Author: Bellminer
You’ve seen her in concert with Meatloaf. You’ve heard her on Blue Oyster Cult’s, Soul Survivor album. You’ve seen her act on Broadway in “The Pirates of Penzance ” show.
Karla Devito has done it all, and now she’s just recorded a debut album for Epic Records called Is This A Cool World Or What?
We thought it might prove interesting to talk to this multi-talented lady. And we were right.
Q – Here it is your first day off in weeks and you’re doing an interview. Did you think show biz was gonna be this much work when you started out?
A – I never thought about it that way. It’s really not that big a problem though.
Q – Who created “The Cool World of Karla Devito” bio sheet?
A – I did that myself. I went in and they had written up a bio for me, page type thing, and I read it and it was real boring. It was very factual. I said, can I try something really weird and they loved it, so it was great.
Q – Why’d you turn down a part in Meatloaf ‘s current tour?
A – It was basically that I wanted to do “Pirates of Penzance. At that time it was much more vital and important to me to do something on my own. And also I had my own record coming out. I really didn’t want to be labeled as the woman behind the “Loaf, so to speak. “Pirates” was really thrilling and a great experience.
Q – Tell me about that Bruce Springsteen audition you went on.
A – He was looking for a woman, this was at one point before, “Born to Run” came out, and he was looking for a woman to add to the band. I guess kind of in a way what the female character is in Meatloaf. Somebody to play off of, maybe sing a duet or two. But they changed their minds. But about 200 girls auditioned, and five of ’em got to go to Asbury Park and I was one of ‘em. It was really fun!
Q – You sing “Midnight Confession”, an old Grass Roots song. Are you a fan of the Grass Roots?
A – Well, I’m a fan of that song and several of their songs, but when I was a kid I loved that song.
Q – You say The Ramones inspired you to get involved in music. Explain that.
A – At the time, all my friends who were musicians were people who had gone to like Berkeley School of Music, you know really studied and done it their whole lives. Seeing the Ramones was really funny, it was fun, and silly. They wrote these songs that were like three chords, and anybody could’ve written them. It really set me free, in a way, because I said if those guys can do it, so can I.
Q – It almost seems in reading over your bio sheet that everything almost fell into place for you. Did you ever get that feeling?
A – Sure. I’ve always felt that I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. It’s really strange. I’ve been able to support myself with my career, doing whatever, singing, acting, my whole life. The money doesn’t have anything to do with it. As long as you’re able to do something you enjoy, and I’ve been lucky enough to do that all the way along.
Q – Is it tougher to be a woman on the road than being a man?
A – In some ways I think it’s tougher on a man, because sometimes they go through those phases where they have to prove themselves, in more ways than one. And all kinds of silly things like that. I’ve never felt anything that makes it tougher on me. I never felt it’s something a woman couldn’t do. I haven’t had any problems.
