Used to be a fetish fashion model and punk band drummer. Ask me anything!

[Vicarious Reality]

I wish to hear you slap those naughty drums
Which bands have you been in

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

Hey that's awesome. I've been a fetish photographer/ erotic photographer for 10 years myself.

what has been the worst reaction you ever gotten to telling someone you were a fetish fashion model?

To be honest, I never really get BAD reactions. Most people who might react badly are simply too shocked for words. The people I hang out with would model fetish gear if the opportunity presented itself, so it's no big deal to them.

Was your family aware of what you did?

No, but I'm sure a number of them wouldn't care either way. I know some of the skeletons they keep hidden from the world-at-large, and I was a saint by comparison. My girlfriend at the time DID know and even supported me. Hell, she even came to shoots every once in a while because she was into it too.

How many times have people confused "Fetish Model" with porn actor or prostitute?

You have no idea how many times that happens. That's why I never bring it up in environments in which I can't control the message I'm trying to convey. I'm not referring to dictatorial control, but something like this thread - an audience who's interested in the subject matter, and to whom I can respond in ways that either minimize or completely eliminate the possibility of misinterpretations.

Contrast that to what would happen if I talked about it on a public bus... before I could draw half a breath, I'd have the word "SLUT" keyed into my car by someone psychically linked to a person on my bus which is 15 miles away from the car. No thank you.

Did you ever attend FetishCon in Tampa, Fl?

Nope! I've never been to a single event with "Con" in its name.

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Did you enjoy the fetish modeling, or was it just a gig?

Do you have any of your band(s) music online where nosy escapists may check it out? (I'm asking for a friend <_<)

I enjoyed it, but it was also just a gig. The entire world seemed thrilling at first, then I got tired of dealing with other people (especially junkies) in the industry. I wasn't sad to leave it behind, even though it DID feel like I was letting myself because I wasn't doing something so exotic.

And unfortunately, I don't have any music samples. The only bands I ever recorded with distributed their music exclusively on cassette tapes. As embarrassed as I am to admit it, those were the days before the advent of affordable CD-R technology. A year after my last recording, one of my bandmates called me over to his place to show me this amazing new compression scheme called an "MP3." 'Tis true! lol Then he spent the next hour downloading a song from some random pre-Napster website, using a dial-up AOL connection.

Uphill. Both ways.

 

[Muspelheim]

Heh, doing the Lord's work ye did, that's for sure! Fascinating, very fascinating. I've always been 'respectable', part of the landless, titleless gentry, so to speak. Bumbling into a sex shop feels like a secret, forbidden adventure of sorts. With that background;

Even the gentry can be corrupted...

Heh, good point. I've heard enough about the royal families to guess the rest. Hell, I'm pretty damn sure that the more distant and 'corrupt' it seems, the more likely it is that you'll entertain some very high profile guests at some point.

What is the oddest, most weird item you've encountered in your modelling work?

Strange, but I never found anything odd or weird. I guess that has to do with my upbringing. I saw Poltergeist in the theater when I was 5, Nightmare on Elm Street in the theater when I was 7, Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the theater also when I was 7, and the list goes on. As a kid, I'd go to parties where I didn't know what the white lines on the mirrors were, much less why people put those lines up their noses. I listened to New Wave when it was brand new, saw the first broadcast of MTV, and was pretty much exposed to everything.

Point is (I think) what other people find weird doesn't phase me. I can't understand people who alter themselves to fit in. It's a totally foreign concept. I raise my freak flag high and don't give a shit what anyone thinks.

Ah, I see, I had this idea of someone from Clitoris Industries or something asking you to present the new Frankenstein 5000 electric sex-aid ("70.000 volts!")or something like that. But now that I think of it, what could they do that would be really outlandish? It's clothes and toys, after all. I think it'd be more like those weird Top Model TV shows to drag a live tiger into the studio or something.
Heh, about the nose-candy, I was a rather late arrival to that realisation, but it's been my curse ever since I grew old enough to visit the pub to bang on the toilet stall door shouting "Come ON! Some of us want to use the loo for real, you know!" while they yell at me to shut up between the lines.

I know what you mean, though, and I agree. Fly your colours high, and march them far!

What would you call 'Goth'? What is Goth?

More a catch-all term to vaguely describe a certain aesthetic in dress, music, and art. It's a convenient descriptor that became so diluted over the years as to be practically useless today. Thanks a lot, Hot Topic.

Heh, I did think Hot Topic and the like would be at the bottom of the confusion. I've always thought it was some sort of romantical revival based on cathedrals, dark castles, folklore and iron crosses, but it's just so difficult to tell these days, isn't it? Goth this, goth that, goth revivals every fortnight. I'm glad I'm not the only one confused.

What do you think is the general idea of contemporary punk, as it were? I certainly can't tell anymore.

Hell if I know. lol It seems these days that everyone is too enamored of thrash and having a vocalist that sounds like every other vocalist out there, which itself sounds like almost every Cali punk singer that's ever held a microphone. To be fair (and to lay my biases out on the table) about the only punk I listen to is late '70s UK punk. However, I have an opinion that almost always results in shit getting flung my direction: Nirvana's In Utero was the last great punk album ever recorded.

