It's hard to believe Backdoor Victoria has been together for just a year. Their sophisticated sound and professional attitude suggest that they've been together for years. Although the band performs a 50/50 mix of covers and originals, it's their original music that's most interesting.

According to drummer Tony Kirchner, it's realistic for a band to be expected to do some covers. "We've all been involved in the music scene for a long time," he says, "and one of my experiences is that people don't want to hear a night full of music they don't know, so the idea is to mix your covers and originals to give people something they know, and hope you're gonna win them over to your own material."

The covers that Backdoor Victoria play are all given their unique stamp to the point that they are often unrecognizable. "Tony loves it when people are sitting there and halfway through the song realize what it is," says guitarist Dirty Frank DiVanna.

"One of the cool things is to take a song that sounds like a tune we would not even want to try to imitate exactly how it is," explains Kirchner. "When you're choosing material to play, you have to step out of your musician self and think about the people who are coming out to see you to drink and have a good time. It's taken me a long time to learn that. I've been in bands where you just play all your own material, but you're playing for a narrow audience. I like doing covers, too. It's not like I want to earn my living being in a cover band, but even when you go to see a major rock band, invariably they're gonna throw a tune in that somebody else did. Then after the show, you're saying, 'Oh my god, I can't believe they did ... whatever.' You know?"

Kirchner and DiVanna are joined in Backdoor Victoria by vocalist and guitarist Gerald Anthony, violinist Robin Chambers, bassist Pat Kirchner, and saxophonist Buster Hynum.

Much of the band's uniqueness comes from Chambers' aggressive violin playing. The group tends to attack more mellow songs, such as Edie Brickell's "What I am," and really add muscle to the music, often surprising the audience.

"The first time I saw Robin play," says Kirchner, "I thought, 'Man, she's like Hendrix on a violin.' She's awesome."

Kirchner explains that the idea to add a violinist to the band came from simple personnel changes. "It's very tough to find musicians who are all on the same page," he states. "We were at a point where we were stuck and needed someone to fill a void, and Gerald said he was gonna give Robin a call to have her sit in on a show. I wasn't sure at first, but she started playing, and about two songs into it we all thought, 'Holy shit!'"

Anthony continues, "She is probably the best player who plays by ear that I've ever seen. We'll play a song, then I'll present a new song to her, and about three chords into it, she can jump in, and she doesn't really miss a note."

Anthony is Backdoor Victoria's primary songwriter, but the whole group develops all of their songs. "The majority of the music I'll write on an acoustic guitar," he says. "Then I'll bring it to the practice area, and everyone digs into it and all put their own parts to the music. Everyone in the band is a master of their own instrument, so we all come together to finish a song."

"Gerald gives everyone the freedom to express what they want to bring to the table," Kirchner says.

Kirchner attributes his group's unique sound to this mutual songwriting technique. "If you heard Gerald play our tunes by himself on the guitar, it's easy to see where we come from," he states. "The unique sound is formed when everyone brings their stuff to the table. I think Gerald is a very good pop writer. He's very thought provoking in what he has to say and he writes in a unique way. That added with Frank's guitar and what Robin does gives us our sound."

"If you look at each of us, we really represent very different styles of music," states DiVanna.

"But it all works," continues Anthony, "because, as a band you have to surround yourself with good people, and we feel that we have six good people who are flexible, and there are no egos in the room when we practice, and we hash things out. When our songs are done, they have a little piece of everyone in them."

Backdoor Victoria has just completed its second CD, and Kirchner says that this "give and take" approach was really important in the recording studio. The group recorded the new CD, Torso, at the Green Room in Harrisburg, and agree that this experience was much better than their first CD. "The first one was a mix and match because we did stuff in different studios to kind of specialize different aspects," explains Anthony. "We gained some things from that, but also lost some continuity."

Kirchner continues, "Dale Epperson, who produced the Jelly Bricks' stuff, was really influential in teaching us how to play pop songs for the radio, but that's where we got into a little nip and tuck with the band. You know, everyone has to give a little bit. What I think Dale did for me was teach me how to play songs, like how to put my drummer's ego aside and stop playing for the drummers but for the audience Ð the people who just want to hear the song. It was a good learning experience for me, and I think there were times when everyone in the band went through that. With a band with six people, you need someone's objective like that who's not a member of the band who can say 'this works; that doesn't.'"

Backdoor Victoria hopes that Torso can open the door for more opportunities for the band. Kirchner hopes to get a management or booking deal, although a recording contract wouldn't be unwelcome, either. "I've been kicking my ass forever about that do all and end all record contract," he says, "but I've resolved myself to the fact that if I can play out, and I enjoy myself and people come out, everything else is gonna fall into place whether that is the end all record deal or if it's just some success on a local level. Realistically, I don't think anyone joins a band, and says, 'You know what? I'm gonna hang out in the garage for the rest of my life.' I think about it [getting signed] every day. I'm not gonna lie to you. I may try to downplay it as much as I can, but there isn't a day I wake up and think 'What am I doing wrong and what should I do differently?' You know?"

"Everyone wants to avoid his day job," Anthony states pragmatically.

"One of the saving graces of this band," he continues, "is that we're on an independent label that was pretty much formed by someone who is a friend of ours who has the money to invest in our music. It's Fetish Records, and our friend is Tom Pannessa. He's given us the resources to do just about anything we want to. So, for all of our recordings we've had the time and the resources to get things done right."

This year, the group hopes to play out more and begin gaining fans in other areas. "Looking at all the faces at our show, I think it's time, and we can do this," Anthony states.

Kirchner continues, "We all know what we're capable of doing, but that's where the frustration comes in: knowing that you have the talent and ability to really be somewhere, but there are forces working that are not in your control that dictate your success."

"But if I get to the end of my life, and I have 'X' amount of CDs and projects and songs that I've written, I'll be happy," says DiVanna. "I haven't put out an album yet that wasn't better than the previous one, and as long as I can continue doing that, it'll be something for me to look back on. You know? You just do what you do."