Police & Thieves' Carlos Izurieta: The New Gay Interview

At a time when we here at TNG are debating the future of the changing DC gay community and the role of forums like TNG in that change, it is refreshing to sit down and talk with Carlos Izurieta of the DC hardcore band Police & Thieves. Not unlike our community, the hardcore scene, both in DC and across the country, has experienced rapid change over the past decade. As a veteran of the scene, Carlos offers a unique perspective. I think we can learn some lessons as we here at TNG deal with our own growing pains. Read the interview below the fold.

The New Gay Robert: I am excited you are willing to sit down and talk with us. As you could probably guess, many TNG readers aren't familiar with Police & Thieves. How would you describe your music to folks who are not familiar with the underground hardcore-punk scene?

Carlos Izuerieta: I would say we blend melody and aggression with socio-political lyrics, and what comes out is our sound. It is tough sometimes because we're usually the odd band out on most punk and hardcore bills. We play mid-tempo songs and for those who don't know, hardcore is usually played really fast. So, sometimes it takes a few times for people to see what we are doing. It is not groundbreaking or anything ,just a bit different than the more traditional punk and hardcore bands we have shared the stage with.

TNG: In addition to being unfamiliar with your music, a lot of our readers probably don't know that you are guys are old-timers, in a sense that guys are all in your late 20's to mid 30's. Punk is typically music and a scene that is youth-driven, which makes sense given the ideas and politics that emerge during that time in life. Is it hard to relate to an audience that in some cases is half your age?

CI: (laughs) Are you calling us old?

TNG: Well, older than your typical person in the scene.

CI: I know what you mean. The thing is that we love punk and hardcore music and probably always will. The beauty of this music scene is that is generally accepting of anyone. I mean the shows are usually all ages as opposed to some clubs/ bars that don't allow anyone under 21. What I'm trying to say is that yes we are older, but we can relate with them over music. In a sense, the music acts a bridge that can cross over so many barriers. It is interesting to talk to the kids at shows because you can totally relate to the first time you saw one of your favorite hardcore bands and how much that meant to you. Hanging out, meeting new people, and talking to the kids after we play is my favorite part about our shows. It can be so refreshing to see kids that are not jaded about hardcore. Most kids drop out of the scene by the time they're 21.

TNG: How old were you when you started going to punk shows?

CI: I grew up in a pretty strict catholic household. We were not allowed stay out late unless it was for sports or school. So, I started going to shows about the time I was 18, which is later than most. I talked to some kids this weekend that saw my old band (Worn Thin) when they were in 5th grade. That blew my mind. My first show was Murphy's Law with my friend nick at the old 930 Club. It was a life changing experience. I had been listening to Metallica, the Misfits ,and mainly metal and alternative until I met my friend Nick who turned me onto Murphys Law, Sick Of It All, Government Issue, and Minor Threat. I remember going to the old 930 club for the first time. I was used to safe old Arlington and 9th and F is not the same 9th and F that it is now. It was way sketchy - sketchy to the point where I didn't ever tell my parents where we were going because even though I was 18 they would have freaked out. I remember walking in there and just watching the opening bands and nothing happened. I thought "oh this is just like when I saw REM or U2 except in a bigger club." Then, all of a sudden Murphy's Law comes out and the singer yells "What's up We're Murphy's Law," and as soon as the drummer hit the cymbal the place exploded along with beer bottles and myself being knocked to the floor. I had the wind knocked out of me for a second, and got back in there and had a blast - especially when I started stage diving I think that was when I was hooked (laughs). It was something you always wanted to get better, especially when watching all the older kids do front and back flips. I liked that more than dancing, I was more into diving and singing along.

TNG: Did you ever think you would be doing this as an adult? I know that for me, I often think "I wonder what 20 year-old Robert would think of 31 year-old Robert." Did you ever think you would be doing this as an adult?

CI: No, not really. I had no idea what i would be doing in my 30's. I'm just glad that I found something I would enjoy. I always knew that punk and hardcore would be a big part of my life. It can be hard sometimes being older and still in a more youth oriented scene because as you know adults are saddled down with "responsibilities" which can put a damper on things like touring. I think we have found a happy medium. We have been able to balance our outside life with a band life we are happy with. We record on our own time frame, play shows once or twice a month, and practice every week.

TNG: Along those lines, a lot of the inspiration to hardcore and punk is born out of frustration with the status quo. I know for me personally, that hardcore and punk as a set of ideas remained with me as I grew up, but some of the anger and frustration that drove me to the scene in the first place has waned gradually as I got older and gained some new perspectives. How are you able to maintain that level of intensity being that your life is likely pretty different now than it was when you were a teenager? Do the same things that inspire you then still inspire you no?

CI: Its funny, because I think I am at a place in my life where I am comfortable. At the same time, I still carry the spirit of dissention and some of the anger from punk and hardcore music. Growing up so close to DC and now living in it, it is hard not to write about what you see. We're not a political band per se, but its there and you can't avoid it. It pisses me off that we're in a war that we had no say in and we elected someone that is so incompetent at running it. I personally did not vote for him, but at times it's indicative of the climate we live in. Our president is such a polarizing figure. It's all hard to ignore because sooner or later it's going to be there on your front door step and then you can't hide from it. A good friend's dad was this gung ho Republican, voted for Bush the first time around, and was really stoked on what he was doing with the military and to protect us. But he came to find out through his son who is a Marine how the war had nothing to do with the individuals who attacked us, and how we were sending our troops over to fight this war that may never end. That is what our new record, "Amor y Guerra," is about. In Spanish it means "love and war."

TNG: You are from the DC area?

CI: I was born in Ecuador but moved to Arlington when I was five.

TNG: Many people, as you know, flock here to live because of the jobs and colleges around. What are some things that carpetbaggers - simply by not being raised here - don't understand or don't appreciate about the city?

CI: DC is such a transient city, and sometimes people overlook the beauty of the city. I am even guilty of it. I know were not as fast paced a city as say New York, but it is easy to get lost in your own little world and forget about how amazing it is to be able to walk to the top of certain streets and see the beautiful DC skyline. It can take your breath away. DC also has a vibrant underground music scene, from free shows in Fort Reno park to basement and church shows in and around DC. Those things are put on by kids and a community that love the music

TNG: That is a good segue to talk about community. One issue that has been discussed on this site is the changing landscape of the DC gay scene (and gay neighborhoods in general). During the 70's and 80's, when the social climate was far more adverse to lesbians and gay men, neighborhoods were more important to the community as they provided safe and nurturing spaces. With the massive social changes regarding sexual orientation over the past 20 years, the neighborhood has become less relevant as the need for a common space has become necessary. In other words, the role community has changed, because the world around it has changed. This is particularly the case for those who didn't come of age in the 70's and 80s'. Recognizing the obvious differences, the punk community exists in a far different world today than it did during its inception. At the music level, independent music or "indie rock" has provided a greater outlet for more daring and creative artists, there are a slew of bands that replicate the punk-hardcore aesthetic but do not hold the values. Vinyl records, which were a staple of DIY in the 1990s when we were growing up, are almost relics in an era where anything can be found for free online. Additionally, blogs and My Space have changed how learn about new music and relate to others around the country. How would you say these larger outside changes have affected the hardcore scene as a community?

