Collette England - A Closer Look

Drummer for the Norfolk-based all-female rock trio, the Drendas, Collette England was interviewed alongside her two bandmates, guitarist Holly Womack and bassist Denise Lawrence, here in July of last year. After learning that playing with the Drendas isn't Collette's only artistic outlet (okay, and seeing that she looks like a young Susan Sarandon), I contacted her for a solo interview.

Besides pounding the skins for the Drendas (okay, and looking like a young Susan Sarandon while doing it), Collette also performs with Norfolk's own Absolute Uncertainty Sketch and Improv Comedy. As the solo interviewee here, she talks about that and a few other facts about herself that the casual Drendas' fan probably didn't know, such as her also being a Navy veteran. Of course, Collette gives her Drendas bandmates and her fellow performers in Absolute Uncertainty a shout-out, as well as the The Pushers' Improv Training and a certain someone for being "so onboard with all her shenanigans." Oh, and when asked to supply a photo, Collette is know to go above and beyond the call, as exemplified by the above and particularly by the following photo, both courtesy of Collette, herself.

February 24, 2016 interview with Collette England

Shannon Mac - Live from Krungthep Thai

Singer and actress Shannon McDonough talks with me live from Krungthep Thai restaurant in Minneapolis, before a performance by the Shannon Mac Band later that evening at Lee's Liquor Lounge. See upcoming dates for the Shannon Mac Band at their official website. One of the handful of ladies who has graced these pages multiple times, also check out Shannon's 2014 St. Patrick's Day feature and her September 2014 interview. Above photo by Reedy.

January 20, 2016 interview with Shannon McDonough

Goldie Fatale

Born and bred in the great state of Tennessee, actress, model, and producer Mandy Hawley, know professionally as Goldie Fatale, colorfully describes herself in a way that I can't equal, so I'll just quote her from her bio at her blog, which states she's a: "Klutz, barfly, adventurer, socially dangerous blond, wing-woman for the romantically bankrupt, methodically disorganized genius, AWOL, self proclaimed virtuoso, anti-hipster lover, southern empress, red neck diva, Jesus phone hater, bootylicious boloney [sic] pony whisper, and female Hoss." Even thought I believe her acronym "AWOL" is different than the military's and I'm not sure what that next-to-last one is exactly, I'm sure Goldie is all that and more. She's a blast to talk to and her being from Nashville is an added plus for me.

Goldie and her fellow actress and Nashville babe, Andie Noir (Andrea Collins) founded Fatale Noir Productions in early 2011 and have since brought us Holy Ground, which they filmed as a tribute to the Evil Dead and director Sam Raimi, and The Grindhouse Sleepover of Terror, in which the ladies play hostesses to a trio of splatter films in which the splatter is featured, not cut out.

Singer is also on Goldie's resume and she informed me with a slight southern twang, that a country single of hers entitled "Old Flame" received some airplay a few years back and with a little coaxing from fans, I'm sure it will be available from Goldie in the near future. Learn more in my recent interview with Goldie by just pressing play and I hope you guys at Larry's in Nashville (stiff drinks and karaoke seven nights a week!) appreciate the plug. Above photo courtesy of Goldie herself.

January 4, 2016 interview with Goldie Fatale

2015 Christmas Compilation

As has now become an annual tradition at Idol Features, here are some ladies who we've interviewed and featured throughout the last couple of years and were gracious enough to send us photos of themselves dressed in the spirit of the occasion. Above is horror hostess Lilith Death (played by the lovely Jessica Felice, who will be seen further on in this article) in a still from the Tales of Horror Christmas Eve Special. Catch it Thursday, December 24th at 8:00 PM Eastern on Tales of Horror TV, exclusively at Vimeo on Demand. Merry Christmas!

The Drendas

The Drendas are an all-female rock band, hailing from Norfolk, Virginia. The ladies; (above, left to right) Denise Lawrence (Bass, backing vocals), Holly Womack (Guitar, lead vocals), and Collette England (Drums, backing vocals) formed in the fall of 2012 and have since made quite a name for themselves around the Tidewater region club circuit, playing their blend of garage rock and surf punk. The band released their debut EP Boy Trouble, in May of last year and have recently released their sophomore EP; Stuck in Your Head. In between their frequent live performances, Holly tells me they plan on recording more songs in the near future with a few different producers in their home city of Norfolk.

