Kelly Watson,
Amoeba Music, Hollywood

Kelly Watson works in the New & Used Rock CDs department of the Hollywood Amoeba Music store and laughing says that she is the "only person who only works at amoeba" meaning that, unlike everyone else at the store (or so it seems) she is not a musician or artist in addition to being an Amoebite. Something else that distinguishes her is that she hails from down under, from Australia.  AMOEBLOG recently pulled Kelly away from her work for a few minutes to ask her some questions about music, her life, and working at Amoeba.


AMOEBLOG: How did you end up working at Amoeba Music and how long have you worked at the store?

KELLY: I used to work at Tower Records and that, as you know, came to an end so I got a job here at Amoeba Music where I started this April, 2007.


AMOEBLOG: What makes working at Amoeba unique compared to other jobs you've had?
 
KELLY: It's much more family here and  much more fun here too. For the last fourteen years I've consistently done music retail and this is the best gig by far.  Also the people that you run into here.....you never know who it will be.  Like Bjork was here last Tuesday and Johnny Marr was in here last Saturday. Oh and Benecio Del Toro was here the same day that Bjork was here,  last Tuesday.



AMOEBLOG: What is one of the places nearby Amoeba Music Hollywood you would recommended  to grab a bite to eat?

TOP THREE MOST REQUESTED:

#3 - parking ticket validation

#2 - green Amoeba dollar off coupons.

#1 - directions to the Amoeba public
        restroom

-  The Top Three Requested Things that people are asking  for at Amoeba Music Hollywood  this week - according to Amoebite/musician Tim Ranow who is profiled in this AMOEBLOG.

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AMOEBLOG:  How long have you worked at Amoeba, what is your job at the store, and how exactly did you end up working at Amoeba Music Hollywood?

TIM RANOW:  I lived with Laurie W. in San Francisco in the Santiago Party House for six years.  We hosted several Amoeba get-togethers. i got booted from Wired magazine and decided to move to Los Angeles. Amoeba and I seemed to have a lot in common so we formed a special something. I've been at the Hollywood store since 2001.   I'll be celebrating my 47th anniversary with amoeba in 2048!    I'm an information person at Amoeba. I'll figure out what the name of that country singer you're looking for is even if you only know that his name might be John or Ronnie and his last name might have the letter "J" in it somewhere. Then I'll tell you where you can find it used on cassette tape because I know your money is tight    I remember that your cousin isn't allowed CDs in prison due to the inherent shankiness factor.

Amoebite Heather, who has appeared on past Amoeba Music Compilation releases, and who currently performs (armed with ukulele, soulful voice, and winning aura) under the moniker Uni and her Ukulele - including doing a number of instores at Amoeba Music - is always quite the productive  artist. Here is her latest news update which, along with video clips and concert  & tour news, includes some good solid life-advice care of her Aunt Tootie. .....all brought to you by the letter U          
                                                                                                                                                                       U
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                                                                                                                Before I get down to the real nitty gritty about Uke Festivals, Glamtrak Tours, photo shoots, and Club Unicornbread's show this Friday, I wanted to share a personal story with U.  When I moved to L.A. my Aunt Tootie gave me a picture with a girl sitting by a brook. She has long blonde hair and  is wearing a gunisack dress. The girl in the picture is blowing bubbles into the wind that at some point become butterflies. On the back of this picture my aunt  wrote me a letter. What she said still sticks in my mind to this day. She wrote, "Take time to blow Bubbles"                      
                                                                                                               
As Mariel a la Mode and I were taking promotion pictures for our Glamtrak Tour (photos by Lenny Gonzalez)  I just so happened to have a bottle of bubbles in my suitcase. As I was blowing them into the wind, (camera goes click click) images of my Hollywood Amoeba Music Instore performance when Uncle Kenny blew bubbles on me, while Brently's daughter Micha danced around me while I played. I also remembered all the rad kids in Merced who had like 20 bottles worth, were blowing them on me while they sang along to my song "See Your Face Again".

Continue reading

So what happens to Amoebites (people who work at Amoeba) after they stop working at Amoeba Music and move on in their lives?  And does their time spent at the music store impact or influence them in anyway later on?  These questions and a lot more are answered in this interview (the first in a series) with a former Amoebite, who is now a Brooklynite, named Nick Lesley who worked at all three Amoebas (Hollywood, Berkeley, San Francisco) before moving out to NYC two-and-a-half years ago. In California Nick played in the bands Vholtz, The Oma Yang,  and Felicia & Coctopus with whom he appeared on Amoeba Music Compilation Vol. V on the track "Whiskey Dick." Currently Nick is a student at Brooklyn College, updates several websites, and plays in several bands including Necking whose lineup includes Dong-Ping Wong and Josh Graver. He books shows at the cool Brooklyn living space (Dead Herring House) he shares with other artists (they had a giant show there just last Saturday night). For income Nick now works at a funky, fun  lil spot in New York City's  Lower East Side called the Cake Shop which is part record-store, part cafe, and part music club.  It was there that I caught up with the former Amoebite recently and asked him about  the differences between East and West coasts, about his studies, his music, and his life - before and after Amoeba.