CI: I think it has splintered the community into these different niche groups so to speak. Back then you had punk, hardcore, and indie bands all on one bill and now it is very genre or scene specific. I do think though that DC has always been pretty good about mixing it up. I think that is because at the core the majority of the bands in DC have a social conscience, in contrast to bands who form specifically so they can become rock stars. That is not the case here in DC, at least not in the underground scene. Most bands form to have fun, but they also have a message.

TNG: So basically you see a lot of continuity at the core (pardon the pun) despite the newer terrain?

CI: Yes, I do. For kids going to shows now I think there are still enough positive influences within the scene to keep it on the same path. There are still a good number of kids that are socially and politically active and that care about those things more than the latest fashion.

TNG: So, what does non-music Carlos spend his time doing?

CI: Let's see... I work for a non-profit in Dupont, run and train for marathons, and hang out with my friends. I am working on a Masters Degree in Latin American studies, but it is taking longer than expected. Or maybe I am taking my time and enjoying myself too much (laughs).

TNG: Hopefully it is the latter. So what should we expect to see on Sunday night when you play the Black Cat on Sunday night?

CI: Sunday night will be a lot of fun. We are playing with two other bands: the Scare and Lion of Judah. The scare is a local DC band who play melodic punk with a twist of gothic over tones, sort of like the Misfits. Lion of Judah is this hybrid of rock and roll and hardcore with some weird time elements. For those familiar ,they remind me of a band from DC named Swiz.

TNG: Sweet, we look forward to it.

See Carlos' band Police & Thieves shred up the backstage at the Black Cat this Sunday, May 11th, with The Scare and Lion of Judah. Tickets are $8 and doors open at 9:00.

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The Mirror Script's Steve Scarlata: The New Gay Interview

After a nearly a seven month hiatus, the Mirror Script returns to the stage at the Velvet Lounge this Saturday night with its brand of moody yet synchronized, guitar-laiden pop. In anticipation of the show, I sat down with lead guitarist and vocalist Steve Scarlata to talk about the change in their line-up, living in DC, and getting recognized at gay bars. Check it below the fold.

The New Gay Robert: So, Steve, this Saturday the Mirror Script returns after a brief hiatus. How long have you guys been taking a break?

Steve Scarlata: It's been 8 months. That's the longest stretch we've gone without playing since the band started.

TNG: The last time you guys were playing together, it was you and John on guitar and vocals, with Nat on drums. I remember you saying that John left the band. Why did he leave and what is the line-up looking like now?

SS: John left for a few reasons. He had gotten married and I think wanted to spend more time at home and start a family eventually but also because he was looking to start a career as a comic book artist and won a pretty prestigious international competition which will hopefully land him a contract. I think it got to the point where he enjoyed art more than music and wanted to devote more of his time to that.

TNG: When you last played, I was under the impression that was the end of the band. What made you and Nat decide to keep on going?

SS: We took a few months off before we played again and I don't think either of us were really sure what we would do. Both of us started side projects in the time off. Eventually I think we both just missed playing and started looking for a new bass player. We found Mark Loiacono and he seemed to fit in perfect and was into a lot of the same stuff so it just started working again. Mark is relatively new to DC from Brooklyn

TNG: A handful of your old songs featured John on vocals, will Mark be taking those over, will you be taking those over, or are you guys axing those songs altogether?

SS: At the moment we're not playing any of them. We haven't ruled it out and I'm sure Jon wouldn't mind. I think the bigger issue is that Jon had a very different range than both Mark and I, so it would be difficult to pull off. At the moment I think we're focusing on writing a lot of new stuff though but who knows.

TNG: When I first saw you guys, you reminded me of the more guitar heavy sides of Sebadoh. Over time you seemed to gravitate toward a more layered, moody, even introspective sound. Was that a conscious decision? How did that come about?

SS: Yes. I think the latter was the sound I had always been shooting for but maybe wasn't quite getting at first. There was a lot of energy in the beginning and I had to learn to be more subtle as a song writer and a guitar player. I think the moodier sound is much more indicative of my personality and my taste so I think I communicate it better when we perform or record. Also, I just got bored with playing in the previous style and needed to challenge myself a bit more and embrace a larger sonic possibility. I think it came about because I wanted the music to have an overall melodic sensibility with an underlying sense of weirdness to it and it took me a while to find the right tools and develop that.

TNG: That makes sense. I think most people who know you would say you have a calm, melodic exterior with a tinge of weirdness.

SS: I think that's a fair assessment.

TNG: How has the band changed with the addition of Mark? Has your playing and song writing style changed?

SS: Mark's style of playing is more subtle and more melodic so I think it brings out a lot of the intricacies of the music that might not have been coming through before. He has similar singing style too so we are doing a lot more in the way of vocal harmonies that we hadn't been doing before. I think him coming into the band allowed me to bring in some new musical ideas like playing in altered tunings and doing songs with two guitars. He's a great overall musician.

TNG: Switching gears a bit, you have been living in DC for seven years now?

SS: About six and a half years.

TNG: DC has changed quite a bit over the past few years. Obviously, the city has provided a backdrop to your life and to your music. How would you say that you have changed personally over the past six an a half years?

SS: It's been a very bumpy ride, especially the first few years. I was presented with a lot of challenges when I moved to DC that I think have made me a stronger person. Stronger, but maybe a little more paranoid too. Hopefully at the core I'm still the same person I was when I came here. I try to be myself through thick and thin. I've definitely had to force myself to be more adaptable though.

TNG: How so?

SS: DC is a much more ambitious place than I imagined and ambitious maybe in ways that are counter to who I am, so I had to learn to deal with that aspect of life here. That doesn't apply to everyone one of course but it does to a lot of people who you have to deal with from day to day. It seems more difficult for people to let their hair down to some extent.

TNG: Absolutely, I think that is a gripe that many of us have. Has that affected your approach to writing music, or even at a larger level, running a band?

