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 THINGS AT AMOEBA MUSIC HOLLYWOOD'S INFORMATION COUNTER THIS WEEK ACCORDING TO TIM RANOW:

#3 - parking ticket validation

#2 - green Amoeba dollar off coupons.

#1 - directions to the Amoeba public
        restroom (there isn't one.)

AMOEBLOG: Tim, 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.

AMOEBLOG:  And what's good about working at Amoeba?

TIM: I work with talented and wondrous people in the funnest [sic] and coolest environment ever! People get really excited visiting where I'm getting paid to be. That is pretty rad!

AMOEBLOG:  What's a good place to grab a bite nearby Amoeba?

TIM: Arby's, located at 5920 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles.
            
AMOEBLOG: How would you describe the LA music and/or arts community to people who know nothing about living in LA?

TIM RANOW: It's implosive!

AMOEBLOG: What do you think will be the future of the music biz and how people get their new music?

TIM: I'll tell you what I tell people at the information counter when asked this question: Please hold.

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, 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 [popped in my head] 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."

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