If I had gone to the Ladycollege at the same time as Shirley, I would have hated her guts. Fortunately, I'm six years older than her, so with age comes wisdom and I will state here unequivocally that I admire the pants off Shirley. Shirley has parlayed indie rock fan girldom into a viable, visible, and respectable career. As host of her own indie rock TV show, New York Noise, she interviews all the hotties of the guitar, hoodie, and flugelhorn set, produces her own shows, manages bands, and throws major parties. A distaff Warhol for the '00s, but with more technology and sugar.
Truth be told, I'm way out of the indie rock loop these days and I don't care. I am apparently the last person to hear about Beirut, having heard them in a coffeehouse, I asked the barista who the hell he was playing. I mentioned his to, of all people, my 16-year-old brother, and he was like "you are so behind, Mo," so there you have it. I am behind.
But back to Shirley: it's not about the indie rock, it's about the tenacity. She's got it in spades. You can have talent and intelligence, but if you don't have the drive and hustle to back it up, you may as well have a handful of shit and nowhere to put it. I have a hard time walking up to famous-ish people I admire and chatting them up, but she clearly doesn't. (I take it she never pissed off J. Toomey, who yelled at me once, forever making me shy around people with bands.) She's built an entire cottage industry for herself, is probably never bored, and all because she just does what she loves. Had I figured that shit out for myself a decade ago, I'd be a much happier person today. So kudos to Shirley for kicking ass and interviewing bands.
Posted by Zerd at November 6, 2007 09:55 AM