by Jon Wedemeyer

Valerie Campbell seems shy. Her thick, blonde hair keeps falling in front of her huge brown eyes whenever she looks down and sometimes she hesitates when she talks, to pick just the right words to say. Don't let it fool you.

Valerie Campbell also has a voice that will stop you dead in your tracks.  I am not kidding.

Lisa Cattoretti is not shy at all. She sits Indian style on the studio floor listening intently to every word being said. Every now and then flashing a smile a model would kill for. The shortest girl in rock and roll (and one of the cutest) doesn't hesitate to talk to you the same way she plays guitar, looks you straight in the eyes and lets it rip.

Bob Campbell is Valerie's husband and the band's keyboardist and he is 100% musician. He leans on a half-stack dressed in a full length black trenchcoat and jumps in only when he's got something significant to add.

This is the heart of "Daisy Chain". And if you put it all together it also describes their music. You can really see each of their personalities culminating in their music. It's sometimes fleeting but always just the right sound, the vocals cut right to the front, the songs are nice but straight ahead and every song has something to say.

These guys have paid their dues. "Daisy Chain" has been together about 2 years. They've stayed focused and they've worked hard and steady towards their goals in spite of line-up changes and the usual band problems which could have stopped a less dedicated group of musicians.

Bob and Valerie started working on their songs years ago on a four track machine doing all the parts themselves. They had a plan. They'd get just the right sound and songs together, find just the right musicians, start playing out, cut a CD and get it on the radio.

At that same time, Lisa sat at a kitchen table one day and decided that she would be in a band, that it would be called "Daisy Chain", that they would play progressive music and that they would get on the radio. She also wanted to work with a keyboardist and a female vocalist.

They were actually living on different ends of the same street but never met, went to the exactly the same concerts, and liked exactly the same bands. Hmmmmmmm.

Lisa was getting ready to make the big move to L.A. to go to school and start putting her band together, when she decided to come back to Florida for just a little while first. She happened to see an ad in a local music magazine for a guitarist wanted and thought "what the hell" and decided to go try out.

Bob: "Lisa came to audition for us and the elevator opened and there was no one there ... oooooooh" - everybody laughs.

Lisa: "They weren't sure how old I was at first, they saw me and they were looking for my Girl Scout cookies. I knew they were real musicians though, cos they had no furniture. I thought to myself, these people are definitely serious!".

Eileen: "She is the smallest person in rock and roll".

Eileen Tracy is the bass player in this three girl, two man line-up, she's been playing for 10 years. "I was playing guitar but I was awful, so one day when I was at college I picked up this bass and said hmmmm, it sat there for three years but then I started taking lessons 10 years ago, I've been playing bass in bands for about ten years". Eileen knew "Daisy Chain" through mutual friends and when the bass job came up she got it.

Scott Craig finishes out the line-up on drums. Scott's originally from North Carolina and came down to audition at the urging of the band's producer. Things clicked and he made the move down to Florida. Scott has been playing for almost five years and has a heavy progressive style. "I like Stewart Copeland, Chester Thompson, guys like that".

Lisa passed the audition of course and they eventually got a demo recorded which did surprisingly well, getting a lot of airplay on WKPX. Then they got some full-time players on drums and bass and started playing the local club scene. After numerous line-up changes in the process they have now added Eileen and Scott, the band feels right and is now all set.

FLA: "So, how would you describe your music?"

Valerie: "Pop music, meaning Top 40's-ish with a progressive flair in the way the songs are formed. It's kind of unorthodox, some of the sounds, some of the words. It's not usual, but it's very appealing."

FLA: "If you could compare your sound to somebody we all know, who would you say you sound like?"

Eileen: "Somewhere between Til-Tuesday and 10,000 Maniacs".

FLA: "OK guys, I want a war story here, what has been your worst gig?"

Eileen: "The night the PA didn't show up, we showed up, but the PA didn't show up".

Lisa: "We played with almost no sound".

Bob: "We ended up singing through bass cabinets".

Eileen: "We were in Miami when this happened, Bob drives all the way back up to Boca to get this other PA and leaves us in the bar drinking Bourbon! This guy from another club comes down with this huge board, it doesn't work. We ended up using a six-channel board with US-festival sized bass cabinets and a power amp from a DJ system".

Lisa: "And we sounded like AM radio, it was awful, the club owner was going like, hmmmm".

Valerie: " But we blew him away the next time".

FLA: "They asked you back?".

Bob: "Yeah they asked us back after that, again and again".

FLA: "What's the highlight of the band so far, or what's your best gig?".

Valerie: "I think winning the Snickers New Music Contest".

Lisa: "We won with a song called 'Shoes Too Big'".

FLA: "So this was a contest where the listeners would call in and vote for their favorite band, and you won by a big margin?".

Valerie: "Yeah, they said we won by a wide margin".

FLA: "So you have a good following?".

Eileen: "Yeah, we've achieved a pretty big fan base".

Bob: "And we think this next demo is really gonna do something big for us".

FLA: "What do you guys think of the south Florida music scene and where do you see it progressing in the next few years?".

Valerie: "I see some of the major labels opening branch offices down here and modeling agencies, you know entertainment related businesses".

Eileen: "There's finally an original music club scene down here, after all these years there's finally clubs open that orginal bands can play. They're letting us play - now we just have wait for them to pay us" - everybody laughs again.

Bob: "There's a lot of 'local' shows now, WShe's got one, KPX has got one, VUM has one".

Valerie: "So people know that something's happening. If we don't make it to Miami Rocks, A & R people will be club hopping all over the place that week, so they might sit down and hear you at some hole in the wall, so we're going to be in the immediate area and just play our hearts out".

FLA: "So what would be your advice to other bands out there?"

Valerie: "I think you should write good songs then go out and play as much as you can, then take a break and write more songs".

Lisa: "And record them".

FLA: "OK, in parting do you have anything you'd like to throw out to south Florida, say hi to mom, anything like that?".

Valerie: "Sure, we'd like to say thanks for all the support, to all our fans, all our friends, all the other local bands who've been supporting us".

Lisa: "And everybody that voted for us".

FLA: "And what's your favorite music magazine?".

All: "FLA Rocks!!!".