GIRL IN A COMA HAS BLACKHEART

San Antonio’s own Girl in a Coma have released their Black Heart Records debut ‘Both Before I’m Gone’ and the story behind the band getting signed to Joan Jett’s label is quite amazing. After honing their song writing and performing skills for close to six years, Girl in a Coma caught the eye of two Los Angeles based producers visiting San Antonio, who just happened to be looking for the perfect band for the pilot episode of a national documentary TV series on up and coming Latino bands. With cameras in hand, they filmed the girls for three weeks, flew them to New York for a special Knitting Factory show, and surprised the band with an introduction to one of the Girls’ idols, Joan Jett. On camera, and much to the surprise of everyone involved, Joan and her long-time producing partner Kenny Laguna, were blown away, and so impressed with the band that they asked the Girls to join Blackheart Records on the spot.

We caught up with Girl in a Coma recently to discuss the bands excitement and relief in having one of their idols, Joan Jett sign them to her label and sharing the stage with Jett at South by Southwest in Austin.

“(Phanie) We were excited when Joan asked us on the label. I don’t know, we just felt think ‘Woo! Finally! We can get this album out!’ Then with somebody great and legendary it was really awesome.” “(Nina) It was pretty exciting for us to even share the stage with her just being an opening act. I had the pleasure of going up there and playing two songs with her and two other members of The Dollyrots and The Vacancies. It was just kind of strange experience and it was very exciting.”

The Girls teamed up in Austin with producers Erick Sanger and Gabe Gonzales, both formerly of Sparta, and quickly set down the songs for their debut album, “Both Before I’m Gone.” We also caught up with the girls to discuss having fun this time around in the studio.

“Once we got to the studio we only recorded it in two weeks and because we had been playing these songs for so long it was really easy. Nina had already pre produced it. It was so much fun. It really was because our past experiences, well for Phanie and I, in the studio we just really don’t like it. You know, our demos and stuff. But this time it was fun and we were working with Gabe Gonzales and Erick Sanger they had such great ideas and it was like. ‘Yeah! Yeah!’ Everything just flowed. Nina was doing some background vocals and it was so much fun to watch her and listen to her layer her vocals. It was just great. It was a great time and a fun album to make.”

Girls in a Coma consist of High School best friends Jenn Alva and Phanie Diaz and Phanie’s younger sister Nina, who would at an early age shock Jenn and Phanie not only with her vocal ability but with her song writing skills as well. We spoke to Nina about performing a song for Jenn and Phanie at the tender age of Twelve and having the girls quickly ask her to be a part of the band.

“You know I was a little afraid. What if they just make fun of me. Before I had covered that song ‘Dream’ by The Everly Brothers and I gave them a tape of it and they secretly liked it and then I showed them a song that I had wrote and it was in the daytime and they were on the porch hanging out and I came out with my guitar ‘Hey I wrote this song.’ And I played it and they were ‘You wrote it?’ And I was like ‘Yeah!’ I guess they talked to themselves and they came to me. We had a meeting and we decided that girls good. That girls really good. She can be in the band. I was excited because it’s your older sister and she wants to hang out with you. ‘Yeah I’ll be in the band!’

After turning heads and adding fans on a run of dates on The Warped Tour, Girl in a Coma will continue touring in support of ‘Both Before I’m Gone’ with dates extending until September 30th at The Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California. Girl in a Coma will perform at the Latin American Cinemateca of L.A.