Childhood friends share
successes
By Shayne Bowman
■ The Auburn Plainsman
Auburn U
/ do not feel the romance
I do not catch the spark— from “Prince
of Darkness” on Indigo Girls
A spark, however, has caught the
Indigo Girls.
Their acoustic rhythms dance around
the campfire of success, and sparks are
exploding from the golden flames
Last fall. Epic Records announced that
the Indigo Girls Emily Saliers and
Amy Ray had reached gold-record sta
tus with their self-titled album. And the
duo was nominated for a Grammy for
best new artists.
Although their first single, “Closer to
Fine," made the Top 10 in the pop charts,
Saliers said success in the Top 40 can
cause misrepresentation of one’s music
“I would prefer that our music lie heard
through the grapevine because a lot of
tunes they want to hear a hit song and
that's all, where our music consists of a
lot more than 'Closer to Fine,” she said
Their success wasn't built overnight,
nor was the friendship the duo share
Saliers and Ray met in elementary
school, when Emily was 11 and Amy 10
Then, they went to the same Georgia
high school, and, aside from one year
apart, they attended the same college
"We really didn't become close friends
until 1 graduated from high school, but
we hadn't made a commitment,” Saliers
said “We weren't the Indigo Girls then "
International
Continued from page 9
Nishihara said she loves her new
friends, hut cultural differences
still cause a rift "1 think im
Japanese friends are closer, ' she
said. "1 can speak more. 1 can
express my feelings more More
than with American friends "
Other students agree that it’s
more difficult to express them
selves with foreigners than with
people from their own count ries,
especially because they're often
speaking their second language
Although she knows many inter
national students stick together,
Nishihara intent on getting
along found ways to reach out
"1 always try to he interested in
everything Kven if I'm only inter
ested a little bit I say, 'That’s
neat'" she said "And I try to be
friendly and adjust to customs and
cultures. "1 should not follow the
Japanese way here," she said "I try
to follow the American way"
Nishihara is so involved with
her many American friends, "1
usually don’t participate in pro
grams for international stu
dents.” she said "Kven if I have
time, I don't. I came here to learn
American culture
Since their formation as the Indigo
Girls, the '87 release of their debut album
Strange Fire and the solid gold Indigo
Girls, Salim's and Ray have grown apart
“as far as tastes go.’ Sabers said.
“There w as a time w hen we were very
similar — listened to the same kinds of
music and dressed the same wav," she
said “Amy's very driven, obsessed by
music, quick tempered, fiery and pas
sionate. She’s more into rock ’n’ roll and
the hard edge, unlike me ’’
Yet the difference doesn’t cause any
problems for the long-time friends
“Actually it’s a nice complement. 1'here's
STEPHEN GROTE ’•« CRIMSON WHITE U Of ALABAMA
Emily Saliers (I) and Amy Ray have known
each other since they were children
kind o!' a chemistry.
“1 think we have a real love and
appreciation for each other and for
what each other can bring to the group
What she can bring, 1 can't bring And
what I can bring, she can’t bring.”
Together they bring a powerful mes
sage about hope in an unfriendly world.
“We really want to make people feel good
about themselves," Saliers said
The key to their success, Saliers said,
is not losing focus with their songwrit
ing "We always concentrated on our
songs, and we never really had a goal in
mind, like being signed or making a
record We just look one night at a time.
We never changed for anybody else. And
we loved what we were doing ”
Soundbites
Ministry
The Mind Is A Terrible
Thing To Waste
If New Order’s music can be called
the ultimate fusion of rock and
disco, then we can assume
Ministry is the ultimate fusion of
hardcore punk and disco, The duet
of Alain Jourgensen and Paul
Barder churn dense, throbbing
dance beats accentuated by furi
ous Slayer-like riffs. Highlights on
The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To
Waste include “Thieves,” not for
the faint of heart, and “Cannibal
Song,” coupling a haunting bass
line with innovative synth work.
