Quelle surprise! - Shoofly - Brief Article

Rockers Bernadette Colomine and her gay ex-husband, Terry Durbin, are raising a ruckus with their sexy band, Shoofly

French-born Bernadette Colomine, Shoofly's sultry song-stress and frontline moody brooder, has led some fans to trumpet the Los Angeles--based band as an ooh-la-la version of the legendary rock troupe X. And if Colomine is the Gallic form of X's Exene Cervenkova, then her whiskey-voiced collaborator, Terry Durbin, an Oakland, Calif., native, is the gay version of John Doe. But it's the sexual conundrum of Shoofly's two core members that really puts a tweak on the parallel. Like Cervenkova and Doe, Colomine and Durbin were married. Yes, married. For 11 years. Until September.

Despite the freshness--and unusual circumstances--of the breakup, Shoofly thrives. The group's recently released debut, Dirty White Town (Cool Records)--which boasts guest appearances by celebrated gay chanteur Rufus Wainwright and former Concrete Blonde front woman Johnette Napolitano--has been racking up rave reviews for its sexy Velvet Under-groundesque rock. (BAM magazine, for one, deemed it "intoxicating.") And Durbin, 41, doesn't flinch when he declares his sexual orientation in the presence of his ex-wife. "I'm not straight," he says easily after "idol" chat about Andy Warhol and Nico one sunny day. "Bisexual sounds obnoxious. I'm gay." As if to prove his point, he asks dryly, "Would you like a nude photo?"

Wainwright, who befriended the duo on the Los Angeles music scene two years ago, says he isn't surprised by Durbin's trademark nonchalance but does admit to raising a brow when Durbin told him last year that he liked men. "He's this gruff rocker," says Wainwright. "He just doesn't seem gay." Despite the denouement, Wainwright figures that the twosome "kind of makes sense. She's this twiddly woman, and he's this grump. They're like Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg, which is the style of their amazing music too."

Although both say their union was loving and sexual while it lasted, Durbin has also been torn by the call of men. "I've always been in that circuit, that community," he says. "Queer, straight, who gives a shit?" he huffs. Colomine, who says she "knew and accepted" her ex-husband's sexual bent, is on the same page. "When I met him he was with guys," she says. "It didn't bother me." In fact, she allows, "It was part of his allure. He is more than gay. I don't know how to say it. He's everything."

The two met in a Los Angeles club in 1987, soon after Colomine, a former teacher who was born in the town of Tarbes in southwest France, left her homeland to flee a "bad situation" with a beau. ("That's an even bigger story," she says with a red-faced laugh.) She was immediately drawn to Durbin. "All the guys were so stupid," she says. "He was charming and smart." The two quickly formed Apache Dancers, a "cowpunk" band that elicited good reviews and produced 1990's War Stories album, and then forged a romance. "It worked because we could relate on so many things--music, literature," Colomine says. In time, however, their differences took over. "We both have very hot tempers and are, how do you say it, opinionated," she explains. Much of that tumult, both acknowledge, inspired Shoofly's bittersweet tunes. And all the while, Colomine adds with a smoky grin, "It's never been boring."

The two are now in a "state of transition," says Colomine, who roosts solo in a bohemian shack in Los Angeles's hip Silver Lake area--not far from Durbin's new pad. He also has an interest in graphic design, while she acts and dubs voices for American films. (She covered for Lisa Kudrow in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.)

Durbin is blunt in assessing the appeal of Shoofly, which also features lesbian drummer Debbie Spinelli and bassist (and an animation director for The Simpsons) Michael Polcino. "There's no shortage of chick singers--I recently went to see Joan Armatrading, and she's great--but Bernadette's got something different," he says. "She's a great woman." Colomine, in a way, returns the compliment. "Most of my friends are gay," she says. "It just turned out that way. They're more fun."

John Griffiths, with additional reporting by Sam Slovick

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