Volunteer Profile Kristie Billings

Kristie Billings could be the girl the Heads were singing about in "Punk Lolita."  She is free spirited, unedited and unapologetically herself.  Not to mention her distinctly punk aesthetic.  As Kristie tells it, she marched to a different beat early on.  On Saturdays at 6PM, you can hear her on WERU as one of the hosts of Daydream Nation.  Kristie plays an eclectic mix of everything:  punk, blues, rock 'n' roll, reggae, Motown, 1980's.  "Whatever," she says, "I feel like busting out that night!"
You might not guess it when meeting her, but Kristie grew up in a fishing family in the small coastal village of Deer Isle.  She describes a time when there weren't many kids who had dyed hair or shaved heads or rocked the goth look.  She says people could be judgemental about the way she looked.  "Why?  Who knows?  I didn't look like anyone else.  That scared some people."  Kristie says that her early love for music, especially punk rock, gave her an important outlet to express herself and shaped her into the person she is today.
Kristie asserts that she is a Mainer through and through.  Her childhood in coastal Maine gave her a deep love for the ocean.  She affectionately describes lobstering with her dad, who sadly passed away last year, and her frequent swims in the crisp coastal waters of the Atlantic.  "I like to make things interesting," says Kristie. "Still do."

1. Favorite genre of music?  I would have to say punk/rock/post punk.  The first LP I ever purchased was a Beach Boys' record.  They were my first favorite band.
2. First music memory?  I was a little girl.  Maybe 3?  For some reason, I believe that Donnie Osmond was coming to Stonington to play at the Legion Hall.  Who knows how I came up with this?  I went and got myself all dressed up and waited and waited for one of my parents to take me to see "Donnie Marie."  My mother did not know what to make of it.  She told me to wait until my father came home from lobstering.  Typically, when my father returned home from after a long day of fishing, the last thing he wanted to do was go see a concert.  But he was a good sport.  He played along with his youngest daughter's funny ideas.  He told me to go ahead and get in the truck, and we'd find Donnie Marie.  We drove to the Legion Hall, and he proceeded to drive me all over Deer Isle looking for the elusive Donnie Osmond.  I was a bit disappointed to have missed him, but I was happy to have had a reason to get dressed up and cruise around the island, listening to the radio, with my dad.
3. If I could hang out with anyone who would it be?  Oh boy.  Jeez.  This is a tough question.  I am such a geek.  I would have to say Henry Rollins.  I have been a huge fan of his and his music since high school.  I would love to spend a day with him; record shopping, book shopping, drinking coffee, anything.  I have great respect for him.
4. What animal would you be?  If I could be any animal I would be a seal.  I used to think I would want to be a cat.  I am a crazy cat lady.  However, I love to swim.  I think seals are gorgeous, graceful, and playful.  Just amazing.  I would like to spend my days sunning myself on the rocks, slipping gracefully into the ocean and being a seal.  Sounds perfect!
5. What would people be surprised to know about you?  I think people would be surprised to learn that I am shy.  
6. What three words best describe you?  Goofy, loving and funny.
7. Who has inspired you?  My family, Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, Nick Cave, Sylvia Plath, Michael Gira, Boy George and many others!
8. What is your favorite color?  It's a tie:  black and purple.
9. What makes you laugh?  Nearly everything!  I laugh every day.  I laugh all the time.  I can't pinpoint what I find funny.  Silly, nonsensical, the everyday blah...all of it!
10. What did you want to be when you grew up?  Here's a list of things I have wanted to be since I was a child:  A nun, a race car driver, a fashion designer, a fashion merchandiser, a writer.  Now I believe I would be a great cat sitter.  Or a vinyl sitter.  Let me come and sit with your vinyl records!