Bass Girl, Mascara Messi

Mascara Messi is the bassist for the indie rock band Leopard Bonapart, who've made quite a name for themselves in and around their native Moscow. The band's sound has been described by music journalists and pundits as having elements of glam and rockabilly. Regularly headlining at major venues like Moscow's Hard Rock Cafe and festivals, such as "Rock on the Roof," they're one of the most popular young bands in Moscow and are on the verge of gaining international attention. Mascara tells me that her and her bandmates are currently working on an album scheduled for release this fall, and are planning a tour that will include the United States next spring, but the specific cities have yet to be determined.

Ronnett'a Spencer

Ronnett'a Spencer made her recording debut at the age of seven, when she appeared on the track "Barre Baby," off of rapper Big Moe's 2000 album, City of Syrup. That followed with an appearance on Tow Down's version of Hall and Oates' "Rich Girl," on his 2002 release Chicken Fried Steak. A few years later, she auditioned for American Idol and was on her way to being a contender, due in part to her impressive vocal range. However, as AI rules would have it, she was soon informed that she had to be disqualified because she was underage.

Now 22, the Houston, Texas native and daughter of famed R&B artist Ronnie Spencer, has made a name for herself as a solo performer. She released her debut album, The Beauty of It All early last year and is currently working on a follow-up, with all songs she's written herself.

Scarlett Dark

Scarlett Dark is the lead singer, keyboardist, and a founding member of the San Francisco Bay Area rock band, Lipshok. Their music is described as "progressive symphonic metal that is unique, gothic, haunting, melodic, ethereal, and highly commercial." At one time a cover band, they now have three albums behind them with a fourth due out later this year, in which most of the songs are penned by Scarlett.

In the mundane world (as she puts it) Scarlett is known as Debbi Douglas; wife, mother, and tennis pro. No kidding ....and her tennis credentials are impressive. As a competitor, Debbi (as I'll refer to her when I'm talking about her tennis career) was ranked as high as number 4 in women's singles in California. In college, she reached number 7 in the NCAA, and was a two time All American. She was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Cal State Hayward, just last year. Even though many of Debbi's colleagues and students at the Harbor Bay Tennis Club (where she works by day) are aware of her alter ego, Scarlett Dark, this revelation will probably come as a "shok" to Lipshok fans reading this. Just read on to learn more about the Lipshok frontwoman. Above photo of Scarlett performing at the Mojo Lounge in Fremont, is courtesy of Scarlett, herself.

Caroline Blind

Singer and guitarist Caroline Bokman currently fronts the San Francisco-based punk metal band Dammit!, but she's probably best-known by most fans as Caroline Blind, from when she was lead vocalist of Sunshine Blind. Described as a "goth/trip hop/darkwave" band, Sunshine Blind was co-founded by Caroline in 1991. Over the next 12 years, they extensively toured clubs throughout the US and released four studio albums before breaking up in 2003.

These days, Caroline calls San Francisco home and she can be seen performing with Dammit! at many of the Bay Area's premiere hard rock venues, such as Oakland's Uptown Nightclub, Johnny V's in San Jose's and the City's own DNA Lounge, where she reunited with Sunshine Blind for a show just last year.

What casual fans may not know about Caroline, is that she holds a BA in psychology and worked as a marriage and family therapist intern. She tells me her goal was to counsel bands and artists, who often have the same issues and dysfunctions married couples face, and those of us who have been in touring bands sure can concur with that. Caroline talks about that and more here in my recent interview with her. Other topics we cover are, why she doesn't have a definitive home town, the possibility of further Sunshine Blind reunions, and her current gig with Dammit!, in which she now may be handling bass, as well as vocal duties, on a permanent basis.

What would have been Elissa Dowling's interview

As stated in a few previous posts; sometimes, despite good efforts, some interviews just don't pan out. However, I'm not going to let the time I spend researching the interviewee and coming up with good and pertinent questions, go to waste, as one can see from viewing all the incomplete interviews that have been published at this site.

