Fan of the Month!
Interviewed by Kayt

For the record, what is your name? Miss Rachel Maree Cheetham Where were you born, and where did you grow up? Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia. The koala capital of the world; holds Australia’s National Tomato Competition. And Ag-Quip, “Australia’s largest agricultural field day.” Oh the memories… What were your main interests, entertainment and otherwise, growing up? Any obsessions you don’t mind people knowing about? Well, being an only child until I was 12, I had to entertain myself…

I read, drew, danced…watched ABC TV (ABC is the channel that has the British TV shows like The Goodies, Dr. Who, Red Dwarf, Young Ones, etc.). Yeah that’s about it. I watched a lot of TV.

Oh, and I always played dress ups. I still do now. If you ever need a Playboy bunny who won't* put out, then I’m ya gal.

(*re-evaluation of decision may be necessary if circumstances change and mentality is affected by copious amounts of narcotics.)

Tell us about your musical endeavors and any musical instruments you play…
Well. I used to play the organ…

But in the last couple of months I have been starting to start a band. We have two lead singers, 4 bassists, two drummers, 3 guitarists, a go-go dancer and an OH&S officer. There are also a lot of unconfirmed members of the band; these are the people who I thought looked good when I was at the pub, and I asked them to be in a band. But before we start being “a band” we want to have a dress rehearsal (at the pub), as we need to work out what our image is before we know what type of music we play. Image is everything…

I have written one song, the first line - “My tampons hit my G-spot, cause you’re f***ing me so hard…” Yeah… we’re going to go far… or at least get very drunk very often.

What accomplishments are you most proud of at this point in your life?
Cutting my hair and dying it blonde (do you DYE your hair blonde?)

(Interviewer's note: Hmm, "bleach," maybe? But we know what you mean, Rachel, many of us have done it ourselves...)

What are your favorite movies?
"Rocky Horror Picture Show," "Nain Souruzu" ("Nine Souls"), "City of the Lost Children," "Fear and Loathing," "Monty Python stuff," "Three Amigos," "Once Were Warriors," "Donnie Darko," "The Confessional," "Ghost Police," "The Jerky Boys," "Zoolander," "Ace Ventura," "Ghost Busters," "Ground Hog Day," "Vacation" - all of them, "Tromeo and Juliette," "Ghost in the Shell," "The Big Lebowski," "Hercules Returns," "The Castle," "Super Vixens…"

Do you have any favorite books?
"The Prophet," "End Zone" by Don Dellilo, "Bury Me Standing" by Isabella someone, "Chautauqua Summer" by Rebecca Chase and anything by Oscar Wilde. And comics... Especially an Australian comic - "Platinum Grit."

What music are you into, in addition to Red Elvises?
Australian bands:
Machine Gun Fellatio, TISM, Gerling, Regurgitator, Toy Death, Friendly, The Porkers, Karma County, Russell Morris. AC/DC. The Vesco Era, Sonicanimation, Hoodoo Gurus.

Bands that I have been listening to lately:
Squirrel Nut Zippers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tea Party, New Order, Happy Mondays, Tom Waits, The Go! Team, Dean Martin, Sound Garden, Less Than Jake, Buena Vista Social Club.

When, where, how, etc. did you first hear and experience Red Elvises?
Well… I met a boy on the Internet, on this site called myspace.com. It’s not a dodgy-picky-uppy people thing, its about meeting people and trying to impress people you will never meet.

This boy, he was born in Russia, but now lives in the U.S. (I tell people that he’s Russian first, as most people react badly if I say he lives in America.) I initially contacted him because of the image he had for his profile; most people have hot photos of themselves, however, he had a picture of a kitten with a gun ready to sniper someone. And I thought that was adorable.

So we talk online and email and we swap music. Well, once we did the swapping music thing without swapping files or anything but going to bands’ websites and choosing from what you could listen to on the site, then we listened to bands’ music on our computers at the same time… It was like we were almost in the same hemisphere. (I was thinking of going to visit the US to see him. But I’m scared. I’ve never been on a plane before. And it’s not so safe to fly anymore. [You know with the whole El Nino Affect. Who knows what the weather is going to do!])

Anyways, the Red Elvises were the first band he showed me. I was so impressed. And I listen to the radio thing [on Red Elvises' website] whenever I’m online (which is a lot) so I have never heard the whole album** or seen them, or met in “real life” anyone else who has heard of them.

And that’s my story.

**Interviewer’s Note: Rachel now is the proud owner of a “Lunatics and Poets” CD so she is finally now able to listen to a whole Red Elvises CD!

What is it about Red Elvises that draws you to them, that you like the most?
The accents!

What are your favorite Red Elvises songs?
All the songs on the radio thing. But my favorite favorites – “Venice, USA” and “Memoirs of a Phuket Geisha”

What would you like to see them do in the future? Any ideas? Anything you’d like to say to the band?
Come to Australia. Well at least my city. We have beaches, heaps of hot people and it’s bloody cheap!

Okay, last question… Do you have anything you’d especially like to say to all the fans?
Dear fans, please tell the rest of the world about the Red Elvises. It’s only through a chance encounter did I get to find out about them, and I love them! So get online and talk to strangers and say – “Hey, listen to this band!” And they will listen, and they will be happy.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The End.