Pheaturing Alumni Tish Meeks From 3 Kisses

Hello, welcome back to Alumni Month on the Phile, kids. Thanks for stopping by. If you're taking notes, I am still doing the blog on Logan's computer. I will let you know when that changes. Like it really matters, right. Yesterday I went to see The Expendables, or tried to see it. I misread the time and was late. Anyway, In The Expendables, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger beat up Sylvester Stallone for convincing them to invest in Planet Hollywood. When Schwarzenegger heard the title The Expendables, he thought it was in reference to California’s teachers. President Obama had a 24-hour vacation on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Some Republicans are attacking him for not staying longer. They have a point. President Bush used to vacation for weeks at a time. The president was there to promote tourism in the Gulf. He even jumped into the Gulf to prove it was safe. Unfortunately, he did a cannonball right onto a pelican. Paris Hilton got paid $3.5 million to wear fake hair. That’s more than she gets paid to wear nothing. Hey, good news: Rod Blagojevich was convicted of only one of 24 counts against him: Transporting illegally silky hair across state lines. Snooki from “Jersey Shore” was in court after being arrested for public drunkenness. How can you arrest someone for doing their job? She was also charged with public annoyance. If that’s a crime, everyone on that show should get the death penalty. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith has signed on to become a judge on “American Idol.” Fox is taking a good lead singer away from singing to help them find a bad singer. Brett Favre announced that he will return for another season with the Minnesota Vikings. He said he won’t quit football until everyone can spell his name right. I did, right? Did you guys ever see that kid's TV show "Lazy Town"? Logan used to watch it, but I thought it was creepy. I was right. Take a look at this new promotional poster for it.

Speaking of kid's stuff, Logan showed me an inspirational poster about Sonic the Hedgehog that I didn't get. Take a look.

See what I mean?

Bobby Thomson
October 25, 1923 - August 17, 2010
The shot heard round the underworld.

Scott Pilgrim is 22 and lives in Toronto with his gay best friend, plays in a band, is dating a 17-year-old girl named Knives and has now fallen for a girl named Ramona whose hair color changes weekly. Except all of that stuff is happening simultaneously in both real life and inside Scott's video game life. Not on parallel tracks or anything, it's all just the same thing at the same time. It's the fake, all-snow Toronto that exists inside a digital world where the scrawny boy-man and his supporting cast are both players and roles being played. The object: defeat Ramona's seven evil ex-romantic partners (as they die they rain down coins on Scott's head) and win her. Also, perhaps, maybe grow up a little. That last part proves to be mostly optional, a kind of "if you feel like it" thing. So, under the surface, this is a straightforward coming-of-age/get-the-girl movie with an old-fashioned set of conflicts and resolutions. But it's not overpraise to say that the surface is like nothing you've ever seen before. In fact, these are surfaces that actively upstage the plot, trying to become the entire movie. It takes a million moments from the visual culture of the past 30 years and compresses them into the kind of thing people who've made movies based on video games have tried to do this whole time and not quite achieved. It's aggressive and loud and, just like any nerdy kid playing a game where he slays dragons or ninjas or drug dealers, gets to have its cake and eat it, too, by reveling in Scott P's self-absorption and immaturity, then allowing him the option to cloak them all while he heroes it up in fantasy battle-land. Edgar Wright has already directed the extremely cool Shaun of The Dead and (the sort of less extremely cool but still really funny) Hot Fuzz. He's the kind of filmmaker who knows exactly what he wants to do and how he wants to come across. He's still in the earliest part of his movie-making career but he's already comfortable throwing genres together and remixing them, the kind of thing you can only accomplish by having a truckload of self-assurance. And seeing this film is witnessing him pushing everything forward a little bit. And it forces its own visual logic on the audience, jumping from location to location just like in a game or a comic book. The next place you land may simply be the predicate of the sentence being spoken by a character. That character might not even finish the sentence, you'll just wind up there anyway. And while it forces its main player into a junkyard of narcissism, projection, powerlessness, ego and wobbly manhood, its supporting characters are all headstrong examples of young women (and one gay guy) who just just as easily be the protagonists of their own stories. From 1 to 10, it gets a five so I won't be buying it when it comes out. Logan really liked it though, especially the fight scenes.

Okay, today's Alumni guest is the second to be pheatured on the Phile 3 times. 3 Kisses has a new new album called “Lethal Love Addiction” (Batteries not included)" and they'll be launching a U.S tour in early fall. Please welcome back to the Phile, lead singer from the band 3 Kisses... Tish Meeks.

Me: Hello, Tish, welcome back to the Phile. So, how are you?

Tish: Thanks for having me back, Jason. It has been a crazy year, but I am doing great!

Me: You are the second guest to be on the Phile three times. You were beat by Jeff Cameron. Have you heard of him?

Tish: No, I hadn’t heard of Jeff, but of course I looked him up. He’s done some cool stuff!

Me: Okay, first things first... have you gotten any new tats since we last spoke a year ago? You need a Peverett Phile tat.

Tish: LOL. Yes, I have a few new tats. I got the oldest known symbol for freedom/liberation incuneiform on my right arm following my divorce. Then, I got a punk rock skull with a band mate, a Cheshire cat with my brother and a Hopi wave pattern, symbolizing rebirth. I’m done for awhile. I don’t get tats during the summer because I like to be in the water too much. Don’t know about a Peverett Phile tat… I love ya and all, but that’s quite a commitment! lol

Me: I know you're a big Joan Jett fan, Tish. Did you get to see the movie Cherry Bomb? I didn't but will probably rent it from Netflix. By the way, I am still hoping to get Joan on the Phile.