Knix Picks: The Top 20 Albums I Never Get Tired Of

If you're anything like me, you have hundreds of tracks on your iPod to listen to while you work out or otherwise go about your daily business.  In my case, I have a waterproof, ugly bright orange mp3 player, so when I go hiking or snowshoeing and inevitably drop it, it is that much easier to spot.  By the way, if you come across a small blue mp3 player on Great Pond Mountain after the spring thaw, it's mine.  But that one wasn't waterproof, so you can keep it!

Anyway, I digress.  My point is that I recently emptied my mp3 of every single track that was on it.  All 700 or so of them. Because, despite so many choices, I got bored, bored, bored. Granted, I go hiking or snowshoeing for a couple of hours every day and that makes for a lot of listening.  So it was when I was picking tracks to put back on my mp3 that I came up with a brilliant Top 20 list for my blog!
There are a ton of singles that I never tire of.  For instance, Nitzer Ebb's "Murderous," Yaz's "Situation," or Club 8's "Stop Taking My Time" will never get a yawn out of me.  (Trivia moment. Yaz is Yazoo in the UK.) But I was thinking how much harder it is to make a full length album where nearly every track is compelling enough to want to listen to it repeatedly without growing weary.  I've been known to catch a fever for an album, play it to death, put it away and never touch it again.  R.E.M.'s Out of Time is one of those.  "Losing My Religion" was a great track in 1991, but that time is over.  Sorry, R.E.M.
So what are my top picks for albums, new or old, that I decidedly want to hear again and again and again? With much consideration, here it is....

Ascii Disko Ascii Disko - The project of DJ Kat D.D. Rokk, this album includes previously released tracks.  Synthpop and house with Euro flair and Rokk's German cool reserve.  Fabulously danceable!
Autokratz Animal - The first full length album by the British electro duo of David Cox and Russell Crank, the track "Always More" is my personal version of a mood lifter!
Cut Copy Bright Like Neon Love - Australian Cut Copy's debut album was indietronica at its best.  Then a trio and now a group of four, the album combines songwriting capability with club friendly tracks!
Digitalism Idealism - The German DJ duo's 2007 debut album was meant to be a garage band gone electronica.  It works!  (Their DJ-Kicks LP features one of my favorite tracks ever, "83.")
Egotronic Ausflug mit Freunden - A German electro punk band with a decidedly political point of view. I can't speak German, so I don't actually contemplate their lyrics.  I just listen to the music.  Is that bad? Danceable but with an edge!
Gary Numan The Pleasure Principle - This is English musician Gary Numan's debut album after the demise of Tubeway Army.  Numan, along with bands like Kraftwerk, was influential in introducing the use of synthesizers in music.  No guitar was used on the album. "Cars" is the track that most people know in the US, but Numan is no one hit wonder.  The entire album is impeccable and inspired what we now call synthpop.
Gesaffelstein Aleph - This album by French producer Mike Levy (who goes by the moniker Gesaffelstein, which is a combination of the German word for "universal artwork" and Albert Einstein's name) is crazy good!  I was obsessed with the electro industrial sound of "Pursuit" when I first heard the LP.  Right now I'm obsessed with "Destinations," which is one of the few tracks with vocals (spoken by Chloe Raunet) and hot in a completely indescribable way.
House of Blondes Clean Cuts - John Blonde released a different House of Blondes album in 2007, but he considers this album, created with a different band and in a very different style, his debut.  Experimentation with synths and the quality of sound make this the only House of Blonde debut that matters.
Icon of Coil Machines are Us - Electro industrial Scandinavian band Icon of Coil was founded in 1998. They tend towards dark, futureworld themes with wordy lyrics while remaining dance friendly.
Ladytron Velocifero - Ladytron was formed in Liverpool, England in 1999.  They've had a few different sounds since their 2001 debut LP, 604.  Velocifero is a tad darker than some of their previous work and perhaps more slick.  Really, I love all of their work, but this is their go to album for me.
Lightning Dust Fantasy - This album is a style change for the Vancouver duo of Amber Webber and Josh Wells.  The addition of synths and rythym boxes to their already impressive songwriting makes for an album I keep going back to.
Lindstrom & Christabelle Real Life is No Cool - This collaborative effort between Norwegian producer Hans-Peter Lindstrom and singer Christabelle is electro disco at its best.  "Lovesick" is my favorite track on the album.
Naked and Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You - The New Zealand indietronica band's debut album is infectious and features strong songwriting and equally strong vocals by both Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers.
Nitzer Ebb Industrial Complex - This Chelmsford, England band was formed in 1982 and was doing industrial dance music long before I knew what the term meant.  That Total Age was a college favorite, but this album was considered a comeback for them, and I love a good comeback.
Royksopp Junior - This Norwegian duo used to be responsible for a lot of downbeat trip hop.  Who knew? Because this album is decidedly danceable electro pop.  Guest vocalists pepper the album.  Karin Dreijer of The Knife guests on one of my favorite ever tracks, "This Must Be It."
The Golden Filter Voluspa - This duo sounds decidedly Euro, but they're based in New York.  They combine an electro pop sound with disco elements and great lyrics for a cohesive album of must listen tracks.
Trust Joyland - Joyland just came out, but I was smitten as soon as I heard the second track, "Geryon." What is not to love?  Dark Wave marries pop with brooding lyrics sung in a low baritone.
Tubeway Army with Gary Numan Replicas - Released in 1979, this was the 2nd and final album Tubeway Army made.  Gary Numan went on to an extraordinary solo career.  This "machine" concept album helped to define the post punk era.  Beggars Banquet released reissues of the album with additional material in 1999 and 2008.
Tying Tiffany Peoples Temple - Tying Tiffany is an Italian artist, singer and songwriter who experiments with elements of post punk, electronic and industrial music.  The Peoples Temple (The title of the album refers to the doomed Jim Jones cult.) has a darker, edgier sound than her newly released album Drop.  The track "Show Me What You Got" has her basically screaming the chorus, and I love it!
VNV Nation Empires - This 3rd full length album by the London industrial dance duo is one of their most powerful albums.  Dark, dystopic with lyrics that prophesy the end of the world, Empires carries on a theme I've been attached to since I read George Orwell's "1984."

