I'm In The Band



I'm In The Band: Backstage From The Chick In White Zombie is a coffee-table book compiled by Sean Yseult of White Zombie in 2010. Before the release, Sean had this to say:  "I am really excited about my book coming out soon, “I’m in the Band”! This book is a photo scrapbook with all of my tour diaries, photos, keepsakes, and memories of our eleven years together. Not only is it my story and White Zombie’s story, but as a fan I cover all of the bands we toured with – Pantera, the Ramones, the Cramps, just to name a few! So for anyone who is a fan of underground, punk, and metal bands of this era, this book is a must!   “I’m in the Band”, subtitled “Backstage Notes from the Chick in White Zombie” is the story of my journey from CBGBs to arenas, with the rare female perspective in a guy’s world of heavy metal. It is also the unlikely story of a girl who played the bass and won the respect of millions of male metal fans, as an equal. Our band White Zombie was an unusual punk/metal hybrid that built up slowly over 11 years, eventually selling over 7 million records, touring the world and being nominated for two Grammys. However, I was the sole female not only in the band, but also in our entire world, spanning from 1985-1996: the bands we toured with, the roadies, the managers, etc. This was not the case for female rock musicians after White Zombie, but certainly before and during our existence. To put it in perspective, at the end of our career we played in front of 80,000 people (mostly dudes) at England’s Castle Donnington Fest in 1996: I was not only the lone female musician of the day but the only one in the entire festival’s history besides Doro Pesch years earlier, who was a lead singer. The only females I would see on tour were groupies trying to get backstage. Sometimes, to my shock and amusement – they were trying to get backstage to meet me, thinking I must be a guy!And although the title of the book is in reference to Pamela des Barres “I’m With the Band”, I did actually have to say those words (“ but I’m IN the band!”) more than once to gain access to my own stage entrance or dressing room – that is how male oriented things still were.When I performed, my main objective – besides entertaining the audience – was to play with such confidence and competence that I was considered an equal. One of the most dreaded phrases to me was “good for a girl”, which I thankfully never heard. I had the undying support from our male metalhead fans, and they constantly put me in league with their other favorite bass player, Metallica’s Cliff Burton. I was nominated “Best Metal Bassist” two years in a row in Metal magazines – over all of the other bassists, who were of course male. “The chick in White Zombie” became an affectionate nickname for me thanks to Beavis and Butthead, and legions of metalhead dudes. The book chronicles our early “noise band” days of sleeping in the van and art school to the embrace of the Metal world and partying with rock stars. I was usually the only one with a camera backstage to document all of this, and somehow coherent enough to keep a diary at the end of each day! Along with passes, stories, and other paraphernalia I collected, it’s all in here."- Sean Yseult