Throughout their lives, bands often go through several incarnations—and disappear fear is no exception. In 1987, SONiA and her sister CiNDY headed the original band. When CiNDY decided to trade touring for motherhood in the mid '90s SONiA forged ahead, touring with the band and ultimately going solo. As a solo artist she released critically acclaimed albums, including Almost Chocolate.
Now, disappear fear is back. SONiA is on lead vocals and also plays the guitar, harmonica and piano; Laura Cerulli ( 'JAH' ) is on percussion and vocals; and Angela Edge ( 'Oxygen' ) rocks the bass and trumpet. The trio, which formed in April 2005, has released DF05 LIVE, a compendium of live songs recorded at such events as the High Sierra Music Festival in California.
The out, proud and extremely pleasant SONiA took some time off from her busy schedule to talk with Windy City Times about touring, coming up with a band name—and acting like a tree frog.
Windy City Times: You're out on the West Coast right now, right?
SONiA: Yes, I'm in Eugene, Ore., right now. It's foggy a lot—but it's like a dreamy fog. In Portland, we just did a concert with Peter from Peter, Paul & Mary; he's really inspiring. He was talking about going to Vietnam and singing 'We Shall Overcome' in Ho Chi Minh Theater. We played in Eugene last night and we're headed to Ashland, Ore., tomorrow; that city has a pretty cool Shakespeare festival during the summer.
WCT: Where did the name disappear fear come from?
S: I used to work at a rape crisis center in Baltimore; at the time, it was called The Baltimore Center for Victims of Sexual Assault—but they were looking for a new name and I came up with The Disappear Fear Center. The board [ actually ] went for the name Sexual Assault Recovery Center. I had written the 'disappear fear' name on a Post-It on my desk and I'd see it every morning. Around this time, the band I was in ( Exhibit A ) was disappearing, so I used the name for the band my sister and I [ were ] forming.
WCT: One of your solo albums is entitled Almost Chocolate. I've always wondered: How do artists come up with the titles of their albums?
S: Almost Chocolate involved me thinking about falling in love. When you eat chocolate, the chemical that is released is the same that is released when you fall in love. So I thought if I could make music that would create that same feeling, it'd be music worth hearing. It would've been just Chocolate, but I gave myself a way out in case it didn't work. [ Laughs. ]
WCT: How would describe disappear fear's music? I have to say that the CD really got me moving.
S: Good, good, good! All of the songs on the CD ( except for 'Biggest Baddest Heart' ) are from other recordings. We've used arrangements from original recordings, but we've recorded them in our own way.
If I incorporated what you said, I would call our style Americana dance music. However, one person has called it 'acoustic activism.' We like to move through different beats, whether it's a hip-hop thing, a Latin thing or something else.
WCT: On DF05, you all hit 20 cities in 30 days, right?
S: Yes. This [ incarnation of ] disappear fear did its first show at The Dogwood Festival in Atlanta on April 10, 2005—our first show. These recordings were taken from gigs and festivals from the spring and summer of this year. We listened to versions from different places and we chose what we thought were the best songs we could put on one CD. I feel that these renditions of songs really capture what the band is about.
WCT: The tour will wrap up at WorldPride Jerusalem in 2006. Why did you choose that site?
S: Jerusalem is such an amazing place and it brings together all the aspects of disappear fear. Basically, when you disappear fear between people, what you have left is love—and to perform in Israel as disappear fear is a beautiful vision and a way of expressing that love is love. [ Jerusalem ] is on the books right now, but there's talk of us swinging back into the States after Israel and then going over to Europe.
WCT: What are the biggest merits and drawbacks of touring?
S: The biggest merits have to be meeting people and touching people's lives. It's also nice to go to places I never thought I'd go; it's cool to go to Australia and be able to bodysurf. I also never thought I'd be able to perform as a musician in Israel or Canada [ as well ] . The bad part would be feeling that I'm not grateful to the gift of what I get to do—just occasionally getting down on myself and being selfish. Sometimes, I feel that I take my life for granted.
At a Glance—SONiA
— The last movie to make her cry: 'I'd have to say North Country with Charlize Theron. It's really powerful.'
— Favorite vacation spot: 'It's probably the Sunshine Coast in Queensland [ in Australia ] . There are lots of empty beaches and huge waves. However, you also have to be careful in some spots; there are [ jellyfish-like animals ] called stingers with 100-foot-long tentacles that are lethal.'
— Favorite childhood memory: 'One of them was being at The Flower Mart in Baltimore that my Aunt Laura took me to. I looked up one time and saw this trumpet in silohuette with 'Hello, Dolly' playing in the background. I was probably five at the time.'
— Favorite female singer: 'I like Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin. I also love Barbra Streisand and Paula Cole. However, my absolute favorite singer is probably [ Hungarian singer ] Marta Sebestyen; she's that haunting voice at the beginning of The English Patient.
— Guilty pleasure: 'I like to go down escalators like a tree frog. I do this thing where I use my [ feet ] as suction on the sides, but they're the last things to go down [ the stairs ] . It's really fun. Just be sure to use tennis shoes; they [ provide better suction ] .'
disappear fear will play at Uncommon Ground, 3800 N. Clark, Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. For more info, call ( 773 ) 929-3680 or visit www.uncommonground.com .
To learn more about the band, see www.disappearfear.com .
