The gals of Pretty in Stereo are more than just four pretty performers on stage. Unless by pretty you mean full-blooded rocker chicks ready to scratch your eyes out with charged up melodies and magnetic riffs.
"What I tell people is if the Foo Fighters and the Go Go's had a baby, that'd be us," said Jodi Joy, Pretty in Stereo's drummer.
Natalie, Jodi, Cassie and Christine's unique sound is just that, a designer hybrid of alt-pop-arena-hard rock. A "Foo Go" if you will, that is sure to be rock fan friendly with hair band inspired dance beats on songs like "OCD" and "Forever in a Day."
And this foursome wants you to remember their music, not the genre du jour they happen to fall under.
"I don't think we try to be in a category," Natalie Poole, Pretty in Stereo's front woman explained. "We play rock and roll. If that's pop rock, hard rock, alternative rock, agh, there are too many genres. We're not shooting for anything except getting our songs played. And if people are gonna call us alternative rock, by all means do so if they're gonna play us."
Pretty in Stereo definitely has the rock and roll chops to ignite listeners and fans everywhere, shattering a few chronic girl band generalizations along the way.
"I think we are quite proud that we're an all-female band," Joy said. "And, all of us are very heterosexual. Many girl bands in L.A are gay, and we're not."
"And that's fine," Poole continued. "It's just another one of those stereotypes, like people expect you to suck. And expecting you to be gay is not a bad thing, but it's a stereotype. We're just trying to say it doesn't have to be that way, it doesn't have to be any way, it just has to be good."
Together just a year and a half, Pretty in Stereo is finishing up their third release, a four-song EP. This comes on the heels of their first full-length album titled "Far Behind," which was released last spring and caught the attention of many record labels.
"We're on a few radar screens," Joy said. "We're just taking it as it comes and hoping for the best. But our ultimate goal is to have a Grammy in our hands this year," she said laughing.
It seems she's not the only one in the group with high aspirations for the upcoming year.
"We want to get a star on the Walk of Fame. We got the application but..." Poole said laughing along with her bandmates. "No, what we're gonna work on this year is finding a home on a label. We'd like to start moving forward with that."
Poole is the original founder of the band, and sought out some of the best female musicians on the scene. Christine Fullwood, daughter of the great Fully Fullwood, layers her guitar work effortlessly with Poole's dynamic lyrics. Drummer Jodi Joy honed her skills through lessons with Def Leppard's Rick Allen and looks to Tommy Lee for constant inspiration. Bassist Cassandra Clawson joined later but immediately hit it off, blending soundly with Joy to create a solid foundation. And although an all-girl band may seem like an uphill battle to some, Poole and the gang saw it as a welcome challenge.
"I was playing with a lot of musicians and started to realize there was a lapse of good female bands," Poole said. "Not that there weren't any, but there was a serious lapse and serious ideas associated with girl bands, that they couldn't play and that they just complained about hating men. It opened my eyes to the music industry and it was a good opportunity to change the way girl bands are looked at."
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