Posts Tagged ‘cold blue rebels’

Hello Lippy lovers!

Wow, it’s been a while since I checked in with you! The first of the year always flies by, with our back to back trade shows, and with the bulk of them passed, I decided to take a much-needed vacation from our beloved Lippy Land! Of course, workaholic that I tend to be, instead of relaxing on a beach sipping margaritas I headed out on a tour with my band, Cold Blue Rebels, for a tour of the Pacific Northwest which spanned 3 states and equaled 9 shows in 10 days!

The tour was shared with SOCAL’s the Rocketz and started on St Patty’s day in Oxnard CA, then a stand out performance at the world-famous Gilman St. in Berkeley, where every punk band has played over the last 30 years. This place is an institution which is all ages, non-profit, and aims to help keep kids off the street with affordable great shows and movie nights during the week. The crowd had lots of 12-13 year olds, eager to dance, mixed in with every age up to grey haired old punkers! Oddly enough, it hailed 4 inches in about 30 minutes, which was bizarre for Berkeley, but did not discourage kids from coming out to play! Although sales for plaid bondage pants have slowed recently at Lip Service, it’s clear they will return to popularity – as all the classic punk styles eventually do – with many kids that night enjoying their ’77 punk styles, most likely for the first time! Ahh to be young and discovering punk rock!!

On to Redding (CA), Salem (OR), Corvallis (OR), and 1 night off to party in Portland! The gang headed out to Devils Point, the first truly punk rock strip club I have ever heard of!! If you’re ever in Portland, you must check it out; fire breathing dancers and great Burning man style performers, it seems more like a club then a strip bar, with an equal mix of guys and gals plus bands sharing the stage on the weekends!

A great show at Queen of Hearts Saloon in Portland, then on to a show at Green River collage in Auburn, WA hosted by KGRG 89.9 DJ “The Pope” form Zorch radio, who did a great job and took good care of both bands. Down to Johnny B’s in Medford, OR, a great little Rockabilly/Punk bar, and a long white-knuckle drive down to Trinidad, CA for a gig at the Cher-Ae Heights Casino. That drive should have taken 3 hrs, but took 5 1/2 due to 175 miles of winding through the redwood roads in bad rain and fog!! They gave us 5 star treatment, which was great after days of bad road food and sleeping on promoters floors! Let me tell ya folks, 9 shows in 10 days covering 2500 miles is not a picnic and easily separates the weak from the road warriors!! Rock n Roll don’t pay like it used to and all should respect anyone willing to tough it out, even for a couple weeks!

Of course my Lippy Stretch Fuckin’ jeans and Service Greaser fit jeans held up night after night suffering brutal abuse. Spilt beer and fake blood can’t stop em’!!! I only brought 2 pairs to save space and, though a bit crusty (fabreez is da key), they still made my ass look good every night, LOL!!!!

We ended in Sacramento and then home feeling beat up, sore, and shabby, but somehow full of life at the same time!! Back to work and reality but, I must say, feeling very ALIVE!!! If you haven’t taken a road trip recently or ever (god forbid), do yourself a favor and get out there and do some traveling. There’s no excuse, you can do it in a weekend or a few days. Who knows, we might all be gone in 2012 anyway!! It’s never too late and you can even do it on a broke-ass budget. with summer coming, it will only be easier to sleep in your car, camp on the beach, and hotel prices are dropping lower all the time!

We meet so many cool and fashionable people in some of the most unlikely places and, sure, they might not be up to our Hollywood standards of the latest fashion craze, but how the fuck says we’re so cool anyway?!?!? I meet people with more spirit, heart and lust for life than on any given weekend at “said hot spot” in LA, and found myself actually wanting to have conversations with perfect strangers … imagine that! I managed to visit some of my customers’ stores while traveling, too, and some came out to see our band. I found a couple of new store potentials and spread some catalogs around for future Lippy customers!

