theSTART

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In Music
1Jul 07

By: Chris Stead

Aimee Echo
Standing on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Lemoyn, I see three women walk toward me from the club half a block down. The one in front introduces herself to me as Aimee and then gestures behind her and says “This is my mom and our drummer, Chelsea.” This is how I met half of theSTART. We walk into Masa, the café on the corner and shortly behind us is Jamie, the instrumental genius behind the CD as well as Aimee’s significant other of the past 8 years or more. As we sit around the table, it doesn’t feel quite as much like a band as it does a comfortable family.

Jamie Miller
Many artists that tour as heavily as theSTART come across with a certain intensity that can only come from months or years of relentless touring. Aimee, Jamie and Chelsea are clearly calm and comfortable in their skin and on the road. As we chat about the new album, the upcoming tour, playing The Echo and difficult venue promoters and owners, people come and go. Jamie comes in and then he leaves, at another point part of the tour staff comes by and sits in. There is definitely something different about theSTART.

Lance Webber
Earlier in the year, Aimee played out with the Teddybears, singing for a cover of an Iggy Pop Song. “You can’t have a guy do Iggy Pop,” Aimee says, “if you’re a guy then you’re either Iggy or you’re not.” This discussion of punk and its roots is vital in the development of theSTART. The band takes their influences from the original Punk movement and New Wave bands from the late 70’s and early 80’s. Listing groups such as Berlin, Blondie and Siouxsie Sioux, Aimee feels that her style is a mixture of the three front women, Terri Nunn, Debra Harry and Siouxsie Sioux respectively. That mixed with Jamie’s instrumental styling creates a sound that can only be described as the new New Wave.

Chelsea Davis
“New Wave was the point when punk bands learned how to play their instruments,” Aimee says frankly. Although they don’t fancy themselves as a punk band, their show speaks clearly of their punk roots. Although sounding almost completely electronic in some songs on their newest album “Ciao, Baby,” their live show is very much a good punk show wrapped up with some synthesizer for good measure. For as calm and collected as they were before the show, it was almost as if they were quietly storing all of their electricity for the stage. As the music starts, the band starts moving. There isn’t a still person on stage for their entire 40 minute set and just before they left the stage they played a high-octane version of “Cities in Dust” from Siouxsie and the Banshees. As they left the stage it was clear that the crowd couldn’t have enough of this group. Through the set the audience sang along with every song they played. When they left the stage there was energy left in the crowd that was undeniable. The new New Wave is here and theSTART is defining the move.