FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

1. THE PONY INTERVIEW WITH LOURDS
2. THURSDAY NIGHT COLLEGE NIGHTS AT THE STONE PONY
3. CALENDAR OF EVENTS

This Week at The Stone Pony: The Pony Unplugged (Wednesday), LOURDS (Friday), The Radio Rebellion Fall Tour 2006 (Saturday), The Crusade Contest Finals (Sunday), Lost Prophets (Monday)

Visit The Stone Pony on MySpace.com at: http://www.myspace.com/ponyrock

ON THEIR WAY TO THE BIG TIME, LOURDS MAKES A STOP ON OCEAN AVENUE

LOURDS - spelled with all caps, please - have been breaking on to the New York City music scene in the big way over the past several months.  Their debut eponymous CD received a rave review in Billboard magazine, and the band has earned mentions in all three major daily newspapers.  Led by charismatic and fiery namesake Lourds Lane, LOURDS brings the musicianship of classical music, the showmanship of rock and the pure sweat and energy of punk to a unique and compelling package that's sure to continue its ascent into national consciousness.  Lane, who started out as a violin prodigy, is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who's been called "one of the most exciting violinists in all of America" and earned rave reviews for both her singing and stage presence.  Sports fans have probably heard Lane's one-off song "VICTORY," which has been licensed for use on ESPN and by ABC Football, and has been called the next "We Will Rock You" for arena sporting events.  Before she fully takes her place as the next Freddy Mercury, Lane will bring her band to the legendary Pony stage on Friday evening, October 13, just a ride down the Garden State Parkway from her hometown. The Pony Newsletter interviewed her about all of the exciting things going on with her music, the band and plans to keep riding their current wave of success.

The Stone Pony: Last month, you had a final chance to play at CBGB when you and the band hosted and performed at the Medusa Festival. Do you have any thoughts on being in that infamous room one last time and your feelings as an artist that the space is no longer there?

Lourds Lane: As far as I'm concerned, CBGB is a NYC landmark. If you've been inside, you know that CBGB is a completely non-glamorous, dirty, sticky dive bar. But CBGB has one of the best sound systems in town and the walls pulse with history, heart, sweat, and legendary rock and roll. The Ramones were born out of CBGB! My first gig ever was at CBGB when I was a wide-eyed 15 year old and now, after recording our 2006 album with Ed Stasium, the producer of the majority of Ramones records, I feel like I've come full circle. It was an honor to rock the CBGB stage one last time the last month it's open in its Bowery location, hosting the Medusa Festival, an event that is my brainchild. At the same time, it was severely depressing for all of us. CBGB has not only been the home of Medusa for five years, but also a home for our band. We've had unforgettable shows at CBGB, some of the best shows of our lives. At the end of the night this past Medusa Fest, the lights went up in the club, the bartenders were wiping off the tables, the sound guy was coiling up the chords, the crowd was stumbling out the door, and my band just sat together at the edge of the CBGB stage, slumped over with our eyes closed, trying to soak in CBGB for the very last time. It was really heavy for us and I still can't believe I'll never be able to play there again.

The Stone Pony: Speaking of the Medusa Festival, you're the founder of that event which just completed its fifth installment. Can you talk a bit about how the concept got started, how this year's show went off and if there's anything you can tell us about plans for next year's event?

LL: When one thinks of Medusa, usually the image that comes to mind is the scary beast with snakes in her hair who turns men into stone. But, the reality is, way before Medusa morphed into that wicked serpent creature of Greek mythology, she was actually a goddess, worshipped for her power and wisdom by the Libyan Amazons. Blood from the right side of her vein actually nourished and healed, while blood from the left side killed. To me, Medusa, with her punk snake hairdo, was the original badass chick rocker.

I created Medusa Festival five years ago because there was such a skewed perception of women rock festivals post Lilith Fair. Not to take anything from Lilith because it was indeed an impressive undertaking, but many people walked away from the event feeling that chick rock catered to a more "sit down" crowd, that a female rock festival was predominantly a cerebral and acoustic snoozefest, that women "rockers" didn't have the balls to truly rock the f*ck out. Outside of a handful of "sensitive" males, most of the Lilith crowd were women. I wanted to create a festival where chicks really and unequivocally ROCK OUT and, like the goddess Medusa herself, command attention and respect with proverbial snakes whipping out of their hair. I wanted to create an event where fans of Medusa are both girls AND guys equally. The NY Press put it best by calling Medusa Festival "Lilith... with teeth."

