Phlegm Fatale

Prepare for an encounter of a different kind, when An Evening of Spacepunk lands at the Park Theatre on Saturday.
This “out of this world” evening’s lineup features such diverse acts as Winnipeg’s fa...vourite DJ/performance artist/ warped genius Vav Jungle (who will be accompanied by a new back-up group called the Groovy Accoutrements), the punk and new wave infused Raizen Band and, of course, lo-fi rock duo Phlegm Fatale.
While Karyn Broadfoot-Walters and Alana Mercer formed the Breeders-esque pairing just last year, they are no strangers to Winnipeg’s rock scene. Both women have been part of sev- eral bands each, including the Quiffs, the Blowholes, Drama Queens and Neurotica.
Vocal duties are covered by Broadfoot-Walters while Mer- cer is on guitar, but they aren’t just a Deal sisters tribute band. Although they started out covering songs featuring girls play- ing guitar, they also have original material, and plan on record- ing later this year.
Calling themselves an “Indie Pop Rock Dance Duo,” Phlegm Fatale does it all.
The pair considers everything from girl groups Veruca Salt, Hole and the aforementioned Kim Deal as influences, but they also draw inspiration from other bands and artists like Mother Mother, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and even Lady Gaga. These girls know how to rock, and they’ll make you dance while they do it.
Catch Phlegm Fatale at the Park when they play An Evening of Spacepunk Saturday, Jan. 14. Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the Park Theatre.
Visit www.reverbnation.com/phlegmfatale.
- KAElEiGH AYrE - The Uniter

Featuring the enchanting vocals of Karyn Broadfoot-Walters (ex-Venus Man Trap) and the alluring axe of Alana Mercer (The Gunness, The Blowholes) over a delightful dance beat, Phlegm Fatale is simply irresistible.

The deadly duo started innocently enough with The Breeders and The Cranberries covers — or, as Mercer puts it, "songs that come out when you’re with girls and guitars." It wasn’t until Broadfoot-Walters showed her jam buddy some original stuff that the seductive songs started taking shape.

"It was like, ‘Holy shit, kid, you can write! You need to have a band,’" says Mercer, 28. "It started with me on drums and her playing guitar, and that’s how we first started playing the songs."

"At first we were doing really alternative rock kind of stuff and then I went away to Calgary and recorded with this guy who made one of my songs into a dance mix," says Broadfoot-Walters, 31. "I never thought I’d be into making dance music, although I always loved it. It was always a closet love affair, an affair that everybody has — even the metalheads."

Can club bangers and headbangers mash? Maybe. In fact, Phlegm Fatale is actually named after a song by local grindcore band Putrescence.

"We’re girly in a lot of ways but in other ways we’re just disgusting people, so I thought it was really fitting," Mercer says. "I like the idea of Putrescence fans accidentally looking us up and being horrified at the music because it’s so dancey. I think that’s the only way to pay tribute to (Putrescence)."

Speaking of tributes, in addition to originals (which the band creates with a Macintosh computer, GarageBand software and a nanoPAD), Phlegm Fatale is known to pull out a few covers.

"So far we’ve performed Be My Baby (The Ronettes) and Gigantic (Pixies), which we put to a Salt-n-Pepa beat. We kind of felt like assholes about that but it turned out really good so Kim Deal can deal with it," Mercer says. "We’ve also done Glory Box by Portishead and we’re working on Roxette and Blondie covers. Whatever we feel like doing, we do. Maybe we’ll cover Susan Boyle."

For Phlegm Fatale, fun is the name of the game — whether that means Electric Circus-esque dance moves or silly stage costumes.

"It’s Club No Drama," Broadfoot-Walters says. "There are no egos. We’re just having fun and, with two people, you don’t have to put many fires out. Actually, we’re usually burning them together."

Phlegm Fatale plans to record this spring. In the meantime, check out the duo’s demos at www.reverbnation.com/phlegmfatale and catch the band live Jan. 14 at The Park Theatre (along with Raizen Band and Vav Jungle) and noon on Jan. 22 at the University of Winnipeg as part of its annual Snoweek winter-orientation celebration. - Uptown

Featuring the enchanting vocals of Karyn Broadfoot-Walters (ex-Venus Man Trap) and the alluring axe of Alana Mercer (The Gunness, The Blowholes) over a delightful dance beat, Phlegm Fatale is simply irresistible.

The deadly duo started innocently enough with The Breeders and The Cranberries covers — or, as Mercer puts it, "songs that come out when you’re with girls and guitars." It wasn’t until Broadfoot-Walters showed her jam buddy some original stuff that the seductive songs started taking shape.

"It was like, ‘Holy shit, kid, you can write! You need to have a band,’" says Mercer, 28. "It started with me on drums and her playing guitar, and that’s how we first started playing the songs."

"At first we were doing really alternative rock kind of stuff and then I went away to Calgary and recorded with this guy who made one of my songs into a dance mix," says Broadfoot-Walters, 31. "I never thought I’d be into making dance music, although I always loved it. It was always a closet love affair, an affair that everybody has — even the metalheads."

Can club bangers and headbangers mash? Maybe. In fact, Phlegm Fatale is actually named after a song by local grindcore band Putrescence.

"We’re girly in a lot of ways but in other ways we’re just disgusting people, so I thought it was really fitting," Mercer says. "I like the idea of Putrescence fans accidentally looking us up and being horrified at the music because it’s so dancey. I think that’s the only way to pay tribute to (Putrescence)."

Speaking of tributes, in addition to originals (which the band creates with a Macintosh computer, GarageBand software and a nanoPAD), Phlegm Fatale is known to pull out a few covers.

"So far we’ve performed Be My Baby (The Ronettes) and Gigantic (Pixies), which we put to a Salt-n-Pepa beat. We kind of felt like assholes about that but it turned out really good so Kim Deal can deal with it," Mercer says. "We’ve also done Glory Box by Portishead and we’re working on Roxette and Blondie covers. Whatever we feel like doing, we do. Maybe we’ll cover Susan Boyle."

For Phlegm Fatale, fun is the name of the game — whether that means Electric Circus-esque dance moves or silly stage costumes.

"It’s Club No Drama," Broadfoot-Walters says. "There are no egos. We’re just having fun and, with two people, you don’t have to put many fires out. Actually, we’re usually burning them together."

Phlegm Fatale plans to record this spring. In the meantime, check out the duo’s demos at www.reverbnation.com/phlegmfatale and catch the band live Jan. 14 at The Park Theatre (along with Raizen Band and Vav Jungle) and noon on Jan. 22 at the University of Winnipeg as part of its annual Snoweek winter-orientation celebration. - Uptown