Bands - Cyndi Vellmure and the Saboteurs

Cyndi Vellmure

The end of The Lula Stream was rough.  That was a tough band to get over and getting over it wasn't happening any time soon.  It was bad enough to feel left in a daze by it's abrupt demise, but now I had do a bit of soul searching.  Did I still want to play?  Am I getting to old for this?  Will I ever find another band I'm as passionate about?  The answers were a mixed bag.

The next phase came in a phone call from Lula Stream drummer Victor Varadi.  He was playing for a singer and she needed a bass player.  I'd learned from the band N.O.W. to beware of getting caught up in a situation where I didn't like the music.  But at that point I wasn't sure if I wanted to be in another band altogether.  Still, I told him I'd take a listen to her songs.  I liked what I heard.

 CYNDI VELLMURE AND THE SABOTEURS
(2004)

(Cyndi Vellmure - vocals/guitar/piano, Jack Wesley Sparks - guitar, Me - bass, Victor Varadi - drums)

Cyndi's a great singer and a strong songwriter.  She had a few gems up her sleeve.  Although this wouldn't be the first band where I wasn't the sole female (their were three of us in N.O.W.), there something great about being balanced out with the number of guys in the band for a change.  Maybe that's why this became one of the bands I had the most fun with.

Cyndi Vellmure and The Saboteurs
(Cyndi, me, Wes Sparks and Victor Varadi)

I think the upside and downside of this band is for the first time I didn't take it too seriously.  I was somewhat invested but not so intensely invested.  For Cyndi's sake I wish I were, but at the point I was dealing with a case of musical heartbreak and impending burn out.

One of the things for which I'll always be grateful to Cyndi and this band is being part of The Muse Project.  The Muse Project was a cabaret/burlesque/raunchy comedy variety show held at the Sunset Strip club King King.  Cyndi was one of the Muse performers and we, as a band, would often get to do one song as part of the show.  Then we'd get to sit at the bar and drink for the rest of it.  It was so much fun!


Playing "Pour Some Sugar On Me" at a Muse Project Show 


More about the Muse Project

San Diego music festival where
we played in a sex shoppe. Good times!

There were a number of factors that lead to our demise.  For me, I was getting burned out.  Age has a way of not making you want to drag your heavy 4x10 bass cab to a club on the Sunset Strip on a Wednesday at Midnight.  So when this band fell apart, I was a little relieved.

It would be my last serious band.  It's curtain call would lead to me focusing more on developing my own songwriting and music production. One project I'm proud of was taking Cyndi's "Boyfriend" demo above and creating a full fledged backing track for it.

The other was a song I wrote that was at least partially influenced by Cyndi and all the girls in The Muse Project.  I was just so in awe of their freedom and fearlessness to dance around on stage, being sexy and barely wearing any clothes.  There's something about being able to do that that means digging deep, knowing who you are and not being shy about revealing it to the world.  I wish I could be so bold!



Farewell and Adieu, Saboteurs...