This past Medusa Festival, the fifth one at CBGB, once again featured the best underground female-fronted rock bands in NYC -- Swati, Sirsy, Me Talk Pretty, GSX, KHZ, Mahavatar,and our band, LOURDS. Also spinning chick rock all night long was the incomparable Jenn City, former bass player of Kittie and currently in Suicide City. It was by far the biggest one yet with a long line of kids out the door all night long. The crowd was so dense that Gene, our guitar player was able to fall back off the stage into the crowd, held up by screaming fans. At the height of the night, the incomparable Sandra Bernhard jumped up on-stage with our band, joined by Ricky Byrd, formerly of the Blackhearts, to play a tough version of "I Love Rock And Roll." The crowd was so loud that Sandra, during her maiden performance at CBGB, actually had to hold her ears at some points. The last Medusa at CBGB was truly an unforgettable experience.

CBGBs closing in NYC is my kick in the pants to move Medusa onwards and upwards. Since Medusa has gotten so popular and so big, my goal is to move Medusa NYC to a much bigger venue, like Irving Plaza, for next year. Also, I've already gotten many offers to put Medusa Festival on in other states, including at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. Ultimately, I'd love to put together a day-long Medusa Fest on Randall's Island, or perhaps a little tour. But, for now, look out for Medusa Festival rocking NJ in the next few months!

The Stone Pony: At age six, you were playing violin at Carnegie Hall and by age seven you were already burned out on the child prodigy thing. Yet, you've evolved into this great punk musician still wailing away on the violin. How did the evolution from classical prodigy to punk diva take place, and did you find that you learned how to play music before you even discovered the music that you really wanted to play?

LL: I was raised by a strict Asian Filipino mom who wanted all her children to be well-rounded individuals and started us playing violin and piano at the age of three. For my mom, music was always supposed to be an avocation for me; as in Lourds, the neurosurgeon, plays Rachmaninoff on the piano at cocktail parties for her friends and medical colleagues. But my teachers thought I was a prodigy and was destined to be a musician, a great classical musician. They were priming me to be the next Itzak Perlman, the next Isaac Stern. I was practicing five-seven hours a day. I learned to read music before I learned to read. I was always the youngest member of every youth orchestra I was in and my teachers paraded me around in talent shows and competitions.

Back then, I played music because I was told, because it really was all I knew. I played in front of hundreds of people, even thousands of people, before I knew who I was as a person, before I knew even what music I liked.

Then at one pivotal point, I made a breakthrough. I remember it was Pablo Sarasate's "Malaguena" and the piece had a lot of zing and personality in it. Instinctively I wanted to not just to play the song, I also wanted to PERFORM the song. When my solo was introduced and I stepped onto the stage, people naturally cheered loudly because I was a teeny spunky-looking pigtailed girl. I saw the audience smiling at me and instead of standing with my back straight, one foot in front of the other, with my violin held high in perfect posture, I was bopping, swaying and smiling. During the climax of the song, I broke that elusive "fifth wall" and jumped off the stage, which was only a step off the ground. The crowd stood up and clapped loudly as I walked and played my violin up and down the aisles.

I had been playing violin for years and never FELT as connected to the music as I did when I connected with the few hundred people who were listening to me that day. I finally GOT IT. I finally felt immense happiness playing violin. The unfortunate thing is that my conductor at the time did not approve what I did at all. He told me I was making a "mockery of classical music." I remember this vividly because I was seven and and had no idea what the word "mockery" meant so I had to ask my mom, who shook her head in disapproval. I remember feeling so sad. I didn't understand what I did wrong and why there had to be so many rules.

From then on, I instinctively rebelled against classical music. I didn't play concertos as they should be played. I would play the first half as is and then write my own endings. I remember pressing down harder with my bow to simulate a more guttural and distorted sound on my acoustic violin. My teachers were getting frustrated. I started slinking in my chair in the back of the orchestra and falling asleep during practice. Eventually, I quit the orchestra altogether and joined the school band playing the French horn, just because the band needed a French horn player. I never picked up the violin again until I discovered the fancy electric violin model that could DISTORT in my early teens.

Music became my life again when I created my OWN RULES, when I was doing the songs I wrote, the way I wanted to perform them, when I could embrace a crowd and be embraced by a crowd, and not be scolded. But, I have to admit, if it weren't for classical music and my instinctive rebellion against it, I would never be the rock musician I am today.

