Black Girls Rock – noon:30 Style [Video Interview]

I know these ladies are probably giving me the side eye, because I interviewed them in December, a week before Christmas and I was going to post the video on Dec 29, the day before they had a show in Brooklyn…but I didn’t. Not to make excuses but I lost all inspiration to blog for several reasons but months later it seems to have returned. Plus, I have a lot of cool interviews in the bag that I can’t just let go to waste. Enter noon:30.

I met Vivianne (pictured center) last Sept (or maybe Oct) while I was speaking on a panel at CMJ week. The panel was basically about stereotypes in music, particularly in hip-hop. One of the key points I brought up was that so-called taste makers (a lot of them in high positions) aren’t really taste makers because they aren’t willing to put them sevles on the line by cosigning talent that hasn’t already been cosigned or at least already has a big following. As a result, everything is recycled and regurgitated. Vivianne and I saw eye-to-eye. She approached me after the panel, we chatted and I liked her energy. She talked about her band, noon:30, and mentioned the struggles they go through as black women who rock. She eventually gave me the group’s CD before we parted ways and I actually listened to it, which honestly…usually doesn’t happen much anymore. However, something intrigued me about noon:30 plus, I like various types of music so I gave it a whirl and I liked it a lot so we set up the interview.

noon:30 is Aissa (guitar, bass, electronic sound), Blue (lead vocals, bass) and Vivianne (drums, visuals). By the way, Blue (pictured far left) has a beautiful voice (almost reminds me of a hybrid of Fiona Apple or Regina Spektor if that makes sense). Her tone is ethereal and mellifluous– and upon first meeting her, you never expect that sound to come out but after hearing her sing you’re reminded of that adage about books and covers.

These ladies are talented, down-to-Earth and super friendly. We talked for a while so it was hard for me to get the video below 10:00 min, which is ideal for the short attention spans of the web but I’ll let you watch it and see what they have to say about how they met and some of the challenges they face, including one of the biggest ones, which is being underestimated because they’re women.

Black Girls Rock – noon:30 Style [Video Interview] from GangStarrGirl.com on Vimeo.

Check out their Reverb Nation page or @noon30 for more information. But in the meantime, listen to some of my personal faves below:

Tags: Beyonce, Black Girls Rock, noon:30

Category: Music