sound in “Life Isn’t Fair” keyboards?

Paula: Actually no, that was guitar.

Figures…

Paula: But “Liar Baby” and “Make Me” have keyboards.

Who plays?

Jake: I did the ones on “Liar Baby” and Paula did the others.

Is there a defining moment you can recall when you said, `That’s what I want to do, I wanna be in a band’?

Jake: Yeah, when I saw the “Jump” video with Van Ha
len. Hey, I was 11 years old at the time – there’s no accounting for taste.

Paul: When I bought the KISS Alive II album.

Paula: Ever since I was little I had records around me. It was the ’70s and my older siblings had Blondie, the Bee Gees. And my father was a huge jazz-head. I remember having my friends over to choreograph songs. I’d be the lead singer, of course, and my friends would be dancing behind me to Bee Gees songs. I’d record the Top 40, listen to Casey Kasem every Saturday. If I had to go away or something, I’d delegate the responsibility to one of my friends to write down the list. I was definitely always into pop music.

Bruce: For me, it was listening to my sister’s Aerosmith records.

Jake: Unfortunately, he’s from Boston, so…

Bruce: Hey, I could lie, I could say I was into Casey Kasem but… I was not. Ever.

Paul: For me, it was KISS. I was 7 years old, and I saw them. And I was 27 years old when I saw them again, it was the exact same show. Did you see them?

I didn’t. I never understood the KISS thing…