antiMusic: Hi Storm. How you doing?

Storm: I'm good. How are you?

antiMusic: I'm doing great, thanks. It's a real pleasure speaking with you.

Storm: Ah good.

antiMusic: I really enjoyed the Rock Star show and I was extremely disappointed you didn't make to the end.

Storm: Oh, I made as close to the end as I needed to.

antiMusic: Of course, the way the Supernova has been received, it's probably better you're doing your own thing.

Storm: Yeah, I'm doing very well thanks.

antiMusic: Awesome. Before we get to your new record, I think most people know you now from the Rock Star Supernova show. Tell us how you got involved with it. When did you first hear about auditions and did you have to be convinced to take part or were you full-on into it?

Storm: I was actually submitted by a fan. And I had heard about the first INXS show by some friends and they actually were saying: oh you have to be on this show. It's so cool and blah, blah, blah. And I never really thought about being on a television show before but...especially not reality, I don't really watch reality TV so, but I got a call from the casting people saying that they had received a video tape and they were very interested in meeting me in person, so I went up there about a month after I heard from them. I went to Seattle to the auditions, sang for them, they wanted me to sing again and then meet the band. It was just a pretty quick process. And then I found myself in Los Angeles for three months.

antiMusic: Did you go into it wanted to win it or were you looking for exposure for yourself and the band?

Storm: I wanted to win it when I was told what the show was about because the rumor was Van Halen was looking for other singers and that was what the show was going to be about. Then when I heard it bandied about that it was Tommy Lee's new band with Jason Newsted I was VERY interested in winning that cause I thought it was going to be us jamming and writing a record, and you know, that kind of thing. Writing some music together that sounded very very interesting to me. But once it became clear that I wasn't really what they were looking for, at the same time that I realized that, they made it really clear that they still really loved me and thought very highly of my abilities and my talent they were very good to me on that show. And I really appreciate all that I got out of it.

antiMusic: What was the experience like for you overall? I assume this was the first TV show that you've been involved with.

Storm: It IS the first TV show I've ever been involved with. It was a lot of fun, it was a lot of pressure as you can imagine. And you know, a lot of cameras in your face. A lot of challenges in regards to your privacy. Any kind of alone time was very very tough.
Overall, looking back, you know, I got to spend some time with Dilana recently and we had a great time. It was hard, and weird, and totally different situation that any of us were accustomed to, but it was all really positive and we forged really strong friendships and had great, crazy experiences that one in a million gets to experience so it was a lot of fun.

antiMusic: You did your own song "Ladylike" about halfway through the series I think?

Storm: No. it was the second to last show, or the third to last show that I got to perform it.

antiMusic: That was one of the highlights of the show for me. I really thought that would cement your winning it because of your songwriting abilities. Did you get the reaction you had hoped with it?

Storm: Definitely. First getting up on stage with Dave Navarro, then getting to play "Ladylike" for everyone to such a great, wild, crazy reception was just fantastic. It was such a fantastic feeling. And at that point when I had that moment, I knew it was the highlight of the show. I knew it was a great, awesome moment for me and everyone. But I also knew that I would probably be going home the next, I just had a feeling. So I felt really good that I got to do that before I left.

antiMusic: Obviously, on a TV show like that, we only see a fraction of what goes on. I don't know if you watched the entire thing later on.

Storm: No, still haven't seen the show. I don't really have any interest to see it. Because like you said, I experienced the whole thing, you know. I lived it. So what you guys got to see, is such a sliver of so much craziness and beauty, and fear, and breakdowns, and awful and wonderful. You know, I remember what my experiences were and I love them all.

antiMusic: I was going to say, were you surprised, or was there anything that didn't make it in there really that you would have liked people to see?

Storm: I don't know because I honestly haven't seen it so. I think what you guys got to see were the boiled down extreme versions of the truth of what was happening in the house. There weren't any lines fed to us. We were behaving as naturally as the circumstances would allow. And I think, some things might have gotten blown out of proportion. I think Dilana got kinda raked over the coals for dramatic impact. And that was pretty harsh to see someone go through that. That was rough. But I mean she did make a mistake and it got caught on camera and so all that to say the stuff you guys saw was real but it was also edited to be more than it was in some instances I'm sure.

antiMusic: Who were you closest to during your time there?

Storm: Dilana, Toby, Magni, Lukas, Jenny. When Jenny and I were roommates we got very close. I'm mostly in touch with Toby, Lukas, Dilana and Magni.

antiMusic: Did you get to interact with Tommy and the guys much off camera or was it only really at the tapings?

Storm: We got to interact a little bit, but it was encouraged to keep the judges more separate from all of us so they wouldn't forge any kind of particular relationships with any one and have their judgment based on their personal feelings about one of us. So it was limited exposure to those guys.

antiMusic: For some reason, Canada really took to the show big-time.

Storm: Oh, yeah!

antiMusic: Was everybody connected with the show really surprised by this and were you disappointed it didn't reach the same numbers in the U.S.

Storm: No, there was no disappointment at all. I had no idea…I knew being on television would widen my audience but I had no idea to what degree and where and you know, before we came to Canada we were in New Zealand and all over California and Iceland. You know, I didn't have time to think about where it didn't reach because I'd been spending all my time getting to where it did reach, you know what I mean? And my passport's pretty banged up at this point (laughs) and I've only been on tour a year since the show, like non-stop. I've been touring. I'm not sitting in my hotel room going, Damnit, why didn't Florida respond more to the show? Because I'm in Reykjavik.

antiMusic: What was the story behind you and Magni not being included in the tour? Was it really just a financial thing?

