SONiA and disappear fear: Return Engagement
Throughout their lives, bands often go through several incarnations-and disappear fear
is no exception. In 1987, SONiA and her sister CiNDY headed the original band.
When CiNDY decided to trade touring for motherhood in the mid '90s SONiA forged
ahead, touring with the band and ultimately going solo. As a solo artist she released
critically acclaimed albums, including Almost Chocolate.
Now, disappear fear is back. SONiA is on lead vocals and also plays the guitar,
harmonica and piano; Laura Cerulli ( "JAH" ) is on percussion and vocals; and Angela
Edge ( "Oxygen" ) rocks the bass and trumpet. The trio, which formed in April 2005, has
released DF05 LIVE, a compendium of live songs recorded at such events as the
High Sierra Music Festival in California.
The out, proud and extremely pleasant SONiA took some time off from her busy schedule
to talk with Windy City Times about touring, coming up with a band name-
and acting like a tree frog.
Windy City Times: You're out on the West Coast right now, right?
SONiA: Yes, I'm in Eugene, Ore., right now. It's foggy a lot-but it's like a dreamy fog. In
Portland, we just did a concert with Peter from Peter, Paul & Mary; he's really
inspiring. He was talking about going to Vietnam and singing "We Shall Overcome"
in Ho Chi Minh Theater. We played in Eugene last night and we're
headed to Ashland, Ore., tomorrow; that city has a pretty cool Shakespeare festival during
the summer.
WCT: Where did the name disappear fear come from?
S: I used to work at a rape crisis center in Baltimore; at the time, it was called The
Baltimore Center for Victims of Sexual Assault-but they were looking for a new name
and I came up with The Disappear Fear Center. The board [ actually ] went for
the name Sexual Assault Recovery Center. I had written the "disappear fear" name
on a Post-It on my desk and I'd see it every morning. Around this time, the band I was in ( Exhibit A ) was disappearing, so I used the name for the band my sister and I
[ were ] forming.
WCT: One of your solo albums is entitled Almost Chocolate. I've always wondered: How
do artists come up with the titles of their albums?
S: Almost Chocolate involved me thinking about falling in love. When you eat chocolate,
the chemical that is released is the same that is released when you fall in
love. So I thought if I could make music that would create that same feeling, it'd be
music worth hearing. It would've been just Chocolate, but I gave myself a way
out in case it didn't work. [ Laughs. ]
WCT: How would describe disappear fear's music? I have to say that the CD really got
me moving.
S: Good, good, good! All of the songs on the CD ( except for "Biggest Baddest Heart" )
are from other recordings. We've used arrangements from original recordings, but
we've recorded them in our own way.
If I incorporated what you said, I would call our style Americana dance music. However,
one person has called it "acoustic activism." We like to move through
different beats, whether it's a hip-hop thing, a Latin thing or something else.
WCT: On DF05, you all hit 20 cities in 30 days, right?
S: Yes. This [ incarnation of ] disappear fear did its first show at The Dogwood Festival in
Atlanta on April 10, 2005-our first show. These recordings were taken from
gigs and festivals from the spring and summer of this year. We listened to versions from
different places and we chose what we thought were the best songs we could
put on one CD. I feel that these renditions of songs really capture what the
band is about.
WCT: The tour will wrap up at WorldPride Jerusalem in 2006. Why did you choose
that site?
S: Jerusalem is such an amazing place and it brings together all the aspects of disappear
fear. Basically, when you disappear fear between people, what you have
left is love-and to perform in Israel as disappear fear is a beautiful vision and
a way of expressing that love is love. [ Jerusalem ] is on the books right now, but
there's talk of us swinging back into the States after Israel and then going over to Europe.
WCT: What are the biggest merits and drawbacks of touring?
S: The biggest merits have to be meeting people and touching people's lives. It's also
nice to go to places I never thought I'd go; it's cool to go to Australia and be able to
bodysurf. I also never thought I'd be able to perform as a musician in Israel or
Canada [ as well ] . The bad part would be feeling that I'm not grateful to the gift of what
I get to do-just occasionally getting down on myself and being selfish.
Sometimes, I feel that I take my life for granted.
At a Glance-SONiA
- The last movie to make her cry: "I'd have to say North Country with Charlize
Theron. It's really powerful."
- Favorite vacation spot: "It's probably the Sunshine Coast in Queensland [ in Australia ]
. There are lots of empty beaches and huge waves. However, you also have to be
careful in some spots; there are [ jellyfish-like animals ] called stingers with 100-
foot-long tentacles that are lethal."
- Favorite childhood memory: "One of them was being at The Flower Mart in Baltimore
that my Aunt Laura took me to. I looked up one time and saw this trumpet
in silohuette with 'Hello, Dolly' playing in the background. I was probably five at
the time."
- Favorite female singer: "I like Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin. I
also love Barbra Streisand and Paula Cole. However, my absolute favorite singer is
probably [ Hungarian singer ] Marta Sebestyen; she's that haunting voice at the
beginning of The English Patient.
- Guilty pleasure: "I like to go down escalators like a tree frog. I do this thing where I
use my [ feet ] as suction on the sides, but they're the last things to go down [ the
stairs ] . It's really fun. Just be sure to use tennis shoes; they [ provide better
suction ] ."
disappear fear will play at Uncommon Ground, 3800 N. Clark, Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. For
more info, call ( 773 ) 929-3680 or visit www.uncommonground.com .
To learn more about the band, see www.disappearfear.com .