The Powder Interview: Part 4

Pink Parties and Pink Poodles

Mickel: You’ve been performing heavily at the Gay Pride circuit this year… Long Beach Pride, LA Pride and the upcoming San Francisco Pride in late June. What is it about Powder that is appealing to gay boys and girls?

Ninette: I think there’s a lot of yin and yang in our act and in our show. The color, the theatrics appeals to them, and some hot lookin’ boys in the band kinda helps the situation a bit. I got my girls (Femme-bots)
that come out and it’s all about the fun!

Mickel: Who is the most popular with the gay boys?

Ninette: (deadpan) Phil.

Phil: What was that, what? (Pause) Ninette is popular with the boys, too!

Mickel: Are any of your songs written for your gay fans?

Ninette: I think they’re written for anybody. Whether you’re gay or heterosexual, I think everyone still goes through the same feelings of life, of searching.

Phil: We’ve had a mid-20’s gay person come up and say, “Wow, I can relate to every song in your record!” and then a 12-year-old hetero would come up and say, “I really dig every song on the record!” It’s not
broad, so to speak, but comes from experiences and life feelings.

Mickel: Who are your musical role models?

Ninette: Robert Plant, Tina Turner and female singers with pizzazz, like Bette Midler. Singers who aren’t afraid to take risks. Carol Burnett — even though she’s not a singer, she sang in her show. She was a big influence as far as just getting out there and being reckless.

Phil: A band like KISS, where they really put so much into their show, and they’re a mystery as well. A person who’s going to see bands, you know what you want to see. I know what I want to see when I watch a guitar player, so that’s what I try to put into my performance. And that also works at the band level. Another role model is U2, because they keep reinventing themselves. If you listen to a song they did 20 years ago, it’s amazing — and then they just came up with “Beautiful Day” and “Elevation” last year. It’s never old; you can listen to it any time.

Mickel: Fast forward: the future. You’re playing in a sold-out concert at Madison Square Gardens. What’s your idea of an encore?

Ninette: I’ve always wanted huge pink poodles with naked black women coming across the stage. And then I fly down, and I land on the stage. And then we have these huge slides, and the guys slide down them onto the stage, and we do one song!

Mickel: Which song would that be?

Ninette: Something from the 80’s, a crazy song that everyone knows. A punk version of Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me with Science.”

Mickel: Oh my, with the poodles! Are these the gargantuan ones?

Ninette: HUGE! And I’m gonna dye them pink!