Kina Cochina: A Day in the Life of a Rock 'n' Roller

Drop the coin right into the slot

You're gotta hear somethin' that's really hot

With the one you love, you're makin' romance

All day long you been wantin' to dance,

Feeling the music from head to toe

Round and round and round we go

"Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll" by Chuck Berry is a classic song that is timeless, tough and straight to the point. So is Kina Cochina. Kina is an original and a wild card - smart, sassy and a rock n' roller at heart. I first met Kina 15 years ago when I moved down to Los Angeles. We became fast friends the moment we met, her wit was so sharp and her bullshit radar was so fine tuned.

Kina started playing drums at 11 and stuck with the skins until she was 17. Having taken some dance classes while still in high school at CalArts, Kina started going to all age dance clubs in Hollywood. She eventually met up with the band Devil who asked her to Go-Go dance on stage with them in the early 90's. Playing with a lot of LA punk and rock and roll bands, Kina was schooled early on and got to do shows with the likes of The Palladins, T.S.O.L., The Dickies, X, The Dwarves and Pearl Harbour being backed up with members of Dr. Know.

Performing as a Go-Go dancer for Devil for 3 years, Kina moved on to dancing for The Bomboras for 2 1/2 years, The Orphics (with Steve Perkins from Jane's Addiction on drums) for 6 years and then danced for The Lords of Altamont for over 13 years. On top of dancing while bands were playing, Kina performed at a multitude of clubs from Cherry, Makeup, Velvet and Meow Mix West to Bang, El Rey, Ivan Kane's Deep, Maghreb, Moun of Tunis and Marrakesch.

Kina was involved with The Velvet Hammer early on, which was started by Elvia Lahman and Michelle Carr, where she became lifelong friends with Pleasant Gehman who took her under her wing. Winning Miss Exotic World Pageant in 1999 after taking pointers from none other than Burlesque's own Dixie Evans, Kina found time (!) to tour with The Bomboras, work for Junk and Taaang Records and DJ on KXLU.

Additional shows where she danced included Girly Freakshow, Lucha Vavoom, and The Rock and Roll Strip show, which was put on by Kitten Deville and Myng DynaTease. On top of all of this, Kina found time to become a professional belly dancer, under what she called "Pleasant's Machiavellian ways" and worked at Jumbo's Clown Room for over 8 years!

She was hired to Go-Go dance on tour for the B-52's, The Go-Go's, and a bunch of Peta Star Galas. In her spare time, Kina also played a Fender Rhodes piano bass and percussions in a band called The Soundhead and most recently, ZZ Topless with Catherine Butler from Cameltoe on guitar!

I caught up with Kina at her pad up in Valencia where she graciously allowed me to document her for the day. We took a stroll around her neighborhood and then headed into Hollywood at night to catch The Crazy Squeeze at Sonic Eye's night at Loaded. Then onto an all nighter at the Cretins MC clubhouse, where I left her at midnight to enjoy the wee hours with her pals.

She is making jewelry these days under the name Mata Harly, while her ferret Sad Girl watches on. Although not dancing as much as she did back in the day, Kina will always carry with her the raw energy and passion which comes from walking the talk.

 Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll,

Julie Pavlowski Green
February 22, 2014