SS: Yea, I think it forced me to find an alternative way to express myself which I think is the essence of punk rock. If you're not happy with the world around you change it; if you're not happy with the music you hear, make your own...etc. So being in an environment that was somewhat alienating I think pushed me towards finally starting a band and expressing myself in different ways. I think I have tried to express that in the music and in how we've conducted ourselves as a band. Essentially I've tried to turn a negative into a positive.

TNG: You mention being in an alienated environment. You and I have both on occasion talked about our frustration with the DC gay scene and how it can be very stifling, particularly to those who are creative and don't adhere to the typical Dupont mold. How has that shaped your perspective as an artist? Do you see that influencing your music in any way?

SS: One of the things I hope that we've achieved or proven as a band is that people, gays in particular, will come out and be supportive of something that mainstream opinion says they wouldn't. I hope that translates into a sense of empowerment for other people trying to do something creative whether it be art, music, acting, djing, etc. As far as influencing my music, I think it has caused me to embrace certain lyrical ideas or themes but I'm not sure that's a direct result. I've been a perpetual outsider my whole life, so that's more a lifetime's work than it is just a few years.

TNG: I have noticed a relatively large contingent of gay guys at Mirror Script shows. Obviously some are friends, but a number of them are there because they have heard that there is a gay guy in the band. I think it is great that they are at least checking something out that they might not otherwise.

SS: Surprisingly, I've been stopped a number of times on the street or in a bar and had someone tell me they've seen me play which was kind of weird but cool too.

TNG: So as a perpetual outsider, where do you draw your influences?

SS: I get a lot of influence thematically just by observing people and the eccentricity of human behavior. That's what keeps me intrigued. Artistically, I think I've always been drawn to people who themselves were on the fringe. I think that's where the most interesting ideas come from. People like Greg Sage or Syd Barrett spoke to me in a really profound way that others didn't. That's not to say that I exclude anything that isn't obscure or crazy.

TNG: Anyone that knows you can see that shine through in your music and your approach to music. So switching gears again, I asked you about the gay scene, but your main audience is really the DC underground music scene. What is it like to be playing in a city and at venues that have such a rich history in and influence on independent music and DIY culture?

SS: It's really awesome. Playing at Fort Reno last summer was a great experience knowing that we were taking part in the same tradition as bands like Fugazi or Bob Mould. Playing on the same stage as people you grew up idolizing is a very powerful thing. It's great that DC has institutions like Fort Reno, Dischord, and Inner Ear Studios that makes playing here all the more interesting. We owe a lot to the people who created those things and will hopefully keep it going. There's a lot of great people here too doing just that. I'm really lucky to know people like Katy Otto or Hugh McElroy.

TNG: Yeah, Katy and Hugh are both talented, and just all around great people. What are you listening to these days?

SS: I just bought the re-issue of Mission of Burma's record Versus which is pretty awesome.

TNG: Before we finish, you definitely have more of an introverted and quiet personality. I think it comes as a surprise when people when see you up on stage singing. Is there anything about Steve Scarlata that people don't know about you that you would like them to know?

SS: It's kind of shocking to me too that I've been able to get up on stage so nonchalantly. I feel like I become something else and that frees me from the fear. As for what I want everyone to know: I think people believe I'm very serious or cerebral, and I am, but deep down inside I'm also really silly. Also, I do smile from time to time, despite what people tell you.

Look for Steve Scarlata to smile a few times on Saturday night, April 26th, at the Velvet Lounge, 915 U St. Doors open at 9pm and the cover is $8. The Chance and Must Love Trash open.

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The New Pornographers' Carl Newman: The New Gay Interview

This world needs more red-headed rockers. Carl Newman does his part. (Photo by Karin Bubas)

The New Pornographers are playing the second of two sold out 9:30 Club shows tonight.

(Two celebrate the band's two 9:30 club shows, I have interviewed two of their members. You can read yesterday's conversation with Kathryn Calder here.)

So listen to this: I went to see last night's New Pornographers show at the 9:30 Club. Sometime-vocalist Neko Case wasn't there (she was sick, but should be there tonight) and the band started out on shaky ground. Half a set in they regained their energy and banged out an incredible show. I could not enjoy it, though, because I was receiving a great number of missed calls from a number I didn't know. Now I come from a Jewish family prone to near-death incidents, so "13 phone calls from an unknown number" immediately translates in my mind to "relative in intensive care."

I wasn't concerned enough to leave the show — that's how good it was. When the band finished their second encore, I rushed outside to figure out who the hell was calling me. Any guesses? It was New Porn's frontman himself, Carl Newman. Apparently my number is still in his phone from when I conduced this interview on Saturday. I was being pocket dialed by my favorite band's frontman during their own concert. This is the closest I will ever come to greatness.

Full interview beneath the fold.

The New Pornographers are made up of many temporary members (the most high profile of them, Dan Bejar, is currently touring with his own band Destroyer) and so their songwriter and lead vocalist Carl Newman shoulders the responsibility of being the bands public face and sole force of cohesion. Neko might be the best known, and all the other NPs do their part, but he's the man who writes the songs. The interview below might be a little longer than most, but its rare that I get to speak to someone with this much talent.

The New Gay Zack: You sold out two nights in a row at the 9:30 Club. How does it feel to have the band you started get so well respected in this country?

Carl Newman: It is strange, it's really odd. I spent so long playing in bands that didn't get any attention that it's funny to stick to it and finally get somewhere. In 1997 this band I was in called Superconductor opened for Guided by Voices at the 9:30 club. I remember sitting in front of a thousand people thinking "this is awesome, this is the closest I'll ever to be to a rock star, this is what it feels like to play in font of a thousand people." It's weird that ten years later we’re this band that can sell out the same place two nights in a row. Ten years before I accepted in my head that I would never be in a band that did that. I was grateful to be playing before a band that did that.

TNG: How much do you vary your set lists between the two nights?

CN: There's some songs you want to play every night, it's tricky finding that balance and not having two complete set lists where one is better than the other. We've been shaking it up and trying to different songs each night, four or five that we didn't do the night before.

TNG: I noticed at your last show you didn't play "Letter from an Occupant," which is probably your signature song. Is there a reason you don't bust that one out?

CN: I think it's good to have too many songs. We could do a set and we don't have to play that song, which is nice, there something annoying when people expect to hear a song from you every night. Like in '93 when Nirvana got booed because they left the stage and didn't play "Smells like Teen Spirit." He was just sick of playing that song. Not that we have a "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

TNG: Your previous albums have been mostly balls-out pop, but "Challengers" has more downtempo songs and ballads. Why is this?

