Phillip Hong
October 17, 2010 |
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PHIL: Any plans to tour in Canada?
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JULI: Yes, please! We're working on hitting Vancouver on a Pacific
Northwest Tour this Fall, and then hoping to hit Toronto on our tour across
the south and up the east coast in the Spring. My costume designer from CalArts
lives in Vancouver, and a director friend Rebecca Brown (that I went to NYU
with) lives in Toronto... so I've got theater connections there too.
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My mother was born in Canada, and my great grandfather was actually Speaker of
the House of Parliament back in the day. I was born in Coffee County,
Enterprise, Alabama, where my father was fromÉ so maybe that eclectic mix of
Southern and Northern blood has something to do with the mix in our music?
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PHIL: Has anyone come up to you and enquired about the nether regions being
so religiously inspirational?
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JULI: All the time! I've had some pretty interesting conversations over
the years with many, many people about me and my Evangenitals: from church folks
to drunk folks to parents and kids. It's definitely a sort of social experiment,
being the front woman of a band called the Evangenitals. It certainly brings my
sexuality into focus to an extent, and raises a lot of questions and a lot of
judgments. Based on the name, folks have certain expectations and prejudices
from the get go, and we generally tend to defy them.
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For us the name is more about spirituality and creativity than it is about
sexuality... however, I certainly don't shy away from sexuality in the songs,
either! I also sing songs from a gender-defying perspective, too, which
sometimes confuses the hell out of people. I like to keep 'em guessing.
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LISA: Luckily, we're really, really good musicians, and the music is
absolutely first rate. This is the first thing that surprises folks... we're
not just some foul-mouthed punk rockers mocking religion and being obnoxious.
We're actually a group of incredibly talented, thoughtful, spiritual people
exploring what it means to be alive, to be a human being, and to be open to the
ALL of creation... AND we're occasionally foul-mouthed punks! It's great to be a
well-rounded band!
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JULI: For me, the name of the band is an invitation and a warning that
absolutely ANYTHING can happen - no topic is too far out, no idea too
challenging, no musical genre is off-limits, and no lyric too sacred or profane
to be sweetly crooned or howled at the top of our lungs. Being in a band called
the Evangenitals gives us the freedom to explore and express whatever comes our
way, and anyone coming to see a band called the Evangenitals is agreeing to take
a wild trip. With an audience like that, I feel liberated and able to express
myself without holding back.
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If we were called something else, like "Happy Times" or "Pancakes" I think I
would feel a lot more limited as far as what was "appropriate" to present to
people. The goal is creative freedom, and sharing as much of ourselves as
possible with an audience. Commune.
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Phillip Hong is a presenter on AMPM, combining some great indie music with
quotes and interviews. |
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