LOOK AT LIFE / COCO HAMES

¡Eso Si Que Es!: On Gloria Estefan and wearin' someone else's socks.

By COCO HAMES

Almost Anything for You

When I first moved to LA, I got a job singing backup vocals on karaoke tracks. I'd go into the studio, the guy would tell me which track we were doing, and I'd sing the song.  We'd record one side of me singing all the vocal tracks (lead and backup) and one side of just the backup. When you sing karaoke and some random ghost harmonies come out of nowhere, that's the backup vocal track. 

So one day, we were set to do Gloria Estefan's "Anything For You," and it was completely out of my range. I tried singing it low, and then high, and I just couldn't do it! I didn't want to lose the job, so I kept asking to start over, but the killer part was the "...you know you made me strong!" I absolutely couldn't hit it.

And so, I did lose the job. But next time you're singing karaoke and you hear some prerecorded vocal accompaniment coming in, it could be me, singing along.

Socks

Because we don't have a lot of time or money on the road, and because Poni and I wear almost the same size shoe, we get our socks in bulk. Usually at Target, usually just functional white sports socks. And invariably, when we do laundry, whether at a friend's house or in a hotel bathtub, the socks will get mixed up. Same socks, same amount of usage but, at the same time, we always know when we're wearing the other's socks. 

It's not a good feeling. It's disquieting and disconcerting to know, in your heart of hearts, that the socks you have on are not your socks.

*****

Blurt "co-co-editor" Coco Hames fronts The Ettes - Hames on guitar, Jem Cohen on bass and Poni Silver on drums - whose latest album Look At Life Again Soon (Take Root) is still a hot item-but look out for a new EP, Danger Is, on April 7 (already out digitally, www.myspace.com/theettes), and a Dan Auerbach-produced limited-edition single this month. And catch ‘em at SXSW, too.