CN: It's wanting to do something you've never done before. You get tired of sounding like yourself, you just want to do other things. That's what this record was, which might have annoyed some people but what do you do. I think we're known for being this really upbeat band and we put up a record that wasn't insanely upbeat. It wasn't all ballads, but we made a slightly stranger, more mid-tempo record.

TNG: Did you lose any fans for it?

CN: I know there was some backlash against this record, but you can't tell when you're playing live. Our shows are bigger than they've ever been, we do new songs and people really like them. It appears that our fans, the people that go to the show, like our records. I feel like if we had a backlash it was a critical backlash, but its not really my job to study such things. People in bands that do are probably very unhappy. Ultimately it's nice to be liked.. but who cares, really?

TNG: What is your band dynamic like with all your part-time members?

CN: It makes us not your typical band. There's us and Broken Social Scene, we're the only two bands that have that same thing going on. It is strange, sometimes you totally have to switch gears. When we toured in the fall we had Dan and Neko. Right after that we toured Europe and they didn't come with us. We switch gears and think 'what songs are we not going to play now?' It's a weakness and a strength at the same time.

TNG: Is it a better show if you have all your members?

CN: I like having everybody, it's definitely cool, but these last few nights have been totally awesome. It's not really for me to say. Its like 'Do you think you look better in blue or purple?'

TNG: You write songs that seem really opaque on the surface, but probably have a lot more going on than someone can easily decipher. What is your songwriting process?

CN: There's songs on this record that I think are fairly clear; "Challengers," "Unguided," "Go Places" How much do you need something spelled out for you? Even "Adventures in Solitude" is fairly clear. A lot of songs are impressionistic, but surely people can sense what a song is about if they put the effort into it. Not that I'm any master poet, but if you open up the Norton Anthology of Poetry, they're not that clear. A lot of them probably seem like gibberish. That's kind of what I'm trying do. You're trying to say something and you can't really say it any other way. I hate comparing myself to the giants of poetry or English literature or rock and roll, but at the same time you're making this art. When I'm writing lyrics I'm thinking about E.E. Cummings or Dylan Thomas and attempting to do something like that. It's like in Leonard Cohen's "Bird On a Wire," people ask what is "the drunk in a midnight choir" represent. It means he used to see drunks in Greece walking around and singing with each other. It's a personal thing from his life, but people hear it and try to imbue it with something universal. It has a life of its own and this kind of power. I'm not saying that's what I do, but that's how lyrics work. They don't have to make lyrical sense, they jut have to be evocative.

TNG: Since you write such personal songs, is it hard to give them to Neko or Kathryn to sing?

CN: I don't really want to sing that much. I don't think I have the greatest voice, I'd rather give songs to the girls to sing. Like with "Go Places" I thought 'Obviously this would totally work as a Neko song.'

TNG: It's not weird having Neko sing ["Go Places,] a love song that you wrote for your wife?

CN: Not really. I think 'Hey, my wife likes Neko." Isn't that the kind of thing you can do? To give a song you wrote for your wife to Neko so your wife's song can be sung with a beautiful voice, not her husband's croaky voice? It was the ultimate gift to save her from my voice.

TNG: What’s your favorite of all the songs you’ve written?

CN: No idea. It’s really tough. You always like your newer songs, they’re a lot more personal to me. Like “Letter from an Occupant” and “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism,” they’re great songs but they don’t really have a lot of personal meaning to me. I was just trying to write cool rock songs. Songs like “Adventures in Solitude” and “Go Places” have a lot of meaning to me, and that's worth something to me. That makes songs like that my favorite. Dan said to me that “Go Places” was the best song I’ve ever written. I took that as a high compliment, he’s one of my favorite songwriters, so lets go with “Go Places.”

TNG: Some reviews were saying “Adventures in Solitude” was actually about the war in Iraq...

CN: Not even remotely, I’m talking more about internal things. Whatever’s happening to the person in the song is happening to a person wholly by themselves. People just aren’t thinking. Iraq war, that’s stupid. Tell whoever said that that it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s a full-on sad song

TNG: I guess people go with the easiest explanations.

CN: That’s the weird thing, when you put the word wound or war in your songs, people take it completely literally. I think that’s so strange. I guess it makes sense, but in lyrics there’s a lot of metaphors. When they hear “I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight,” did they think the person just died? Are they saying, ‘How is he singing if he just died?” Or do they think he John Lennon is a walrus? That he thought he was a walrus?

TNG: Since you mentioned John Lennon, how do you feel about the prevalent opinion that The New Pornographers are today’s answer to The Beatles?

CN: It’s an inescapable influence. “The White Album” is always one of my favorite albums, because of that I never really worry about a record of mine being unfocused because one of my favorite albums is this unfocused collection of great songs. I’ve actually for years and years wanted to cover “the Continuing Story of Bungalo Bill,” but it's constantly shut down. A song like that is a small part of what influenced me to do The New Pornographers. That joy of a bunch of people singing together, a lot of other people have done it. Like the ending of “The Bleeding Heart Show” was probably an unconscious nod to “Hey Jude,” not that I was trying to do it.

TNG: I saw the video of your "Don't Bring Me Down" cover, it was great. What's the appeal of ELO to you? As someone who's been defending that band to their friends for years and years, its nice to finally see them get some love.

CN: I grew up listening to them, they're awesome. How can you not love "Livin' Thing" or "Sweet Talkin' Woman?" Those are just perfect examples of a pop song. I think in this indie world people are concerned with whether or not music is cheesy or cool, and I think sometimes people are afraid to listen to ELO and just go "This is fucking awesome."

TNG: For a while pop music meant Britney Spears or The Backstreet Boys, but I think bands like yours are reclaiming it to quality. What do you think pop means these days, and where is it headed?

CN: I don't know, it's pretty much anything. It was The Beatles that opened up pop music and made it so it meant anything. They did anything they wanted and it counted as pop. I think bands like us, or all indie rock bands, are just a continuation of that. We're going to do whatever we want. Beirut plays Slavic folk music crossed with indie rock and its pop, because why not? If people want to listen to it, it's pop music.

TNG: Where are The New Pornographers headed next? Will there be any more unexpected directions?

