Wynne Greenwood, front woman for the electro-punk trio Tracy and the Plastics, says she isn't sure why, but performing in front of an audience is more difficult now for the video artist than when the band first started.
"I used to really like to make eye contact with the audience, but now I've gotten shyer and shyer," Greenwood said.
"But what about the other Plastics, Wynne?" you're asking yourself. "Surely they're not scared to rock the mic."
True, lead singer Tracy, keyboard player Nikki Romanos and drummer Cola aren't shy. But they're also not real.
Greenwood is Tracy, Nikki and Cola.
No, no, no. It's not like when Dick Van Dyke is a one-man band in "Mary Poppins."
The character of Tracy is performed live by Greenwood while pre-recorded video of her playing the roles of Nikki and Cola are cast by projector on a 4-by-5 foot screen behind her.
Add a thrift store-purchased MIDI keyboard, an old Akai disc sampler and a Boss DR-5 drum machine, and you've got yourself Tracy, the Plastics and a dance party jammy-jam.
The finished project is something truly unique as, in her role as the Plastics, Greenwood restructures ideas of participation and observation between audience and performer.
Like bored little sisters, Nikki and Cola often interrupt Greenwood during the show to tell her she's got something in her teeth, or to talk to her about drawing pictures of bananas wearing sunglasses.
But there is no-tongue-in-cheek undertone in Greenwood's voice when she describes each band member's personality.
"Nikki is the artist. Art for art's sake. She's also becoming more of a spiritual artist, where she doesn't attach a lot of meaning to things," Greenwood said. "Cola used to smoke a lot of pot and is really political. Tracy is the singer. She is the one that introduced everybody. But she really wants Nikki and Cola to try to take some of the control."
She admits she uses each character to sometimes parody stereotypes of the pretentious art student, of the frenzied, unhinged female musician. But Greenwood says Tracy and the Plastics are sincerely meaningful characters to her.
"I love these characters, and how I present them is so honest," Greenwood said. "I'm not trying to pull one over on anybody at all. I wanted to create a band, to create people that I would want to hang out with."
Despite her shyness, Greenwood said because the performance does rely on video, talking to the audience is crucial in keeping the show's live feel.
"It's up to me, as Wynne, to remember that I'm actually the performer and that I'm live on stage," Greenwood said. "I made a video that I played with last year that had a pause actually in the video. And I would use that time to talk to the audience, which was a way to deal with my doubt in my relationship to the audience."
Greenwood also said the idea of pausing video as a way to involve herself was what helped her deal with the intimidation she felt moving from Olympia, Wash., to Brooklyn, N.Y., four years ago.
"I was so overwhelmed when I got here because it seemed like everybody was doing some crazy, amazing project," Greenwood said. "There are a lot of young artists here that get me intimidated, but I can't just sit here and say that I don't feel connected or inspired or I don't feel good enough.
"It's all about participating in your world and in the creation of that world. It's like when you start being a participant, then your doubt kind of goes away. So my metaphor for that was pausing the video, and touching it and interacting with it."
Greenwood says that performing at your next house party would be just as inspiring to her as the Plastics' recent performance as part of the prestigious Whitney Biennial art exhibition in New York.
Greenwood hopes that her shows at lesser-known locations aren't considered any less important than her performances at recognized venues. One example is her introduction at a panel discussion on feminism and the media. While the moderator read her substantial list of performances, Greenwood thought about her more guerrilla-style shows.
"God, I really wish it said 'Wynne has played a crazy VFW Hall in South Dakota,' 'some guy's kitchen in Lexington, Kentucky' and then also 'this weird art museum,'" Greenwood said.
"For me, that means so much. Every space is a loaded space, and every space is a hopeful space and a place for revolution and connection and understanding."
Tracy and the Plastics will be performing 9 p.m. on Monday at Solar Culture, 31 E. Toole Ave., with King Cobra for $7. Tracy and the Plastics' new album and DVD, "Culture for Pigeon" will be released April 19.