‘I’m In The Band’ – Sean Yseult (Soft Skull Press)
Written by Gaz E
Saturday, 16 April 2011 05:00
Rob Zombie’s journey from frontman of White Zombie to renowned solo artist, by way of a slew of movie and comic book projects, has been littered with derisory comments aimed at unnamed members of his previous band. You’d be excused, then, for thinking that the new book from former White Zombie bass player (and his former girlfriend) Sean Yseult would contain cathartic outbursts of retribution, a lurid collection of revenge-inspired tales. It doesn’t. It is, instead, a fascinating scrapbook documenting a time in the life of a female musician who appears to be way too classy for any of the above.
‘I’m In The Band’, titled as a play on Pamela Des Barres’ 1987 groupie memoir ‘I’m With The Band’, appears at first to centre on Yseult’s apparent struggle to be accepted as a girl in a boys’ rock world, with promotion angling towards the fact that she was, when White Zombie played Castle Donington in 1995, the only female other than Warlock’s Doro Pesch to ever set foot on the famous stage as a band member, the book’s cover carrying a photograph of the day. But this fact is wonderfully understated amongst the book’s 150 pages, with Sean’s acceptance by some true legends of the music world made apparent, and confirmed, many times over in this tome that will prove invaluable to not only fans of White Zombie, but also to a legion of fans of other great bands given the wealth of candid photographs and ephemera littered throughout the
pages. Marky Ramone in a thong; Phil Anselmo in a wig; Twiggy Ramirez in a Santa outfit; Danny Nordahl in a suit – this is an essential open invitation into the personal effects of a musician made both a rock star and a sex symbol by a couple of MTV cartoon characters.
The book takes the form of a large-format scrapbook – like the ‘Hollywood Rocks’ book, but with 100% more writing and 98% less mullets – with the introductory pages doubling as the coolest flip book you will ever see. Candid photographs from Yseult’s childhood, the birth of White Zombie and the backstage excesses of a hugely-successful rock band in the Nineties rub shoulders with scores of fascinating diary entries – both business and personal – and the kind of memorabilia (backstage passes, flyers, posters, etc) that will have you itching to dig out your own collection or rushing to eBay to start one. The pages that cover the period where White Zombie really were on top of the world (from an outsider’s point of view, at least) are probably the kind of thing that you would expect to see from a book such as this – tales of hectic schedules, crazed shenanigans and rock ‘n’ roll injuries abound – but the sections of the book dedicated to Sean’s childhood and the birth of the band offer the greater moments of fascination.
A gifted child (possibly understatement of the year) Shauna, to give her her real name, was talented enough to be able to choose a career path that forked in many directions; violin, piano, ballet and art. It was an injury sustained whilst performing the third of those (injuries would become a life-long enigma for Yseult given the punishing schedule she troubled her slight frame with) that pushed her more into the fourth, ending with her relocating to NYC where she would
meet Rob Cummins (nee Straker, nee Zombie), move in with him the day after they met and stay with him for the next seven years.
The section of the book that details the beginnings of White Zombie is an essential read for not only anyone who ever liked the band, but also for any young band who, when life appears to be getting in the way of their dream, will be inspired by Yseult and Zombie’s climb from poverty to platinum level. What might trouble them, however, is how that journey ended with the band’s singer travelling separately from his band mates and excluding them from almost every aspect of band business. And here’s the greatest thing about this book; Yseult handles everything with great dignity. If you want dirt on the split, both band-wise and personally, then you won’t find it here. Sean would be forgiven for finally unleashing the fury on situations and actions that forever altered her life, both romantically and professionally, yet she writes matter-of-factly about all incidents. Perhaps this is where she finally stands out from her be-cocked fellow musicians?
Rob Zombie’s despicable act of getting the band’s tour manager to ask the other band members if it was okay for his new girlfriend to travel with the band on the bus, mere weeks after he and Yseult’s relationship had reached its inevitable end, is handled in honourable fashion here, as is the departure of drummer Ivan de Prume whose part in White Zombie’s transition from NYC art band to metal giants was massive. In fact, his claim that Zombie’s love-affair with a more
metallic sound started with a cassette tape of ‘Ride The Lightning’ provides one of the highlights of a selection of prose written for the book by former band members and people like CJ Ramone, Daniel Rey and ‘American Hardcore’ filmmaker Steven Blush.
Tales of tours, blowouts, relationships with names such as The Cramps, Pantera, Ramones, Alice Cooper, Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Marilyn Manson, Coffin Joe and Danzig make this book essential as a time capsule of a certain era in the world of hard rock. Sean Yseult’s status as founding member of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet in the Nineties is reason enough to investigate its pages, huge fan of White Zombie or not. But, tales of destruction, horror, heartache and success aside, the main reason for you to buy this book was uttered by Beavis And Butt-head almost two decades ago……
The chick in White Zombie is cool.