Tish: No, I didn’t catch Cherry Bomb but I’m sure I will eventually. As I said, it’s been a crazy year and I haven’t had time for much fun. That’s all changing, though!

Me: You changed some band members recently, didn't you? What happened there?

Tish: Well, my ex-husband, Tony, was in the band for 5 years. When we divorced, he left the band, as well, which was a good thing – his heart was never in it. Then, I relocated my family and the band to San Antonio, TX, a couple of months ago. My drummer, Andrew Wood, has been with me for almost 2 years and he came along, but we recently got a new guitarist, Maestro Aurora, who I’ve been friends with for 5 years and a new bassist, Jeff Vandeventer, who I’ve been friends with for almost a year. They are doing great and it’s going to be the most solid 3 Kisses line-up ever. I’m very excited to get out and start playing CD release shows.

Me: Did you ever think about just going solo?

Tish: I did consider going solo after the break-up of my marriage, but since I am the primary songwriter in 3 Kisses and I have spent so much time marketing the band, I decided to stick with it. It is being marketed more around me, though, and I am going to do a solo album at some point, but that is more for me than anything. Not really sure what will happen with it.

Me: Let's talk about your new album "Lethal Love Addiction (Batteries not included)". It's unusual for an album title to have a name in brackets, as we say in the U.K.. How did the album title get to be that?

Tish: Haha… all the credit for the album title goes to Joe O’Brien at Rat Pak Records. I got to watch the debacle I call my life unfold over the past year, so he had a lot of input in the songs that were chosen for the album, the branding and obviously, the title.

Me: I have to be honest, the cover is so much better than the cover for the last album "American Breakdown" with that scary pig guy. Whose idea was to put a hot picture of you on the cover?

Tish: Haha… scary pig guy. Well, Joe gets credit for the ‘hot’ (thank you, btw) picture of me, as well. He hated the "American Breakdown" artwork, but I, as well as the rest of the band, insisted on using the ‘scary pig guy.’ I’ve since learned that part of being signed to a label is letting the label do their job. It’s very tough for me to relinquish control of my band to someone else because it’s my baby and I’ve done all the work for such a long time. I totally trust the crew at Rat Pak, though, and I’m learning to back off.

Me: Is it going to be on iTunes, Tish?

Tish: The new CD will be available on iTunes very soon. I know it’s already been submitted, so it’s just a matter of iTunes making it available.

Me: How is this album different then the prior one? Any ballads on the new album?

Tish: This is a very transitional album for me. It is compiled from 3 different recording sessions with Eric LaBrosse (Cherry Pit Studios, Milwaukee, WI) and another recording session with Dan Workman (SugarHill Studios, Houston, TX). It is a huge collaborative project featuring a ton of musicians and songwriters and goes from songs that were written by me and my ex-husband all the way to songs that were written with various players who’ve come in and out of the band over the past year. I also do quite a bit of writing with my current drummer (who conveniently also plays guitar) and some of the songs were written just by me. There’s some pretty stuff on the album, including the last track, “Work of Art” which is keyboard driven – not something 3 Kisses usually does.

Me: Did I read you're making a video? What is the concept and do you do some acting in it?

Tish: There are a couple of video projects in the works. Everything is in the early developmental stages, so I don’t have much to report, although we do plan to do a conceptual video for the song “Psycho Stalker.” I’m sure there will be updates at ratpakrecordsamerica.com/3kisses.cfm as we progress.

Me: So, you're planning a tour?

Tish: We are planning to tour sometime this fall, but that’s all kinda up in the air at this point, too. I’m trying to just take one thing at a time and not stress myself out too much. We just finished the CD pre-release and now the band is focused on learning songs from the new album, getting the new guys up to speed and getting out and playing shows regionally in Texas. But a tour will definitely come eventually. Our out-of-state fans are getting restless and I don’t want to disappoint them!

Me: How are the family and kids, Tish?

Tish: Benji and Hannah are doing great. I have full custody of them, so in addition to running the band, I’m also learning to be a full time single parent. They are making it easy on me, though. They are amazing kids! It’s been a helluva year for them, too.

Me: Tish, thanks again for coming back to the Phile. I hope all is well, and you are welcomed back when your next album comes out. Go ahead, plug your website and any causes you support... by the way, is Jager still the drink preferred by 3 Kisses?

Tish: We are still proudly sponsored by Jager and it will always be the 3 Kisses favorite! Our primary charity is Susan G. Komen for the Cure (we just played the San Antonio race in May) and we will continue to support Komen until there is a cure for breast cancer. People can check us out on Rat Pak Records at www.ratpakrecordsamerica.com/3kisses.cfm and get all the latest news on what’s going on with 3 Kisses there. I would love to come back when we release our next album!

Me: Take care and rock on, Tish.

Tish: Thanks so much for your support, Jason. I really appreciate you interviewing me for a 3rd time! I’m honored!

That was a good interview. Thanks to Tish for taking time out to be on the Phile again. Buy the album and check out the liner notes where I am mentioned. Okay, the Phile will be back next Thursday with Alumni Joy Ike. So, until then, spread the word, not the turd, don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye love you bye. Now, I have to let Logan get on the computer so he can play the Heroes Factory game or something.