Looking forward to a visit from Amelia X of Angelspit this week, who contacted me in need of some clothes for touring, plus will be meeting with a stylist to supply outfits for band Simple Plan. So, with Spring upon us and passing quickly, I say bring it on and let’s get back to what we do best in LA … showing skin, skimpy sexy outfits, spiked heels, fetish parties, outdoor concerts, Bats Day at Disneyland, trios to Venice beach … ahh not to sound like one of those California commercials, but seriously, we do ROCK!!!

Until next time, remember
Fashion+Music=Life!!!!!!
Learn it Love it Live it!!!
Mickey Finn

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The Cold Blue Rebels’ “Blood, Guts N’ Rock & Roll” is finally available! You can pick up a copy at Amazon or download through iTunes.

Of course, there ‘s a killer party in the works. The guys are cooking up a frick’n insane night of Blood, Guts (REALLY … have you SEEN the live show?!?) and plenty of ass-kicking Rock n Roll! If you’re anywhere near LA on the 15th, you really want to make it to Bar Sinister for a sexy, gory night of psychobilly rock madness. Oh, and did I also mention, they’ll be giving out some choice Lippy swag, as well as a gift certificate for the webstore to the best Lip Service look of the night. So come on out, check out a badass rock show, do some rocking of your own in your hot Lippy gear. You might just find yourself with a nice little prezzie of more Lippy on the way home!

If you want to get a quick preview (plus a little something from Wednesday 13 of Murderdolls), you can download the first single, “Drenched in Black” at Box.net.
Preorder Blood, Gits & Rock N Roll

See you on the 15th!

The new Cold Blue Rebels album is just about ready to go! It’s set for release on Jan. 11, with a badass party to celebrate at Bar Sinister on the 15th!

You can make sure you get your hot little hands on a copy ASAP by placing a preorder with Amazon now. Preorder Blood, Gits & Rock N Roll

Until then, you’ll just need to satisfy yourself with the treat Mickey gave us for you … Enjoy!

The video for “Cold, Blue, and Beautiful” (by Plastic Hassle):

Cold Blue Rebels – Cold Blue & Beautiful from DesignerJim on Vimeo.

Happy belated Halloween to everyone!!

I have survived yet another year and another monstrous month of October, the best month of the year, culminating with my birthday on the sacred day of All Hallows Eve!!! October is our craziest month here at Lip Service and, with the addition of our new sexy costume line, this year was extra nutty! Our shipping dept. was in overdrive and the late shoppers kept us busy until the last minute. We held our annual warehouse sale, which turned out to be the biggest event ever and we supported many Halloween parties with donations and giveaways.

My band, Cold Blue Rebels, played a staggering 9 shows and our lead dancer Angelic was recruited by Tricia at Bar Sinister to build props, help decorate, and create the best Equestrian vibe for their annual ball. So there was little rest, much stress, and tons of fun for a month that just about killed me! I hope you all enjoyed some of the great parties, such as the Das Bunker events and Bar Sin and, if you got to check out any hunted houses and such, you are luckier than me, as too much work kept me from partaking in much seasonal fun as that. Nonetheless, it was another memorable month and I have much to be thankful for!

Things here at LS have been crazy and we are running soooo behind it’s not even funny, but we have finally scheduled the photo shoot for the spring line/catalog for 11/12 with my old friend Alan Amato handling the camera this time around and, let me just say, he is AMAIZING!!! So expect greatness this time around!!! Our Steam Punk line is bigger and better then ever and Blacklist has some offerings that are way over par, as usual, a printed group called “Jardin Noir” will have the Victorian goths drooling, “Mortal Coil” will make any fetish fiend’s heart pound with delight!

If you have not heard yet, I have officially left my OG glam band Jetboy due to “irreconcilable differences”.  It seems we just grew apart, as they say, and I have my hands full with work and my new band, Cold Blue Rebels. Best of luck to the boys and I hope to share the stage with them again someday.

January 11 2011 is the official release date for CBR’s debut record “Blood Guts and Rock n Roll” on Horror High Records and we will host a record release party with live performance at Bar Sinister on 1/15/11 to celebrate.