The Stone Pony: One interesting note off the new CD is that the track "Victory" has been licensed by ESPN and ABC Football and has been called the "next "We Will Rock You" for sporting events." I'm sure that a nice punk girl like yourself didn't intend to write the next great jock anthem, so what was the inspiration for that song, and how did it catch the attention of ESPN and ABC?

LL: Actually, that limited edition single is not on our band CD, it's a fluke Lourds Lane solo effort that can be downloaded on iTunes or bought on our label's website at breakingrecordsmusic.com. I say it was a fluke because I dreamt the anthemic hand-clapping, cheerleader hook of the song and woke up suddenly. I called up my co-producer friend, Ray Cervenka at 3 AM, sang him the hook, and asked him what he thought. He loved it right away and the next day we were recording. I played all the instruments, sang a distorted vocal track, and topped it off with some industrial sound effects and Ray's ProTools tricks. The hook was so simple that the track needed to be heavy and wildly interesting to give the song integrity. As the final twist, I threw in a sick distorted violin solo and, of course, laughed to myself at the vision of beefy jocks air-violining to the song at sporting events.

What's amazing is that, with little promotion, "VICTORY" has taken on a life on its own. Somehow, through word of mouth, the song got played for the powers that be at ESPN and instantly got used on montages on ESPN and ABC Football. "VICTORY" also got a glowing single review in Billboard this past August. Because the song has proven itself to be an easy revenue source, our label pressed a single of "VICTORY" along with the darker version of the song, "GOODBYE LOSERS." Ray and myself also threw in the new "VICTORY STADIUM REMIX," specifically targeting the sports arena crowd who immediately embraced the song.

So, yeah, I'm not really a sporty girl, but I'll rock a cheerleader outfit any day if "VICTORY" truly does become the next "WE WILL ROCK YOU!" (Laughs.)

The Stone Pony: Many guitarists tend to be fanatics about their instrument, always looks for new gear or ways to improve on their sound. Do you have a collection of violins, or one primary instrument that you always use on stage? Are there ways that you've modified the violin to achieve the tone that you're looking for, and do you run it through any effects or special gear on stage?

LL: I have three Zeta electric violins, two are five-stringed violins, one is a four string. The five string electric violins get the low C of the viola so I can hit those bellowing low tones. The one I primarily use on stage is my blue violin with the red stars. I hand painted this one at ceramic painting class with my mom so it's very special to me. Because I'm really busy with the band and touring, it gets hard to spend quality time with my mom and I LOVE my mom so much. The only way I could see her was to make a "special date" by going to ceramic class. I use my blue violin most of the time because it reminds me of my time with my mom. The violin goes into a guitar effects pedal board so that I can change up the reverbs with the clean violin tone, as well as distort, wah, and flange like a guitar.

The Stone Pony: In addition to the violin, you also play mandolin, piano and guitar. What instrument do you usually use when composing new music, and do you find that having the ability to play multiple instruments gives you a different outlook on how a song is composed? Do you ever try out a song on different instruments to see how it feels on each one?

LL: I love instruments. I pick up any instrument I can and keep them around me to inspire me at all times. I've got Middle Eastern stringed instruments whose names I can't pronounce, percussive instruments, wind instruments and, of course, keyboards, guitars, violins, and mandolins, all around my home. Songs can come from anything for me. It can come from the rhythm of the metallic utensils shaking when the cupboard slams. It can come from the sound of the F train approaching the platform. Music is all over, all encompassing, limitless, and everything is an instrument. I just need to find a way to grab it. Any instrument that is around me is fine to use to start the process off but, since I play a bunch of instruments, I like to switch it up. Once an instrument defines a song, I usually stay on that instrument for the song. The exception is where I play piano in the intro to "Supergirl" on the record but since we don't usually have a piano available in the clubs we play, I play the intro on violin live.

The Stone Pony: Your band mates in LOURDS are Sarah Vasil on drums, Gene Blank on guitar and Joey Sagarese on bass. How do you know everyone and how did the band come together? Is it fair to say that the violin takes on the traditional role of lead guitar in the band, while Gene takes care of the rhythm parts?

