Exclusive Interview: Storm Large Goes Balls Out

JLG365 girl-crush, drop-dead gorgeous and kick ass rocker Storm Large talks about Rockstar Supernova, horse piss and about being an “opportunistic omnivore”.

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Tell me a bit about your childhood. Where were you born? At what age did you know you wanted to be a performer? Who or what influenced that decision?

[I was] born in Framingham, Mass. I always performed for anyone and everyone, from the moment I posed for my first picture at five minutes old and I crapped all over the nurse.

Who were some of your early musical influences?

[The] Kinks, [The] Beatles, thunderstorms and werewolf movies.

How did you finally “break into” the industry?

Never did. Who the fuck would want to?

You were on Rockstar Supernova. I never watched it, but I do know Dave Navarro was involved in the show somehow. Ah, Dave. I have wanted to have his love child ever since I discovered Jane’s Addiction back in the early nineties. But, I digress. What made you want to compete on that show? And why TEH FUCK didn’t you win?

I did the show for two reasons: equal parts curiosity and publicity. TV sells music more than any other media, [so] I kinda figured out early on I wasn’t going to win, but my song ["Ladylike"], written and produced independently, debuted on Billboard at #5 after playing it one time on TV. It was an intense crazy and fun summer and it improved my business tenfold. Win-win.

I became a fan of your work after my husband sent me a link to your video for “Eight Miles Wide”. It looks like you had an absolute blast making it. How the hell did the directors get that horse to take a piss for you?

Beer. The horse has kind of a problem with it, actually. It’s sad.

Tell me more about Storm and the Balls. How did that whole band come to be? Anything new on horizon for the band?

The Balls started as a joke, punkrock, metal and rap songs done in a torchy lounge style. Then the whole loungecore mashup thing started out of boredom from doing just covers. Really we were a bunch of been there, done that musicians who wanted to have fun playing music again without all the “… let’s get a record deal …” B.S. James [Beaton] and I are the only Balls doing music, exclusively, as our employment. The other boys have families and insurance and security. So, we will play together one day just for fun, but for now it’s all about Crazy Enough.

Tell me more about Crazy Enough, your one woman show and the accompanying CD. And what’s up with Portland? I mean, come on, Philly would love them some Storm Large. Hell, we even have a little place here in Reading, PA, called the “Sovereign Center”. I’m sure your manager could get you a gig here in between the 500 Jehovah’s Witness conventions that are held there every year. In fact, maybe you can be the opening act.

Why go to them? They will eventually come knock on my door to tell me of the good news.

Tell me about your live New York show slated for December 1st.* What can the Big Apple expect from that show? And is this your first NY gig? PS. I will be at the second show because I have a feeling the Jehovahs will not care for you as an opening act in Reading, PA, and this may be my only chance to catch you live.

The shows were great (as you now know), sweaty, fun and sold out. Just how I like em’. Joe’s Pub is a great venue, too!

You have a fucking killer body and some pretty bad ass ink. Can you describe your body art and their meaning? Did you use the same artist for all your work? Any plans for more tats?

George Campise of Everlasting Tattoo did the Lover (his 2nd tattoo ever) and Tanja Nix at Lyle Tuttles did my lower back (her 2nd or 3rd tattoo ever). They’re both in SF. My lower belly was done by Matthew Matteson at Tigerlily in PDX. I want more ink, yes, but gotta hold off until I do some films.

I read in the interview you did for Just Out that you consider yourself an “opportunistic omnivore”. First off, I am totally stealing that label. Sorry. But again, I digress. The gay and lesbian community in the US really does get a raw deal and, not unlike yourself, I am huge advocate of gay rights. Having to watch a gay man in my family whom I love to death struggle with acceptance every day of his life kills me. Tell me more about your advocacy efforts in that arena. Why do you think people are so close-minded when it comes to same-sex relationships? Personally, I blame George W., but I blame him for everything.

Bigotry is prominent on both sides of the aisle (dems and neo-cons). I consider it more sexist than anything. A gay man taking it in the ass makes him a woman, weak, to be dominated. I’m waaaay over-simplifying a very complex phenomena, I know, but, in general, a homophobe is so tweaked about the possibility of being penetrated or emasculated, he’d rather die (or kill for that matter) than see any evidence of that being considered a healthy choice for anyone else. We’re pack animals, we want to surround ourselves with like minded kin, safety in numbers, mob mentality and all that human frailty jive. All of our small evil, reptilian ideas that drive us to hurt or try to wield extreme control over a certain group is all out of fear. That being said, though there is still a lot of work to do, we have come a long way towards the light. Keep walking.

I see you are slated to do a “Crazy Love” gig in Portland early next year. After that, what is next on your agenda?

That’s with the Symphony, yeah. Before, during and after I will be writing a book and getting ready to mount the show in NYC.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Either touring or mounting a new show. Maybe doing film. I will undoubtedly be working my ass off still.

Do you have any words of wisdom for the JLG365 blog faithful?

Drink lots of water and wash your hands a bunch and you’ll be amazed how healthy you’ll be.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Keep your eyes on StormLarge.com for anything coming up in the future that I cannot predict or admit here.

And finally, if you could sum up life in one word, what would it be?

Fuckinyeahdoit.

*Yes, bitches, I know that December 1st was almost two weeks ago. However, I was at the show, I did have a fucking blast and I was fortunate enough to meet some awesome people including the beautiful Raff, the dapper Neal and Storm herself. To see more media from the Joe’s Pub show, check out the JLG365 LIVE! page HERE. Also, don’t be the usual bunch of cheap bastids that I know you all are. Go buy Crazy Enough today! It really is gripping. No pun intended.

Tagged as: Balls, Rockstar Supernova, Storm Large