Looking Like A Slut With New York's Avenue D (Shut Up!)

"Believe it or not, in New York, there are all these sensitive guys that talk about their feelings and want to wait until they have sex. We're from Miami, we're more open."

Sitting in a Covent Garden bar on a gloriously sunny London afternoon Debbie from Avenue D laughs as she dismisses New York's men. She's explaining what's inspired their gloriously filthy booty tech anthem Stick It In (chorus line- shut up and stick it in') a track her band-mate Daphne agrees was inspired by their personal experiences.

"We like the more aggressive and forward approach," she giggles.

"A lot of the guys in New York are really scared and so concerned with everything. They're very PC (politically correct) and Stick It In is a reaction against that. We want men, not boys, sometimes you want someone who's going to grab you and whisk you away."

The main hook for the interview, however, has to be their superlative electro club hit Do I Look Like A Slut- that's already won them superstar fans from DJ Hell to Beck (THE Beck) and Boy George. Hilariously funny and equally filthy, Slut tells the tale of two open-minded New York gals doing what comes naturally and has become an anthem throughout (electro) club and increasingly beyond. Boy George, in fact, loves the song so much, he recently signed it to his indie label More Protein, even inviting the girls over to his London house for a week, an offer they gratefully accepted gratefully.

"It's like a dream come true, to stay in Boy George's house on my first trip to London," Debbie admits.

"He even lets us sleep in his bed."


Skrufff (Jonty): You're here in London, signed to boy George's label More Protein and are even staying at his Hampstead house, how did it all happen-

Avenue D (Debbie): "Larry Tee (New York's Electroclash founder/ Skrufff's man-in-New York- Skrufff Ed) told me a while ago that George really liked our song Do I Look Like A Slut- Then one day I was at my job working at a bar in New York and he walked in. Everybody who worked there was saying to each other 'Oh my God, Boy George is here' and I was like, 'I'm gonna' go and introduce myself to him'. He was sitting with a friend of mine so I went over and said 'Hi my name's Debbie' and he initially just said 'Hi' (she mimics George being dismissive). Then I said 'I'm in this band called Avenue D, he got out of his chair immediately and was like 'Oh it's so nice to meet you, blah, blah, blah'. Ever since then we've stayed in touch."

Skrufff: What inspired Do I Look Like A Slut-

Avenue D (Debbie): "It started as a joke, it was just us having fun and being stupid one night. One of our first shows was at Larry Tee's club Lux, two years ago, there were some girls in the audience who were really offended and pissed off with us who started shouting 'You stupid fucking sluts, shut up, get off the stage' and they wouldn't stop. We thought it was so funny."

Avenue D (Daphne): "It was so cool, that we made somebody upset."

Avenue D (Debbie): "We were loving it and then after the show we were dancing in the club and these girls started dancing next to us then we heard them whispering 'OK, one, two, three, Sluts!', over and over again. We were laughing about it and telling all our friends the story afterwards and one friend in particular, Mikey, said we've got to make a song out of it. I turned to him and said 'OK what's our song going to be called-' and he turned to me and said 'Do I look like a slut-'."

Avenue D (Daphne): "Then Larry heard us playing it at his party and he said 'I have to work with that song, so he reproduced it and gave it a new beat."

Skrufff: How much other music have you done-

Avenue D (Debbie): "We don't have a lot of other stuff out yet because we've been having fun and playing around with Slut. Our next project is to get it in stores. We started as a joke and we had no idea we'd take it this far, even to come to London. We're learning now but we don't know< Tags