Alanna is proud to go on record about Jewish roots

Jewish Telegraph, May 2008

AS far as band names go, Jews and Catholics does make a bold statement.
The name The Beatles didn’t really tell you much about the Fab Four, while there wasn’t much Rolling about the Stones.
But Jews and Catholics probably tells you too much about Alanna Meltzer and Eddie Garcia’s group.
Alanna is the Jew and Eddie, 29, the Catholic of this rising indie outfit. But bass-playing Alanna says that their name does lead to some confusion with people expecting religious music.
Jews and Catholics formed almost four years.
Until this year they were known as Jew(s) and Catholic(s), but Alanna said the brackets played havoc with internet search engines.
The 25-year-old was born in a small town in Idaho — one of just a handful of Jews in the area.
“It made me a stronger person,” she said. “My parents were from very Jewish backgrounds.
“I had a few problems growing up. Some people when they found out that I was Jewish wouldn’t let their kids be friendly with me. It’s very sad that that happens in this day and age.”
Alanna now lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina which is “different to where I grew up. There are Jews here and lots of good music”.
Whilst not religious, she says she observes most of the festivals and practices most of the traditions.
Alanna spent her youth performing classical music in symphonies — while listening to punk rock at home.
“My parents were hippies so I listened to their music at home,” she said. “Then in high school I discovered punk groups like Dead Kennedys, Crass and Social Distortion.
“Everyone in the symphonies were older than me and I was the one on stage with purple hair.
“Playing rock is a totally different technique. And the fact I play an upright bass does make us stand-out visually.”
Jews and Catholics released their debut album, God’s Trash, last year and have followed it up with the new four-track EP Inside.
They are also featured on compilation album WUAG 103.1 Presents Wooden Anniversary.
“People do read a lot into our name,” Alanna added. “We get a lot of questions about it.”
But she adds that the name is not a political statement or anything to do with religion.
“We kicked it around as a joke at first and like it.”
She only discovered recently that her father Frank had tried to play the upright bass when he was young, but his school put a stop to it because they felt jazz was evil.
“My mother, Janice, loves our music,” Alanna said. “She comes to a lot of our concerts.
“My parents have been supportive with all my music.”
Alanna, who has family in London, describes the Inside EP as “faster and harder-hitting” than God’s Trash, while it is also “more energetic”.
Despite their layered sound, on stage it is just the two of them, with a drum machine.
“In the future we might collaborate,” Alanna said. “We are getting well-known in our region.
“We are hoping to play in the surrounding states and while I’d love to play in England, I think I’ll be going over there first with my mother to visit relatives.”
Alanna is an assistant manager of a book shop but she hopes to one day be able to concentrate on her music full time.
And she doesn’t feel her social life suffers with her busy schedule of work and band.
“We play so many shows, but that is my social life . . . in a good way,” she said.
New York-born Eddie laughed that his grandfather asked if they were trying to start a holy war.
“Audience members like to shout ‘which one is the Jew, which one is the Catholic?’ during our shows, to our sometimes amusement, sometimes annoyment.”