I published this brief piece on actress Elissa Dowling back in March, as sort of a lead-in to the interview she'd agreed to. Since it didn't happen, here are almost all of the questions I'd planned on asking her. I say "almost" because, after she previewed them, she informed me she'd pass on answering a couple for privacy reasons, which was fine with me. At left is where her photo would have gone and I would have given photo credit to the photographer here.

Friday the 13th Victim, Chelsea

It's that day again and here we have Camp Crystal Lake visitor Chelsea, played by Willa Ford, getting skewered from above and providing viewers with a brief posthumous breast flash, in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th.

Unlike many of the actresses who've played hapless victims of Jason Voorhees, Miss Ford is not and probably will not, end up in the "Whatever Happened to..?" file. Although her official website looks pretty old-style and hasn't been updated since 2012, the now-34 year-old singer-turned-actress, who used to go by "Mandah," has stayed busy since she began her career in 1999. Check out her IMDB page for her other credits.

Jess Greenberg - "Rock and Roll"

Above is Youtube star Jess Greenberg belting out an acoustic cover of the 1971 Led Zeppelin classic "Rock and Roll" that would surly make Page and Plant proud. Jess, who'll be 20 next month, performs all the songs she covers unaccompanied, unplugged, without overdubbing, and in the keys they were originally performed in.

Despite her up-front, outrageous sexiness, some cleverly-titled articles on her videos like "The Breast 'Highway To Hell' Cover Of All Time" and some bloggers criticizing her for "sexying-up" her image since her Youtube debut four years ago, Jess' playing and singing can easily stand on their own, regardless of the look she goes with. To hear and, of course, see more of Jess, check out her Youtube channel, her official website and she's on Twitter.

Shannon McDonough Revisited

Actress, model, and (as she puts it) self-employed rock star Shannon McDonough was featured here back on St. Patrick's Day, as I thought it appropriate to have an Irish lass in top spot that day. I recently got in touch with the multi-talented Minnesota native for for this follow-up interview.

Even though Shannon has starred and looked great in such retro sci-fi films as Terror from Beneath the Earth, Attack of the Moon Zombies, and The Giant Spider, she's more a fan of classic musicals and doesn't aspire to being a Scream Queen. (In fact, she hates spiders.) Her versatility has also landed her roles in which she's showed her comedic and dramatic sides in non-horror films, such as Jarrod Crooks' Thieves Like Us and Dispatched. As a singer, Shannon has appeared all around the Twin Cities area, currently with Elvis tribute performer Anthony Shore.

One fact about Shannon that she seems to understate, is that she's also a very talented artist. An example of one of her drawings, as well as info on where others are available, in her interview after the break. The above photo is from a recent shoot with Old Abbot Photography.

James Girls

Artist and photographer Mike James has been capturing gorgeous ladies with his camera, pen, and sculptures for nearly 20 years. Every image he publishes are just as much illustrations as they are photographs. Featuring out-of-this-world sexy models in outfits that he often creates himself, the ladies' poses and themes range from the outrageous to the the fairly mundane. Of course, seeing ladies looking like this doing everyday tasks such as cooking breakfast or doing the laundry seems inconceivable, which is all part of Mike's unique style.

Also a pioneer in the resin sculpture field, Mike's figurines are considered the finest of their kind. Not mass produced, the characters are his own original creations that he carefully crafts himself, to maintain quality. As for his work with a brush, some of his pin-up girls can be found on video cover art, speedboats, and even a professional lacrosse goalie's helmet.

I recently contacted Mike and asked him if he would tell me a little about some of his lovely models, whom he's dubbed "James Girls," to which he happily obliged. (I can't say the ladies in this article are his favorite models, because all the models he regularly shoots are his favorites, he tells me.) Of course, wanting to hear from the other side of Mike's camera lens, I also asked several of the James Girls what it's like to do a shoot with Mr. James. After hearing their replies, it's no wonder that most of the ladies who did their first shoot with Mike over a decade ago, still pose for him today. Above is one of those ladies, top Hollywood stuntwoman Jasi Lanier, from one of her most recent shoots with Mike, entitled "Caged Legs."

Luna Lee on Gayageum

Above is gayageum virtuoso Luna Lee (known professionally as simply "Luna") covering the guitar solos from the 1976 Eagles classic "Hotel California" with such perfection, it would surely make Don Felder and Joe Walsh proud.

