Fans of HorrorPops were surprised to hear that Kamilla Vanilla left the band last year. A dancer who originally joined for their 3rd show, Kamilla logged a lot of miles over the years as the band gigged non-stop and the vixen won a lot of hearts with her hip-shaking antics. I found out a few years ago that Kamilla had contributed lyrics to other bands who were friends but in an interview I did with her after that, she said there were no plans to make it a regular thing. But there might have been a clue when she said who knew what would happen in the future. It was no surprise then when earlier this year as she announced the formation of a new band called Soda X with her on vocals. The band is still coming together but have several songs on their MySpace page and all show a group that has a lot of upside. All are undeniably catchy and "My Sweet Misery" is something I can't stop playing. I did an interview with Kamilla (did I mention she's flat out gorgeous???) recently to find out all about her new band.
antiMusic: How did Soda X come together and who is everybody?
Kamilla: I met Jannicke (Guitar & Vocals) at a punk show in Hollywood, and we became friends shortly after that show. We were fooling around with the idea of starting a band for months before. Jannicke finally had enough and said, "Lets do this band", so we sat down and started to write songs. We didn't think twice about who we wanted to play drums, and luckily for us he was into it. Linus (Drums) also plays in another band, called Disco Volante with Jannicke. When I saw him play for the first time, I was in awe! I couldn't stop staring at him! Yes, I think he's that good! haha! Cris (Bass & Vocals) was a friend of many of my friends and we heard that she was looking for band, so we met with her and we talked like we had known each other for years. I think it was about a month or two after our first meeting that we asked her to join the band.
antiMusic: Where did the name come from?
Kamilla: Well... haha! We were trying to come up with a band name one evening and for some reason "Soda" kept popping up, so we figured that it had to be "Soda something". We added the "X" - Soda X! We liked the sound of that, so we stuck with it!
antiMusic: Everybody knows you from HorrorPops. What we didn't know (or at least me) is your desire to step in front of a mic. Have you ever been a part of another band aside from HorrorPops?
Kamilla: I always loved to dance and sing and I always took the dancing part more seriously than the singing part, so I never made an effort or had an interest to become a musician. I did sing in the school's choir and played a little drums as a kid, but that's about it! Later I did a few shows dancing with a Danish ska band, years and years ago. So Soda X is my first own band and I must admit, if it weren't for Jannicke, I probably never would have started it!
antiMusic: How comfortable were you to start sharing your vocal tracks with other people?
Kamilla: I'm scared... Big time! It's all very new to me. I've never in my life opened up like this - so at the same time that I'm frightened, I also feel good, 'cause this is me - who I am!
antiMusic: What sort of elements were you looking for when searching for band members? Were you looking to collaborate with females only?
Kamilla: No not at all. When we started the band, we agreed that finding musicians for the band was not a gender thing. It was about finding the right people with good personalities and being good musicians. It sucks knowing that people are, no matter what, gonna think, "well there are girls in the band, so it's a girl band". We're just a band, like any other band, but of course we can't or won't run away from the fact that we have 3 girls in the band!
antiMusic: The music has a strong punk flavour but there is more than that going on in the sound. What sort of parameters were you using when writing the songs?
Kamilla: I think everything. We knew we didn't wanna start a band that was straight-up any genre of music. All the members in the band have a punk background, in one way or the other... But - haha - I don't think we like many of the same punk bands! I like to think that we've made our own sound. We do all like pretty much every kind of music, so we pull inspiration out of every corner possible and decade, and make the sound ours.
antiMusic: You've got a 5 song demo at the moment. We've heard the three songs on your MySpace. What are the other two and are they in the same style?
Kamilla: We recorded the first 5 songs we wrote and we put 3 of them on our MySpace page. We chose the 3 we thought spanned over the type of songs we've done. We've written a lot of songs
many, many, and they do all have a bit of a different sound to them, but they do have a red thread running through them. They all have that rocking, new wave, post punk, with a darker feel to them. Some are more punk, some more rock and some should be in a David Lynch movie one day. haha! Our lyrics are pretty honest and dark and we like that little bit of darkness with the more upbeat music.
antiMusic: What was the first song you wrote and who is responsible for what in terms of lyrics and melody?
Kamilla: The first song, Jannicke and I started the day we started the band. The lyrics I had written along time ago. I've been writing all my life pretty much and I have so many notebooks with lyrics and lines. We used a lot of them for our songs but the music and melody we made that night was for the song called "My Sweet Misery." Linus came over a few days later and then there were no stopping us! I think we had about 6 songs within the first week. We work really well together. Sometimes a song is made out from a riff Jannicke made or a beat Linus made, and other times I'll have a melody made up and they make the music fit it! We're a good team. All the songs we have finished were written "pre-Cris", so we're really excited to start writing with her and we're in the process of finding a 2nd guitar player. When we do, we want him/her to be a part of the writing as well.
antiMusic: You have Wendy James listed as an influence and I can definitely hear a bit of Transvision Vamp in your sound. What is it you like about her and do you utilize bits of her or anybody else in your delivery?