The second side, however, wallows
in redundancy. ■ Rob Bruno, Pipe
Dream, State U. of New York,
Binghamton
Marty Willson-Piper
Rhyme
Rhyme, the second solo album
from The Church’s lead guitarist,
is full of very melodic, personal
songs that document Marty
Willson-Piper’s international
vacations. Willson-Piper seems
preoccuppied with creating hypno
tizing effects and melodies from a
variety of instruments such as
maracas, bagpipes, cellos, violins
and accordions. He even experi
ments with spoken conversation
and a pocketwatch. The songs all
seem to be set in pretty much the
same mood, but each one is dis
tinct. Each song is an obvious i
experimentation with the ethnic j
sounds of the location where it was
written. What that means is
Rhyme is a well-made, diversified
and unique album. Give Rhyme a
try. ■ Emmett Overbey, The
Northern Star, Northern Illinois
U.
Native South African ‘Can’t Look Away’
By Elyse Glickman
■ Ct.icago f amd
U. of Illinois, Chicago
When “Owner of a Lonely Heart"
exploded onto the charts in 1083, the
story of how Trevor Rabin's presence
gave Yes new life was told over and over
again. Later in the decade, Rabin
achieved more success with Yes' Big
Generator and his current solo album
Can f Iwxik Away.
Yet then* is more to music than success,
Rabin says “If your reason for going into
music is to achieve success, it's the wrong
reason When I work on a song, 1 am writ
ing it based on what I feel and 1 don't want
to compromise what I sell."
“1 don't like to stick with a specific
thing, primarily because 1 want to be
myself in terms of the way 1 want my
music to sound 1 would rather create
music that needs many listens to got into
the lyrics.”
Rabin writes songs on many subjects,
including love and relationships. Rut the
songs he has written about his native
South Africa take on personal signifi
cance “When n conies to South Africa,
there is much to say and each line is
important to me," he says. “I always ask
myself, 'Does it mean what I want it to
mean.” and ‘Can the public understand
w hat 1 want it to mean0"
Rabin grew up in a predominantly
Jewish neighborhood m Johannesburg,
SPECIAL TOU
Yes member and soloist Trevor Rabin
where Rabin says opinions and aware
ness of South Africa's realities were
broaderthan in many partsofthe nation
Rabin’s relatives include author journal
ist Donald Woods and lawyer Sidney
Kentridge, who acted on behalf of
Stephen Bike's family after the black
anti-apartheid activist was murdered.
"When 1 left South Afnca there was a
little bit of tension at first," he says. "1
was also forced to deal with the fact that
there is an attitude that when one leaves
South Afnca, he has turned his back on
his country'.’’
On Can't Look Away, Rabin’s solo
effort, he has applied a life of expenence
to his songs about South Africa. Many of
the songs on the album portray the sit
uation in South Africa from a persona!
viewpoint. "The title of the record i>
exactly what 1 feel about what's going on
in my country. The news is very selective
for the sake of ratings. On a Tuesday, an
event in South Africa is the biggest deal,
while on Thursday the headline has been
replaced with something that is more
hip For me, however, what’s going on in
South Africa won’t and can’t go away.'
This conviction to speak out on South
Africa doesn’t just appear in his solo
efforts Rabin is currently back in the
studio with fellow Yes men Chris Squire,
Alan White and Tony Kaye working on
the next Yes album due for release this
summer. He has also just finished writ
ing a song for the album called “Lessons
of the South,” which deals with South
Africa's alteration of its history in the
education system and how public percep
tion will change when black South
Africans gain the upper hand.
Rabin’s political songs aren’t only
about South Africa. The inspiration tor
Can 't Look Away's "Promises” came
when Rabin and his son where watching
the Iran-Contra hearings. “I was think
ing about how irresponsible it is to bring
a child into the world without knowledge
of the intentions of world leaders," he
said. Rabin then quoted from the song,
and summed up what he is trying to do
with songs of this type. “The idea was,
then, don't look for the answers, find the
questions.”