By DAN ARMONAITIS
Go Betty Go is set to make a rare trip to Upstate South Carolina this weekend. The Los Angeles-based punk rock band will perform Sunday, Nov. 3 at The Radio Room in Greenville.
“It’s been over 10 years, I think, since we’ve been in that area,” drummer Aixa Vilar said. “From what I remember, we had some good shows out that way, so we’re looking forward to coming back.”
The all-female group also includes Vilar’s sister Nicolette Vilar on lead vocals, Michelle Rangel on bass and Betty Cisneros on guitar.
“We got invited to do FEST down in Gainesville, Florida, so we took advantage of the region we’re going to be in and decided to do a few shows kind of out in that area,” Aixa said. “We don’t tour as much as we used to, so we’re excited.”
Go Betty Go, which takes its name from a phrase the other band members used to chant to get Cisneros to start a song, originated in 2000. The band built a solid reputation through the first half of the decade, highlighted by multiple appearances on the massively popular Warped tour and the release of a full-length debut album, “Nothing is More.”
Then, Nicolette Vilar abruptly left the group followed shortly thereafter by Rangel. Go Betty Go soldiered forward with replacement members for a while but had quit altogether by 2010.
Two years later, however, the original four members reunited as Go Betty Go and have continued churning out propulsive, ultra-catchy music ever since.
“The band is a fun thing to do and we genuinely enjoy it, but it also keeps us seeing each other a lot more than we probably would otherwise,” Aixa said. “I only say that because I see my band members more frequently than I do my other friends. … What happens is that the older you get, the less you see of your friends because everybody is so caught up in their own family lives and their marriages and kids and all that.”
Go Betty Go’s music, which includes a 2015 EP titled “Reboot,” has a punk-pop aesthetic that draws from a variety of influences.
“It’s not like we particularly set out for that in the sense that we were like, ‘oh, we’re going to be a pop-punk band,'” Aixa said. “But growing up in the ’80s as a kid and then in the ’90s, there was a lot of pop music out there that I really liked as well. So, I think it just came natural to have kind of a pop soul and also be into punk rock and just mesh it together.
“I guess, Green Day was one of the first bands that kind of did that. And even The Ramones were poppy. If you break down their songs, they’re almost like ’50s doo-wop songs just sped up with electric guitars.”
Aixa said that she, personally, was drawn to such bands as Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers when she was in elementary and junior high school and soon expanded her music influences to include such then-Lookout Records artists as Green Day, Screeching Weasel and The Queers.
“At that time, you would have to go to record stores and buy those records or have your friends share them with you,” she said. “It’s not like today. On Spotify, you can just stream through hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of songs to the point that you can become over-saturated with how much new music you’re exposed to.”
While Aixa didn’t start playing drums until she was 12, she said she knew early on that music was something she wanted to pursue.
“Even before I discovered punk rock bands and things that I ended up getting into as a teenager, I remember being like 6 or 7 years old and we’d go to fairs and stuff with my parents and I’d see, like, local bands performing and I thought, ‘wow, that would be so cool to do that myself.'”
Aixa said she also has fond memories of listening to a Los Angeles-based oldies radio station as a youth and enjoying songs by such artists as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.
“There used to be a ’50s and ’60s rock station in L.A. called K-Earth 101, and my parents used to listen to it when I was growing up,” Aixa said. She then added with a laugh, “Well, the station is still around but the funny thing is that today they play like ’80s and ’90s (music), and I guess they consider that the oldies.”
As for Go Betty Go, Aixa said the group has been working on new material and hopes to return to the recording studio soon.
“I wish we could work on new music a little quicker, but we do the best that we can with how we function these days as a band,” Aixa said. “I mean, we all have day jobs. … But we’re definitely working on new music that we’ve already started to play live.
“That’s another thing. When we released our last EP, we just kind of went into the studio and didn’t really play the songs live, which I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to do that again.’ I want to actually perform them live a few times and be a little more comfortable with them before we go into the studio. That way, they kind of take on their own life.
“A lot of times, if you just record them in the studio and then you start playing playing them live, you start getting more ideas and are like, ‘oh, we should have done this’ or ‘we should have done that.'”
Throughout its recording history, Go Betty Go has worked with producer Ted Hutt of the acclaimed Celtic punk band Flogging Molly. Aixa said she’d be open to continuing that working relationship if Hutt’s schedule permits.
“First of all, we consider him a friend,” she said. “It’s always nice to work with him, and we we like his pace. We also like the critique and the constructive criticism (he offers). … So far, it’s worked and we’ve gotten some good stuff out of working with him.”
In the meantime, Go Betty Go is just looking forward to playing a few shows in the Southeast, including Sunday’s gig at The Radio Room in Greenville.
“We’ll be playing there with a band called Year of the Fist who are from out here in Oakland, California, and they put on a great show too,” Aixa said. “So, if you’re into rock ‘n’ roll and into watching live bands, you’re not going to regret it. I know, sometimes it’s hard to get out of your house on a Sunday night, especially if you have an early morning the next day, but once you’re out there, you’re going to have a good time.”
As Aixa thought more about returning to Greenville, she then noted a favorite musician with ties to the city.
“There’s an artist both Nicolette and I really like who’s actually from Greenville, although I don’t think she lives there anymore,” Aixa said. “I think she’s in Nashville now, but her name is Nikki Lane.
“We’re big Nikki Lane fans. We’ve seen her several times when she’s come out and played in L.A. … She doesn’t consider herself a country artist — at least I’ve heard her say that a lot in interviews — but, to me, she’s like a country artist with a punk edge. She has kind of a Johnny Cash ‘f— you’ attitude. She’s cool. I really dig her music.”