CN: I felt through the years, moving in the direction we were headed in for Challengers, that I wanted to go in that direction. I feel like I moved as far over that way as we'll go, we're not going to change into M. Ward or Jose Gonzalez or anything. I have a feeling that the next record will be pretty rock but that's just what I'm thinking. I'm writing more rock songs in 3/4 time, I don't know why. The way I write is very scattered, I don't know what's going to come out until the record's done. I'm amazed that we've actually gotten these records done. I look back at our four albums and my solo album and I think "How the hell did I do that?" I don't ever know where it came from. I feel the same way about the records to come, you just put your head down and start working.

TNG: How much have things changed in all the years of heading this band?

CN: We've become this crazy non-partying band. Last night we were sitting on the bus and I think it was the first time ever after the show that not single one of us was drunk. We were just sitting here at one in the morning on our bus and we were all sober, so good for us. We’re trying to clean up our act.

TNG: Don't clean it up too much.

CN: We won't. Maybe we've stopped drinking, but we'll find some other new vice.

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Artist Profile: Mary Coble

Mary Coble, Note to Self
Copyright the artist, courtesy Conner Contemporary Art

(Coble staged a live performance in which she had over 100 names of murdered GLBT hate crime victims inscribed on her body using a tattooing needle without ink.)

Mary Coble is a local performance artist whose works often deal with sexuality. Photographs of her performances are part of the Hirshhorn's Recent Acquisitions show and are often on display at Conner Contemporary.

The New Gay: What are some of the ideas and themes that your work engages with?

Mary Coble: My work deals with issues which I feel a sense of urgency toward and that I want to bring to the attention of my viewers – social injustices (in the form of individual or community suffering), societal stereotyping and abuses of language (hate speech) have been dominate themes throughout my work. My goal is to make people question themselves, each other and our experience as a community that is part of a larger world.

TNG: How does your work engage with your sexuality?

MC: I’ve created several bodies of work that deal with issues rooted in the Queer community. My community and my identity inevitably influence my work. However, I strive to have my work reach beyond one community to have a universal appeal.

TNG: Who are some of your artistic inspirations or favorite artists?

MC: I get really excited by the performance art that was occurring in the 1970’s by artists such as Marina Abramovic, Vito Acconci, Gina Pane, Chris Burden and Yoko Ono, just to name a few. These artists took great risk inserting their bodies and the concept of performance into the vernacular of what would be considered art.

Catherine Opie’s early work within the Queer community is a lasting inspiration because of the exposure and dignity she extended to our community through her beautiful and often blunt images.

TNG: Performance strikes me as one of the most powerful art forms, and I'm always disappointed when museums show stills from performances instead of a video. What do you think is lost when a performance is captured as a photograph?

MC: Seeing a photograph or even a video of a performance is an experience that is very different from being present at a live performance. It’s a second hand experience that leaves out many of the aspects that make performance so powerful. The immediacy and unmediated act of viewing any live event can never fully be expressed through other mediums.

To be fully enveloped in a performance means to experience the atmosphere and setting, the interaction of the viewers with one another and to be aware of all of your senses in the moment. These things are critical to the viewers experience as well as the basic concepts conveyed.

However, I do believe a live performance can be later supported with the video or photographic evidence that documents legacy. I’ve been moved by many beautiful images that serve as documentation of a performance. I appreciate them with the understanding that this is the documentation of the art, not the art itself.

I think it’s important to have the ability to be able to view the documentation of past performances in order to have a visual aid that co-exists with the written or verbal account. This documentation helps serve as a memory, however distorted, or an introduction to historically support the piece.

TNG: How long have you been a performance artist? What attracted you to the art form?

MC: My background is in fine art photography. Four years ago I began incorporating performative aspects to my practice. Photography did not allow me to fully express concepts that I was working with, so I migrated to another way to get the ideas across. I never intended to work in performance but conceptually and visually this medium gives me exactly the tools that I need to convey my concepts.

I’m attracted to the ephemeral nature of performance, the intimacy of the experience for myself and my viewers, the incorporation of all of the senses, the physicality of the act and the power of performance to address contemporary issues to an audience in a very immediate way.

Mary Coble, Binding Ritual Daily Routine
Copyright the artist, courtesy Conner Contemporary Art

TNG: Do you have any performances coming up?

Right now I’m mentally working through a performance I just completed in NYC at the Pulse Art Fair called Blood Script.

In my three past performances called Marker (performed in New York, DC and Madrid) I stood silently and invited viewers to write on my body in Sharpie marker derogatory slurs that had been used against them, they had heard used or had used against others.

For Blood Script I chose 75 of those hateful terms and had them tattooed, without ink, onto the front portion of body in a very ornate script. After each word was completed, watercolor paper was pressed against the fresh incision and a blood impression was created. As a hate speech amassed on my flesh, the wall beside of me also filled with the hate speech.

With this performance I set up a dichotomy between the “beautiful” visual of the text and the nasty meaning behind the word. Once the viewer were drawn in they then considered how these words affected them personally.

Do you have a favorite art spot or event in DC?

One of my favorite things about DC is that there are so many amazing venues available to experience art at and most of them are free. I feel very lucky to live in a town where I get to see such a diverse amount of art and attend lectures by world renowned artists and it cost me nothing to do so.

TNG: What do you do when you aren't working on art?

MC: What? Not working on art? It never stops but sometimes I can multitask so I do get other things done. I also teach in the Department of Fine Arts at George Washington University and work with children in the arts. When I’m not doing that, I love spending time outdoors with family and friends.

TNG: How long have you lived in Washington?

MC: I’ve lived in various parts of DC around seven years. I moved here from North Carolina with intentions of going to graduate school and then leaving. There is something very unique about DC that I just can’t seem to give up.

TNG: What do you see down the road artistically?

MC: I’m excited because I see endless opportunities and challenges for myself. There are a lot of ideas that I want to explore.

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The New Pornographers' Kathryn Calder: The New Gay Interview

I think I have a crush on Kathryn Calder. This is getting out of hand. (photo from MySpace)

The New Pornographers play tonight and tomorrow at the 9:30 Club. Both shows are sold out.

(To celebrate The New Pornographers' two soldout shows at the 9:30 Club, I have interviewed two of their members. Tune back in tomorrow to read an extensive conversation with Carl Newman. )

Though the music of The New Pornographers is instantly accessible, their mercurial line-up requires NASA technology to keep track of. The Canadian quasi-super group is made up of one full time frontman/song writer, Carl Newman, and 7 other Canucks with their own careers. Co-songwriter (and alleged weirdo) Dan Bejar helms Destroyer, vocalist Neko Case has a successful solo career and all the other members only do time in TNP in between their main gigs. For this reason, It is rare to get all of them onstage at the same time. The feat was managed at their last 9:30 show in October, but this time around they'll be sans Dan.

