ROXY SAINT
In 2003, my friend Steve Hanft called to ask if I'd play guitar in a video he was shooting for singer/songwriter Roxy Saint. I immediately identified with the vibe in the song "Rebel" and loved Roxy's glam goth aesthetic, which reminded me of a mix between Marilyn Manson and Angelina Jolie.
We met up at Griffith Park, shooting scenes with other musicians who were assembled for the project strictly for our looks; none of us had actually played on the recording of the song. I showed up in a homemade L.A.M.F. shirt., created with black electrical tape.
I knew this was going to be an awesome day in my life, so I brought along a Fuji disposable camera and took the following shots (minus the one with me):
behind the scenes of filming "Rebel"
This video ended up on a DVD compilation of Roxy's work called "The Underground Personality Tapes":
If memory serves me right, this DVD got nominated for a Best New Artist award by Kerrang! magazine, and indeed she ended up flying to London in 2004 to present the "Spirit of Rock" award to Scott Ian of Anthrax at the 11th annual Kerrang! Awards.
After this, me -and everyone else- really thought Roxy Saint was going to get catapulted into international stardom, but things didn't turn out as expected. She appeared in a horror flick "Zombie Strippers" both in the movie and on its soundtrack, but then settled into a nice, peaceful life with a husband and son. She survived Hollywood life, and still lives to tell.
I remember going to the Cat Club in Hollywood one night just to show love and support. She pulled me up onstage to play "Rebel" and a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Play With Fire". Unfortunately, I ended up breaking 2 of her guitar player's strings in the process, but I was immediately forgiven.
To this day, Roxy is someone I look at with fondness and much respect; I'm very proud of our brief but killer moments working together.