So there you have it.  My Top 20 albums that I never get tired of. From my list, you can probably discern that I have a taste for electro pop and dance industrial.  And only one US band.  What's up with that?  What albums make the cut for you?  Post on The Knix Mix Facebook page and let me know!

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Halloween Costume Ideas Inspired by Gary Numan

Gary Numan circa 1980

If you're looking for inspiration for a Halloween costume, Gary Numan's long and illustrious music career is a virtual gold mine of looks.  You need not be a fan of Numan to recognize the definable eras of electronic music in his incarnations over the years. Numan's style ranges from late 1970's punk, during his early Tubeway Army days, to 1980's New Wave, which has seen a resurgence in popular culture, to his current steam punk incarnation for his newest LP, "Splinter."
Science fiction, a desire to appear cold and unemotional, and a robotic stage presence shaped Numan in his early career. Interestingly, the look that most people associate with Numan, from the early 80's "Republicas" era, was purely accidental.  Just before an appearance on Top of the Pops in the UK, a make up artist put a layer of white make up on Numan's face to cover his "spots," otherwise known as acne.  His eyes looked like "pissholes in the snow," so they were lined in black.  And viola!  The Numanoid look was created.
Over the years he's had an all white with blue hair look, an all black and skinny tie look that screams 1980's, a suit and fedora look, an industrial look that is all about the 90's, possibly inspired by his admiration for Nine Inch Nails, an all leather look, a military inspired look, a goth look and a hip rocker in a black tee and jeans look.  I'm always interested to see what he's going to come up with next.
Enjoy taking a walk down electronic music history in the Numan photos below.  I've also included some photos of Numan's vixen of a wife, Gemma.  She supplies some female specific costume inspiration., not to mention great concepts in hair color.

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Gemma