Putting the "Eye" in "Dance Party"

Who wears women's jeans, delivers electro-snap post-punk with confidence and sass and will drop kick your ass if you mess with their synthesizers. Columbus, Ohio's relatively young, but still totally crucial quartet The Cinema Eye that's who!

For several months now I've received email after emailfrom my friend Mollie Wells telling me about her latest band. During our correspondence she conveyed her excitement with the project, and upon hearing that they'd finished a recording, I asked her to send me their demo E.P. A letter was enclosed with my four-song CD giving me fair warning about how much RAWK I was about to encounter. I slapped the disc in my CD player and was immediately impressed with the presence and energy that blared from the speakers.

I decided to scribble a little note to fellow Bettawreckonizer, Tim Anderl, to see if he had seen or heard The Cinema Eye. Tim was quick to point out that they were "The Junk" and that their stage presence "live" was "a buttload more chaotic and organic than their stellar recorded material."

Currently in the process of recording a split 7" with friends Audion (a band that guitarist Paul Rentler does double duty with) and a CDEP for California's Sound Virus record label, the band paused to answer a few of our questions about their multifaceted influences, the comfort of womens' pants, their previous band name (The Scooby Dudes), and giving a good, old-fashioned whoopin'.

Interview conducted by Motor City Rollie in late October/early November 2002. Introduction by Motor City Rollie and Tim Anderl. Pictures by Anne Anderl

Names: Mollie Wells, keyboards/vocals; Jason Laveris, drums, Paul Rentler, guitar
Carlos Nunez, synths/guitar/bass

Bettawreckonize: Ok….The Cinema Eye. How did this project come together?

Jason Laveris: Well, we decided we wanted to play music together and we just kind of did it.

Mollie Wells: I had actually met Jason online and found out he was a drummer. Carlos and I had just come out of a band that ended really abruptly, but I was really interested in starting something new. Conrad Vollmer (our first guitarist) and I convinced Jason to come to Columbus and play with us. And we just played.

Carlos Nunez: I didn't know anything about this band though! Mollie and Conrad told me that we were starting a band the DAY that Jason first came to Columbus.

MW: Then Conrad moved to New York and we found Paul, who plays in another really awesome band called Audion.

JL: The funny thing is, not only did Paul replace Conrad in the BAND, he actually started working at Conrad's job (at Sears).…

Paul Rentler: And I took his space on Mollie and Carlos' couch.

BW: What exactly is the Cinema Eye?

PR: That's a really good question.

CN: What are we? We really don't know....we're just rock.

MW: I think we're kind of glorified punk with keyboards.

PR: We're rock like Jesus and/or Bill and Ted.

BW: Just heard the other day that the Cinema Eye got signed. What's the scoop on that?

MW: Well, we didn't actually sign anything.

JL: But you can call it whatever the hell you want.…

CN: We didn't TECHNICALLY get signed, we're just doing a record. But we're going to be the biggest rock shit EVER.

MW: My good friend Mark, from the Sick Lipstick, really likes us and he hooked us up with Sound Virus. Mark is working really hard to get our music heard and I'm forever indebted to him for that.

Paul and Jason are not paying attention and discussing the awesomeness of Braniac.

PR: Braniac is sweet. I hear they're big in Dayton.

CN: I hate that band.

MW: What are you talking about? Anyways, we're doing a 12"/CDEP for Sound Virus. We're going to record in December, but we have no idea when it's going to be released.

BW: What's the next step for the Cinema Eye?
CN: Hold on, me and Jason are having a man moment. We're talking about boobs.

JL: We're going to look like such assholes.

PR: Violence.

JL: Carlos getting in MORE bar fights.

PR: I think our most major goal right now is to print one more demo so we can put it under the leg of the table so it won't wobble anymore.

JL: Seriously.

CN: Basically, it's just to play bigger shows and to get people to know who we are, from California all the way to New York City.

JL: We're just playing it by ear, having fun, and seeing what happens.

MW: I think the record with Sound Virus is a really vital step for us. We're definitely out to have a great time, but if we can make a name for ourselves in the process, then great.

CN: I want big rack mount modulation boards on stage.

PR: And robots.

BW: Have you found more comfort in writing songs or performing them?

CN: Performing them.

PR: Man, I've found comfort in the bottle.

CN: Performing them because.…

PR: I'm just the idiot of the band. The hired hand.

CN: Because since day one we've had shows lined up, before we even had any songs. We were out to get on stage.

MW: I love the writing process, but I definitely feel comfortable on stage. Even though I get really nervous still.

JL: I like performing. It's fun.

PR: That's good stuff Jason.

JL: It's dialogue! Come on!

PR: I'll go with performing for 20.

CN: I think the reason we all like performing more is because Mollie and I end up fighting during the writing process.

MW: It's not that bad. We just have different ideas about things. That's definitely one of our strengths, at the same time. You have to expect that shit when you have a couple in the band.

PR: I just want to write guitar solos all over everything.

JL: We need more solos.

Paul makes squeely guitar noises.

BW: Tell me about the Ohio scene and how you fit in?

CN: We don't, really.

