By Josh Rotter
Los Angeles space-rock outfit West Indian Girl captures – with their sunny sound and meditative lyrics — the duality of their alternately glitzy and gritty city, sandwiched between serene beaches and skid row. It’s an easy, breezy beautiful oasis for some – a boulevard of broken dreams for others. But West Indian Girl’s story begins in early-’90s Detroit, with the meeting of bassist Francis Ten and vocalist-guitarist Robert James. Moving westward, the two eventually signed with Astralwerks, adding vocalist and percussionist Mariqueen Maandig, drummer Mark Lewis, and later, keyboardists Nathan Van Hala and Amy White.
After the 2004 release of their self-titled debut and remix EP, West Indian Girl moved to Milan Records for their sophomore disc, 4th & Wall (2007), named for the unsavory downtown intersection that is home to their current recording studio. But it’s the entire LA landscape that intrigues this band on their latest album, evinced by both the memorable sand and surf-set pop track “Blue Wave,” and the more dire, downtown rocker “To Die in LA.” If beach living symbolizes success in the music capital, downtown’s homelessness – only a 30-minute drive away – hints at the greater potential for failure.
With a headlining gig as part of the LA Invasion tour at the Rickshaw Stop on Thursday, June 19, West Indian Girl co-founder Francis Ten took an hour and 10 to talk about the band’s upcoming performance, their latest album, and the immense difficulties of making it in today’s music climate.