LL: Before Sarah, Gene, and Joe, LOURDS was more of a solo effort with a supporting band. I met Sarah because our bands played together in Don Hill's, NYC. She stood out as a drummer so completely in her band, The Drive, that when she came over and introduced herself to me, we suddenly became lifers in the Mutual Admiration Society. She loved my music, I loved her drumming. I asked her and her band to play the first Medusa Festival. After that, Sarah was a fan and would come to every one of my shows. Little by little, we got to know each other and became friends. When my band at the time started fizzling out, Sarah and myself would book rehearsals and jam. We called ourselves SOURDS (for Sarah and LOURDS) and the musical energy between us was so different than anything I've ever experienced. For the first time, I really felt part of a team, an experience I was equally sharing with someone else. We knew we had something special and we needed two other teammates with the same energy as ourselves to complete the package. One Craigslist ad later, we found Gene, and after hearing him play, Sarah and I instantly knew he was the ONE. A few weeks later, by recommendation, we auditioned Joe, who brought his off-beat humor, his youthful punk rock abandon, his aggressive badass playing, AND a six pack of beer to the audition, and it was over. We knew we had the missing puzzle piece. We knew we had had the seeds of an unstoppable band.

To answer the next question, the violin does take some leads, but it is a color that doesn't need to be used in every song. Gene is an unbelievable lead player and he plays many extended leads in our show and on the record. We even duet together on "Supergirl," sharing the solo. It's the creative interplay between the guitar and electric violin that makes our sound unique.

The Stone Pony: In addition to the band's Myspace page, there is a page set up for a LOURDS documentary that's in the works. What can you tell us about this project, who's involved and when fans will be able to see it? Is it exciting to know that you're able to inspire such creative energy from your fans to want to do projects like that to help promote your music?

LL: Our fans are amazing. If our music can inspire other artists to do their art, then that, for us, is the hugest compliment. Marcus Monroe is an amazing juggler who loves our band and has used our music in his act. He traveled with us with his video camera on the road to capture the "behind the scenes" aspect of an underground band on the rise. He's editing it now so I'm sure it will be available in the next few months.

The Stone Pony: The lead single off your debut CD, "Astropop," has been getting a lot of radio airplay around the country, as well as attention from all sorts of different media. How have you gone about promoting your music and do you think it's an advantage because of your unique performance style? Without giving away any secrets, have you found the most success promoting your music via the Internet, old-fashioned networking or through other means?

LL: We just play with all our heart, city by city, and let the live show and our CD speak for itself. It's a lot of hard work but it's through our live show - fan by fan, city by city, that our last record sold over 20,000 copies. It helps that we have some non-traditional instrumentation going on with the electric violin and mandolin. It's the hook that gets people intrigued enough to come out and hear us play. But, ultimately, the music and our live show make them stay - and come again - and tell friends.

I've found that the best way to promote is EVERY way, Internet, live shows, merchandise, networking. One outlet doesn't outweigh the other. Sure, the Internet spreads the music to areas we haven't hit yet so it's an excellent tool.  But we eventually hit those places, play our asses off, and win those people over for good. It seems that the more we keep doing our thing, playing our music, working hard, and continuing to express our heart-felt gratitude and mad love to all the folks who come out and see us again and again, people come out of the woodwork to help us in any way they can. The bottom line is... the more you help yourself, the more help you will get.

The Stone Pony: Are there any plans to record and release a second CD? Are there any other projects coming up that you'd like fans to be on the watch out for?

Of course! This band is just beginning.  We are going to release many, many CDs.  But we JUST released the one that's out, so we're touring in support of our 2006 CD. You can pick your own copy of our record easily on iTunes and at breakingrecordsmusic.com and please be our Myspace friend at myspace.com/lourds. Myspace is a great way to stay in touch with the fans and, believe me, we do write back as much as we can. Stay tuned for some exciting world-wide tours and TV appearances. We are also taping a special interview and live acoustic performance at the Billboard office in NYC this Monday so please look out for LOURDS as a featured artist on billboard.com in the upcoming weeks! Most importantly, we want to see you all at the all-ages show at the Stone Pony on Friday, October 13th! We'll be right in your backyard so come out and see us! I promise you won't be disappointed!

LOURDS' official website can be found at www.lourds.com.  Their latest CD, "LOURDS," can be purchased online or at fine music retailers like Jack's Music in Red Bank, NJ.

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THE STONE PONY ONLINE NEWSLETTER is written by Matt Mrowicki and published by Impression Technologies, LLC (www.imprtech.com). ©2006, The Stone Pony. Comments may be sent to: newsletter@stoneponyonline.com.