“Moonlighting, isn’t that a show with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shephard?” Mike Farrell says with an easy laugh. It’s that easy manner that sets the tone for this casual interview done while he is in the throes of activity at his day job at Cheap Thrills, the iconic vintage clothing store in Midtown Sacramento. A customer comes in and stops abruptly at the door taking a good look at Farrell and starts “Hey you look like…” “I look like the Beatles, yeah, I get that all the time” says Farrell, finishing the man’s sentence.
Farrell is the guitarist for Th Losin’ Streaks and definitely has a well cultivated look of his own. When he’s not dressing himself he’s dressing everyone else, including other bands. In addition to being a well known musician Farrell has been working at Cheap Thrills over a year now managing the men’s side of the store where he buys, he barters, he sells and very importantly, he consults. Farrell considers one of his main strengths to be as a fashion consultant, often for 70’s theme parties. When working with someone he will give them an in depth history of style and how it evolved then size up the client and put together an outfit for them all the way from the clothes, “to the wig, the chains, the shoes, the whole nine yards”.
Farrell’s own very cool retro look is topped off by his mass of shiny dark hair, long wide sideburns and expressive face. “Ever since I was in my early 20s I started dressing like this. It varies in minor details. Jimmy Page was a helluva stylist, Bob Dylan was very image conscious, in the Last Waltz he spent four hours choosing the right hat to go on stage with.”
“I remember when I was a small small boy I felt compelled to dress up and give a presentation in some way or another. When I was making a transition from public school to catholic school I got all excited about the uniforms. I didn’t know what their uniforms looked like but what I pictured in my head, with my dad being a marine, was the full regalia. The patches, the gold stripes and black sporter, blue trousers with the red stripe down the side, YEAH, I was totally excited. Of course then we went to the store and got a pair of blue cords, white shirt. blue sweater, black shoes. Kind of a let down.”
Now that he’s a man firmly planted in the music business Farrell believes that so much of being onstage is not just about music but about image and the performance. “When you are playing popular music, soul or rock and roll, half of it is image as opposed to jazz, which is really all about the music and less about image. Entertainment, that’s all it is. Like in the vaudeville days. You put on a show and give people their moneys worth.“
From an observers viewpoint it’s an interesting pairing. Because of the entertainment and visual nature of his life as a performer the two aspects of his work life seem to link up well.
“Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I don’t. I’d rather be playing music full time but this is the second best thing.” “I wouldn’t consider this day gig moonlighting. But if a band came into town and asked me to sit in, that would be moonlighting.”
