Dancercize your Sundays with Debbie D
It was Sunday afternoon and I called up Notorious Nastie to discuss some of the upcoming events for REVMiami.com: the Valentine Massacre Show this Saturday (February 14), the upcoming Punk Rock Showcase (March 14), REV Miami II (March 20), and the Miami Music Festival (aka 4/20 Festival, April 17-20).
After talking for a little bit Nastie told me that he's there with his friend Debbie. I asked him what she does and he said, "what do you think I am, her PR Agent? Here, you talk to her."
He passed the phone over to her and then walked away yelling at someone off in the distance.
I asked Debbie what projects she has coming up, and I get an immediate impression that she is an amazingly nice person. She told me that she is teaching a free Dancercize Class Sunday afternoons at 2pm to 3pm at the Upper Eastside Garden (7244 Biscayne Blvd).
I asked her what kind of music they're playing, and she tells me they're focusing on happy and inspirational music.
As we talked it becomes more and more apparent that Debbie loves dancing, singing, and music in general. She loves the infectious energy of it, and it's ability to bring others together. The Sunday Dancercize class is an outlet for her love of dance, and it's something that she shares with her friends Tina T, who helps with the organization, and Peter Rozek, who owns the Garden.
I talked to Debbie more but something in my mind kept asking for attention. Who is Debbie? Why is Nastie hanging out with her? She loves dancing? Piece by piece things come together, and I realize that it's Debbie D from Avenue D.
Now this doesn't make much sense to me. The girl who is most famous for being half of the electroclash band mainly known for their raunchy songs, Do I Look Like A Slut? and Orgasmatron, is a community organizer and a total sweetheart?
At one point Avenue D was traveling the world, had their music featured in alt-porn film Eon McKai's Neu Wave Hookers, and their song Do I Look Like A Slut? was on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles (all of their music and DVDs can be found on their website, www.avenued.com).
It's odd to think that people have lives outside of their bands, but of course they do. Often times the perception that is created by a band's image, especially conceptual bands, doesn't match reality. Whenever I thought of Avenue D, I would envision Debbie D and partner Daphne D holed up in some slimey New York motel in the Lower East Side, with a room full of man slaves serving them alcohol and grapes.
The reality is that this is a sensitive, well spoken, caring woman. The Sunday dancercize classes are part of her New York to Miami transition and a way to start all over again.
Beyond that, Debbie volunteers at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden doing environmental education as part of The Fairchild Challenge, and also volunteers at Shake-A-Leg Miami (an aquatic center and marine academy for disabled and at-risk youths). She also is in the process of starting her own clothing company called Miss Miami, and she also writes Fitness articles for ElementsLiving.tv.
In terms of music, she's recently collaborated with Otto von Schirach and the Miami Bass Warriors, and she's working on a lot of other music projects that will be coming together shortly. And, my favorite part, she will be guest DJ'ing at REV Miami II.
The process of letting go of an old love and stepping into a new one is certainly going to be challenging. There's a term in writing called "killing the baby" - where something you've written has hit it's ceiling and yet you aren't quite satisfied, so inevitably the piece has to be deleted and started from scratch.
It's great to see her stepping out from her old shadows and proactively moving forward with other projects that she loves and cares about. With her attitude, I have full confidence that she'll be able to succeed in whatever way she wants.
For more information on Debbie's projects and the Sunday Dancercize Classes contact: debbiedynamite@yahoo.com.
If You Enjoyed This Post, You May Also Like:
- Debbie D's Upper East Side Garden Party (March 24, 2009 - WMC)
- TM Sisters' Whirl Crash Go!
- Steve chats with Hoosha
- Starting a New Year, Celebrating Our First
- Notorious Xmas
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