Albanorecently took a break from her day job at the Hi Fi Café to talk more about thesound of The Flips. She was joined by Wendy Norton, The Flips’ guitarist.Norton, who also plays guitar in Plexi 3, explained the formation of The Flips.The band, she says, started as a collaboration between her and Natalie C.,guitarist for local band Sticks N Stones. They list some of their mutualinfluences as The Shangri-Las, Martha and the Vandellas, The Ronettes, andNancy Sinatra.
“Natalie and I always wanted to start aproject together, and we’ve always loved that stuff, so we decided we needed tostart an all-girl band,” Norton says.
Norton and Natalie C. assembled a groupof six local rock queens for the group, all of who have been playing in bandsin the Milwaukeescene for years. Albano plays drums for CryCoyote, and the group includes Betsy Hiebler as lead vocalist and StephanieSwinney on bass. Both also play in the Sugar Stems. Francoise Switalski, alsoof Plexi 3, plays piano.
The group put out a self-titled 7-inchsingle in February 2009 on HoZac records, and has a second 7-inch releaseplanned for early 2010. Interestingly, that record will have two B sides.
“Natalie said, ‘You messed up the albumart,’” Norton recalls. “And I said, ‘No, it’s supposed to be two B sides. Getit? We’re The Flips,” Norton says, pantomiming a confused Flips fan searchingfor an A side.
True to their image and influences, thegroup has recorded some songs that seem straight out of 1963, including “IStill Wanna Be His Girl,” “Baby It’s Gonna Be Alright” and “I Just Don’t KnowWhere I Stand Anymore.”
Albanoand Norton said that the name The Flips is simply meant to convey old-fashioned“Shanga-lang, Doo-wop” good times.
“It’s just a fun, ’60s name,” Nortonsays. “It could mean a physical flip, or like a hairdo.” After choosing thename, though, they found out there is more than one band out there named “TheFlips.”
“But we’re the only band with a real Flipin it,” Albano says, laughing. Someoneinformed the band that “Flip” is also outdated slang for a Filipino person. Albano, who is Filipino, seems to see the funny side ofit.
Although the group doesn’t have time totour, and shows can be far between, the members enjoy their Flips time. Thegroup has developed a devoted following that includes a lot of their fellowmusicians from the basement and bar scene.
“We all get along great together and wehave a lot of fun. We record and manage ourselves, and we’re really positiveabout the girl music scene,” Albano says.
TheFlips play Nov. 6 at Frank’s Power Plant with Zygoteens, Eva Grubb, and Andoand the Jolly Barrels.
