The Kids Are All Right

THE OFFSPRING OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS JUST WANT TO ROCK

Taking their cue from the Strokes, the highborn of New York and Los Angeles have been quick to recognize that good blood and excellent connections are now as good as laminated passes to enter the citadel of music. Equipped with inherited antennae to detect the next big thing, the offspring of recognizable parents are putting their well-appointed garages and spare rooms to the service of making a din. And why not? A rock band, after all, means no casting-call rejections, manuscript rewrites, or getting tangled in turnaround; in the case of Tatiana von Furstenberg (daughter of Diane Von Furstenberg and stepdaughter of Barry Diller), it means never having to haul heavy equipment around, either—the singer and her band, Playdate, rehearse in the back of a music shop in Silver Lake. "On weekends it turns into an after-hours club, so we can take any guitar off the walls and just use it," she says. With varying degrees of application and inspiration, many have got as far as to record demo tapes, play showcases, and lure the interest of record-company men. (Von Furstenberg counted 21 at a recent Playdate show.) A label on your skirt is nice, but a music label so much nicer. Ask Francesca Gregorini (daughter of Barbara Bach and Augusto Gregorini and stepdaughter of Ringo Starr) or Erica Wylie (daughter of literary agent Andrew Wylie) or Cisco Adler (son of music producer Lou Adler, member of the band Whitestarr, and current producer of Olivia Newton-John's daughter Chloe Lattanzi) or Liz Goldwyn (granddaughter of studio legend Samuel Goldwyn and frontwoman for the band Hot Lunch). The band Royal Orange—a teenage outfit which includes CBS Television president Leslie Moonves's son Mike, CAA agent Rick Nicita's son Zach, and producer Harry Gittes's son, Mike—has been playing the Whisky a Go Go. Ear Fetish, composed in part of Brandon and Brody Jenner, lyricist Linda Thompson and Olympian Bruce Jenner's sons, is currently recording an album in their home studio, possibly with help from their producer stepfather, David Foster. In this crucible of creativity, artist Ed Ruscha's son, Eddie, counts as something of a veteran. He's scored soundtracks (Southlander, starring Beck and Hank Williams III) and released a number of records. Armed with a melodica and five Space Echos, Ruscha plays host at an L.A. reggae club every Wednesday night and fronts a psychedelic dub-reggae band, Future Pigeon. In a city where much is hidden behind the shrubbery, don't expect any musical cohesion from the new, do-it-yourself music scene, he says. "Things are constantly forgotten and moved on from. It's like the architecture—they just tear it down and put up a mini-mall."

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