Houston Press: Can you still remember your first performance together?
Lisa Origliasso: It was doing a song-and-dance to the song "Do-Re-Mi." Jess picked her nose the whole performance, and I forgot the dance that consisted mainly of skipping.
So where did you get your name, the Veronicas?
Jess Origliasso: We grew up reading Archie comics, and we were very influenced by the character Veronica Lodge. We loved that she was a brat, loved to shop, etc.
Archie Comics Publications sued Warner Bros. Music Group to stop you two from using "the Veronicas," but both parties settled, agreeing to a cross-promotional deal. Do you think maybe Archie Comics needed you more than you needed them?
LO: We loved Archie comics growing up, so were just blown away that they included us in their comic. It went beyond any dream we could have ever imagined.
When you heard WB was being sued over your name, did you want to laugh?
JO: At the time, we were just excited that Archie Comics had heard of us.
Your deal with Warner Bros. is rumored to have been worth some $2 million, an Australian record for bands unknown overseas. How did you react to the label's showing such faith in you, and does that create any undo pressure for you two?
LO: We don't feel any pressure. We just do our own thing and are very grateful for the faith that Warner and Sire have in us.
You lost Best Pop Video at the 2006 MTV Australian Music Video Awards to Ashlee Simpson, whom you're now opening for. Did you ever try to get back at her for that, by maybe stealing her eyeliner or leaving a dead cat in her tour bus?
JO: We won the biggest award of the night, which was Video of the Year, so we didn't mind.
You both wrote on the majority of the songs on your debut, The Secret Life of... How important was it for you to be part of that process?
LO: Very important! We were signed as songwriters before we were as singers, so it's how we express ourselves and who we are. It's an insight into us.
Did you two ever freak out your producers and songwriter partners during the recording process with that always-creepy twin bond?
JO: Yeah, I guess so. We would do the usual speaking-at-the-same-time things. We were always good at doubling each other's voices. -- Cole Haddon
Who's the One that Sucks?
Michael Bolton is the type of celebrity who makes almost every average human feel incredibly lucky to have no talent whatsoever in the realm of entertainment generally (and singing specifically). Because of Bolton, it's not just bearable to have unremarkable mousy brown or dishwater blond hair -- it is desirable. For a longtime life partner or casual date, it is a far better thing to be dull than Desperate.
Since the '80s, when Bolton began inflicting soft-rock standards such as "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?" upon "The Rose"-friendly airwaves of FM radio and VH1, the New Haven, Connecticut, native, now 53, has endured a steady stream of critical and popular invective. He has taken criticism normally reserved for only the most cloying and annoying (Celine Dion, Jerry Lewis), razzing limited not just to his artistic oeuvre but also to his hairstyle (once frizzily mulleted, now Seacrested out) and his woman (Nicolette Sheridan).
But even now, as Bolton launches an assault upon the classics on his new album, Bolton Swings Sinatra, he is known to millions, who have never heard him sing even a note, as the ridiculous conceit of a movie comedy construct, much the way A Flock of Seagulls is recognized by cinephiles not for "Telecommunication" but for Samuel L. Jackson's sneering reference in Pulp Fiction.
It was in this spirit that we electronically elbowed into a group teleconference interview that Bolton was giving to shill his Sinatra covers and were able to salvo just one question. Judging by the length, complexity and passion of Bolton's answer, we hit the mark.