Kathryn Calder joined the band in 2005 to provide an alternate female voice for their third album, Twin Cinema, and has since become an integral member. She plays keyboard, sings and often takes the unenviable task of filling in for Neko, who is said to have the best voices in contemporary music. And adding to the band's complicated dynamic, Carl is her long lost uncle. Is this convoluted or what?

Full interview below the fold.

Kathryn, whose main band is Immaculate Machine, has no trouble holding her own onstage. While TNP's first three albums were wall-to-wall blast of sunny power-pop puncuated by the occasional low-key number, their newest album "Challengers" is their most mournful. The band's last show at 9:30 featured a good mix of all their albums (and fucking rocked) so those of you that heeded my warning should get your glasses blown off tonight.

The New Gay Zack: So your tour manager told me you're calling from a different number than usual because you have a Canadian phone and can't buy minutes in the states. Are there any other unseen complications that come with touring in America?

Kathryn Calder: It’s just really the phone thing. And there’s always the border. I haven’t had any horror stories but I’ve had a few “spending a long time at the border while they ask you for the eighteenth time if you have any drugs.” And you go, ‘no, I’m not dumb.’ No real horror stories, but some annoying stories certainly.

TNG: Sweden is getting a lot of attention for its imports, but it seems like the Canadian music scene is really getting big here too. Why now?

KC: The nice thing about Canada is that you get money from the government if you’re a Canadian musician. Some bands get money to go places, it makes it a lot more possible. If you’re a small indie band and you wanna play a festival in Europe they give you showcase money. It makes it easier to do that.

TNG: I’ve noticed that your videos have been made with the grants like that.

KC: They’re supportive, it’s nice. It just makes it that much easier, I’m not sure that the band would’ve decided to make videos if we had to make for them by ourselves. We’re not really sure what good they do other than being fun to make. I’d rather put the money into something cool like flying to Japan, but we’re getting money to make videos. People like them.

TNG: How much is The New Pornographers a collaboration between its members versus Carl directing all the operations?

KC: This is how last record worked: Everyone was scattered all over North America, so we had the harp player sending us stuff from St. Louis. Kurt [Dahle] did drums in Vancouver. Neko was sending in stuff from Tucson, then she flew to New York, then all the guys from Vancouver flew in separately. It was a coordination nightmare but I think it worked out.

TNG: With that many people in a band, how can you possibly create one unified album?

KC: I think the real key is that Carl is really the mastermind so it all ends up sounding like Carl. If we’d been a band that really had to practice together and collaborate together it wouldn’t have worked so well. Having no rehearsal time and people living everywhere it would’ve been a mess, but sounding like Carl it’s cool. And Dan. It sounds like Carl and Dan.

TNG: How much is Dan involved?

KC: He comes on tour occasionally, but it’s hard to get him on tour. he doesn’t really like touring. We have to drag him on tour, saying “OK this is a big one,” or if he’s playing at the same festival we can get him onstage to play a song. It’s special when Dan’s on tour. I love him and love when he’s on tour, but he doesn’t like to do that. He does his own thing and that’s cool, we love him anyway. [Editor’s note: This paragraph wins a prize for most uses of the word “tour” in TNG history.]

TNG: Is he as difficult a person as he appears to be? When I saw you back in October, he only came onstage for his own songs.

KC: Oh my god no, he’s the greatest, he’s just shy. His stage persona is absolutely nothing like his personality offstage as far as I’m concerned. I left his computer behind in Tucson one night,one of those expensive new macs. He said ‘it will be found, don’t worry about it.” Sure enough, one of the other band members was staying in town overnight so in morning he stopped by the venue and grabbed it. It was just sitting on stage. Dan was fine with it, as a band we couldn’t have picked a better person to have left his computer behind.

TNG: A lot of people think that Neko Case has one of the best voices in music right now. Is it daunting to sing her parts when she’s not around?

KC: Yeah, I always feel like I have something to prove at the beginning of the night when I come and everyone’s like “There’s no Neko.” It’s a weird thing, you think it will be this big massive deal but a lot of people can’t tell the difference. A lot of people don’t know what Neko looks like and in a live situation you can’t always tell what peoples voices sound like, so a lot of people think that I am Neko. Not so much anymore, but it happens from time to time and I think it’s really funny.

TNG: Did you know what you were getting into?

KC: I said yes without really thinking about what it would really mean. I said ‘Yes, that sounds fun, I love this band and would love the opportunity to sing” without really realizing that of course everyone will miss Neko and ‘Hey, who is this chick coming in thinking she she can sing?” I had never seen this band live before I joined, so I had no idea what what Neko did. I just had to listen to songs on the record and interpret them how I wanted to, that make it easier too. I’m not trying to copy her, I’m just singing. That’s what I do.

TNG: Do you ever get audiences that really just wish Neko was there?

KC: I think people are understanding. The situation is such that Neko is just really busy. She would love to play all the shows with the band if she could, its just impossible to have two successful careers. I hope people understand too that I’m there not because I’m trying to take over, but because the band would like to play live and it’s impossible to schedule eight people to play live every single show.

TNG: On Challengers you sing lead on “Failsafe” and “Adventures in Solitude.” Will you be doing that more often in later records?

KC: I don’t know what the plan is for that, I take what I can get and I’m happy for it. I sing a lot more in the new record than in Twin Cinema and it think they’re a lot more obvious parts. Although I can’t tell which is Neko and which me when we got it recorded.

TNG: Is Carl actually your uncle?

KC: The story is complicated, but he’s my long lost uncle. My mom [who was adopted] applied to find her birth mom , and then Carl’s mom -- my mom’s birth mom -- [also applied to have the adoption records unsealed.] They found me when I was in my mid-teens. There’s this whole family, six of them, uncles and aunts. We spend Christmas together now, it’s like a hallmark commercial.

TNG: Is it weird being in a band with your uncle?

KC: It would be weirder to be in a band with an uncle that I’ve known all my life than with one that I have a different relationship with than a regular niece and uncle. I just know him as Carl. I call him "Uncle Carl" sometimes as a joke.

TNG: How is it being one of only two woman touring with an all male band?

KC: These guys are all cool. I’ve never been on tour with anything other than just guys, I’ve never been in a band with a lot of girls or anything, so I wouldn’t know the difference. We got Neko, when I’m with her it’s good, there’s no problems. Being on tour is being on tour.

TNG: Doing the same songs night after night, how do you keep it fresh? Is being onstage actually as much fun as it looks?

