Jiffy

Jiffy’s bandleaders Sara DeBell and Lisa Douglass have nursed their musical compulsions since they were five years old. That’s when, 3,000 miles apart, one started pecking out TV ads on the family piano and the other began plinking out AM radio hits on a plastic guitar. It’s a curse that’s never lifted.

Sara learned piano from the chain-smoking Mrs. Fisher before becoming a student of pop stylings with lounge organist Gil Bajek. She went on to rock the Farfisa organ (customized with a hookah-smoking caterpillar), Arp Omni, Moog Prodigy, and Yamaha DX-7 in a succession of buttrock, punk, and Zappa-flavored bands.

Then, on her primitive Ensoniq sampler she created the cult CD Grunge Lite, which appeared on MTV News, Rolling Stone, Spin, and pretty much everywhere else. That brief brush with fame was enough to put her off her feed. She got an honest job at Seattle alt newspaper The Stranger, played cabaret organ for drag shows, and took up with a 76-year-old ukulele player. Rock was history... until she met Lisa.

Lisa’s first band — the imposing Steve and Steve — was led by Lisa on her baby blue toy guitar with little brother Nathan on the Muppet Show drum kit. She soon started lessons on a "real" acoustic guitar ($39) from the local mom-and-pop music shop. But every time the family went to Sears, she pleaded for that sweet Flying V with the whammy bar! On Christmas morning, there it was... on her brother's side of the tree. Lisa was presented with a "ladylike" electric-acoustic—and promptly swiped little Nathan's awesome axe.

Throughout her 20s, Lisa gamely strummed a Hohner folk guitar in a string of bands, all with a foundation of harmony and pop sensibilities. As lead singer of Denny's Reputation, she played and sang for a crowd of 8,000 at the Portland (OR) Pride Festival. At long last, Lisa got her glorious, life-changing flametop Epiphone Les Paul, but it was a struggle finding kindred souls to rock with. Languishing in the folky pigeonhole of singer-songwriterdom, she turned to the design world for her kicks.

Sara and Lisa and were virtual strangers when they got together for an epic karaoke performance of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at a company Christmas party. They each thought they'd long since given music the heave-ho, but immediately they knew: The rock was calling their names. Sara took a deep breath and bought a state-of-the-art Korg. Lisa dusted off her Les Paul and lined up her battery of stomp boxes. It was 2006, and in Seattle, Jiffy was born.

From the start, their music was confessional and scrappy. With harmony. And riffs. And earworms. And lots of distortion. And... lolcats. Now, Jiffy’s catalog is a showcase of songwriting and harmony, equal parts finesse and chops. Brandon and Mitch were brought in in late 2009 to complete the rhythm section.

Sara and Lisa tried not to rock. But in the end, they just couldn't not rock. So they created Jiffy.