:: Dinner with the Manbunnies ::

Mmmmmmm.

Part 1: A Night Out with Dena Tauriello

MB: Tonight we're out dining with our favorite drummer, Dena Tauriello, in our first installment of our Dinner with The Manbunnies series. Thank you Dena for letting us out of the van on good behavior* to enjoy a nice sit down conversation with you over some spectacular Ala di Pollo Buffalouini. It smells GREAT! We can't wait to get our paws dirty. Speaking of smell, we’ve been meaning to ask you…we recently heard Cathy and Kristen mention in an interview while describing the song writing process that you and Jen were responsible for putting your "stank" on the songs after Cassidy and them were done with it. Up until then, we didn't realize making stank was a creative group activity. What's it like working with Jen to come up with stank?

* Haven't recently been caught in the act

DT: Coming up with a stank is really quite creative and gets far less respect than deserved. It really is its own art form.

MB: Psh...we think WE'RE quite creative and get far less respect than deserved. I mean babies in cute furry animal outfits? If people don't recognize that as brilliant art form, then they were busy eating paint and not paying attention during fingerpainting in kindergarden! We can't picture you eating paint as a kid though. We're pretty good at what we do, but we also tend to drink on the job and get caught sometimes. You can't be as good as you are without taking things a little more seriously than the manbunnies. You remind us more of the movie Drumline. Have you ever seen it?

DT: I have not yet seen Drumline...

MB: Hey, are you going to eat that?

DT: No, I'm full. But thanks.

MB: Do you hate carbs?

DT: I LOVE carbs...but they also love my mid-section, where they cling to for dear life. Not pretty...

MB: Al dente! So in that movie, the drummers are like hardcore loonies that endure some psychotic physical and mental training (and trash talking) rain or shine in the name of marching band competition. Since we believe movies don't lie, would you say that the movie closely reflects your weeks leading up to major events like opening for Aerosmith or Vanna Bowl as you prepare yourself for MVP form? Any peculiar "pre-game" rituals we should know about?

DT: My "rituals" (finger gestures) are likely less interesting and hopefully less psychotic, and do not transpire weeks before any event. On the day of a show, you can guarantee I have had a huge cup of decaf coffee to start my day, likely a workout, a shower, hopefully a decent meal high in protein, some carbs close to show time, if it's a long show so that I can power thru a 90+ minute set, followed by stretching and warming up on my drum pad. I know that sounds riveting and oh so very rock and roll....but it's true.

MB: We heard you spent some time this past winter in California with an old music teacher and her current class of middle school students. You got to sit in on their rehearsal and showed them some percussion moves or two. They're not quite of age yet for the "harsh realities" (paw gestures) of marching band competition like in Drumline but we heard you gave them an inspirational Gipper speech nonetheless. Plant the seed while they're young so they can dream that maybe one day, they too can cross the end zone and become MVP of Vanna Bowl. You have the chance now to be idolized and inspire younger people but did you ever thought that you'd be making stank professionally when you were a little munchkin head?

DT: I can say with much certainty that making stank was never part of my musical aspirations. I never dreamed that big. But alas...

MB: And here you were doing so well with the Gipper speech... A little more and you might have the manbunnies convinced to start banging things with sticks, though we don't think the rest of the band members would appreciate that in the already confined quarters of the traveling lifestyle. But don't feel bad. You have taught us to appreciate really good Belgian beer like Stella Artois and Hoegaarden. We might like the latter more for the funny name. Legend says that when you were a little munchkin head like us, you were inspired by Karen Carpenter but the non-little munchkin head Dena really looks up to Mia Hamm, who has since retired from the field but has written a book called "Winners Never Quit". Have you read it?

DT: Um, yes. Because I own it.

MB: Oh good. Of course we've read it because it's a children's book and we're babies in animal suits. So in her book, little Mia excels in her sport but hates losing. She learns the hard way that winning isn't everything and perseverance wins out when it's for something you love. Would you say not-so-little Dena experienced parallels to little Mia's lessons of perseverance, like during the more trying times in an indie band where the band members cast away steady jobs to live inside the wombs of Vanna White?

DT: Yes, most definitely. Like 7 years and counting of perseverance...

MB: There's a real picture of Mia playing soccer when she was little included in the book. Do you think she'd look better playing soccer in a bunny suit?

DT: No. Definitely not. No offense...

MB: You might not have your own book like Mia, but your band has been showing up a lot in a whole bunch of places lately, though none includes a glossy photo of any band members playing soccer when they were younger. According to the magazine Blender, Antigone Rising has a U.S. Women's National Soccer team problem. Our intelligence tells us it's been well documented that you won a contest and got the opportunity to be star-struck meeting THE soccer team, but what did you do with the Bath and Body Works Spa Kit?

DT: I use it! I know that I sit while drumming, but my feet are very busy behind those drums and work very hard.

MB: We're still waiting for our spa treatment. We heard even Pigbunny managed to get himself a spa treatment. Our feet are very busy too, but they're more anatomically made for squeezing through small spaces than drumming or playing soccer. But even without accounting for manbunnies, soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Yet women's soccer flailed around in relative obscurity until the popularity and success of the World Cup broke down the walls and put soccer in the spotlight. Antigone Rising knows a thing or two about the gender barrier. You guys managed to get signed to a major label and released your first CD. Would you say Antigone Rising the band is currently experiencing its World Cup run?

DT: I certainly hope so. We, like the Women's National Soccer Team, have struggled to break through in what is perceived as a "man's world" (finger gestures) . The Soccer Team broke through.... AR has, too, on some levels. But we'll have to wait a little while longer to take home the medals.

MB: Maybe not quite medals, but you're raking in all the porcelain for sure! As manbunnies with porcelain heads, we couldn't be more proud. There seems to be a recurring motif with you and bathrooms. In the "Don't Look Back" video, you woke up in a tub and in the seven jeans commercial, you're writing on the bathroom mirror. Is the band trying to drive home, get it...drive..., the point that in a van ride on the way to the next gig, you are most likely the person the driver has to pull over for because you have separation anxiety issues with bathrooms?

DT: No, I don't have separation anxiety issues with bathrooms. But the driver is likely to have to pull over for me and my small bladder, too much coffee and water consumption when touring. Does that fall under the too much information category? Sorry 'bout that.

MB: We spy on you. There's no such thing as too much information. So, you guys have your music video out. You have a TV commercial, your own VH1 special, print ads, spreads in magazines, etc. What's it like to find yourself in the midst of a media blitz since the band seems to be showing up everywhere lately, kind of like Pigbunny?

DT: It's slightly unnerving, actually. But it's great. The more exposure, the better. But I'll draw the line at autographing someone's ass slammed into a pair of Seven7 Jeans.

MB: Yes, but you certainly shouldn’t draw the line when it comes to having dinner with the Manbunnies. And now you're going to be immortalized on .net. We are the zeitgeist on exposure. The pinnacle of web journalism. We kid you not. Thank you again for having and sharing your dinner with us. Now we will unleash the crumbs to the masses.