KC: On this particular tour we’re playing with Okkervil River, they have a really energetic live show. I go out and watch them and get all revved up. I feel like I have to be a little more energetic on stage because of them, we have to at least match them. To have a band you really like play before helps to get you into the show. And my new drink is whiskey ginger, that helps.

TNG: I interviewed Carl right before you. He said that on a recent, show, for the first time, everyone was sober at the end of the night. Is it really the end of the New Pornographers’ partying days?

KC: I think you go on tour enough and the drinking booze every night really stops being a huge priority. It starts to wear you down, you start hating waking up in the morning hung over and feeling gross. It takes you the whole day to feel normal and then you go and do it again. And four weeks in a row, that’s really hard living. There’s a point when that stops being fun every night. Most people would go out on weekends and do that, but if you do that every day isn’t it basically alcoholism? But socially acceptable alcoholism because everyone loves seeing drunk people onstage. I like drinking before a show, but only sometimes. I don’t like dying, I don’t want my liver to go out on me on tour.TNG

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Hot Chip's Felix Martin: The New Gay Interview

One of these men is a British rock star. The other is an overenthusiastic blogger. Can you guess which is which?

To say that Hot Chip is a breath of fresh air would be an understatement. Considering how some bands don't know the difference between a live DJ set and an actual performance, the London 5-piece's show at the 9:30 Club this past Friday was a veritable gale force wind. Ben will be posting a more extensive review of the show in a couple hours, but in the meantime you can enjoy my first ever TNG in-person interview with Hot Chip's drum machinist, Felix Martin.

The band's most visible members are its singers, the falsettoed Alexis Taylor and baritone sideman Joe Goddard. All 5 members contribute to the songwriting process and play at least one instrument onstage, which is what makes their show so dynamic. Though their biggest hit is the repetitive "Over and Over," that song's goofy bombast is only half of Hot Chip's story. Songs like "And I Was A Boy From School" and "Colours" put beats over genuine and touching sentiment. The former song's chorus of "We tried, but we didn't belong" has undoubtedly contributed to the band's sizeable gay fan base.

Full interview below the fold.

Hot Chip's breakout album was 2006' "The Warning," but this year's "Made in the Dark" splits the band's poles even further apart. Songs that could inspire a riot sit side-by-side with low key piano ballads, and somehow it works. Live, the whole combination is potent enough to give your grandmother goosebumps. They're coming back in September. This time, buy your tickets early.

The New Gay Zack: How long have you been with Hot Chip?

Felix Martin: I’ve known Alexis for long time but have been playing regularly with the band for approximately five years.

TNG: How much of a hand do you have in the songwriting process?

FM: It differs a lot from song to song, sometime it is a very collaborative effort. We’ve become an increasingly collaborative band. Alexis is the main songwriter, and Joe as well. Alexis doesn’t really sing lyrics that other people sing, he only sings his own words. He’s really uncomfortable singing stuff that other people have written, so he’s the primary songwriter because he’s the primary singer. That’s how it works.

TNG: Its funny to me that the same person could write “Bendable Poseable” and “In The Privacy of Our Love.” The new record is split so much between big dance songs and ballads that it's like one person wrote half the songs and someone else wrote the other.

FM: There’s a bit of dichotomy with Joe and Alexis. I think most creative partnerships that work well are based on some kind of dynamism or tension rather than just two people who see completely eye to eye. For us its always worked by people thinking quite different things about music and what should be on the record, that's why you end up with extreme differences in the kind of songs on the album. There’s also no rule book that says everything on the album has to sound one way, it's quite boring if you always have to adhere to that. In terms of music we’ve always been all over the place, we’re just being true to the kind of music we make.

TNG: Hot Chip get called jokesters or prankster a lot. Do you try to keep to keep your songs so mixed up or humorous?

FM: Not with a conscious effort. I’ve always thought of humor as being an integral part to a lot of artwork that I like, whether it’s a Werner Herzog film that is very intellectual or artistic in its outward appearance or it’s something like a Leonard Cohen song. Some people consider them to be very miserable or depressing, but when I listen to his albums I find a lot of humor and just very funny kind of moments.

TNG: Like when he gets a blowjob from Janis Joplin?

FM: Right, yeah.

TNG: There’s nothing serious about that.

FM: What I’m trying to say is we’ve never seen the need to separate humor from what we do and to be poker faced or serious. I think it’s boring, and why would you do that?

TNG: More so than most dance music, you have actual emotion in your songs. Something like “And I Was a Boy from School,” seems to come from someone’s painful, real-life experience. How much of Alexis’ actual background goes into a song like that?

FM: He wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s quite an emotional person and he’s able to access that side of his character when he’s song writing. He gets very upset if he thinks that there’s this perception that there’s something kind of ironic in our music, but for him its something that he’s very genuine in.

TNG: I think its because of songs like “And I Was A Boy From School” that you have a really big gay audience here...

FM: Yeah? I don’t know if we do in the UK.

TNG: You do here at least, gay music can be so shitty here. Are any of your members gay?

FM: No, but people are always rumoring that one of us is. Sorry to disappoint.

TNG: I figured, but “Boy from School” is so much about being different, and the “You’re my number one guy” refrain in “Ready for the Floor” could give off that impression too.

FM: There’s definitely issues with gender in “Boy from School,” there’s something to do with sexuality in the song. It’s not someone coming out and saying “I’m gay,” it’s more blurring the kind of boundaries in pop songs between girls and boys. It’s the same in “Ready for the Floor.” Initially when he sang the line “I’m your number one guy,” which is just a reference to the original Michael Keaton “Batman” movie, he tried to say a word that was somewhere between girl and guy at the same time. So it was a kind of weird little sound, but in the end it just came out like guy. And everyone was like ‘Ooh, is he gay, is he coming out?” and its just like, ‘No , he’s been married for two years.”

TNG: Hot Chip really gives off the impression that you’re a group of outsiders that came together to write music, but now you have gotten really popular. Do you lose something when that happens, either of your song writing process or something special that you had before you got big?

FM:We’ve worked really hard to get where we are, it's taken a number of years achieve the kind of moderate success we have now, we’re not by any means a massive band like The Kooks that sell millions of records. We don’t have that kind of pressure on us, but also our intentions have always been to be a pop band and to have music that that’s successful on the charts, so it doesn’t feel weird to us. It’s amazing we’ve managed to get here, but it’s what we’ve always been aiming at. We didn’t come together as a group of experimental musicians who weren’t interested in pop music.

TNG: You have a really electronic record, but also a reputation for really great live shows. What’s the process of translating your CD into a live show? How do you decide what goes in and what stays?

