WHEN PIXIES BASSIST Kim Deal asked her twin sister, Kelley, to join the Breeders, a side project that she had started with Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses in 1989, Kelley was not particularly surprised. In fact, it was a reunion that was long overdue. “We grew up playing music together, so it seemed completely normal to me and her that she would have me involved,” Kelley says. “Drums were my first instrument, and Kim and Charles [Pixies frontman Black Francis] actually split the ticket for me to go to Boston to be the drummer for the Pixies. I wasn’t an active drummer at that time, and when I heard the songs I was like, I can’t do that gig. They need a real drummer.”
Kim had also reached out to Kelley when the Breeders made the recordings for their first album, 1990’s , with producer Steve Albini. “She asked me if I wanted to go, but I couldn’t get off of work for it. I think I was working for Litton Computer Services, which is a defense contractor in Dayton, Ohio, where we’re from.” When the Breeders were preparing to record 1992’s EP, Kim once again approached Kelley about joining her in the band, and Kelley this time made the jump. “Kim asked me what I wanted to play; the choice was open. I didn’t say guitar, I didn’t say rhythm guitar, I didn’t say bass guitar. I said lead guitar. I wanted to play the star.”
