Phanie Diaz, left, with her Girl in A Coma bandmates, sisters Nina Diaz, and Jenn Alva, right.
With only four albums to its name, the San Antonio-based, all-female, two-thirds queer, Girl in a Coma still managed to make an enduring impression on listeners.
Signed to Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records label in the mid-2000s, the threesome — out members Jenn Alva and Phanie Diaz and Phanie’s straight sister Nina — rocked original songs and cover tunes, performing live at SXSW and on Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour, among others.
But by 2018, it was all over. The band broke up. Nina released a solo album, and Jenn and Phanie formed the band Fea.
But guess what? Girl in a Coma is back, on tour and in the studio, and Jenn made time for an interview about the reunion.
Gregg Shapiro: I’d like to begin with some history of the band for the readers, beginning with the origin of the band’s name? Jenn Alva: We chose Girl in a Coma, because we were huge Smiths fans, after the song, “Girlfriend in a Coma.” Originally, we wanted to be called Ordinary Girls. At the time, it sounded boring, but now it kind of sounds fitting, especially through everything we’ve experienced in our career. It probably would have been a really good name, too.
We didn’t think we were gonna get back together. Then Nina brought up the idea of [maybe doing] some final shows, since we never did that. We did a few shows in Texas, and they went so well. Everything seemed like maybe we should get back together for one more album.
You mentioned being a fan of The Smiths. Who are some of your other personal music influences? When we first started, it was definitely Jeff Buckley. A lot of the British indie wave that came through — Travis, Coldplay. We really gravitated to The Verve. Prior to that, I would say, Phanie and I went to a Babes in Toyland concert, and it just changed our lives.
That’s why we wanted to start a band in the first place.
When Nina became the singer, we were like, “Well, it’s not the band we thought we were gonna make.” She sings so melodically; she writes stories, and it just became this kind of alternative indie group.
Phanie and I got to do our tribute to the Riot Grrrl movement. We like all kinds of music, including oldies. Of course, we’re here in San Antonio, so there’s Tejano music. It’s just a big melting pot of a lot of music, and from our parents. We love it all, honestly.
How long have you been playing bass, and do you play any other instruments? Let’s see, I’m 45 now, and I’ve been playing since I was 20. A little bit before, but before I was kind of lying. Saying, “Oh, I know how to play bass; I really like it.” Phanie showed me root notes. She’d play guitar, and I’d follow along. Being a three-piece group, you have to open your mind to make it sound fuller, as much as you can.
I play a little guitar; I dabble in everything. I’ve kind of got this ADHD mind where I pick up something, and bass is my love. I could never stop playing bass. But I pick up all sorts of instruments; I learn a little bit and walk away [laughs].
Both 2009’s Trio B.C. and 2010’s Adventures in Coverland featured songs sung in Spanish, and you also mentioned Tejano music being an influence. Talk about the role of Latin culture on the band. We’re here in South Texas, so of course Selena was a huge part of growing up. There were similar parallels with Selena and Nina — Nina, desperately wanting to learn Spanish and kind of going through the same thing.
Nina started so young. We were touring. She dropped out of school. She got her GED. Music was number one [for her]. Selena was all around.
She was our pride here in San Antonio, and, of course, Corpus and South Texas. We’ve always wanted to pay tribute. We don’t speak Spanish as fluently as we’d like to because, growing up, your grandmother, your parents, spoke Spanish, but they weren’t teaching it to you because they felt like it could hold you back. We know that’s ridiculous. Another language is just a level up of intelligence, which would have been great. But, yeah, we always want to pay tribute. … We wanted to add Spanish songs, as well.
As a queer-identified band, with you and Phanie being out members, how do you see Girl in a Coma’s place in the realm of LGBTQ music? We’ve always tried to be a part of everything we could be, like festivals. Our community has always helped us. Our fan base has grown so much in South Texas. On our very first tour, we ran out of money in San Francisco. We were hitting up all those bars with a CD player, back in the day, like “Here, listen to this. Can you buy this demo? We need to raise money to get back to San Antonio.”
Those were queer bars. They were helping us. They wanted to support an all-woman group.
It’s great to be visible. Onstage, I try to talk a little bit more about the work we’ve done within the community. Right now, they’re hitting trans people, and I feel like we need to stand up even more. So, when I’m on stage, I’’ll try to catch the vibe of the crowd.
Obviously, they’re there for us, and I’ll mention to take care of your LGBTQ+ and trans people. Be visible with them. Just a short sentence on stage does so much.
When I was growing up, I saw The Toadies play, and Lisa, the bass player, was a lesbian, and she looked like me. It’s important to be present, because you don’t know; you may change someone’s life just by playing music.
Is there new Girl in a Coma music forthcoming? We do have a few songs that are already done. Before the hiatus, we were playing them a little bit. We’ve brought them back, and we’ve done slight rearrangements. We’ve got about three songs totally ready for the new album. We’re going to start working on it some more. Everything is just very delicate. …
There will definitely be a new album, I can say that.
Girl in a Coma performs at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio in Denton on Saturday, Aug. 2.