[Andy]  [Vanessa]  [Sue]  [Damon]

Susan Larsen

Hello, my name is Susan Larsen (not Chris). I was born in Renton, WA and raised in Kennewick, WA which is part of the Tri-Cities (a.k.a.: the Dry Shitties). Growing up in a small (extremely right wing) town there's not a lot one can do when you're a "sensitive artistic teenager"' - in other words I didn't fit in at all with main stream anything). Then low and behold one day when I was about 16 I went to my very first punk rock show. The band was called Diddly Squat. After that night I was hooked. It was loud and obnoxious and I loved it. I guess you could say I found a purpose, a place where I fit in and found peace of mind (of sorts). If 12 years ago someone told me I would one day play in a punkrock band, I would've probably told them they were crazy. By the tender age of 20 I decided to leave the Dry-Shitties and move to Seattle in search of something better although I didn"t know what. So here I am, the bass player for Bell. I'm the rookie of the band in more ways than one.

First of all, I jus tjoined the band in early August of '97. And unlike my band mates I've only been playing for eight years. I started when I was twenty (you do the math to figure my age). It all began in the summer of 1989, a big year musically for Seattle and the continuance of an obsession for myself. One day, in I think August, I was hanging out with my very good friend Paula and she asked if I wanted to be in a band with her. Keep in mind neither one of us knew what the hell we were doing. I was clueless on how to play bass. The piano lessons I took from the age of five to seven really didn't do me much good. And the guitar lessons I took in the fifth grade really didn't teach me anything other than how to play Delta Dawn and tune a guitar, which by the way I suck at ( I would be lost without my stage tuner).

At that time Paula sort of knew how to play bass, but really didn't know how to play guitar. We didn't give a shit, it was gunk rock, where all you need Is a guitar, a desire to play, and something to say. So with a fire in our bellies we set forth to become "musicians". As it turned out in the beginning I only played with Paula for a short while. She had another more serious project, a band called Whipped. I on the other hand started playing with as many people as I could. I was in this Band for a while with a guy from my work (I'll call him Dick to protect his identity). It didn't last very long. I found out that Dick wanted a female bass Player because Smashing Pumgkins and Sonic Youth had one. Somehow Dick thought the key to success was having a female Bass player and a Blonde one to Boot. I was more or less kicked out of the band. So much for the blonde female Bass player theory. Dick decided to opt for a male Bass player. Needless to say Dick and his band failed miserably. Last I heard Dick started smoking crack then moved Back to Spokane where he came from. Good riddance.

It didn't take long for me to get over Dick and his Band of idiots. Within a month I was asked tojoin a Band called Rag with Tracey Hartle on guitar, Bennett on drums and Christine Sanguist on vocals. Soon after I joined, Christine quit and was replaced by Tam (I can't remember her last name). We faired quite a bit Better than my first band. Although like most bands, there were some severe communication problems. Rag was together for about two years. We put out a couple of crappy demo tapes and a single (tl~at I didn't play on) put out on Mint Tone Records. When Rag Broke up Tracey and I decided to keep playing together. We started a new Band with drummer Maria Marba (formerly of Captain Enema and the Rabbid Cosmonots). We called the band Shug, named after a character in an Alice Walker novel. Shug staited out as a three piece, then about six months latter Paula joined. Shug will always have a special place in my heart. I had some of the Best and the worst times of my life in that band. If we had the chance to do some thing's over, we probably would. Shug was together approximately four years. We put out a split CD with a band from S.F. called Cockpit. The CD is called Shugg V. Cockpit (don't ask about the extra "G" in Shug, it's a long stupid story). The CD was put out On the now defunct Bitter Sweet Records. We also put out a split 7" with spoken word By Chritien Storm and her project Heart of a Dog on Paula and our friend Kelly's own label called Vague Vinyl. Shug played their last show on June 20, 1997. It sucked...

Well, I had a whole three days of recovery time before I was approached By Bell. Actually they approached Maria (Shug's drummer), then Maria told me. She gave me Vanessa's phone number and told me to call her. I put it off for almost a week. Being in a Band is like being married to three or four other people (depending on the size of your Band). So imagine Being in a Bad marriage with three or four other people, then you finally break up. Getting married again is not something you want to do right away. So against my better judgment and Maria's persistence I called Vanessa. I guess I could draw out this bio By another couple hundred words or so but I won't. The end of the story is I joined Bell Because 1.)I really loved Vanessa's lyrics. 2.) Everyone in the Band is very kind and Patient. 3.) I love playing in this band. 4.) Everyone seems to have the same goal: to work hard, play well and have fun. I have no regrets. The end.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that I still have a side project With maria and our friends Cee Cee and Adam (who also plays guitar in a band called The Goods). We ~ave yet to come ut, with a name.

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