pop writer

Dig Jelly's Rayko (vocals), Rain (bass), Joey (drums) and Robby Lochner (guitar) were found happy as clams in a parked RV behind Bricktown Live before their Oct. 16 date. The L.A. band is on a coast-to-coast, 40-city tour with Veruca Salt, the Lovemakers and Porselain. Dig Jelly's 2005 release "For Your Inner Angry Child" (Centerline Music) is representative of the complex blend of talent and personality the quartet boasts.

Influences include anim?'s J-pop, Niccolo Paganini, Kiss, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rage Against The Machine, Harpo Marx, Weird Al and Charles Mingus.

Lochner is a direct descendant of German composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Rayko said Robby's a virtuoso on several instruments. Dig Jelly's Japanese-American front woman is a mod Fujiyama Mama who uses music to channel emotions that might otherwise be as destructive as an atom bomb.

"It's therapy to let all my angst out. Music gets the anger out of me. I need it to live," Rayko said. "I write about being a girl in this business, political issues and everyday life." She aspires to mastering koto, a Japanese stringed instrument. Her earliest musical memory is jazz musicians hanging out with mom and pop.

"They invited them to our house and had jazz parties. Who knows what they were doing down there. I was the youngest and had to go to sleep at 8 o'clock. They played upright bass, sax and drums loud as hell," she said.

Dig Jelly's RV looked more like a rowdy sorority house than a rolling den of rock iniquity. "It's candy for me! I'd rather have Twix than liquor," Rayko said.

True to the genre, much of Dig Jelly's material is dark. Still, there's something about them that screams: "TV cartoon show!"

Tales of bad gig manners: "Once on another tour, the headlining band turned off half the PAs and stage lights because we were doing too good," Robby said. Joey fingered the ultimate rude boy: "It was the guy who opened for Don McLean and played 'American Pie' (8 minutes plus) during his set."

Rayko's band highlight of the past year: "Getting signed and making the album."

"I like the food," Rain said.

Dig Jelly

Rayko's a petite rock ninja. Her halter top read "Girl Powder." She's the high-explosive kind.

Rayko's a crotch-grabbing, sneering, grinning, winking pocket rocket who locks on your attention like a Tomahawk missile. The band sounded terrific together. Gentle ballads juxtaposed well with inferno anthems. They never sacrificed the message for an immature decibel level. Rayko's rap ripped the privileged class in a street-fighter titled "Aristocracy." Dig it. This band's pure jelly roll.