Winter 1999: Montparnasse Bienvenue

YOU WILL NEVER KNOW (Knifehandchop track)

SHINY DAGGER (Badawi track)

YOU CAN'T SEE HER (Katherine Harris lyrics,Tony Fader track)

ON MY TV SCREEN (Heavensbee)

DIRGE OF THE TOWN (Pretenders/Death In Vegas mash up)

WHITE RABBIT (Shiner Massive Soundsystem)

WINTER 1999.

We were staying with a friend in The Marais just steps away from The Louvre, Colette, Centre Pompidou - and the freshest Jewish bakeries of Paris, vintage flea markets and Marks & Spencers. American Hiphop and MC Solaar wafted through the streets from every small boutique.

On this particular night we found ourselves at a party perhaps near Chateau Rouge. In fact it was definitely near there as I remember shopping at the multi floor TATI and passing all the afro-boutiques. I bought my favorite cropped shell sweater there - it was medium gray, acrylic (which meant it was light enough to dance in) and I wore it endlessly with baggy desert storm print brown camo pants from the Army Navy shop on Church Street below Canal.

A svelte sister was getting waist length braids - she finished, paid her hairdresser and put on a motorcycle helmet to stroll out in her leather pants and boots. I believe the salon was called AFRO 2000 (but maybe I am confusing it with the salon in Odense,Denmark). I was so impressed that she was able to put that helmet on without her scalp being on fire (I could never!). It was also my first experience visiting a black neighborhood abroad. I had seen sisters in Italy, but only on the bus or the street.

In Italy the access to ethnic beauty products seemed scarce at best. Women and girls were wearing caucasian toned foundation on their faces and wigs, not braids. This was a real culture shock, coming from Brooklyn where we have so many black and brown cultures and businesses by and for us. Later my bandmate in Italy told me the girls on the bus in Firenze were prostitutes. And that you don’t see Italian sex workers on the street because “they have all moved indoors”.

So we three girls (I call us girls as we were still in our 20s and still so full of hope) were sticking together as we partied with the DJs and skaters we had met in Paris. One French guy, whom our friend was crushing on, and two Americans, one I bonded with over past ties to living in the Bay Area. We ended the night drinking the dregs of wine and beer and maybe smoking some crumbs of hash at the small apartment of one of the American guys. It felt relaxed and somewhat innocent - nothing was going to happen in a studio flat with zero privacy.

I looked around the flat as the walls grew more buttery golden in hue, tinted by the rising sun. European kitchens often have a warm glow, maybe it’s the traditional tangerine and red appliances and accessories - maybe it’s the light on that side of the planet.

One of the American guys said “let’s listen to some music!” and thumbed through a crate of vinyl. The needle hit the record with a familiar warm crackling start - Miles Davis, “Some Kind of Blue”. I was lying on one of the colorful rugs, using my fun fur parka as a blanket. “Well - I have finally fulfilled my high school Bohemian goal - here I am, watching the sunrise in Paris, listening to Miles Davis (on vinyl!), in a turtleneck sweater and leather pants - this is the dream!” as I drifted into a brief haze of sleep. We rested long enough to wait until the Metro started running again. Then thanked them for their hospitality and sauntered along our way.

Once we reached The Marais, we made a stop at the local cafe. There we gulped down bowls of caffe latte (with real milk, which I cannot digest in the United States). And our local friend and host flirted with the waiter. The Winter sun would be setting soon (around 3pm) and we needed an exorbitant quantity of caffeine to stay awake if we had any plans of going out again that night.

This was my first time being abroad for more than a few weeks. We left for the tour of Italy at the top of November. After Thanksgiving my roommate joined us to help with merch (Thankfully she spoke Italian from having spent a Summer in an exchange program there). I was the only girl in the band so I always had my own hotel room, which had plenty of room for two people to crash comfortably. I stayed in Italy for two more weeks before heading back to Brooklyn.