Sitting in the garage and practicing for the next big show, guitarist, Betty Cisneros gets lost in conversation with her bandmates and forgets she is supposed to be playing, making everyone around her scream, “Go Betty Go!”
Latina punk band, Go Betty Go, is back and ready to rock during their tour once again. Not only is the band returning to the stage, but they have also announced a vinyl re-release of their second album, Nothing is More.
“There are only a handful of CDs left for Nothing is More, so pretty soon we won’t be able to sell any more copies. We decided, instead of reprinting more CDs we are opting for the vinyl and it’s exciting because it’s sort of an anniversary,” lead singer of Go Betty Go, Nicolette Vilar says.
In 2005, Go Betty Go was touring full time and reached a point where they were on the road non-stop. They also toured with Vans Warped Tour for two consecutive years.
The band had to eventually put an end to their continuous touring after Vilar decided it was time to quit Go Betty Go and pursue a career in graphic design.
“I left and went to art school and it was a huge and important thing for me,” Vilar says. “I love music and I’m glad I was able to be apart of such a great project so early in my life, but there was a part of me that needed to leave.”
Six years after being separated from the band, the bad blood between Vilar and her bandmates was erased and now they are unable to recall why they were fighting in the first place.
Soon after squashing the drama, Go Betty Go was reunited when a friend of Cisneros booked the band for a concert even though no real answer was given on whether or not they would be willing to play.
“Betty told her we weren’t playing shows anymore and her friend said “if you show up, you show up,” Vilar says. “I believe they asked Emily (Wynne-Hughes) first because she had been singing for them while I was gone.”
Busy the night of the show, Wynne-Hughes could not perform, but Vilar was asked by the band to sing with them once again. According to the Vilar, she told herself it was now or never and agreed to take the stage as the lead singer of Go Betty Go.
During band practice, Vilar remembered all the songs and went on to perform making her realize she was still in love with being apart of the band.
Once they rekindled the band, a new music video for “By Your Side” was released as an announcement that the band was back and here to stay.
“The response has been great and there are a lot of people that were fans of ours back when we would tour as much as we did and they are slowly realizing that we are back together. I feel like now, every time we play a show, the room is full and everyone is really excited to see us,” says Vilar. “It’s really neat to be able to stand on stage and have a room full of people there to see your band and they want us to do well.”
Go Betty Go is back on tour with The Dollyrots and will be performing at the Slidebar in Fullerton on March 29. The band was also asked to return to the Vans Warped Tour stage for the 25 year anniversary in Mountain View, California.
“I love to perform because it is such a fun and artistic outlet. When I saw a stage, I knew I wanted to be on it,” Vilar says. “There’s nothing like it.”
The band is continuing to get the word out about the return of Go Betty Go and has many plans for the future and possibly for later in the year.
“We have about ten songs that are written and are brand new,” Vilar says. “We would love to come up with a few more and head to the studio. It would be really great to have new music.”
Where can I get your cds? I’d like to purchase both
What happened to the base player…when I saw you in San Antonio you had a different player??