Regina Zernay Roberts is an American instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. She is lead singer and bass player of Detroit Diesel Power. She played bass guitar and

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

with

Scarlet Fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

, the all-female

backing band A backup band or backing band is a Band (music), musical ensemble that typically Accompaniment, accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a Studio recording, recording session, and the ...

that toured with Cee Lo Green during 2010 and 2011. She toured several years in the

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

cowpunk Cowpunk (or country punk) is a subgenre of punk rock that began in the United Kingdom and Southern California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or new wave with country, folk, and blues in its sound, lyrical subject mat ...

band,

Cowboy Mouth Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...

; was founding bassist/singer of Los Angeles

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band Méchant; and was bassist for the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band, Halfcocked.

Biography

Regina Zernay was born in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, but grew up in a tiny Florida village. She is the first-born child of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and Filipino parents. After moving to

La Puente La Puente (Spanish for "The Bridge") is a city in east Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city had a population of 39,816 at the 2010 census and is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The original inhabitants ...

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

, she graduated from Nogales High School and

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 193 ...

. She married Darren Roberts in 2009.

Early years

Even as a young child, she wanted to be a musician. There was always a piano in the house. She took lessons until a conflict with her teacher about writing with her left hand. She began playing guitar at age 11, inspired by (her "first love as a teenager")

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

. In high school, friends needed a bass guitarist for their band, her mother bought her one for Christmas, and she "totally fell in love with it." Although she is left-handed, she plays a standard right-handed instrument. After high school, she did her first West Coast tour for two weeks with a band in small pickup, often in difficult living conditions; but nothing made her happier than playing bass. She polished her craft playing with many bands, in small clubs and venues throughout

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, sometimes three bands concurrently.

Influences

In addition to

, in high school she played music by

Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. It consists of Mike Ness (vocals, guitar), Jonny Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass), David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards). Emerg ...

, the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

, Black Flag,

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...

, The Toy Dolls, and

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...

. Later role models include

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

, and

Ben Shepherd Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician best known as the bassist of rock band Soundgarden. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden. Born in Okinawa, Shepherd grew up in Washington and d ...

from

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

Breakout success

Zernay has played and recorded with many Southern California bands, such as Big Violin (their music was featured on ''

The Real World ''The Real World'' (known as ''Real World'' from 2014 to 2017) is an American reality television series produced through MTV and Bunim/Murray Productions that most recently aired on Facebook Watch after airing on MTV from 1992 to 2017. It wa ...

''), Ten Pound Troy, The Syrups, and Red Delicious. In 2001, she joined

band Halfcocked (on the DreamWorks imprint Megatronic Records) during their final tour. She also performed with

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

/rock band Jam Balaya, appearing on two episodes of ''

Half & Half ''Half & Half'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeffrey Klarik and executive-produced by Yvette Lee Bowser through her Sister Lee Productions banner that aired on UPN from September 23, 2002, to May 15, 2006 (related to the come ...

'' in 2005. She was featured as the front-cover ''Bass Quarterly'' interview for the issue of January/February 2011, and was chosen number 3 of the top 10 bassists to watch in 2010. More recently, she has toured with

Red Elvises The Red Elvises (also known as ''Igor and Red Elvises'', after founding member and bandleader Igor Yuzov) are an American cult band that performs funk rock, surf, rockabilly, reggae, folk rock, disco and traditional Russian styles of music. They ...

during November 2011 through December 2012.

Méchant

Circa late 2002, Zernay formed her own band, Méchant (French meaning "

wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...

"). She was the primary songwriter and original bassist for the band. One of their early tracks, "Sweet", was included in the short film ''Outta Moves'' in 2005. With the help of several musician friends, she began recording a second CD in 2005, ''Fate and The Arsenal''. The band remained active until 2007.

Cowboy Mouth

From 2007 to 2010, Zernay performed with

, playing more than 200 shows annually, including a two-week

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. During her time with them, Cowboy Mouth released the live concert DVD '' The Name of the Band is Cowboy Mouth'' and the full-length CD '' Fearless''. They were also featured as a cartoon in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

, and performed on ''

Live with Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Mark'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American Broadcast syndication, syndicated breakfast television, morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show ...

'' twice.

Scarlet Fever

Beginning in June 2010, she toured with Cee Lo Green and the all-female

named

on promotional tours for "What Part of Forever" (from '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' soundtrack) and '' The Lady Killer'' album. They performed for ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'',

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'', ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', and many other venues. Core band

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

include Sharon Aguilar (lead guitar, violin),

Brittany Brooks Brittany Brooks (born August 5, 1985) is an American instrumentalist. She played drums with Scarlet Fever, the all-female backing band that toured with Cee Lo Green during 2010 and 2011. She and varying members of Scarlet Fever have performed w ...

(drums), and DANiiVORY ''née'' Theresa Flaminio (keyboards, background vocals).

Detroit Diesel Power

Circa late 2011, Zernay and her husband formed a punk band, Detroit Diesel Power. They debuted at Molly Malone's on July 2, 2013, and again at

The Viper Room The Viper Room is a nightclub and live music venue located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. It was established under that name on August 14, 1993, co-owned by actors and ''21 Jump Street'' co-stars Johnny Depp ...

on July 23, 2013, both in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Other members include Patrick Jones (drums) and Michael Martinsson. Their first EP, "16:16", was released December 1, 2013.

Discography

Albums with Méchant

* ''Fate and the Arsenal'' * ''2-Song EP''

Albums with Cowboy Mouth

* '' Fearless''

DVD with Cowboy Mouth

* '' The Name of the Band is Cowboy Mouth''

Albums with Detroit Diesel Power

* ''16:16''

References

External links

Detroit Diesel Power

official site

Podshow site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zernay, Regina American people of Polish descent American musicians of Filipino descent American alternative rock musicians American women pop singers American punk rock bass guitarists Musicians from Queens, New York American punk rock singers American women rock singers Songwriters from New York (state) American women bass guitarists American women punk rock singers Azusa Pacific University alumni Cowboy Mouth members Living people Scarlet Fever (band) members 21st-century American women 1969 births