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Local Band Profile“WOOKIE LUV” by Tom Lounges After spending a good portion of
my life in area night clubs, I’m comfortable saying that one would be pretty
hard pressed to find a local cover band that is as much fun to rock the night
away with than Wookie Luv. There’s only a small handful of
bands anymore who seem to take the term “entertainer” to heart and who
really go the distance to make sure those who drop $$$ on a cover charge will
leave satisfied that they got a bang for their buck. Bravo Johnny, Generations and History’s End immediately come to mind. And now closing in fast and furiously on those well established party rock groups is this brash bunch of hard drinking, hard partying goof offs who stole their name from a big fuzzy Star Wars character (Chewbacca the Wookie) and who each have taken to using “Wookie” as their stage name. Up front and grabbing attention any way she can is vocalist/frontwoman Danielle (Evans) Wookie. Stationed on either side and behind her is guitarist Randy (Anderson) Wookie, guitarist John (Leonard) Wookie, bassist Mario (Sameniego) Wookie and the newly christened Joe (Nunez) Wookie on drums.
Nunez also slams for the
nationally signed goth metal band, November’s Doom, and as such has played in
front of thousands of fans. “We
don’t play out all that much,” he explained on why he wanted to be a Wookie.
“I love metal [rolling up his sleeve to show a Motorhead tattoo], but I
love all kinds of music and this kind of band is a lot of fun.” While “fun” is a key word in the Wookie language, so is “work,” according to Evans. The sultry singer is quick to point out that while the Wookies are a loose and zany bunch on stage, they take their band very seriously. She makes sure of that. “You’d never guess it by the way I act on stage, but I’m
the Nazi Bitch of the band,” she laughs as the guys nod in agreement. “I
crack the whip at our practices and sometimes I’m really a bitch. “That’s
true,” agrees guitarist Leonard, “but every band really needs someone like
that to make sure they get the most out of a practice, so they become better on
stage. Danielle is that person in
our band.” “I’m in Wookie Luv to have fun,” chimes in
Evans, who began singing as a child and who later coached school choirs.
“I just love to sing. I
sing all the time at work, at home... [Author’s Note: Evans even sang at this
interview]. It’s not at all
about making money for any of us here. Being
a Wookie is about having fun and about entertaining people.
But at the same time, I am not going to go up on stage and look like a
fool either. So I make sure we get
things down right in our practices and there’s no goofing around.” Evans credits Jim Shepard, the band leader of her alma mater Taxi, for her “no bullshit” approach and her getting the most out of each practice. “Jim is tough when you’re in a band with him and
I learned an awful lot from him,” she said.
“I don’t mean that in any negative way at all.
I’m who I am now because of my being in Taxi and working with Jim.”
Wookie Luv and Shepard’s current band, Sadie’s Cage (which also
features another former Taxi singer, Heather Peters), frequently perform shows
together. “We’re like
this big extended family,” she said of the relationship.
“The Wookies and the Sadies.” As for what might be heard at a
typical Wookie Romp, Anderson chides –– “We do just about everything.
We seem to specialize in ‘80s music lately because the whole ‘80s
retro thing is really big now that most of the people coming to clubs are in
their late 20s and early 30s. Stuff like ‘Melt With
You’ by Modern English goes over great.” But all eras have been fairly
represented at Wookie Luv shows this writer has attended.
From vintage ‘60s hits on up through new radio hits.
Evans does a ssssssmokin’ job on the late-‘60s Tina Turner version of
“Proud Mary” and assorted Joplin classics. Then there is Sameniego and
Leonard, who each take lead on selected songs.
The bassist has a funky, R&B style voice making him the candidate for
singing stuff by Stevie Wonder and others.
The guitarist has a more mainstream rock timber and handles stuff like “Melt
With You” and their quirky take on the title track from the Tom Hanks’
film, “That Thing You Do!”
Along the way, they also pillage the songbooks of Aerosmith, Simple Minds, Weezer, Carly Simon, No Doubt, The Cure, The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel. “We can play to any type of audience,” said Anderson with
confidence. “We rarely see people
leave once we start playing. We mix things up so much musically that we manage
to give everyone something they like.”
One of the things to like is the uninhibited way Evans performs. “I don’t try to be sexy or whatever,” she
blushed. “I just go with the
music and do what I feel. I
don’t try to be Madonna or be
erotic or whatever. I just get into
this place where the music takes me and what happens just happens.” So crawling along the stage railing like a wildcat in heat at the last BEAT Bash was not a planned thing? “No. Not at all. The railing was just there in the right place at the right time,” she laughed. And so dropping your drawers later that night... “Don’t go there,” she warns. Ummmm...okay. While Evans may dominate
interviews and grab a lion’s share of the attention on stage these days, the
former Taxi singer is actually a relatively new member, having joined the troupe
just last January. Leonard and Anderson are old
friends who have been jamming together for years. They put together the first incarnation of Wookie Luv in
2000, after Anderson overheard that Hooter’s in Merrillville was looking for a
good cover band to play their Anniversary party. The rock ‘n’ roll gods were
smiling down on Anderson (who with his perpetually dangling cigarette and his
low-slung guitar resembles Keith Richards), because the Wookies landed that
prize Hooter’s gig. In fact, they
have been invited back to play the two anniversary parties that have
followed. Today’s Wookie clan are a lot
cooler and much more fun than even the original Wookies, according to both
Anderson and Leonard. “Getting Danielle into the band has been a major turning
point,” said Anderson. “We
asked her several times to join the band and then suddenly she just said –
‘Yes!’” “And she’s been
busting our asses ever since,” laughed Leonard. Sameniego had been an part time
Wookie almost since the beginning, opting to split his time between a trio of
bands rather than commit to just one. That
changed in March. “With Mario in the band now, we’re going to start slipping some original songs into the show,” said Evans. “He’s written some really great stuff and we can’t wait to get in the studio to record.” “Most of the songs are new and have been written
with this band in mind,” said Sameniego. “I write a lot of stuff with Danielle’s voice in my head,
but she is not the only singer in this band, so I write some stuff that I or
John can sing too.” “We love what we’re doing as a
cover band and we’re having a lot of fun.
But we don’t want to be a cover band for the rest of our lives,”
purrs Evans. “And with Mario’s songs we don’t have to be!”
The band plans to start recording later this summer and release a full
length CD with 10-12 songs later in the year. Evans also writes lyrics and the other members take a hand at helping to shape the songs, but at present Sameniego shoulders the responsibility of being the band’s primary songwriter. “We’re a brand new band and still learning the strengths of everyone, he reminds us. “There’s a lot that this band can accomplish if we take our time and do things right.” “Yeah,” concluded Evans.
“We’re happy doing what we do as a cover band, but we know we are
capable of a whole lot more. This is a great little band!” |
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