Stephanie Monty and Chrissy Paolillo of Klik just clicked when they met three years ago. They think alike about clothes, food, the future, being in a band and music - except for "those weird old songs."
By GINA VIVINETTO
Published September 16, 2004
[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
Chrissy Paolillo, left, and Stephanie Monty of the St. Petersburg band Klik say they haven’t spent a day apart since meeting at a party Paolillo threw.
St. Petersburg alternative rock band Klik has been gaining a reputation for its dynamic live shows, including one spellbinding opening slot for Evanescence in Clearwater's Coachman Park. That's in large part because of frontwomen Stephanie Monty and guitarist Chrissy Paolillo, who also sings.
Monty, 26, and Paolillo, 23, have been like Siamese twins since meeting three years ago. They look alike, they live together with bassist Paul Harms - drummer Ryan Mann lives in Seminole - and they finish each other's sentences.
So, when they asked to be interviewed for IN YOUR FACE, they agreed to be interviewed together.
(1) Do you guys choose your clothes together? You both have on essentially the same outfit (sleeveless shirt, punky pants, black boots).
Chrissy: We're broke and we have no money -
Stephanie: We've both gained a lot of weight in the past few months. We've been recording in the studio and eating a lot of fast food. These are the only clothes we can fit into.
Chrissy: Sometimes those cheeseburgers just call to you, man.
Stephanie: We are just putting on any pants now that we can get around our waists (laughs). But I refuse to gain any more weight. I will not go beyond a Size 7.
Chrissy: Sometimes Stephanie just smells like a cheeseburger.
(2) How did you two meet?
Stephanie: It was three years ago . . .
Chrissy: At a party . . .
Stephanie: Chrissy was throwing a party . . .
Chrissy: With my boyfriend at the time. It was a very expensive house on the beach. All these frat-boy-type-people showed up. It really wasn't our crowd.
Stephanie: There were all these preppy people. I was wearing like Daisy Duke short shorts. I had just come from the beach. I was trying to cover up my butt with these shorts. I had on red strappy platform shoes - I love red shoes. They weren't like Ronald McDonald red, like, cherry red. They were cool! But I looked totally weird.
I didn't know anyone at this party. So I walked in, and there were all these preppy girls and frat boys, and everything just stopped (laughs).
Chrissy: (laughing) It was like a record going screeeeech! Everyone was like, "Who the hell is this girl?" I was like, "Who is this weird girl? And how come I've never seen her before?"
Stephanie: So, I'm the weird girl. I look around, and there is one girl I want to talk to in the whole place, and it's Chrissy. She looked like she had something to her.
Chrissy: She was so weird. She totally stalked me all night.
Stephanie: (laughs) I did. I followed her around all night, interrupting all of her conversations with other people, trying to get her to talk to me.
Chrissy: Finally, she told me she sang. Then she just started singing. She was all (singing) "La la la" in front of everyone! And I'm like, "Dude! Shut up!" So, we went into this back room and talked for, like, three hours about music and starting a band and our vision.
Stephanie: And we haven't spent a day apart since.
(3) Do the boys in the band get miffed that you two get most of the attention?
Stephanie: Not at all. Those guys are such good musicians. They also know that the people up front, the guitarist and the singer, whether or not they are guys or girls, always get all the attention anyway. They understand that.
Our drummer, Ryan, if he could play behind a wall, he would. He doesn't care if people look at him, he just wants to be heard, and he wants people to know he's good, which he is. Both of them are such excellent musicians.
Plus, if either of them ever complained about not getting attention, we would make them wear blinky lights (laughs).
Chrissy: Or tutus.
(4) When did you become interested in music?
Stephanie: I've been singing since I was 2.
Chrissy: I started with piano when I was 5. Then I got into drums, anything I could find. My parents were supportive - well, they didn't like the drums. I really liked Tori Amos.
But it wasn't until I went to a Hooverphonics show at Jannus Landing that I realized I wanted to play in a band. She (singer Liesje Sadonius) was an inspiration because she wasn't so famous like Britney Spears or Madonna. She was just a girl in a band, not naked, not ultrafamous.
Stephanie: We have a serious lack of role models.
Chrissy: Stephanie grew up on folk music.
Stephanie: My parents listened to Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan and weird bluegrass and traditional folk music, and all those harmonies stuck with me. I'm really good at picking out harmonies.
Chrissy: She knows all those weird old songs like (sings operatically) "Don't fall over the apple tree."
Stephanie: It's Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree! (laughs) Don't fall over the apple tree doesn't even make sense! How does that even make sense?
(5) What if rock stardom doesn't pan out? Do you have another plan?
Stephanie: I will go to Kathmandu, and I will study religion. Seriously. I will become a monk. I am not getting married and having kids and living a normal life.
Chrissy: If she becomes a monk, I'll sit beside her and be like, "Om" (laughs).
-- Gina Vivinetto can be reached at 727 893-8565 or gina@sptimes.com
PREVIEW: Klik performs 8 p.m. Friday at the State Theater, 687 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg.
