NANCY LUCABy Nicky Baldrian
NANCY LUCA
By
Nicky Baldrian
Fans of female
fronted bands like Radar, Vixen and Private Life should keep
their ears open for Florida based
singer/songwriter Nancy Luca. Nancy started playing guitar in
Gainesville, Florida when she was in her teens "I had a band
with some guys from school and we played at parties for our
friends." explains Miss Luca. On her sixteenth birthday
party Nancy got stumbled on by the local cops "We played my
sweet sixteen party at my parents house. My neighbour was a
sheriff and he was jogging by the house and saw two of my
classmates rolling a joint in their car. Before we knew it the
party was raided by the police and people were scrambling to bury
their stash." she laughs, before continuing "My dad was
almost hauled off for having beer for minors. It was not a good
ending to a great party but an exciting memory now."
Nancy's climb in the world of rock music had a helping hand from
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty fame, "They would let me into
their shows at the bars around town even though I was underage. I
sat in with them a few times doing some Elvis songs. My first
paid job was at a country western lounge in the house band. We
played six days a week and I got a good salary for an underage
teen I thought. That is where I got in trouble by the owner for
being late from the breaks because I was hanging out with his
son. He would say "You know, it's just pitiful for the band
to start playing without the guitar player because they can't
find her!" Once these truckers were on their CB radios and
the signal came through my guitar amp really loud, "How's
that beaver situation over there at Bobby's Hideaway?" What
a contrast to being in school the next day." laughs Nancy
Nancy
was discovered by a booking agent in Gainesville who hired her to
be a Top 40 supergroup. "We played high profile shows and on
the same day as my school graduation we played in a Battle of the
Bands down in Tampa Florida. After being the only girl in the
bands I had been in, I got the idea to have one guy in the group.
His name was Terry Ettel and the band was called GOSSIP. We
created a huge buzz in the Southeast and played consistently for
a few years but mainly did cover songs. We went into the studio
to do originals shortly before the band's demise, after which I
was in several cover bands and now I'm a solo artist."
Nancy has just released her excellent self titled denut album
"The reaction has been great" she enthuses, "I
love hearing fans yelling out requests from the CD at shows and
then singing along. I've sold most of my CD's at the live shows.
The sales off the Internet have been low but we are getting so
many downloads, it's crazy!" Nancy has a head on her
shoulders buisness wise regarding the record labels "I'm
leery about major labels and possibly having to compromise my
artistic freedom. When I made this CD I was able to use
controversial lyrics and keep my song arrangements intact. The
independent label interest is high and I'm sorting through
offers."
"I write the songs and get input from the other members when
we are working them up. I owe a lot of credit to my drummer,
Kevin Murrillo. I can conceptualize the other instrument's parts
and show them to the stringed creatures in the group but the drum
parts are fantastic creations of Kevin." say Nancy "I
write from observing life situations I'm in or those of someone
close to me or even something I read about such as the one in my
song "Too Much Yang." I read a story about a kid who
was showing off his new gun to his friends younger sister and as
he pointed it at her thinking it was empty he ended up shooting
her dead. When I'm out riding my bike or walking on the beach I
get some clear space in my head from the fresh air.
With
the rhythm of the exercise I get into a groove and some kind of
lyric and melody will channel through me. Sometimes I have to
call my phone machine and sing into it so I can reference it when
I get home. The way I wrote two of the songs I'm recording for my
next CD, I just pressed record on my tape machine and started
singing and playing. The whole song just emerged. Now that's what
I like. Spiritually I just write what I'm feeling and what sounds
good to me. I have to like it to bring it to the light of day. It
has to move and groove me." "The scene in Florida is
picking up" Nancy explains, "I live in Los Angeles and
travel to my home state of Florida several times a year to play
for my fan base there. The Florida scene is very open to hard
rock and they play it on the local stations all the time. In L.A.
it is harder because of the diversity and size of the area. There
is definitely a market for it and I hope to be a big part of that
scene."
Let's hope so, Nancy album has twelve songs in all, so what are
you favorites then "(Plenty of Love)" was born from a
guitar riff I came up with and the message is I've got plenty of
love to go around, I'm not stingy." "(Hello Hell-A) is
an anthem to living in Los Angeles" "(Look Both Ways)
has a soft refrain of the title words and then goes into the
searing guitar solo. The rhythm section really makes this song
the groove monster it is."
"(Don't Piss Down My Back) And (Tell Me It's Raining) has
the heavy power chord progression that musically translates the
sentiment of the song." "(Thorn In My Side) is in 6/4
time and is a story about coming to terms with a relationship
that won't be working out. It has my favorite guitar solo in
it." "(Rejection) is a fun poke at the dating scene. I
did a video to it." "(Too Much Yang) looks at the
unbalanced violent side of life we see on TV news. There is a
killer guitar duel at the end of it."
"(It Only Hurts When I Breathe) is my number 1 downloaded
the song and it is the epitome of power pop. Then my
controversial ending song (Ripped To The Tits.) It is heavy,
bitter rock in your face type stuff. I love it!!"
"I also love to perform live" explains Nancy, "I
played a tour of Bosnia in the winter of '98 for the NATO troops.
It was hard seeing all of that destruction but good to bring the
gift of music. We wore flack jackets and helmets en route to the
different camps. I played with Bo Diddley in his band at the Long
Beach Blues Festival with 20,000 people in the audience. He wrote
a song for me that we sang together. I've played on the Sunset
Strip in Hollywood with my band and on Melrose Blvd. at a trendy
spot called The GIG with my band. The shows in Florida are always
a big high and the fans there are great".
"There was one time in Huntington
Beach when a guy who had way too many beers decided to come up to
the stage and moon me. I kicked him right in the butt without
missing a note on my solo. We caught it on video. I should put
that on my web site!" laugh Nancy, yes that would be funny
to see I think. Nancy continues "It's great that Iron Maiden
and Bon Jovi are in vogue again, I think that this kind of music
is ready for a comeback. This music is fun and alive with a
positive feel for guitars and a strong beat. It's music that
pounds with your heart and soul. What's not to like about
that?"
For the immediatew future Nancy is all set to record ten new
songs for her second album "I have this great rock anthem
that will be the title song called (I Play Guitar)" "I
hope my music bring happiness and smile to all who listen, but
these are just words, and it's not about words, it's about rock
and roll baby"
We will keep you posted in the progression of Nancy second reocrd
until then make sure you check out her excellent self titled
debut by writing to: Nancy Luca, Gatorville Records, 3005 Main
Street, STE 304,Santa Monica, California 90405 or Email: Lucatunes@aol.com or
Lucatime@yahoo.com or
lucatunes@earthlink.net http://www.nancyluca.com