Bella Koshka enters the ring at the Rock & Roll Circus
On Friday, the circus is in town. Not just the Shrine Circus, which hits the Target Center, but also the Rock & Roll Circus, which promises to be less family-friendly and more down-and-dirty. Bringing the music are Los Angeles’ Saint Motel and local bands Bella Koshka and First Communion Afterparty. Bella Koshka violinist Hilary Davis is the organizing force behind the big top at the Oct. 16 show at Music Box Theatre, where Ian Rans of Drinking With Ian will play ringmaster, and Lili’s Burlesque will do, well, what it does best. There will be jugglers and fire-breathers, freaks and geeks, and a photo booth hosted by local fashion blog The Minneapoline will capture it all. The A.V. Club caught up with Davis to chat about the production, the bands, and to see if maybe the Shrine will lend her an elephant.
The A.V. Club: What is it about bands with string sections? Why are they sexier than regular bands?
Hilary Davis: I think, first of all, it's a little less expected. People are used to going to a rock band and they expect to hear rock guitars and rock bass. A string instrument, an orchestral instrument has a certain fluidity, a richness to the tone that an electric guitar just cannot achieve. The violin is the closest sound to the human voice, so there's that. There is also something about watching someone play an instrument nestled under your chin, or between your legs in the case of the cello, that is just more intimate. The sound of the strings just fill up a room, they soar.
AVC: How did you hook up with Saint Motel?
HD: Their singer, A.J. Jackson, is a Minneapolis native, so we are friends from here. We met at a Fox Tax thing, and he was in town for a family reunion and he was like, "Come and hang out with me and some friends at this bar." And so I went, and it was him and 30 cousins. I was the only non-family member, so all night long I was making up stories as to which side of the family I was from. Then Bella Koshka and Saint Motel wound up hanging out at South By Southwest, and that's when the band love was solidified.
AVC: Why did you decide to throw a circus-themed show, rather than a more typical club night?
HD: Saint Motel are on their way out to CMJ and they wanted to do a show with Bella Koshka, and that's how this whole thing came about. We were just going to do a show with them at the Entry or someplace, but a lot of venues were booked. So I started looking at alternative venues and the Music Box came up, and we were like, "Oh crap, it's a 400-person venue. How are we going to fill that?" And I didn't know if these guys were going to be into it, but I was like, "The way to bring in a big crowd in Minneapolis is to bring in other groups—don't just have a rock show." And they sent me this list of themes, because they do a lot of shows like this in L.A. Those guys all met at film school, so all their songs they have video for. So they love the whole theatrical production, which is why we all get along playing together. They just did a month-long residency at Spaceland in L.A. where each week had a different theme—sci-fi, erotica—and people dressed up and got really into it, which I love.
AVC: Have you found it difficult to pull together the elements for this show?
HD: The great thing about the Twin Cities is that there are all these scenes: the music kids and the theatre kids and the fashion kids. And these groups may not hang out all the time, but they are aware of each other, and you are only a phone call away from everybody. I had no idea about costumes, but I called some fashion friends and they were like, “Call this person, talk to this person,” and we got it set up. That's the great thing about the Cities is that we get together and we are more aware of everyone and there is more energy, positivity.