Some highlights from our month of October shows were doing 2 shows in Arizona with The Creepshow and The Koffin Kats … both shows were off the hook with the “Zombie Prom” theme making the night extra special. Big ups to Wolf of AZ Rockabilly for working his ass off to the tune of 500-600 kids attending our show at Chasers in Scottsdale!! It was beyond packed and, with everyone dancing and crowd surfing, it must have been 110 degrees in there!!! Great vibes, great scene, and everyone was very cool with no fights or trouble to be found.

So, now its on with the rest of the holidays and a break from all the California heat and sunshine, so bring on the gloom and rain and please let it snow ASAP in time to dust off the snowboards and break out all the cool jackets and coats we can’t wear for most of the year. Besides, vinyl feels better, layers add to your club wear, and your make up doesn’t melt off before ya get to the club!!  Talk to ya soon!

Fashion+Music=Life
Mickey Finn

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Hey Fashion Freaks, it has been a minute since I stopped the ride long enough to type some thoughts for my sometimes weekly column but, lo and behold, here I am doing just that!

In Lippy news:
The chaos leading up to our biannual market trip to debut our new lines has come and gone and we survived the trip to Las Vegas yet again. Long, hard days working the trade show and talking with hundreds of customers plus fierce party nights with all the fabulous friends from the fashion industry can definitely leave you exhausted and in need of a vacation but, after the show and brief weekend, we are back to work as usual. The Magic convention (Men’s Apparel Guild In California), founded in 1933, is one of the largest fashion/garment industry shows in the world and to witness it first hand is more than overwhelming!  This was my 8th time attending, so the novelty may have worn off but the wonders never fail to amaze me. There is clothing in an intense array of styles, from beautiful, artistic and inspirational to ridiculously tacky and overdone. We featured our new Steam Punk influenced booth and wrote orders as fast as we could throughout the 3 day show. Our friends at Pin Up Girl clothing threw a great party at the Tiki Bar, and the center circle bar at the Hard Rock is always a good place to meet and mingle with industry peeps.

If you have not gotten a chance to see our last couple catalogs Bryn Thomas our in house stylist and east coast sales rep, has been doing an amazing job coordinating the models, styling outfits, and  working closely with the graphic artists to put together what most agree are our best catalogs in years!! Kudos Bryn you rock!!

In Lippy-spotting news:
We floated free clothes to Lady Gaga and her crew when they came through town and they put us on their VIP list for the show! We have been sent pictures of Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day sporting our skinny bright red junkie fit jeans while crowd surfing on tour. And our friends from LA hotspot Miss Kitty’s Friday night club have been making regular appearances at LS headquarters to pick outfits for themselves and crew. Last week’s Circus themed event was not to be missed!! You have to check out Miss Kitty’s for a good time!!!

Yesterday I got to work with costume designer Stacy Ellen Rich, who is currently working on costuming/styling for a movie called the Hounds of Hell, which will be featuring some LS styles! And the band Paramore will be wearing LS at this year’s  MTV VMAs.

And what’s up with me?
My Psycho band the Cold Blue Rebels have inked our deal with Horror High records, our official disc release date slotted for 1/11/2011, so we are working on meeting our recording and artwork deadlines while still playing shows around the west coast. FYI, our record release party will tentatively be taking place at Bar Sinister in January and our next local stop will be at the Cat Club (Sunset Blvd.) on 10/22, so mark your calendars.

Well back to work for me, until next time keep your closet full and your wardrobe fresh and remember………
Fashion+Music=Life!!!
Mickey Finn

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Hey Boyz n Ghouls,
Hope your weekend was fabulous!

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Highlights from last week include a visit from BMX madman Sean Burns, in town for the X games, who stopped by to chat about a possible Collaboration between LS and his new company for a custom skinny jean of his design. And to hang with me a bit, as it was the first time we have meet face to face after the last couple of years emailing back and forth. We have been sponsoring Sean with cool clothes for quite some time now!

