Luscious Jackson didn't follow the normal route to landing a recording contract. In fact, Luscious Jackson isn't what some would call a normal recording band. Just ask founding member Jill Cunniff.
"The band was born in the studio," said the songwriter/guitarist during a conference call with drummer Kate Schellenbach from New York City. "It was actually one year after the first record we actually took the show live."Luscious Jackson will play live at the Cinema Bar (at Spanky's) on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Doors open at 7 p.m.
"Having this band created in the studio was the very reason we took so long to get on the road," Cunniff said. "We were insecure and decided to take this different route."
At the time, Luscious Jackson's makeup was only Cunniff and bass guitarist Gabby Glaser.
"We had spent a lot of time in the New York scene," said Cunniff. "But I was influenced by a lot of late '60s rock, classical music and jazz. My parents listened to it and I was around it most of my life, but throughout the disco years, I discovered stuff like rap, reggae and punk."
"I grew up in a similar environment," said Schellenbach. "My mom was into classical and jazz. But she also listened to a lot of (Janis) Joplin and Patty LaBelle. As I was growing up, punk was the new craze. That really got me interested."
Schellenbach got her first big gig being the drummer for the Beastie Boys. But when the group turned from its hard-core sound to a more commercial rap sound, the band let her go, saying she couldn't find the groove.
"It wasn't the boys' fault," said Schellenbach. "Just a bunch of management problems."
Those problems allegedly surfaced when the Beasties' DJ and future record mogul Rick Rubin expressed his dislike of women rappers.
"After that, the boys became everything less than cool."
Schellenbach met up with Cun-niff and Glaser after Luscious Jackson's "In Search of Manny" EP. Keyboardist Vivian Trimble also climbed on board.
"Natural Ingredients" is the first full-length Luscious Jackson album and reveals the band's innovated style mixing. By taking white rap, loose funk bits of punk, the band has moved away from the girl version of the Beastie Boys and in the process gained a large fan base from across the nation.
"During every tour, we gather more fans," said Cunniff. "Playing live brings in a whole different set of dynamics than recording a record."
"In the live world, we don't have a large palate of sound to choose from," explained Schellenbach. "We have limited access to sampling sounds. So the songs have to tap into the live groove. And vice versa. A record can't capture the live groove and must rely on recording dynamics. But both scenes are the band's natural performances."
The current tour will take Luscious Jackson up and down the West Coast and into the Western states, including here and Denver.
"The place we'd love to go is the Southwest," said Cunniff. "That's the only place we haven't really gone."
The tours get more pleasant as time goes on, said Schellenbach. "I remember when we first went on tour. We'd all pack into one room at a Motel 6 and sleep wherever we could. I was constantly freezing."
And on top of that, there wasn't a day that passed when the band wasn't faced with the stigma of being an all-female band.
"Being a woman artist, you're breaking boundaries already," Cunniff said.
"We had to constantly prove ourselves every day," said Schellenbach. "I think that, and the fact we grew up in New York around the punk scene, we were able to keep moving."
"We struggled," said Cunniff. "But we kept our eyes on the music - and there's plenty that has yet to be recorded. We hope to continue putting out great stuff."