At first glance, the deadpan, dorky-looking Leslie Hall seems an unlikely Internet starlet. Yet the 24-year-old Iowa native conjured a tidal wave of online popularity thanks to her music videos posted on Youtube and Myspace. And now, Hall's hip-hop band "Leslie and the Lys" has begun a cross-country tour to attract publicity, sell T-shirts and CDs, and bring her passion for gem sweaterology--bedazzled with rhinestones and beads, popular in the 80s--to the unenlightened,
Decked out in blue eye shadow and a gold sequined jumpsuit (Hall's mother designs all the costumes), she recently played to a packed house at Safari Sam's in Los Angeles. With the camp sensibility of Julie Brown, she warbles her ditties on her new CD, Doorman's Daughter. Songs like "Zombie Killers" and "Shazam I'm Glamorous" are surprisingly catchy, infectious little numbers. They're the kinds of songs the B-52's livened up college parties with decades ago.
Out of the makeup and garish outfits that give her that Ziggy Stardust meets Tammy Faye look, Hall is attractive, bright, totally in on the joke, and having a ball with newfound fame.
1. How did Leslie and the Lys come about? Did you spring fully grown from the head of Zeus, or did you rise from the sea like Venus? Oh, we arose like Venus, absolutely. My career in ceWebrity stardom happened with the help of no one. I began to form the music, the look, and the dreams. The Lys just jumped on to look pretty and smile if asked. They're eye candy, really. But the sweat and triumph is something I earned.
2. How do you feel after your triumphant conquest of Los Angeles? I feel like a very shiny object put on display at Christie's auction house with 500 people bidding their life savings on me. Get what I'm saying? Trust me, love and open arms is all I felt. I absolutely had the most amazing time ever. I can never come back. I've reached the top.
3. What has been your mission with this tour? Singing songs and dancing to the thunder of glamorousness is great, but my mission is the education and spreading of knowledge about the lost and forgotten art of gem sweaters. Do you know they cost $1 at thrift stores? Do you know males and females look lovely in them? I'm just telling people, "Rescue, preserve--and don't give up on the fashion of yesteryear."
4. How did you get into bejeweled sweaters--are you Joan Collins's secret granddaughter? Oh, wouldn't that be awesome? I bought my first one for a high school dance, and I never looked back. It was cheap, I looked great, and a protege was born.
5. I noticed you have a sizeable gay and lesbian following. Are you poised to become the Cher or Madonna of the Internet Age? Oh, yes. That is truly my destiny. I've been reading their biographies, trying to duplicate the same career paths. Trust me, my dreams are to fulfill your desires in the form of fame and glory. Let the beat take, take you; let my vision hold you and my quivering body tease you.
6. What's next for Leslie Hall? Big shows. The next L.A. one is at the Hammer Museum. I'm not sure of the dates yet, but I will soon. Check the Web site. Other than that, I did pick up a manager in Los Angeles, so who the heck knows what they have planned for a little girl from Iowa with plus-size dreams of Internet conquests?
Check out www.lesliehall.com and www.leslieandthelys.com for tour dates, fan club information, and to feast your eyes on Leslie's gem sweater gallery.
