NOT A.C., BUT D.C. LaCROIX

NOT A.C., BUT D.C. LaCROIX

Elianne Halbersberg

When her parents gave Sylvie LaCroix—their seven-yearold daughter—a plastic guitar, they had no idea that it was only the beginning. “I first remember listening to the radio when I was four years old,” D.C. LaCroix’s vocalist recalls, “and I went totally crazy! When I was six or seven, the Beatles were really happening, but I heard ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and that was when I knew. So I had this little guitar that I ate with, slept with, took everywhere with me. I would stand in front of the mirror pretending that I was Elvis! My parents said, ‘How cute! We’ve got a little rock star!’—assuming, of course, that I would eventually outgrow it. But I knew what I wanted. It’s just getting there that took a long time!”

By age 12, the Montreal native’s family, long settled in Seattle, found themselves with a full-time guitarist. Dedicated to her craft, LaCroix discovered Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. “That’s when my parents started to worry,” she laughs. “Around that time, I was already writing songs, and I tried my hand at singing. I took a few voice lessons later, when I was 16, but it was nothing serious. I was very shy about my voice, so I concentrated mostly on my playing. In the various garage bands I was in and out of, I would be appointed to sing the hard rock songs, but there was always another lead singer. When I joined the Jetsons, my first professional band, I was rhythm guitarist and singing occasional vocals. That’s when people started saying, ‘You sound good.’ I got serious, took opera lessons to learn control and not hurt myself— safe screaming, you might say! In the past couple of years, I’ve grown a lot, and the new album has gotten only pats on the back for vocal ability.”

While lead vocalist/guitarist LaCroix, lead guitarist/vocalist/ producer/former-Jetson Dan Christopher (that’s D.C., if you couldn’t figure it out for yourself), bassist/vocalist Ed Walker, and drummer/vocalist Marty Temme are now focusing on Living By The Sword, their debut, Crack Of Doom, is still breaking ground thanks to a national push from Medusa/ Enigma.

“Dan and I formed the band in Seattle,” LaCroix explains. “In a three-year period, we recorded two high-quality foursong demos, each with different rhythm sections because we could never find people who’d stick more than three months. I think we went through every musician in Seattle. Dan and I moved to Los Angeles and after a month, ran an ad in The Recycler. We found Marty, who introduced us to Ed, with whom he had been playing for years. That was about 20 months ago.

“Meanwhile, Dan and I got a letter from Black Dragon Records in France saying they were interested and wanted to hear more material. Somehow a Seattle fanzine, The Subway, gave our first demo a rave review that found its way to Paris. We sent Black Dragon a second demo. They wanted to press both tapes plus two more songs: ‘Crack Of Doom’ and ‘Shooting From The Hip.’ They signed us for worldwide distribution of the one album, excluding the U.S. It did real well in Europe; we’ve been in all the major magazines. Then Medusa/Enigma got our press kit, album, and—without seeing us live—signed us for a five album deal on the merits of Crack Of Doom, which they re-released.

“Living By The Sword is a lot more consistent. We did a lot of pre-production, cut the basics in Los Angeles, then Dan and I went to Seattle to overdub and mix with Tom Hall, who’s been engineering and co-producing us for four-anda-half years. Crack Of Doom had a lot of style changes, plus it was based on demo tapes and different musicians (hence the “Additionals” listed on the jacket). This time, we wrote 30 songs and selected eight. We had spent a year as a real band, playing a lot, watching the audience reactions. The new record is a lot more accessible for radio. It’s hard rock with melody and aggression; it still has that edge.”

Right now, D.C. LaCroix continues playing ‘‘as regularly as we can, which in Los Angeles means only a couple of times a month because of the way the club scene and the promoters work, and the number of bands vying for the bookings. Our following has definitely started coming together, though. (Local station) KMEC has been giving us onair plugs, rotation, and on-air interviews. People know who we are; more and more are coming to our shows.”

She is confident that it’s only a matter of time before the band takes on a national tour. “I’ve never wanted to do anything except this,” she asserts. ‘‘People used to tell me, ‘You need something to fall back on.’ My theory is, ‘If I spend all my energy on something to fall back on, what’s going to happen to what I want to do now?’

I worked on my music and on reaching my goals. It’s important to stay hungry—once you get comfortable, you stop taking chances. I’m optimistic. I’m sure we’ll be on the road in a couple of months with a major band. I think Living By The Sword will reach a lot of people. Actually, right now I’d say things are looking pretty darn good!”