The Non-Domestiks are Rosalba Gallo and Katrina Wylie, a Philadelphia area-based duo. They met after Katrina answered an ad Rosalba placed in a local music paper looking for a collaborator. They feel it was fate for them to meet as they discovered they came very close to meeting each other two other times in their lives. First, they had attended the same college at the same time (and also dropped out at about the same time.) Then years later they were both good friends with two different members of the same local band.
When Rosalba and Katrina first met, they hit it off immediately and found they had a chemistry in their vocal style, writing and sound which they consider to be reminiscent of 70's rock. In just a few months after they started working together, they recorded their first EP "Time to Turn," going out originally under the name of "Beat Theory." They quickly gained recognition, opening for Mary Lee's Corvette and playing at the Tin Angel, one of Philadelphia's most prominent venues. The EP also received air play on WXPN, a popular college radio station in the area. One local promoter described the CD as "ethereal."
However, due to an overabundance of bands in the area with the word "theory" in their names, they decided to change it to "The Non-Domestiks." They chose the name because they just liked the way it sounded (although some might assume it's a reference to hating housework which they certainly won't deny!). Plus, they have a European connection in that Katrina was born in England and Rosalba is first generation Italian.
As far as influences, Rosalba's are The Beatles, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson, Tears for Fears and Suzanne Vega, to name a few. Katrina's influences range from The Beatles, Elton John, and k.d. lang to the Go-Go's, Joan Jett and 70's pop music like the Carpenters and Abba.
Rosalba and Katrina both enjoy playing a lot of different instruments. Although both play keyboard and guitar, Rosalba also plays bass and drums and Katrina also plays woodwinds (saxophone, clarinet, and bassoon). Being multi-instrumentalists gives them the independence to record their CDs entirely by themselves and still have a lot of variety in their sound and live performance. Locally, they perform as an acoustic/electric trio with Vince Giardina on bass and Rosalba and Katrina switching between guitar, keys, drums and/or hand percussion. Rosalba & Katrina also occasionally perform as an acoustic guitar duo and depending on the venue, will mix in some bass guitar, keyboard, hand percussion and sax. They can play all covers, all originals or both (see Covers page for song list).
Regional venues they have played include, most notably, The Tin Angel, The World Cafe, The Nail, Doc Watson's Pub, Coffeeworks, La Tazza, The Treehouse as well as a number of other area clubs, restaurants and coffeehouses. They've also played CBGB's Gallery in New York City and often tour the New England-New York region where they have performed annually for the Women's Concert Series at the Highlands Inn in Bethlehem, NH as well as having been featured artists for Heidi-Jo Hanson's Songwriters Showcase in Northern Mass several times. They have also ventured south playing in Delaware (Frogg Pond at Rehoboth Beach) and Maryland performing for the popular national women's outdoor festival, Sisterspace. They have also played many outdoor concerts including Arts & Music in the Park, Earthtones Gallery's Open House and First Friday events (Merchantville) as well as the Artists Co-Op in Collingswood, NJ.
They currently have two full length original CD's, Try (2003) and Happy Defiant (2007) as well as an all-instrumental Christmas CD, "Merry Christmas from The Non-Domestiks" (2008) with Volume II in the making.
All in all, Rosalba and Katrina's voices blend comfortably together into lush harmonies which they augment with keyboard, guitar, woodwinds and other instruments. The overall flavor is 70's Rock but if you listen to their music, you'll find a taste of techno-pop, mellow ballads and progressive music too. These two women dropped out of the same college at about the same time, never meeting until years later, to follow musical trajectories that eventually converged in The Non-Domestiks.