Stoked on his latest endorsement from the “Service” mens wear line, we hooked him up with a nice box of goodies, toured around Lippy Land a bit, and he was on his way to the games for some shredding!!

I headed south to San Diego to visit some stores down there and had a great time cruzing the adult/stripper stores, which seemed to be plentiful!! I guess all that fun in the surf and sun equals lots of hot hard bodies equals lots of strip clubs!! Lippy loves dancers!!

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Saturday I went out to Santee for the 1st annual Socal Hellbilly Fest, which was a great success, and, of course, my band Cold Blue Rebels stole the night haha. Three Bad Jacks wasn’t half bad either and tons of Punkabillies were on hand to eat drink and burn rubber from noon till 2:00 am and then some at the hotel across the street from the event!! I love the SoCal Billy scene, which is a nice blend of people that like Rock n Roll, Rockabilly, Punk Rock and just a cool slick alternative lifestyle!

California is a great place to live with lots of culture and subculture but ya gotta get out of your box and open your mind to new things to experience it! So, come on people, its summer and it’ll be gone before ya know it. There’s some great daytime events happening every weekend, so put on your dark sunglasses and go get ya some!!
Fashion+Music+Life
Mickey Finn

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Another week of surviving my own life! My calendar is now my most valuable tool! Lets see…..

Highlights from last the week before last, after my visit from Sin, I had the pleasure of welcoming Amelia Arsenic from Angelspit to the LS warehouse along with her friends form Sugerpill cosmetics! They stopped by on their way to D-land and I gave them a tour of Lippy land, including a stop by our 3rd and most recent warehouse space across the parking lot where we have been shooting our catalogs lately so they got a behind the scenes look at our Holiday shoot in progress! Unfortunately they were pressed for time or we would have gotten Amelia behind the camera for some style shots and, believe it or not, they didn’t even have time to shop for goodies, although she vowed to come back in a month when she returns and spend more time! Of course, we snapped a couple of quick photos in the Lippy bargain basement. They tried to drag me with them to Anaheim but my day would not allow it, as there is always too much work to be done and not enough time.

The Lords of Acid show was a blast, Thrill Kill Cult was great also, and the weekend went by too fast as always! Last week I put together the new Service mens wear catalog for our new season”Riot Life” coming this fall. We also sent our favorite famous modeling/promotion team Kynt and Vyxsin off to Comicon in San Diego armed with Lippy promotional goodies, as well as a 20% discount flier for the week of Comicon!! I’ll have a full report on that next week!

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I paid a visit to one of my favorite accounts, Ipso Facto in Fullerton. A great Gothic store in business for 20 years, Teri still delivers the best in alternative fashion and stocks a great selection of LS at her store year ’round. She went through our Holiday line making her choices and we chatted about the state of the economy and the fashion world for a bit and I was on my way.

I cut my week short by 1 day, as I was headed out to Wichita Kansas on Friday for the Midwest Rock Fest with Jetboy. We played on the main stage Saturday for the last night of the 3 day festival with Black n Blue, Kix, Winger, Drowning Pool, and Twisted Sister, among others. The temperature was 106 when we took the stage at 2:30 pm and it was one of the most physically challenging gigs of my career, I almost blacked out several times from the heat. By 5:30 the weather turned worse and thunder showers rolled by, shutting down the music a couple of times only to start up again when it stopped. Kix lost out, with their set being canceled due to rain, and Twisted Sister, being the headliner with the night coming to an end, had no choice but to play through and hope to not get electrocuted!! All in all, a fun weekend tiring as it was.

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I was up at 5am on Sunday and on a plane back to LA, which kinda sucked since I had not slept at all, but I really didn’t want to spend any more time in Kansas (no offense) and wanted some time to relax on Sunday before starting the new week!

