Queen Mother Dre (QMD) of punk band Sick Eddy and flashrock.com's QMD Radio can hold her own just fine, thanks.
What's the story behind the band's name?
It has nothing to do with our guitar player, Eddie. Sick Eddy is a semifictional scenester character, maybe somebody to look up to. [The name] pays tribute to this person, this deity, if you will. It's a little of a “What do you think Sick Eddy is? Do you know who he is?” thing. It's a little bit of a secret. It might be revealed in the songs.
Without asking you to give away too much, does the real-life inspiration know about your band?
Probably not, since we can't locate him. It would be nice if that Sick Eddy who we think is out there, that really cool dude would show his face and say, “Thank you.” But that's okay. We'll pay homage anyway.
It seems like Orange County is a good home for a punk band like yours.
We've been pretty fortunate. We've played good places, and the shows we've played have been awesome because Orange County is like the home of punk rock . . . or at least I feel like it is. It's very well-received here. But you want to go further with it and not keep it confined to Orange County. So Sick Eddy wants to mix it up a little. For a while, it felt like there was no scene in recent years. There are a lot of bands out there. How do you know who's worth your time? Hopefully, word of mouth is spreading that we're a fun band. We like what we do: we put on a good show, make good music, and people enjoy what they see and hear. And there are not a lot of girls fronting bands out there, either, music being a male-dominated industry.
So people are still surprised by female-fronted bands?
They're surprised. I think they're even a little shocked. You can kind of see the stares and mouths open. It's okay. It doesn't have to be guys-only. It's been well-received. If people heckle me while I play, I don't notice it because I'm having too much fun. And if they were to heckle me, I'd heckle them right back, or march them out of the bar. I can hold my own.
You work in construction—another male-dominated industry—as a day job. Are the experiences similar?
It does have a lot of parallels. “Oh, a girl. A girl who knows what she's talking about? Wow!” I've been doing it for years now, so they know me. I've earned my respect, and I worked for it by proving myself.
Have any local favorites?
Dawn Patrol is a local band we play shows with. We've played at the Gypsy Lounge, which was awesome. It seems like there aren't as many places to play in Orange County as there used to be. Our biggest online supporter is flashrock.com. They filmed us doing a live performance, and they did an interview. They're great for independent, unsigned artists. I'm a DJ over there on Monday nights—QMD Radio. We play all of the flashrock bands. We have interviews with bands. They show up to the studio, have some drinks with us, eat spaghetti and have some fun. It's a big party.
Did you have to work on your DJ banter when you started that?
It kind of just worked. I like to talk. I'm a singer; I'm a front person. I like to be the center of attention, but I like to share it, too.
QUEEN MOTHER DRE ON QMD RADIO; flashrock.com. LIVE EVERY MON., 7 P.M.-MIDNIGHT; STREAMING REPEATS ALL WEEK. FOR MORE INFO ON THE BAND, VISIT WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SICKEDDYMUSIC; WWW.SICKEDDY.COM.
