Life Without Velocity Girl - Pop 2

By Fall of 1996 I had been listening to Simpatico! on pretty heavy rotation for two years. Velocity Girl had given me an obsession that I could claim as my very own. Those fringe bands who broke onto the music scene in '91 were all commonplace by this time, and rock n roll radio had reverted back to the same five song rotation formula, removing all the taste and excitement from alternative music. On the Sub Pop label, VG was a personal experience that did not saturate the airwaves. True, Velocity Girl was Sup Pop's biggest seller second only to Nirvana, but their just-below-the-radar presence defined Indie music.

This was my first year of independence.  Freshly 19 years old, I moved out of my family home in Melbourne to live in Orlando; the "big city" by comparison. In Florida, cool temperatures are at a premium, and the slight autumn chill sent electricity up my spine. On this particular August night, I was going to see Velocity Girl live for the first time.  

This time, the anticipation was validated.  Downtown Orlando was a bustling contrast to sleepy Melbourne. Marquis lights reflected off of the rain-slick sidewalks. "Six Underground" by the Sneaker Pimps played loud through an open bar door as I speed-walked to my destination: The Sapphire Supper Club.  The place was packed.  I scored the lone empty seat next to an attractive woman; small talk would reveal that she was an embalmer. 

Velocity Girl were already on stage, milling about and setting up.  A rather swish gentleman standing in the pit ventured to speak to lead singer Sarah Shannon and came back to his friends, reporting that she was distracted and "not into it". I was glad I did not risk the same venture.  When they began performing, they started with the jangly guitar intro "Drug Girls", my absolute favorite song by them.  I was ecstatic. They could have just spent the whole time screaming atonally and clanging pots and pans; I would have still loved every second of it. 

I would learn several months later that this was their final tour.  Their endmost album "Gilded Stars and Zealous Hearts" would fail to catapult Velocity Girl into stardom, and they called it a day. 

That summer, I remained blissfully unaware. Seeing Velocity Girl was the final step of the imprinting process, and they were my personal escape from the mundane.  Outside of my Velocity Girl obsession, I worked a third-shift gas station job to afford my share of the rent on an apartment shared by four people and three cats.  The body never gets used to the 10pm to 6am shift.  My relationships suffered and my social life was as inconsistent as my circadian rhythms.   But in the mornings after work, when most of those around me were still fast asleep and I was the sole owner  of consciousness, the music of VG soothed me. These morning moments fueled my creativity as I would write poetry on my apartment balcony, watching the dawn sun filter through gray clouds, providing an other-worldly illumination for these meditative mornings.  This would set the tone for my creative output over the next few years.