Victoria Asher

“ She wears these fishnet dresses with a bikini underneath, and she just shreds the keytar. ”

PLAYBOY.COM: One of your band's videos has some bizarre spaceship thing going on. Can you explain it?

Asher: It's all about us being on a spaceship. Gabe tells his story of how Cobra Starship was formed. He was in the desert and he got bit by a snake in the desert and he was told to make a band called Cobra Starship to tell emo kids to stop being pussies.

PLAYBOY.COM: How is that working out? Are they stopping being pussies?

Asher: [Laughs] I think so. I don't know. Kids seem to be having a really good time at our shows and not taking music as seriously as some people do.

PLAYBOY.COM: Would you ever consider posing for Playboy?

Asher: No, I don't think so. Unclothed? I don't think I could do that.

PLAYBOY.COM: Well, just for fun, let's say, if you did decide to pose, what theme would your pictorial have?

Asher: I'd probably go with an almost school-girly thing, because I dress a bit like a schoolgirl. I like Mary Janes and knee highs and short skirts. I guess that's the only theme that would be fitting.

PLAYBOY.COM: How did you end up playing the keytar?

Asher: I'd played piano off and on since I was a little kid. When Gabe asked me to join the band, he told me I'd be playing keytar. At first I didn't know how I felt about it. I was like, Do I have to play the keytar? He said keytar is the band's trademark. And the second I picked up the keytar, I embraced it and fell in love with it. I try to bring more of a '60s vibe to the keytar, rather than an '80s vibe.

PLAYBOY.COM: There's a list of keytar players on Wikipedia, and you're on it -- along with Herbie Hancock, John Tesh, Prince and Weird Al Yankovic, among others. Did you have any keytar role models?

Asher: I've seen video clips where keytars were featured, but I didn't really have any idols. I looked up on YouTube to try and find keytar players, and I found one keytar player who is big in Croatia. I guess she did the Borat soundtrack. But her vibe on stage was not what I was going for. It was a very cheesy, weird vibe.

PLAYBOY.COM: Is there a greatest keytar song of all time?

Asher: Well, this Croatian girl is really good. She wears these fishnet dresses with a bikini underneath, and she just shreds the keytar.

PLAYBOY.COM: Have you ever had an embarrassing moment on stage?

Asher: It was at a show in the U.K., and all my family and friends were there. I was really excited to play. And I tripped and fell down on stage. I just couldn't believe that was the one day that an embarrassing moment happened. But my one friend said she thought I was having an orgasmic breakdown on stage. She thought it was part of the show.

Photo: Veronica Chanel