Now, Frank Pino says he’s uneasy about “being on MTV.” And yet. He had to beat out tough competition for the gig — a pool that is rumored to have included Boston alt-rockers Brett Rosenberg and Juliana Hatfield. Asked about his audition, Frank uses the word “sketchy” a lot. “I had my fists up,” he says, but quickly adds that the ensuing process has disarmed his cynicism: tutoring Alexa, he says, has been like discovering a long-lost 16-year-old daughter who wanted to follow in his footsteps.
The makers and the making
The rules of Made were these: Frank had six weeks (and a gymnastics coach) to get Alexa into fighting shape. First, Frank decided, he had to establish some basic principles of rock: Alexa was “too Broadway.” And she wasn’t sure what to make of him, either. “His image was so hardcore, I thought he’d be death metal,” she says. “But when I went to hear him, he had a totally different sound. He was arena rock.” Now that this was sorted out, Frank taught Alexa how to play guitar. Then she picked her band. Then they had their gear stolen. Then they wrote some songs. They settled on a sound they’ve taken to calling “ska-mo” – half ska, half emo. How could they possibly go wrong?
Teenage wasteland
It’s a chilly Thursday in November and the Fair Fight kids are hanging out in a practice space in suburban Boston. A guy named Hollis, who is not afraid of eyeliner, is giving the boys nicknames: the sax player, Kevin, is “James Spader.” The hyperactive bassist, Jordan, is “Ashton Kutcher.” But then Hollis draws a blank on Fair Fight’s quiet, 14-year-old lead guitarist, Joey. “James Dean,” says Jordan. Hollis thinks about it for a second. “Naw,” he says. “Maybe that kid on One Tree Hill.”
Becca, the drummer, is 5’ 8”, blonde, a teenage dream, the kind of girl you’d expect to see behind the kit in Kelly Osbourne’s band. Compared to some of the other kids here – like the all-girl Waltham band the Andwutz, peeking from behind curtains of straight brown hair and impressive slashes of eyeliner – Becca and Alexa look fresh out of the box . . . with the possible exception of their large, studded belts. And yet soon Alexa is pointing at Karen, the Andwutz’ lead singer, and whispering to Becca, “She has the same black nail polish I do!” Karen sees the whispering and goes over to Alexa. “Frank was my vocal coach too!,” she says, and with the ice broken, the girls end up chatting about their respective musical careers, which couldn’t be further apart: the Andwutz admit they started as a joke, and they can barely play their instruments, but they have a shitload of fun. Alexa and Becca say they should’ve made an all-girl band.
