Three Sheet heat

Firefighters in full uniform jump from a red truck parked
outside Elephant & Castle. The shrill fire drill still screams from
the now-empty basement where a diverse mix of Three Sheet addicts
thrives on the hip-hop group every Thursday night.

“I wore my nice bra,” singer Vanessa Furlong says loudly over the
buzz of 50 fans gathered on the steps. “That’s why they showed up.”

Minutes earlier, as opening act Ghettosocks proclaimed “I’ve got a
fire in my pants,” to the crowd, one member of the five-piece Three
Sheet might have been lighting up in the band room.

As Furlong puts it: “We were having a band meeting and—no, we
really were—and may or may not have gotten into trouble and had to go
running.”

Furlong sips coffee through a straw on the following Saturday.
Reminded of her bra comment, she shoots a coy glance: “It’s true. It’s
the only time I get dressed up.”

Every week, Furlong, the only female member of the quintet, dresses
her ears with hoops that would make Beyoncé blush and struts in
heels before a crowd of dancing fans.

“It’s funny,” the jazz-soul vocalist confesses. “A lot of people
talk about this confidence I have on stage, which is the exact opposite
of what I’m feeling.

I just remember reading an article about Beyoncé talking
about Sasha Fierce and how when she’s up there on stage she transforms
into that person to give her that boost of confidence. And I was like,
‘That’s what I’m doing!'”

Furlong says the taboo of being “the girl” in the group stems from
Three Sheet’s origin story. After Gray Wynchell left Three Sheet in
2008, lead vocalist Matt Kliffer (Expedyte) and guitarist Ryan O’Quinn
brought bassist Kevin Tilley and beatboxer Eric McIntyre (EMC) aboard.
McIntyre introduced his girlfriend, Furlong, to the equation. Her vocal
flavour jived immediately with their dynamic. Furlong says she was
excited, yet hesitant to join the group.

“I did not want them to bring me into the band just because I was
someone’s girlfriend. I wanted them to take me into the band because
they legitimately felt that I could contribute.”

“She just naturally fell into place automatically,” says Kliffer.
“That was the big bang of Three Sheet right there.”

“I always tell her, I’m like, ‘Vanessa, you’re the icing on the
cake. You’re what makes us magical.'” O’Quinn says.

Now, Furlong doesn’t hold back as much. And with the release party
for Three Sheet’s debut album, In Circulation, on Saturday and
her solo debut just around the corner, Furlong is channeling her energy
to fight that girl-in-the-band taboo.

“There are, I bet, tons of girls out there who would love to be
‘playin’ with the boys,’ as I call it,” she says. “They just don’t feel
like they belong in that situation. That sucks. So I’m hoping I can
give a little encouragement.”

This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2009.