Nadine the Band

I recently added a beautiful new piece to my local art collection: an ink & watercolor fox painted by Julie Strong, who is as skillful with animals as Dr. Doolittle himself. Her portraits of creatures including an owl and a porcupine are equally lovely. Julie also works in the spheres of music and filmmaking alongside her sister Heather, with whom she fronts the indie group Nadine The Band and runs Strong World Films, which has produced works that have been recognized at film festivals throughout California.

Aaron: Nadine The Band has been running for almost 15 years now. Four albums and four MAMA Award nominations. You started out as a loud rock act, but have been performing acoustic lately. What’s been happening with the band in recent years?

Julie & Heather: Wow, can we just start by saying we didn’t even know we were nominated four times!? We’ve been playing off and on in recent years. Most recently, we’ve just been brainstorming how to be successful in this industry. Our most current idea is to become a Renaissance pop cover band, but that would take quite a bit of transforming. Our hearts always lie with rock’n’roll, though, so we’d most like to keep our hard edge. We took a little break from the band, just a little nap, and we woke up in this different world of music. So we’re just trying to figure out how to fit in and navigate in this social media world. We’re so painfully old school. We were trained to go to venues and talk face-to-face with owners, and to go around town plastering flyers in windows. Basically, we’re in the process of getting back into it all. - Modesto Unplugged