JL: Talking about the Ohio scene as a whole is too broad. If you break it down into cities then it's a little bit easier to talk about….

MW: I'm not really sure that we're really part of any scene going on in Ohio. There's a lot of different electronic based stuff happening in Columbus, but it's really nothing like what we do. I think we fit more into a lot of things that are happening in Southern California, maybe.…

BW: I hear a lot of interesting things on the little E.P. I received. I'm very curious to hear about your influences.

JL: I'm into, like, rock and roll. I have absolutely no electronic sensibility what so ever. We have that in our band, but none of it comes from me.

PR: I find that most of musical influences come from Captain Ron.

MW: I come from a really riot grrrl background. I've always listened to Bikini Kill and Sleater Kinney -- you know, girl powered music. I think that comes across in my vocals. All of the electronic stuff comes from Carlos.

CN: I have absolutely no voice in this band at all.

MW: Carlos spends his entire day watching 80's new wave videos on VH-1 classic.

PR: I've always been into rock and roll electronic bands, which makes sense I guess.

BW: Female fronted acts have always been intriguing to me. Mollie, what are some of your favorite female fronted acts and why?

MW: There are so many. I seriously listen to almost all female fronted bands because I like to have something that I can sing along with. I still have a really soft spot for Bikini Kill, Sleater Kinney, Cold Cold Hearts, and Bratmobile, the KRS type bands. I also adore the late Black Cat #13 because, not only were the vocals female, but they're also completely rock. They had this kind of hardcore sensibility that I find really attractive. The Sick Lipstick, who I mentioned earlier are comprised of members of BC#13, which is also a lot of fun. Again, they're on the same label as us. I think its really important that I mention my adoration for Kylie Minogue and Madonna. My love of girly pop music filters in to the Cinema Eye sometimes, I think. Listen to the hooks in our songs, I get that sensibility from pop songs. Most indie bands don't think about writing hooks, but we do and it's due to how much damned MTV we watch.

BW: Is the band chemistry different when you have a Female in it? Does Mollie become a little sister of sorts?

CN, JL, PR: No.

MW: I'm definitely not a little sister to myself. I'm just a bandmate to these boys. It's not brotherly or sisterly at all. It just is....I don't really think about the fact that I'm a girl and they're boys.

CN: Mollie isn't at all a little sister. I don't think the chemistry changes at all.…

PR: It's just like having different types of people on your band, period.

CN: Yeah there's really no female/male thing with this band. We don't pay attention.

BW: I understand that Carlos was kind enough to knock out a kid for trying to disrupt your set one night. Is there any truth to that? What exactly happened....and what is your take on that invisible line that separates the band and their audience?

MW: There's truth to it. This extremely drunk kid who had been causing trouble all night got up on stage with us while we were playing, which is totally fine.…

PR: He started leaning all of his weight against me while I was playing so I just pushed back as hard as I could.

MW: And then he laid on the floor and started grabbing at Carlos' ankles. I mean, it sounds like nothing but he was being really shitty. The whole time I was thinking, "I'm not going to do anything unless he touches my keyboards."

PR: Then Carlos turned into the Hulk and threw him offstage.

CN: He was being a dick. I don't think it's a pretentious thing….

MW: But some people walked away after that. I'm not concerned about it. It wasn't an asshole move, like "Oooh look at us we're the BAND don't come near us." It was just a matter of a guy being a dick while we were playing and that's bullshit.

CN: If he doesn't want to hear us, he can just walk away. He didn't have to be there. He just wanted to cause problems.

MW: I think I try to keep the line between band and audience as open as possible. I hate going to shows where the band is like this almighty power that is completely untouchable, you know? Unless it's like Poison or something. But if its a local band, no way. I think a big part of what we do is to make this kind of music totally accessible. I mean, we've got pop hooks, we've got a big pop sensibility, but we're not like onstage pretending that we're these huge rock stars.…

PR: Yes we are.

MW: Ok, well maybe just a little.

CN: We like people who participate in the show. We always love playing to the Dayton kids who yelled "*Scooby Dudes!" at us. The last time we played in Dayton no one yelled Scooby Dudes while we were playing, and we were all like "Wait, what? Where are we?" They said later that they were trying to give us space without yelling while we were playing.…

*Editors Note. When, very early in the life of the band, I asked Jason Laveris what their name was, he said that they had decided on The Scooby Dudes. TRA.

MW: But we LIKE that!! I hate playing to a room that just stands and stares. But seriously, don't get up on stage and fuck with us while we play, unless you're being fun. This guy was NOT being fun.

BW: I was recently tipped off that Paul and Jason find some comfort level in wearing women's blue jeans. Any fashion tips for the fashonista's out there?

JL: Where did you hear this?

PR: I have no tips.

MW: They soooo wear girls jeans. I think its cute.

PR: They fit better. That's all.

MW: I have a tip. If you're a girl and you want to wear a tie, wear it with a button up shirt. Avril Lavigne has ruined the classiness of the tie.

CN: We're really not huge fashion people. Not intentionally anyways. We all kind of wear the same outfit everyday.

PR: We should all trade outfits sometime.