Aliens, UFO sightings, mutants, telepaths, human-sized parasites
living in the Newark, N.J., sewer system. Bree Sharp loves everything about
"The X-Files."
Especially David Duchovny.
The New York-based singer-songwriter tapped into her obsession
for the Fox TV series and its leading man and wrote a hook-laden song titled,
simply, "David Duchovny." A demo copy made its way to "X-Files" production
members, who then surprised the happily married Duchovny with an all-star video
tribute for the show's annual Christmas party.
Here's where conspiracy theories get interesting: The video had the
most diverse group of lip-synchers in pop history, from Jenna Elfman to Alex
Trebek to Whoopi Goldberg. For added camp value, Charles Nelson Reilly, KISS
and the cast of "Baywatch" willingly recited the song's chorus, "David Duchovny,
why won't you love me?" The video got passed around Hollywood, and before you
can say "The truth is out there," Sharp's lyrical crush piqued the interest
of Trauma Records, which promptly signed her.
Her debut LP, "A Cheap and Evil Girl," was released July 27 and
now the 23-year-old Philadelphia native is bracing for her first promotional
press tour, with several tour dates in between, including a few Lilith Fair
appearances.
Like the series' premise, the "David Duchovny" phenomenon defies
conventional explanations. That's fine with Sharp. She's just glad she got her
foot in the door.
"This has all happened really quickly," Sharp said recently, "and
at times it's overwhelming, but I'm basically just trying to keep my head on
straight and take it one day at a time and not do the whole year in one day.
"Our first (radio) show is Aug. 8 in West Palm Beach, and I'm so
excited ... with my band and everything. I'm ready to pee in my pants. I have a
lot of confidence, because I've been performing since I was real young. I've
been doing acoustic gigs for the past couple of years, so I'm not totally
green. My band kicks ass. We all know each other, because they played on the
record and they know the songs, so we just need a couple days of rehearsals in
and tighten it up and go get 'em."
Fortunately for Sharp, she has other catchy but novelty-free songs
up her sleeves, notably "America," "Walk Away," "Show Me" and "Not Your Girl."
"So far, I've gotten a great response," Sharp said. "I think I was
concerned about being a one-hit wonder, but at the same time I was also confident
because we worked really hard on the record and I'm very, very happy with the
results, and there's some really good songs on the record, if I can say that.
"So far, people have been concurring. It's great to meet distributors
and radio stations and people are like, 'Wow, you know, I think this is the next
single' or 'I love the record' or 'This is my favorite song,' and it has nothing
to do with the first single. It's very encouraging. Hopefully, knock on wood, if
we get to the second single, people will see that it's an album."
Above all, Sharp wanted to rise above the female singer-songwriter
crowd.
"I wanted it to be interesting, different and sexy and refreshing
on every level," she said of the album. "I wanted it to be accessible to people.
I wanted it to be smart and clever, separate from the things that are happening
in music right now, which are kind of boring me. I don't want to name any names,
but I just didn't want to be lumped in with them, period. I wanted to be
evocative and provocative. I want to get people hot. That's really what I want
to do - mentally, physically, emotionally."
Make no mistake, her admiration for "The X-Files" is genuine. In
fact, she can get downright indignant when discovering a journalist has never
sat through an entire episode.
She will immediately get on her Mulder-and-Scully pulpit.
"Oh god, you're taking all my will to not hang up on you," she said,
laughing. "First of all, it's the smartest show on television, hands down. I
didn't start watching the show because of David Duchovny. I was really reluctant
to watch it, but I was at a college friend's house for Thanksgiving over the
weekend. She wanted to watch these reruns with her dad, and I was totally
dragging my feet, saying 'Can't we go play a game or something? Or talk about
boys?' She made me watch it and I was totally hooked to it because it's so smart.
I didn't look at (Duchovny) and go 'Oh my god,' it was a slow development. I
realized what a cool guy he was.
"I love Mulder and Scully. They're my favorite TV characters of
all-time. They really are. I just think they're the best."