Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Erocktica: Porn in the U.S.A.

Erocktica strips rock 'n' roll to its bare essentials

By Newt Briggs

Pink Snow was an unusual child. It wasn't that she was aloof or antisocial; it's just that while all the other girls were babbling about their Barbie Dream Houses, she was fantasizing about her dream breast size--38D--and her dream guitar--a Les Paul Custom.

"I guess I was kind of a weird kid," says Snow, who attended nine years of Catholic school in Cape Cod. "I lived my whole life through Metal Edge magazine and MTV."

Yet Snow quickly surmised that she would not be appeased by the tawdry life of a groupie. She learned as much backstage at a Poison show when she was 14 years old. "I was talking to someone--I think it was Poison's drummer, actually--and I said something like, `This is a lot of fun, but I don't want to be a groupie. I want to go beyond this.' And he told me, `There's only two things in rock `n' roll. You're either in the band, or you're fucking the band.' So I was like, `I guess I'm going to be in the band then.'"

It probably sounded like wishful thinking--particularly to the drummer who was playing fast and loose with Massachusetts' statutory rape laws--but Snow squirreled away her summer wages and bought a drum kit. At 16, she moved across the country to L.A., where she played in a handful of rock bands and stripped at night. Her music career never took off, but she did make a prosperous living in the adult industry. While some might write it off as a classic case of innocence exploited, Snow insists that she retained full control over her lifestyle.

"There's always going to be exploitation in any field--whether it's the adult sex industry or the corporate setting," says Snow. "It has to do with your mindset. Are you a victim or are you empowered by your state? Any day of the week I could have gone back to being a swim teacher or a lifeguard at the YMCA. I chose to take my clothes off and I chose to accept the money and I chose it gladly."

Snow used some of the money for a boob job, and a little more to move to New York and study performing arts. Four years ago, she formed Erocktica--a group she describes as a "theatrical erotic rock band." Combining Snow's dual passions--singing and stripping--Erocktica performs anthemic pop-metal while fostering a gentleman's club atmosphere.

"An Erocktica show can be anything from a tasteful burlesque to a triple-X rock show," Show says. "It all kind of depends on the venue."

Usually, Snow travels with two exotic dancers, who perform--that is, writhe--alongside her. As of New Year's Eve, she wasn't sure what would be in store for Las Vegas, but she knew that at least one lucky audience member would receive the "Pink Prize"--a jackpot that Snow can only deliver behind closed doors.

"We're never absolutely allowed to tell what that is," she says. "It's kind of like a mystery prize that's given out at the end of the show. Once you've won the pink prize, you find out what the prize is that evening. I'll just say that it has to do with audience members and the performers in Erocktica. I can't give away any more than that."

If Snow's songs are any indication, it will no doubt be something wanton and lascivious. Even a quick glance at the titles reveals her central preoccupations: "Dollar a Dance," "Naked," "Porn Star" and "Size Queen." The latter explores Snow's fascination with bulk: "A yellow banana can be so much fun/ But I much prefer the big love gun."

"I think being taken seriously is an oversold concept," she says. "I'm just enjoying life. I don't care if people want to objectify me or turn me into an icon or call me a slut or a groupie or whatever. It really doesn't matter to me. What I do like is that people come out to the shows and have fun and maybe get a little wild. That's fun for me."