Girl Trouble is one of the longest-running bands of the Puget Sound area (from beautiful Tacoma, Washington). These guys and a gal have been kicking out their own hometown sound rock 'n' roll since 1983, starting out in a local Battle of the Bands. Girl Trouble is one of the "funnest" around to see and hear. They incorporate wild, crazy '60s rock 'n' roll, The Cramps, a little cool sax and an overload of enthusiasm. For sheer enjoyment of the live performance, Girl Trouble are top notch; pulling out all of the stops for you the audience and a little for themselves. For one Valentine's gig the three swanky heartthrob guys performed in white boxer shorts with little red hearts on them...for another show in the Seattle Boxing Club's tiny room, 15 large pillows were brought out for a good old-fashioned pillow fight. Only at a Girl Trouble show--every one of which is meant for you the cast of characters to get your money's worth. If you have not seen them, go check them out!

While staying true to their fans worldwide and themselves, Girl Trouble don't compromise when it comes to their material. They have seen numerous bands and friends end up on the indebted end of a record contract. They have a band fund that box office money goes into to pay for recording and tours. Girl Trouble have endured doing what they like and not getting wide-eyed over a wad of cash. These guys are talented enough to have worked the rock 'n' roll major label pipeline hell, but they would rather still be friends and have fun. How many bands can you name that are still together and friends after 17 years? The only pressure comes from fighting over the remote for their favorite rerun of some '60s TV program or who is going to pop the popcorn. No salt, please.

Let me tell ya greasers and chicks, Girl Trouble is not to be messed with or overlooked. These cats know how to please a crowd, keep you involved and just plain-ass play some incredibly groovy rock 'n' roll!

Please give me a little background about the band: members and instruments, where you are from, when you started, personnel changes, influences...

K.P. Kendall: The band Girl Trouble is made up of Bon Von Wheelie on drums, her brother Bill (a.k.a. Kahuna) on electric guitar, Dale (formerly Buddy Love) on bass guitar and me, K.P. Kendall on vocals and occasional saxophone. I was born in Spokane, Washington. My family moved to Tacoma when I was one year old. The rest of the gang are true-blue Tacomans but I feel as if I am too since I have basically lived here all of my life.

Eventually in the summer of 1983, Bon bought a $75 drum at a Sears surplus store. She thought while Bill was messing around she might as well give him a backbeat to play over. After rehearsing several covers they conned Dale, Bill's high school buddy who already had a bass guitar, to join in on the fun. This made the duo a trio but singing and playing at the same time proved difficult for Bill and a fourth body was needed. After much coaxing I was brought on board and a rock group was officially formed. We played a couple house parties for our friends before taking it to the next and scariest level, "Professional Entertainment." In February of the very next year we signed up for the local Battle of the Bands, but we needed a name. We jotted down several ideas and at the last minute shortly after submitting our entry tape to qualify, decided on "Girl Trouble."

After about a year and a half of playing gigs in and around the Puget Sound area, particularly Olympia at an awesome club called the Tropicana, I decided that this was not for me and informed the group that I wanted out. It wasn't pretty but the rest of the band was certainly not as ready to call it quits as I was and since things were really starting to cook they decided that a new singer was in order. After going over their various possible choices, they decided on David Duet who had moved up to Seattle from Austin, Texas. (You may also know him from other groups such as Cat Butt and his current group, Bottle of Smoke.) He brought a real Southern and unpredictable element to the group, which paid off for the band because the whole "cow punk" thing was really starting to make waves in the underground. Fortunately for me his entire tenure with the band was only a little over a year--due mostly to various musical differences between him and the rest of the band, plus his strong desire to sacrifice practice for the latest kegger didn't fly well with everyone else. At about the same time this was going on I had decided quitting was not what I wanted to do and somehow it was agreed that David would leave amicably and I would return. The year was now 1986. The lineup has never changed again and I have been back in the group for so long now I sometimes forget I even left.

What is it like being from Tacoma from a band standpoint and what, in your view, is different about Seattle and Tacoma musically? Why didn't you move to Seattle as a band?

Bon Von Wheelie: We've gotten this question for years and we are always amazed by it. Tacoma is 35 miles from Seattle. If we actually did have any kind of late breaking band emergency happening in Seattle it would take about 45 minutes to get there. We go to clubs in Seattle, we go to parties in Seattle, we have good friends in Seattle but we don't feel it is a necessity to live there. After all, we're right down the street. The way we've overdeveloped this area, in a few years Tacoma, Olympia and Everett will only be thought of as suburbs of Seattle anyway.

The Seattle/Tacoma thing has always been difficult even in the old days of shipping and logging. We always say that culture in Seattle could mean a night at the Seattle Symphony but culture in Tacoma is wrestling at the Tacoma Dome. It's just a working class town with working class people, probably like Liverpool and London were back in the '60s--and still are, I'm sure. I think it may have more to do with the attitude toward the music than the music itself.

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