SHE'S NOT THERE - daisy jones & the six

the start.

INTERVIEWER: tell me about the first time you met, Vienna Kelly.

warren rhodes ( drummer to the six) : shit, [laughs] i don't even remember it was so long ago.

Karen Sirko (keyboardist to the six) : I mean we clicked instantly. We had things to talk about, we could relate to each other. We were women in a man's industry. We had to.

Graham Dunne (guitarist to the six) :  Vienna, wow. The first time we met her was... I don't even think it counts [laughs]. I just remember thinking, i've never met someone like her.

Eddie Loving (bassist to the six) :  the first time i met Vienna? [smiles] God, it was like this divine moment y'know.

Billy Dunne (frontman to the six)  : yeah, it was certainly [pauses] memorable.

GRAHAM: billy didn't want her in the band.

WARREN: a chick in the Dunne brothers?

BILLY: it just didn't make sense.

EDDIE: : She walked up to my driveway, just like exuding confidence. Guitar case on her shoulder.

WARREN: she was as cool as a cucumber. Even her walk was cool.

BILLY: She was late.

GRAHAM: Yeah, she pulled up to the auditions just as we were starting to pack up.

EDDIE: She had this crazy big hair like Bridgett Bardot, [laughs] these big brown eyes and this old Hofner over her shoulder.

WARREN: She was wearing this uniform, like she'd just got off a shift. I knew the place it was uh [pauses] sal's, i think, a diner downtown.

GRAHAM: her name tag said Joanna, she didn't look like a Joanna. [laughs] That's what we called her though, until we actually met her properly.

BILLY: I told her that we were done for the day.

EDDIE: [smiles] She laughed in his face.

WARREN:  We were all just like [laughs] stunned, man.

GRAHAM: Then, she played the solo from Hendrix's 'along the watchtower'.

WARREN: i mean [laughs] none of us were expecting it.

VIENNA: It took me two months to learn that little bit of the song  [laughs] I missed a shit ton of notes and the tone wasn't right but i didn't care. I felt cool as fuck.

WARREN: she laughed about it a few years later, telling us all how shitty it was. We laughed too but seriously, we didn't notice  [laughs] I think we were so into her It went right over our heads.

GRAHAM: it was mesmerising, seriously. So effortless. We hung on to every note.

EDDIE: Man, watching her play itt felt like we were [pauses] watching history.

BILLY: it was okay.  I mean, the tone wasn't right.

GRAHAM: billy said thank you and went back to what he was doing.

WARREN: there we were, [laughs] jaws on the pavement after this absolute beauty whacks out these insane riffs [pause] and billy just says 'thanks, bye'.

GRAHAM: she stood there for a minute just as shocked as we were. She laughed again, giving us all a once over.

VIENNA: I called him a dick and left. I mean, it was kind of obvious he didn't want me in the band.

BILLY: I didn't want her in the band.

GRAHAM: we needed her in the band.

EDDIE: of course he didn't want her in the band, she might just pull focus from the billy show.

GRAHAM: yeah, we weren't happy with billy.

EDDIE: i told him he was an idiot.

WARREN: We went down to sal's every day after school the next week hoping to catch her.

VIENNA: I only worked weekends back then, I was still in school. I didn't really need one, Martin was quite well off so money wasn't really an issue anymore. But i hated the feeling that i was leeching off the guy, y'know. There was something I liked about earning my keep.  I think it was a Saturday that they finally caught me.

BILLY: we'd asked for Joanna every time.

EDDIE: Every time we asked, they'd tell us that a Joanna didn't work there.

WARREN: [laughs] it must've been fate that she just so happened to walk to our table, notebook in hand.

VIENNA: I mean, i was a little bitter but i think i covered it up pretty well.

WARREN: she told us to get fucked.

VIENNA: They said they'd really like to have me. I wasn't shocked, i mean back then i thought i was the shit.Them grovelling only fuelled my ego.

EDDIE: It took some heavy convincing and a five dollar tip but she came around.

VIENNA: on the condition that Billy apologised for being an asshat.

EDDIE: [smiles] I knew then, that we were going to get along.

GRAHAM: [laughs] he gave in, in the end.

WARREN: there was still one major problem though, in all of that time we still didn't know her name.

EDDIE: hearing her name was like putting in the final puzzle piece. I just knew she was the right fit.

VIENNA: I mean, i was really happy. I wasn't going to give Billy Dunne that satisfaction.

GRAHAM: Billy knew she was best for the band. He just wasn't going to give us that satisfaction.

BILLY: Yeah, [smiles]  I suppose we needed her.

EDDIE: No one would ever say it out loud but when she joined, that's when it all started.