This weekend my Psychobilly band, Cold Blue Rebels, will make our debut in San Diego at the So Cal Hellbilly fest and Car show (see Flier). This should be a fun day, with 10 great bands and an oldie car show. I’m going to see Aerosmith and Cheap Trick on Thursday night and heading to SD after for some LS sales and a little party time with my lady.

If anyone knows about good shit goin’ on hit me up on myspace or facebook and give me the details, I’m not too familiar with the scene these days in San Diego.

That’s all kids!

Have a great week and remember

Fashion+Music=LIFE!!!!

Mickey Finn

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If you’ve missed seeing Jetboy tear it up, here are a few photos by Mich at Plastic Hassle to put you front and center

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Hey party people!

Mickey Finn here for the rock n roll update for the last couple of weeks! I can’t believe it’s already July. I began the month with a bang playing a guest set with the Cold Blue Rebels at the Key Club on July 2nd for the annual memorial show for one of Hollywood’s greatest drummers and fallen soldier, my friend Traci Michaels -RIP- of the Peppermint Creeps. Truly a beautiful human being, he left his mark on Hollywood and is dearly missed by all who had the lucky chance to encounter him. We had a blast in the old school bus turned into a dressing room behind the Key Club, partied the night away with the gang, and took some great photos in that thing!!!

The 4th had me making my annual trek to the beach with my moonlight loving friends and band mates! We raised some eyebrows, to say the least, and got a friendly caution from the beach cops on quads about smoking our Hookah on the beach! Apparently there is no smoking allowed! The overcrowded, mildly disgusting beach out at the Santa Monica pier left me missing my years spent cruising in Hawaii, but it was still a good time even despite the lack of fireworks!

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This week I got a visit at work form my friend Sin Quirin who plays guitar for Ministry/Revco and is starting out on tour this week with The Lords of Acid!! He hung out for a couple of hours, enjoyed an LS-sponsored shopping spree, took some fun photos and we talked tales of tours and glorious rock n roll parties from years gone by to recent raging!!! Love that guy and can’t wait to see him tear up the stage this Friday @ Club Nokia.

Also this week I will get a visit from Angelspit’s Amelia X!!! In town for a few days, she will come down to Lippy Land to shop, hang out, and take some photos. I met her on the KMFDM tour and she was one of the nicest girls ever! Sometimes even I can’t believe how great my job is!! What can ya say, 25 years strong and LS is still deliverin’ the goods!! It never ceases to amaze me how many cool ass people are Lippy lovers!!

Well, gotta go. Hope to see ya out this Friday @ Nokia for Lords of Acid with Thrill Kill Cult and maybe after at Miss Kitty’s. Gotta get it while ya can kids, we only go around once!!

Until Next Time
Fashion+Music=Life
Mickey Finn

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Well, it has been a minute since I have gotten a chance to check in, and what a whirlwind it has been!!

May 25th I headed out to Arizona for a LS sales trip and 3 shows with my Psycho band the Cold Blue Rebels. My trip down to Tucson to my favorite AZ store, Hydra, was great and the Summer/Fall styles were a big hit! Margo, the owner, is super cool and her store is the best in the area. We stopped by an Ostrich farm on the way back and got up close and personal with the long necked dudes! Sometimes traveling can be cool when ya make random stops like that, although there is usually little time to see any sights :(

Fetish Falls, 42 Saints, and Naked Daves in the Scottsdale/Mesa/Tempe area are all great stores that carry LS, too. I also hit some of the many sexy Adult/Lingerie stores AZ has to offer, and got some orders for our new Fall Lingerie and Costumes. Fascinations, with multiple locations, Lingerie Super Store, and Adam and Eve are all great stores.

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Each night we played shows with my band covering Scottsdale, Cottonwood, and Prescott, met tons of cool kids and spread the word about CBR and Lip Service clothing, handing out catalogs and stickers everywhere. The highlight was playing with The Quakes, the legendary band who are known for being 1 of the first Psychobilly bands from the US. All in all, a great and productive trip. I retuned home to load up my shit and move into my new house on Memorial day-UGH!!!! I hate moving but my new place is rad!