I do hope I didn't come across as too presumptive with all these questions, although the answers certainly are interesting. The only punk I've listened to is the classic 70, early 80's punk as well (Oooh, black sheep, indulging secret pleasures, he'll topple parliament next!), and I've got no clue what they're up to anymore as well. Glad to know that I'm not alone in my feelings about contemporary punk.

I'm not very well wandered in Nirvana's work, but I'd say In Utero makes a decent date of death indeed.

How is the fetish industry? I imagine some sleazy tatooed blokes in a warehouse somewhere, but I doubt that is true.

There's probably some sleazy, tattooed, greaser polishing his pewter while ogling a fetish mag, but that's WAY beside the point. I honestly don't know what the state of it is today. Even back when I was in the scene, it was different based on where you lived. Baltimore (where I lived at the time) was probably a lot different than Denver. And Baltimore certainly WAS different than it was in New York.

I think there are so many variables to consider that it'd be impossible to provide a statement about the industry as a whole.

True, true. Again, I hope I didn't come across as a presumptive prat, but I forgot how huge the industry must be and how different it must be from place to place. The porn/fetisch industry ranks pretty damn high on the sleeze-factor here (Gothenburg, Sweden, Scandinavia's cigarette filter, in some ways), but it's impossible for an outsider to really judge from a glance outside of the window, as it were. But how was it on a local level at the time? Odd question, perhaps, but I've always been interested in just the general day-to-day work in industries I don't really know anything about.

Another one; any chance for a great come-back in music? Any other genres you'd be interested to do?

 

[Asita]

When you worked as a model were you typecast for specific themes, or did it vary from gig to gig?

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I have an opinion that almost always results in shit getting flung my direction: Nirvana's In Utero was the last great punk album ever recorded.

Y'know I thought I've never met someone else with that opinion before. Its nice to know I'm not alone in the dark about that.

What would you call 'Goth'? What is Goth?

More a catch-all term to vaguely describe a certain aesthetic in dress, music, and art. It's a convenient descriptor that became so diluted over the years as to be practically useless today. Thanks a lot, Hot Topic.

Even worse these days is people confusing Emo and Goth.


Anyway onto questions:

What got you into fetish modeling?

Would you, if you could find the right types of people, ever play in another band?

 

[FPLOON]

Could you beat Animal in a drum-off?
Could you beat Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem in a "Battle of the Bands"-type competition?
Could you beat Miss Piggy in a fetish fashion model face-off?
Could you rank these anime series by their level of musical accuracy (BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad; Kids on the Slope; K-On!)?
Did School Days needed better music or better fetishes presented?

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

I wish to hear you slap those naughty drums
Which bands have you been in

I'd record something if I had the tech to do it. Right now, I have about half of the tech. I'm missing microphones that can withstand the loudness of the drums without serious distortion. That's kind of important if you want to record drums.

Second, you wouldn't know any of the bands that I was in. None of them played outside of the Baltimore metro area, and none of the gigs had more than 100 peeps in attendance. I can't even remember the names of some of the bands. lol All of the recordings were done in the sound studio on the U. of Maryland campus (UMBC, to be more specific). I had 24-hour access to the studio because I was also a DJ on the radio station.

Aw, I was hoping to check out some new tunes! Well, a follow-up question then: What punk bands are you digging these days?

And thanks for the reply. For what it's worth, you always seem to have something interesting to say here on the Escapist!

Aww... thanks!

I don't listen to much new punk because it mostly sounds like Cali punk and I never really liked that (Henry Rollins' days in Black Flag are a notable exception). I still dig the '70s UK bands - Buzzcocks, The Slits, X-Ray Spex, Sham 69, The Jam, etc. This may make me sound like an old, elitist snob, but there's far too much whining in today's music. I can't even count the number of bands that need to find a pair of testicles (or ladyballs as the case may be), bash out some major-key riffs, do away with trying to sound perfect, and make some music that's FUN to listen to. Music with a meaning. Music with heart.

Stop the schlock!

 

[Mikeybb]

*reject moral standards, make anarchy and snipped posts your trademark*
bash out some major-key riffs, do away with trying to sound perfect, and make some music that's FUN to listen to. Music with a meaning. Music with heart.

Quoting this bit as an opening to say thanks for an interesting thread and to then sing back the sentiment.
One thing bands have going for them these days is net access being so prolific, it's got to make it a bit easier to get your music heard.

Question time then.
If you could plug a new up and coming punk band right now, get them heard by a couple more people, which would it be?

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Did you like being a drummer?

Personally, the percussion is what I listen to most in music. Any genre that has it at the core of the beat(Jazz, Rap, etc.) that doesn't include a) real drums(I hate drum machines) b) and a varied performance thereof can turn me off a bit. Just kind of want to know what it's like being drummer and if it's any fun

Most I know comes from Whiplash, which is just a concept film.

 

[Asita]

If you were going to start a new band today, would you want it to be a punk band, or would you want to try a different genre?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Oh, was there a lot of modelling stuff that looked cool, but was really annoying when you actually had it on?

 

[stormtrooper9091]

Shouldn't this be on tumblr where stuff like this is actually encouraged?

Serious question now, why did you stop?

 

[Barbas]

What are the best and worst portrayals you've seen of what you do in media?