Rockit Girl
Rockit Girl rebounds after singer’s time in Veruca Salt, run in with Courtney Love
by Andy Argyrakis
In a chronological sense, this year marks the second coming of Chicago’s rough edged Rockit Girl, who first made a splash on the indie scene with 1999’s The Lift Off EP but took a break for its singer’s pursuit of other projects. One of those detours was front women Gina Crosley joining fellow chick rocker Louise Post’s band Veruca Salt in 2000, followed by the bizarre super group Bastard later that year. Fans may recall that latter act was lead by notorious bad girl Courtney Love and also featured Post and former Hole drummer Patty Schemel, but due to the volatile nature of anything associated with its celebrity figurehead, the stint was short lived. Despite the disappointment of that project not working out and her eventual departure from Veruca Salt (and Los Angeles where she transplanted for the gigs) Crosley kept her head up and reconvened Rockit Girl. Throughout the last few years, the group’s worked on sessions for its fall 2004 full length effort Bright Lights, refining such tracks on tour and rebuilding its fan base. Here’s more from a conversation with the vivacious vocalist just prior to the record hitting streets:
SOAK: What were your inspirations when first forming Rockit Girl and how did that lead to your role in Veruca Salt?
Crosley: When I first formed Rockit Girl, I was inspired by Veruca Salt. I actually got asked to join that band just before then by Louise Post because their singer Nina Gordon was leaving, but at the time it just didn’t seem right. Instead, she offered to help produce the [Rockit Girl] project and we were able to write and record six songs immediately before Louise hit the road for tour. The band formed in July of 1999 and we had our first EP out by 2000.
SOAK: How did you initially meet Louise and why did you turn down the invitation to join her group the first time?
Crosley: Louise walked into a club I was playing at and asked for me after seeing my old band Emil Muzz. I was one of her biggest fans in Chicago and was about 20 at the time, but I don’t think I was ready to take on the position. Initially they needed a singer who could play bass and I wasn’t that experienced at the time. She still really wanted me in the band and moved one of the guys to bass, but realized they really needed a girl in that position and hired someone else at the time.
SOAK: What was the factor that eventually lead you to join her group?
Crosley: Their record Resolver was released in May 2000 and I joined in October that year after the person they hired wasn’t working out. By then, I had a few years of practice under me and had been playing in Rockit Girl for a long time, but I still sat down for about eight hours a day and learned every John Paul Jones bass line I could before [singing on]!
SOAK: How did that role lead to teaming up with Courtney Love in Bastard?
Crosley: That was freaky because it really formed over night. Online one night Courtney Love posted a message that she was going to have Louise be part of a new band, so with that I called her right away to find out if it was true. Louise actually hadn’t ever been asked by Courtney, but she called her manager to find out what the story was. The manager said Courtney wanted her in, and even though she was really busy with Veruca Salt, Louise said “yes.” The manager asked if she knew any bass players and that’s how I came into the picture. The next morning I woke up to 20 voice mails, 100 emails and my name in every radio, newspaper and magazine announcing the group.
SOAK: That sounds like an unbelievable experience! How were you able to deal with such a fast track to fame?
Crosley: I was 22 by then and out of my mind that all that was happening. Within a week, I was on a plane to L.A. to go to rehearsals and we were already signed to Epitaph [Records] basically bleeding money out of our eyes to produce those sessions. But after rehearsals, Courtney left to make a movie, which took longer than expected, and we went on the road with Veruca. We didn’t get together until four or five months later, and that’s when the dissolve started.
SOAK: What’s it really like working with Courtney?
Crosley: I really hate to say it because everyone says the same thing, but I couldn’t stand being around her. She would show up six or seven hours late to a rehearsal where we would all have been playing and having so much fun. She’d bring this black cloud and then start screaming at everybody with no respect or kindness. I’ve often regretted that I didn’t stand up around her, but I was really trying so hard to be a pro and wouldn’t sink to her level. Louise lasted two weeks after that and then she walked out of the studio too.
SOAK: At what point did you decide to come back to Chicago to revisit Rockit Girl?
Crosley: We did an E! “Christmas with the Stars” special in December 2001, but then I moved back in January 2002 because I had spent a lot of time waiting for Veruca Salt to do something more, which we hadn’t aside from the special, since October 2001. It felt really good coming home and I figured I would do Rockit Girl until things picked back up with Veruca Salt, which they never did. It was strange how I had a taste of success, had my name in Rolling Stone and how it all happened so quickly, but everything happened for a reason.
SOAK: What is the current dynamic or Rockit Girl as conveyed through Bright Lights?
Crosley: Honestly, I think I’ve always sort of written what I know and what I know and love, which are pop songs and rock songs from AC/DC to the Beatles. Veruca encompassed those, plus Zeppelin and Stones influences. I write whatever comes out, and as far as the band goes, bleed the person that I am. I’m the bandleader, so it’s always up to me to decide what’s going on, which is great, but also a lot of work. In a way I’m a control freak, but only in the sense that I don’t want to fail. As much fun as I had in Veruca, we had a manager to take care of everything, and when he didn’t, it drove me crazy. I’m ultimately responsible for successes and failings, which is great if all goes well and my fault if they don’t. Everybody respects my vision and they’re confident and competent players, which help achieve that vision.
SOAK: Now that the record is out, where can fans expect to see the band?
Crosley: We’re going to be hitting the road this fall playing some clubs and festivals through the Midwest up through Canada. We’ve been receiving attention from labels, different promoters and talent buyers, so I have a feel everything is about to explode. I had the same feeling right before I joined Veruca Salt and I can feel something in the air again. The possibilities are endless!
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