Storm: It was a financial thing. It was a time thing. I was actually relieved because I needed to put my own music out. So the tour would have been super fun and it would have been a big extension of…it just would be mansion night, night after night, with my favourite people. I got to in the studio, finish my record and by the time they were wrapping up their tour, I was wrapping up my recording and getting ready to tour in preparation for releasing my CD. So I was fine with that.

antiMusic: So you have a new record out now. What can you tell us about it?

Storm: My record is kind of…it's some older songs of mine, it's some new songs of mine, it's a mix. But it's all kind of an illustration of my past leading me up to where I am right now, through love affairs, and tragedies, and you know, the typical artist journey to the present and kind of autobiographical because it's my first solo record? Real self-centred (laughs) me, me, me. But I'm really happy about it. And people seem to really love the songs, and it's been heralded as a pretty good release for an independent. And I'm looking forward to going in the studio and getting ready to release the second one.

antiMusic: Can you tell us about a couple of the songs. Starting with the title track "Ladylike"?

Storm: While recording them…Ladylike actually, the only thing that was really remarkable about Ladylike, was of course Dave Navarro jumping in, throwing some guitar on it. My band, The Balls recorded that in Portland, and we tried to re-recorded with a bunch of different players. It just didn't seem to work out. so we ended up using the original Balls versions, and threw Dave Navarro on it and he did just a smashing job. And it was cool, even though he's a big rock star he called me, I was unfortunately playing shows up in the northwest so I couldn't go to the studio to be with Dave while he laid his tracks down, so he called me when he got to the studio, and asked me what I wanted. I told him what I wanted, he called me in the middle, and he said okay, this is what I did, he held the phone up and I said; yup, you can take that, go a little further with that and he called me when he was leaving the studio and said, okay, I think I'm pretty happy with what I did. Then he described what he did, and it was really cool. And I was like, damn, he's really…he's not going in there as: Hi, I am Dave Navarro and I'm going to descend from Rock Star Heaven and grace your album with my…he was actually really wanting me to be involved in the creative process and asking me as the writer what I wanted and so it was very cool. I think he did such a cool job.

antiMusic: What about "Fat Chick's Revenge"?

Storm: "Fat Chick's Revenge"…I was a heavy girl growing up, and being named Storm Large didn't go over really well for not being pretty, being kind of a chubby punk rock, suburban, lonely, broken-hearted female and people being mean, mean, mean and spoiled, and nobody really liking me, never really having any friends, never had a boyfriend, and then, you know, I started playing music, started to find myself as an individual, not as reflections of people around me. Because there were no people around me until I started playing music. And then I played music, music, music and then people from my past who were just dicks to me, are suddenly, "oh, remember, we went to school together and nah nah nah, and we heard you were going to be at the Filmore, or we're going to be in San Francisco, can you put us on the list sort of thing?" And I was like, "wow, that's pretty funny." So you know, the best revenge is living well. I don't like the revenge of actively, pro-actively going to hurt someone who hurt you. I think the best thing is: be better than the person who's trying to tear you down, because chances are you already ARE better if they're trying to tear you down, you know what I'm saying?

antiMusic: Yeah. What about The Pixies cover, "Where is My Mind?"

Storm: It's one of the most beautiful songs in the history of people writing music. And the Pixies as a band and an entity, everybody has that band and that album that got them through really intense, tough times, that they always go to, that they've bought and worn out more than five times. And for me The Pixies Surfer Rosa was that album and I just put it on and all is right in the world. It's kind of like my blanky, (laughs) my security blanket. The best record in my experience. And "Where is My Mind", it's one of the most beautiful tracks so it was an honor to be allowed the license to re-record it. So that's why it's on the record.

antiMusic: Who produced the record? Is this an indie release?

Storm: It was a co-production between myself, Paul Mercovitz from the house band, and Laurence Fox from Portland and Jeff Trot, who is from Portland but lives in Los Angeles now and he's the chief songwriter for Sheryl Crow. And he and I get together from time to time and we'll write one song and it'll end up being so cool. He helped write "Ladylike" and he wrote "Fat Chick's Revenge" with me. We write really well together and we have a really good time so he's my big fancy rock star friend who loves me and I'm very lucky to be able to collaborate with him.

antiMusic: How long has your band been together?

Storm: We've been together five years.

antiMusic: How did you hook up? How did it all come together?

Storm: I was friends with the guys from Everclear and we were always crisscrossing tours. They'd be on tour in one part of the country and I would end up running into them. They'd go to my show and I'd go to their show. So we built friendships through that and then when Everclear when through a big upheaval kind of change, James left that camp. Just around the time, I moved to Portland and The Balls started through a mutual friend who was the original bass player and then he had to go and work for the Foo Fighters and then we added Davey. And so now we are The Balls as you see it for the last five years.

antiMusic: You have a fair back catalogue now. Do you feel you are really mastering your songwriting by this point?

Storm: You know, I have not written in a while because I've been so busy touring, but I'm really looking forward, I'm really hungry to start writing again, and Jeff Trot actually wants me to come down and do some work with him, and I might do that, a little bit of that in August. But, yeah, I'm excited to start writing again and see where I'm at pretty much.

antiMusic: You've toured Canada several times now. How has the response been?

Storm: Oh, it's been great. It's been great. There'll be some clubs that aren't as full as others but the fan are just voracious and into it no matter how many…whether there are 30 or 330 or 530 but it's been an awesome response since we've been here.

antiMusic: Cause you've really hitting all the small stops. You're doing Kingston and Barrie.

Storm: Barrie was awesome. Barrie was great. It was so much energy. Little kids there and fantastic. Really good time.

antiMusic: Well, I appreciate all the time you've taken and I wish you all the best with this record.

Storm: Thank you.