The Korean National University of Arts graduate has been studying the traditional Korean instrument since childhood, and also teaches traditional music to elementary school students. According to an April 2013 interview Luna did with the Korea Times, she began experimenting with American-style blues after a guitarist friend introduced her to the song "Tender Surrender," by Stevie Ray Vaughan. In the interview, Luna was quoted as saying the "gayageum has a technique called nong-hyun, which is quite similar to bending on the guitar, but nong-hyun can go further. It really has a dynamic range. This makes the gayageum perfect for playing the blues."

To date, her Youtube channel has nearly 3 million views and it features her versions of such other popular American rock songs as Santo and Johnny's "Sleepwalk," Joe Satriani's "Starry Night" and Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" (which is more popularly known from Jimi Hendrix's version). Also check out her Facebook fan page.

The Ladies of Remake

Doug Phillips' 2012 independent slasher film, Remake was shot entirely in and around Minneapolis, and its cast features some very lovely ladies from the area, two of whom; Kate Cloutier and Kelly Barry-Miller, have been featured here before. Above are Kate, Donna Marie Beard, and Kelly at the film's June 2012 screening at Minneapolis' Heights Theater.

I recently contacted all of the ladies in the cast and asked each a couple of questions about their experiences working on the film. What follows are their replies and comments.

Psyche Chimère

According to Psyche Corporation vocalist and frontwoman Psyche Chimère; the band is a “dark, fairytale, steampunk, cyberpunk band” who “deal in alternative world music, both in the world music sense and in the alternative world sense.” They’re based out of New York City but again, according to her, they’re also “based off of a dream manufacture company far into the future, where brain implants allow you to download dreams from the Internet.”

The band’s music provides an often haunting sort of background to Miss Chimère’s flawless soprano and narrative lyrics. She’s also one of the few, very visible Asian ladies of the steampunk sub-genre. Above is the official music video for “Jewels,” off of their early 2013 album Crypts and Codes.

May Ling Su Revisited

It was hard for me to believe it had been so long, especially since she doesn't look a day older now than she did then, but the first time I wrote about May Ling Su was over seven years ago. That brief article I did on the lovely "Internet exhibitionist," was actually for another site and I shared it here.

Keeping in loose touch with May Ling through Facebook over the last several years, I knew she was somewhat of a nomad. She's lived on both coasts of the US as well as her native Philippines, since I first met her. Currently living in Maine, she still has several unique websites that she personally operates. Super Spy Chick and Strip Karaoke being two of the more humorous and milder examples.

In addition to her work in front of the camera, May Ling has recently lent her voice to the audio book version of Anthony Pacheco's Armageddon's Princess. Also making a name for herself as a photographer, she's had works displayed in galleries in the US and Europe. She tells me that her Maine location and the winter months have made it difficult for her to find models, but she plans on meeting with some this spring and for those interested, "fierce and fearless" is the type she says she's looking to shoot. 

Shannon McDonough

On St. Patrick's Day, it's couldn't be more fitting than to feature a beautiful Irish lass who's dressed for the occasion, and actress Shannon McDonough definitely fits the bill.

Despite appearing in mainly horror films, such as It Came from Another World!, Terror From Beneath the Earth, Attack of the Moon Zombies, and The Giant Spider, the Minnesota native's favorite film genre is romance, both dramas and comedies. She's said of doing horror films; "I didn't think I'd like horror at first, but it's kind of fun getting all bloody and dirty." As of this writing, Shannon has just completed her work on Jarrod Crooks' Dispatched, which is currently in post production and slated to be released later this year.

Also a talented singer and DJ, Shannon has performed at many hot spots in and around her native Minneapolis. You can look forward to an interview with Shannon at this site in the near future, in which she'll confirm she's a gourmet cook, a former Rogue Cinema Sleepover Girl, and an avid Doctor Who fan.

Elissa Dowling

Actress and singer Elissa Dowling obviously has a way with her bird, Loo, and a look down her long list of film credits will show she also has a way with horror filmmakers. Some of the more colorful titles Elissa's been in, include The Legend of Bloody Mary, The Corporate Cut Throat Massacre, Orgy of Blood, and A Night of Nightmares, for which she also sang the soundtrack's title song. More recently, she appeared in Joe Hollow's Disciples, which has a cast like a who's who of Scream Queens.