Headlining the main stage entertainment for the 2006 Fresno Pride Festival was Lipstick Conspiracy, a four member band hailing from San Francisco. The band, which saw it’s first CD, A Perfect Alibi released on June 1st, is on a Pride Tour which after Fresno takes them to Santa Rosa, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego. They’re promoting themselves as any up and coming band must do, one city and one bar at a time. After their raucous performance I had a chance to talk with them backstage.
Lipstick Conspiracy, who’ve been performing together for three years , is comprised of Marilyn Mitchell, Sarafina Maraschino , Shawna Love and Tori Tait . With the exception of two songs, the writing of their debut CD was a collaborative effort by the band members themselves. They declare their genre of music to be “conspiratorial rock”, and the tunes on the CD are layered with a rebelliousness and playfulness that carries that distinctive and subversive tone through.
Lipstick Conspiracy backstage at Fresno Pride 2006
Kicking off the CD is "I Won’t Go" which starts off with the declaration “Even though I like you / I won’t go all the way with you”. The song is a guitar and drum laden rocker with an attitude reminiscent of the B52’s. A notable cover track on the CD is “Constant Craving” made famous by kd Lang.
The band has a well designed website which utilizes the conspiratorial tone of their public personae to great success. The site’s unique and mysterious layout carries through the theme of clandestine and subversive activities with such menu options as “evidence” “dossier” and “surveillance”. On the site you can purchase a copy of the band’s CD, listen to selected tracks, download 2 videos, as well as view a multitude of images from various events and venues.
Their performance at the Fresno Pride Festival was a rocking crowd pleaser, and afterwards they took time to sign items for those attending.
In the words of Lipstick Conspiracy, the band has one goal in mind, to “take over the world…”
