Julie, 21, and Eric, 19, played shows with Belew (known for stints with Zappa, Fripp and T-Heads) at New York's Knitting Factory in March. It was love at first kerrang. Eric gives tops of the props to Green for pushing the drummer to audition twice for Belew. "Especially since I chumped the first one." Within weeks, the trio would be ready to tour with its circa '68 Jimi Hendrix Experience vibe.

"When I found out I was in the band, my initial reaction was, "How could we possibly do this music as a trio?" remembers Eric, thinking that the density of Belew's complex musical structures and heavily orchestrated layers of sound was a near impossible fit for three peeps.

"Adrian proved my theory wrong though, as he's a forward-thinking individual who manipulates all of this brand new guitar technology in order to create a pocket orchestra" says Eric.

As for Julie (who has played with McRad) she too had been pushed by Green to impress Belew. But she was even more surprised than her brother by the immediacy of the invitation. "Paul called me and asked me if I had been practicing. I said, 'Yeah, of course.' 'Good well, how'd you like to be in Adrian Belew's band? You have to learn 15 songs and go down to Nashville this weekend to practice them.'"

The 15 songs were mostly from Belew's new CD, Side One — recorded with Les Claypool on bass and Danny Carey on drums. "Talk about being intimidated," says Julie.

With new songs like "Madness" and "Beat Box Guitar" extended into lengthy jams nightly, look for the Slicks' improvisations — incorporating drum 'n' bass and African rhythms with heavily distorted Jack Bruce bass lines and seagull guitar noises — to be recorded for Belew's next CD, Side Four. "That's the one thing missing from currently released live records," says Eric. "Where's the ambition?"