Kamilla: You should ask Jannicke that question. haha! But the first time I saw Transvision Vamp on TV, I was about 10 years old. It was their music video for "I Want Your Love" and I was so fascinated by Wendy James. She looked like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's... Just blonde. Very 80's and very dressed in pink! At that time, when I was a kid, there were a lot of girl solo singers around, but Wendy James was in a band, and their band sounded like they looked. The boys were rockers, dressed in leather jackets and jeans and the music was raw, the singer was cute, sang cute and dressed in pink from top to toe! Now what 10 year-old girl wouldn't be amazed by that? And the lyrics were the opposite of any other girl singer of that time was singing about! I must admit that nowadays there aren't many girl singers, or female-fronted bands, I listen to, but I do LOVE Sinead O' Connor, Annie Lennox, and Diana Ross. But of course I'm not trying in any way to sound like them. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't - those ladies rule!!!
antiMusic: Did you use Geoff (note: Kamilla is married to Tiger Army bassist Geoff Kresge) as a sounding board throughout your writing process or did you want to keep him out of the loop until you had a finished product?
Kamilla: I've always let him read my lyrics and he always gives me the best support and critique. He was actually out on tour when we started the band and started to make songs and when he got home, I played it for him and he was really into it! haha! I do believe he didn't only say that cause he is my husband... I do pretty much keep him out of the loop until a song is done or almost done! He has helped the band in so many ways already as it is. He is an amazing person!
antiMusic: I know you're still in the forming phase but since you were in a successful band before this, are you finding it easier to get doors open because of your name and contacts?
Kamilla: I'm not sure. I guess time will tell! It's not that many doors we've tried to open... Yet! I think it probably would've been easier if it were a psychobilly band we had started. I know a lot of people in the psychobilly scene. I don't know what scene you would put Soda X in. We just make music for everybody, so chop us in a billion pieces and put us in whatever box you want! We just wanna have the music out there for people to hear and get a response to it and kinda get a buzz going.
antiMusic: When do you expect to start doing some live shows?
Kamilla: When we're ready, but we are not ready just yet. We need to find the 2nd guitar player and then practice, etc. We have gotten a lot of show offers already, so hopefully those offers will still be valid when we're ready. And we hope that will be sooner than later!
antiMusic: You've been at the front of the stage for many years now. Do you expect it to be an easy shift to being the front person and communicating with the audience?
Kamilla: Ohhh no - not easy at all! I'm used to dancing my butt off! haha! I won't be able to do that and sing at the same time, so I guess I'm gonna have to slow down a tad. Not that I'm going to stand still in front of the mic! That would be boring! haha!
antiMusic: You spent many years with HorrorPops. What are some of the best memories of your time with that band?
Kamilla: Ohhh boy!! There are many... I was with the band for 7 years and we were all over the world for tours and shows. It's hard to pin down just a few to mention. And there were a few different lineups while I was in the band. I have good memories with them all, from the early days before any album was out, where we would play for 40-50 people 'til the last show I did, Halloween 2006 at the Vault in Long Beach.
antiMusic: You've lived in Los Angeles for awhile now. Being Danish, what are some of the cultural differences that you still find strange? Any weird foods, TV shows or general habits that you just have to shake your head at?
Kamilla: HAHAHA!!! Yes! I shake my head every day! hahah! (but I know my American friends shake their head at me very often, and say, "you are so European!") Linus, Jannicke and I are all from Scandinavia/Europe and life in America IS very, very different, as you say: politics, opinions, welfare, traditions, the school system, TV and the food. So there are often things we don't understand and we often look like three head-nodders when we talk about the things listed above!
What really gets me is clam chowder, grape-flavoured candy, their whole dating system and President Bush - those are some of the weirdest things ever. But of course I do love America or else I wouldn't be here. Every country in the world has good, bad and weird things. I miss Denmark a lot. My friends/family, Copenhagen and the food. There are weird things about Denmark as well, I just don't think that much about it, 'cause that's what I'm used to. But people in Denmark hold hands and walk and sing around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and in general, eat a lot of herring. See, I don't get that either - yuck!
antiMusic: Anything else about Soda X that you want to mention that I didn't ask?
Kamilla: I just wanna thank you for this interview. Thanks to the people who read it and thanks to all the people who now will go check us out at myspace.com/sodaxLA , and we hope to see you all soon!
Morley and antiMusic would like to thank Kamilla for doing this interview.