The rest of the week was busy and Friday found me heading to Fresno for a gig with my Rock band, Jetboy! Kids up there ate it up and it’s cool to see some youngsters with their parents, who have turned them onto Jetboy telling stories about the decedent 1980/90’s rock scene!! I am proud to front this band and, after 25 years, we still rock harder than most, delivering a great show every time! If you have not heard, our new record is available on ITunes, Amazon, and most other good download sites.

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Saturday me and the Jetsters’ hooked up with our favorite production team, Jim and Mich from Plastic Hassle studios, and headed over to Bar Sinister to shoot the new Jetboy video in and around the venue, courtesy of Tricia Labelle. We also shot footage during sound check and of the live performance that night. This was our second time playing Bar Sin and both times were kick ass!! I always have a good time there but it’s best from on the stage! It’s always great to cruz around and see all the LS styles in the crowd, its all LA pride!! For the home town brand!!

Sunday left no time for rest as we headed to Marina Del Rey for a photo shoot with acclaimed rock photographer Glen La Ferman and he was amazing to work with. His walls are lined with album and magazine covers from years of filming everyone from Kiss to Bob Marley! An energetic guy who has been thru it all as a photographer, he kept us all cracking up fro the entire shoot. I would love to get him on board to shoot the next LS catalog!!

Back to work dragging my feet a bit today but after some coffee I dug into my morning emails. After I finish my column I will start packing up for my next sales trip to Portland/Seattle and, at the end of the week, fly into Vegas for another Cold Blue Rebels show at Diablo’s Cantina with Three Bad Jacks and Guana Bats.

I know its a crazy life and, actually, I was told twice last week by friends they wish they had my life, but truthfully I doubt many people could walk in my shoes. Sometimes I don’t know if I can!!
‘Til next time
Fashion+Music=Life
Mickey Finn

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Jetboy shooting a new video and the show at Bar Sinister

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Hello and, yes, I have survived another Hollywood weekend!

An evening of rock n roll debauchery at Bar Sinister turned out great when me and the Cold Blue Rebels invaded to rock out and mess up the stage with blood and guts (literally)!! DJ GingerFish supplied the beats to keep all the dancers grinding, and the Fet-play room was……….well playful. Big thanks to Trisha La Belle, who has been doing a great job providing the best parties in H-wood for all of us Fashion Freaks for many years and for putting up with us wrecking the patio stage on Saturday! The Zombie Rebel dancers were in rare form and Angelic had her guts ripped out live on stage! If you missed this show ya blew it ’cause it was a blast!

In Lippy news, this week marks the official launch of our Fall styles for preorders!! Stand-out groups to order before they sell out are, of course, the much anticipated “Step in Time” for all you Steamers! “Das Bunker” is a must-have for militant fashion fetishists! One of my personal favorites, “Pin me Up” for the doll to die for! Numerous new styles in our “Patent Vinyl and Vegi Leather Classics” category are adorned with custom buckles and spikes; stand-outs are the waist cincher, garter belt and a new guys’ top and trench coat! “Cyber Sniper” in black and neon pink is very next-level cyber wear. The new “Blacklist” styles are as great as always, with “Wicked Winter” wool and fur coats to keep you warm and snug. And then there’s “Brocade Piracy” in black or wine light brocade, with wine/black striped satin or black satin trims and satin shirts for guys and girls. This group has the best ruffle dandy guys’ shirt we have done for a long time!!

I am headed to Arizona next week for a sales trip thru Phoenix, Tucson and Scottsdale, and 3 shows with the Cold Blue Rebels (places and times are posted on our myspace page). I always love hitting Hydra Leather and More. If you’re in the area, check them out at 145 E. Congress, Tucson AZ 85701. It’s the best store for clothing and accessories in Tucson!

Well, that’s all for this week.
Remember … sex, drugs and rock n roll may not make ya live longer but it will keep ya smilin’ while you’re aive!
See ya
Mickey Finn
Fashion+Music=Life

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