TEXAS TERRI BY DANIEL ROBERT EPSTEIN

Texas Terri is a bad ass bitch that keeps the hard rock coming. She’s well known in the industry having working with such punk luminaries as Lemmy, Marky Ramone, Cheetah Chrome and The Dictators.

Her latest is Your Lips... My Ass! and it kicks some righteous fucking butt.

Check out the website for Texas Terri

Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?

Texas Terri: I just got home from the tour so I’m trying to figure out what to do next. The last show I did was at The Continental in New York City and Cheetah Chrome showed up.

DRE: Why did you part with The Stiff Ones?

TT: I just changed the name of the band to Texas Terri Bomb because it really wasn’t The Stiff Ones anymore. The only person that made it The Stiff Ones was my old writing partner, Don "Demon Boy" Cilurso. We had the band together for the first six years of this nine year old band. When he had to leave the band it was no longer The Stiff Ones and it just took me a while to change the name. I just changed the name the band last September.

DRE: Was it an amicable parting of the ways with Demon Boy?

TT: No it was heartbreak for both of us. But he was having some personal problems that was affecting the band.

DRE: I read you’ve been in the business for over 20 years. How long have you been called Texas Terri?

TT: A long time. There has been a lot of evolution. I went and did this new record called Your Lips... My Ass! It didn’t make it any sense to call it The Stiff Ones anymore because it’s a whole new thing.

DRE: Do you give out your real name?

TT: Sure it’s Texas Terri Laird.

DRE: You’ve got a lot of guests on the album like Wayne Kramer [of MC5]. Where did you meet people like that?

TT: There is always happenings out in LA and you just meet people. I think I met Cherie Currie at some club then we kept running into each other and the same with Wayne Kramer and the rest of the lot. It’s like New York; if you go out to clubs you are bound to meet pretty much anybody you want to meet.

DRE: What made you think they would be right for the tracks they are on?

TT: I don’t remember if I gave Wayne a couple of songs or if I just thought he would be good for “Never Shut Up.” Originally I was going to have Lemmy from Motorhead sing on that one but he was trapped in London because of all that crazy paperwork. I kept waiting for him but I couldn’t wait anymore. Then when Lemmy did get back I wanted him to do a song called “Dirty Action” but it never happened. So now whenever I see him he goes “I should have been on that record! Next time I’ll do a duet with you.” I think Lemmy and Slash were the only two people I didn’t get on the record that I wanted. Slash was just too busy.

DRE: A friend of mine knew I was talking to you and he said I had to ask you what your sexual preference is.

TT: Hah hah, well tell your friend that he is just going to have to find out for himself. No one can figure it out so I’ll just leave it a mystery.

DRE: Have you always done your unique show like ripping off your clothes?

TT: I used to put TXT across my breasts in black tape but I quit doing that because it got boring. Now I just wear a black bra and black pants onstage. No one seems to miss it. People used to compare me to Wendy O. [Williams] because I took my shirt off but since I stopped doing it people still compare me to her so I guess it had nothing to do with the bare breasts.

DRE: Did you know Wendy O?

TT: No but she killed herself on my birthday. Lemmy knew her and he told me that my quirky personality reminded him of Wendy O.

DRE: When did you start doing music?

TT: I grew up in Fort Worth Texas and when I was six years I would stand in front of the mirror and pretend to be a rock star. If my parents or brother walked in I would have been so embarrassed. So I always wanted to be a singer.

DRE: When did you form your first band?

TT: Probably in Austin but I can’t remember the year. It was a few years before I moved to LA. I had a band in LA with Rosie Flores’ brother Roger called The Killer Crows which was kind of glammy and fun. Then I took three years off because it took me that long to forget what a pain in the ass it was to be in a band. Then I started back with The Stiff Ones. I’m afraid to quit because it seems to always take three years to rejuvenate from things. I’m on a roll right now so even though I would to take an extended break I just can’t.

DRE: It sounds like a good kind of curse.

TT: Yeah but at the end of the year I will probably take a couple of months off. Not that I give a rat’s ass about the holidays but nothing is really happening at the end of the year.

DRE: When you tour where do you go?

TT: Right before I went on this US tour I was in the UK playing at this festival called Wasted. That really helped a lot because there are some bookers over there who are crazy about my music so I got some more dates out of that. I will be doing some dates with this band I love called Vice Squad then we’ll do a full on European tour.

DRE: Do you do other nutty stuff like sword swallowing or fire breathing?

TT: Naw I just bring you the rock.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

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