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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Punked-Up Wiedlin Leads A Frosted Tuesday At Outback’s

Singer-guitarist Jane Wiedlin says there’s a reason why her pop-punk band - froSTed has capitalized the “ST” in its name.

They’re initials for “Star Trek.”

Yes, the former Go-Gos singer is an adoring fan of “Star Trek.”

“I’ve got the pointed ears; I’ve got the uniform,” Wiedlin says by telephone from Kansas City this week.

We don’t have to ask her who she dressed as for Halloween.

“When I was a little kid, my whole family watched the original show. About six years ago, I started getting into the ‘Next Generation’ show,” she says. “I’m just a nerd, what can I say?”

The one thing the veteran singer is looking forward to this month - aside from opening 12 shows for the Lemonheads - is catching the new “Star Trek” movie, “First Contact,” when it opens in theaters Nov. 22. Fortunately for her, this leg of froSTed’s North American tour ends Nov. 20.

“I got to go down to the set when they were filming,” Wiedlin recalls. “It was one of the most exciting moments of my life.”

Even more exciting than having a five-second part as a communications operator in “Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home,” she says.

One of Wiedlin’s friends at her label (Geffen) learned Wiedlin was a “psychotic trekker.” As it turns out, the Geffen employee is a good friend of actor Michael Dorn, who plays Worf. In turn, Dorn invited Wiedlin to visit the set of “Star Trek: First Contact.”

“I hung out with Patrick Stewart and drank beer in his trailer,” Wiedlin gushes. “He’s amazing, nothing like what I thought he would be. I thought he’d be like all aloof. He’s not at all. He’s so funny and nice. I think he’s the greatest actor on television.”

Wiedlin’s favorite “Star Trek” series? It’s “Next Generation” with “Deep Space Nine” running a close second.

Rest assured, rock fans, Wiedlin cuts her fanaticism off short of “Star Trek” conventions. She doesn’t attend them.

“I’ve never gone far with it,” she says. “The idea of a bunch a dorks walking around in ‘Star Trek’ uniforms is a little bit weird.”

Wiedlin and her crew in froSTed beam into Outback Jack’s on Tuesday. It’s the only date of the tour not including the Lemonheads.

She formed the band after a five-year hiatus from music. Her sabbatical stemmed from a disenchantment with the music business. Wiedlin’s label at the time, EMI, failed to promote her 1990 solo album “Tangled,” a commercial flop.

Following the Go-Gos split in 1984 - a band she formed in the late ‘70s - Wiedlin went solo. Her only commercial impact as a solo artist came in 1988 when the pop single “Rush Hour” from the album “Fur” made it to No. 9. In an effort to build on her breakthrough, Wiedlin released “Tangled.”

A Go-Gos reunion and subsequent release of new material on “Return to the Valley of the Go-Gos” renewed Wiedlin’s interest in making music again.

This time, unlike her solo work and contributions with the Go-Gos, Wiedlin decided to steer away from fluffy pop and get back to her roots - punk rock. Some might find it hard to believe, but when the Go-Gos first formed, they were a punk band.

Enter froSTed.

“I had heard all this new music going on that was so cool,” Wiedlin says. “It was kind of like this revival of what I had been doing in the late ‘70s with the punky-pop sound. That was really inspirational.”

After a lineup was solidified with guitarist Brian Waters, drummer Lance Porter and bassist Sean DeMott, froSTed signed to DGC. The band issued its maiden album in late August and have been on the road steadily since.

Wiedlin still has sugar on her tongue, but now she sings with more venom as she reflects on her past. “When I look back on my life/ I feel like a whore/ Look what being nice got me,” she sings amid the guitar-heavy “Dis-integrated.”

Wiedlin finds her current punked-up band as the perfect vehicle for venting frustrations.

“The band’s had a lot of influence on, obviously, not only the sound but the actual song selection, too,” Wiedlin says. “I wrote 40 or 50 songs. Just the style they play, it made the material choose itself.”

Though she’s had to start from scratch with froSTed, which means sweating it out in the clubs, Wiedlin doesn’t mind. She’s enjoying herself again.

“It’s been great. I actually love it,” she says. “We played the other night in Denver in this bar that was so tiny it didn’t even have a stage. It was fun.”

FroSTed’s Tuesday show at Outback Jack’s will include opening slots filled by Missoula’s Chisler and Spokane’s Pajamazon.

Music starts at 9:30 p.m. The cover is only $3.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo