Founded almost three years ago, local All-Girl Cover Band, Guilty Pleasures is a local band made up of Kristen Hall (Guitar), Lehra Gordon (Bass), and Megan Callier (Drums) with lead vocals by Amy McSpadden.   They played sexy zombie school girls for our October issue.

Guilty Pleasures may be labeled as a “Girl Cover band”, but they’re so much more than just a cover band. They’re a Rock Band. With Women. Playing Real Instruments. No backing tracks here, guys. Maybe that’s hard to believe, that an all female rock band would be such an oddity these days, especially in Austin, but as Amy challenged, “try naming ten, all –girl bands in history”.  Hard to do, I agree. Even sitting around the table at Serrano’s with four hungry, Zombie Schoolgirls and the photo shoot crew, we had a hard time naming more than six or seven.

Working in a male-dominated music scene, these girls make no complaints. They want to do their jobs and melt faces while they’re at it. They bust out more than 150 shows per year at local haunts like The Blind Pig, Chuggin Monkey and the Thirsty Nickel, among others.  These girls are tough! Think about it – for a small, local band with no roadies how are four girls able to lug around amps, full drum sets and guitars down Sixth Street, especially in heels? They just do it.

Work is grueling, but these girls have a great time rocking classic hits from the 60’s to the 90’s from artists like Journey, Queen, The Ramones and Blondie. They may be tough on the exterior but these girls giggled and blushed like real schoolgirls as they were pampered with hair and make-up before for their Zombie photo shoot. It was like pre-prom dress up only with realistic, oozing wounds and frenetic blood splatters. “Ladies, you’ve got red on you.”

Playing dress up is nothing new for these girls. Any given night you might be rocking with sexy nurses, partying with schoolgirls or even the members of KISS – Guilty Pleasures style.  They like to say they’re “more campy than trampy”.

Covers are the bread and butter of Guilty Pleasures, but stay tuned for more. With songwriting projects in the works, it won’t be long before you’ll be hearing an all new side of Guilty Pleasures. Don’t worry though; stardom won’t change them. They’ll still be the tough rocker chicks you know now. But, if you’d like to volunteer to carry their equipment, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.

For booking info or a list of upcoming shows check out their website or check out their facebook page.

Interview by Jessica Hudson (jessica@austinfusionmagazine.com)
Photos by Sheanna Singer Designs
Makeup and Hair : Lecia Harkins and Amy Evers of Beauty on the Go