Who the hell are

The Martinis

On the rocks: When Pixies broke up in 1993, lead singer Black Francis carried on as Frank Black,while Kim Deal formed The Breeders with her twin sister Kelley. But what became of guitarist Joey Santiago, who cranked out Pixies' scarred guitar licks and influenced a whole generation of axe-choppers? He just went home to his wife, Linda Mallari, and the couple continued to work on their pet project - The Martinis. Next month, The Martinis are releasing their début album, but guess what? Hubby's got to go out and tour again with the reformed Pixies. But while you're waiting for Joey to finish that lucrative reunion tour, grab yourself a copy of Smitten, a sweetly rhythmic pop gem featuring the sultry vocals of Mallari and, of course, the lusty guitar licks of Joey himself.

'Tini boppers: Joey Santiago was born in Manila, Philippines, but spent most of his childhood in Massachusetts. Mallari was born and raised in Woonsocket, Rhode Island by a Filipino father and a Czech mother. She got guitar lessons from a nun, played at children's mass, attended Emerson College, was president of the Beethoven Society and went on tour with happy-clappy troupe Up With People. Not very rock 'n' roll.

Heady cocktail: Hardcore, punk and heavy metal were not part of Mallari's vocabulary until she met Santiago in 1987 in a bierkeller in Boston, and both immediately noticed they had something major in common. Mallari recalls: "I look over and I go, 'Oh my god are you Filipino? Oh my god I'm Filipino too!' He said, 'No you're not!' I had to rattle off all the bad words I knew in Tagalog!" When they recovered from the shock of discovering they weren't the only Filipinos in the greater Boston area, the pair also found they also had music-making in common, albeit very different kinds of music. Nevertheless, Mallari had just what Joey was looking for. "Ahhh! I just wanted to pick up on her," he says. But though Santiago fancied her, he wouldn't let her join Pixies. "We already have a chick in the band," he told her.

Shaken and stirred: While Pixies were conquering the indie world, Joey and Linda lived together, doing all the couple stuff, but one evening when the pair were making martinis, the creative juices started to flow, and soon they were writing songs together, one of which ended up on the soundtrack for Empire Records.It doesn't look as if The Martinis will be touring in the immediate future: Pixies are still packing 'em in all over the place, and are committed to live dates through Christmas. Meanwhile, Linda is expecting the couple's second child, so that'll keep her busy while Joey brings in the nostalgia bucks.