FM: We try to be faithful to a lot of tracks on the album, to stick to the original idea. In the past we’ve done different interpretations of things but we tried to lock it down a lot more for this album. Other than that, there’s alot of bass, a lot of guitar, a lot of playing of instruments. We don’t have a drummer, that’s one thing we miss from normal rock band setup, but it gives us a slightly different sound from someone like LCD Soundsystem. They have a more disco sound.

TNG: Where is the band headed now? Are you going to keep splitting off into R&B or are you going to integrate your songs again?

FM: I think I have an idea of how the next one will sound, it will be more gentle. It won’t really have the rock-y edge and may be more electronic sounding. That’s how I’d like it to be.

TNG: Are people ready for a gentle Hot Chip?

FM: They’ll take what we give them! They might not take it, they might not buy our CDs. But we want to have a career that goes on longer than the next twelve months, we never wanted to be a band that’s known for doing one song and that’s it. If our next album goes off in one direction it’s not to say we won’t be doing something different again in the next twelve years. We’re always trying to change and be challenging, for ourselves and other people.

TNG: You mentioned only being known for one song. When you get a song as big as “Over and Over,” is it hard to overcome it? Do you feel the pressure to write a song like that again?

FM: It’s not hard to overcome. If you’re always writing new material like we are there’s always new songs and hooks and ideas that are really exciting to us, so its not an issue for us. Maybe it’s more difficult for other people, if they get obsessed with one track they find it hard to move on to the next one. There’s other songs like “Playboy” or “Down with Prince:” when we first started out we were playing to fifty or a hundred people in London, those were the song that everyone wanted to hear, they were the “Over and Overs” of their time. They have obviously fallen by the wayside, thats just how it works when you’re a band that has a career longer than a couple of years. I think “Ready for the Floor” has eclipsed “Over and Over,” so maybe the next one will be bigger still.TNG

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Kimya Dawson: The New Gay Interview

Hair that moves mountains, songs that move hearts.

Kimya Dawson plays Thursday, April 3, at The Black Cat.

While the term "folk music" can rightfully strike fear into those who only remember it from Sunday School and campfire sing-alongs, the genre goes far beyond "Blowin' in the Wind." Washington State musician Kimya Dawson makes folk that is actually fun. Her talky, humorous songs feature a little voice (that contrasts with her big-ass hair) and a conversational style that draws you into the worlds she creates of tattooed asses, anti-consumerism and low-key Bush bashing.

Kimya got her start as one half of The Moldy Peaches (alongside Adam Green.) Though she is currently best known for her many contributions to the Juno Soundtrack, those songs actually came from her 2006 album Remember That I Love You. A true family act, Kimya will be at the Black Cat with her 20 month-old baby and opening act/husband, Angelo Spencer.

Full interview beneath the fold.


The New Gay Zack: I always hear your music categorized as “anti-folk.” What separates anti-folk from traditional folk music?

Kimya Dawson: Nothing, really. Anti-folk is just a community in New York who were hanging out and playing music. Some of those people were folk and some not, but its really just a name for the scene, not as much for the type of music. I think it would be more than traditional folk. I use the word “cock” a lot and I make quite a bit of pop culture references.

TNG: In addition to the pop culture references, your songs have a lot of political references (and anti-Bush comments) and seem generally to be pretty smart. Is it hard to write a good, fun song that also might make people think?

KD: My songs are always an explanation of my thoughts on things, so it’s not hard because its never intentional, it's never reactionary. I’m not scared to say what I'm thinking.

TNG: Has this made you any enemies? Do you have trouble playing in the red states?

KD: I’ve definitely gotten heckled by some very conservation folks before, but I feel like I’ve earned more friends than enemies. I think even people that don’t feel the same way as me can appreciate that I’m saying what I think.

TNG: You're probably one of the only musicians out there right now touring with your husband and your baby daughter. How has motherhood changed you career?

KD: It makes it a little more tiring, trying to keep her happy and get everything done at the same time.

TNG: Can you do it?

KD: Yeah, yeah, but it’s challenging sometimes.It’s challenging when we make demands like ‘we need a smoke free show’ and ‘we need a clean comfortable backstage to be with her’ and we get to the venue and its a complete dungeon dressing room or the staff of the club is smoking pot in our backstage when we walk in. It’s like the hotbox is not what I consider baby-friendly.

TNG: Do you travel with a babysitter?

KD: My husband is with me, he plays music to, we take turns. When he plays I’m with her, when I play he’s with her.

TNG: Is it weird touring with your husband?

KD: I don’t know, I feel like its just what we all do. When we’re home, even the baby is like, ‘Fuck this!’ She gets really restless. Well she doesn’t say "fuck this," she doesn’t talk, but we can sense her getting antsy when we’re home for a couple of days. I feel like we’re all pretty comfortable when we’re on the go.

TNG: What are your biggest musical influences?

Life experience inspires a lot. I like lots of different kinds of music, I just think music is honest and lyrical. A lot of older folk stuff is like that. A lot of older hip-hop stuff is like that, as far as the lyricalness, having songs that are just full of worlds. I think about my brothers and I memorizing The Beastie Boys’ "Paul Revere" when we were little. That feeling of singing that many words, and memorizing that many words all in a row without a chorus felt so good, to let the words roll out like that.

TNG: What is the difference between making music as part of The Moldy Peaches and writing solo?

KD: The Peaches was really a fifty/fifty collaboration with me and Adam, When it was happening a lot of the time it was really beautiful, the way we could put our heads together and get on the same wavelength. But at the same time it feels really good to just let my own thoughts go without that boundary of having to share the space within the song with another person. I love collaborating, but I don’t always have things I’m thinking of in that way, where I can combine them with what someone else was thinking. I hear a lot of stuff with my own songs, vocal harmonies, or little kid instruments. I like being able to just be totally loose with it and add whatever feels right, try a bunch of stuff. That’s pretty much what Adam and I did too, we became one person when we were working on stuff.

TNG: He just had a new album come out. Have there ever been any competition between the two of you?

KD: There never has been.

TNG: How has the Juno soundtrack changed your career, or has it?

KD: I think I play some bigger shows, other than that I’m pretty much doing things the same. I got a phone call from Sesame Street, I might try to do some work with them, I’ll meet with them in New York. It’s something I always imagined I would do since I was a little kid, i always figured some day I’m going to be on Sesame Street. I’ve bee pretty happy with how I’ve done things for a long time, I figured out a few years ago how l like to tour, and the types of shows I like to play, now that more people are into my stuff I’m relearning how to play shows that the amount of people that want to come can come, but it’s not in a totally douchebaggy place. A lot of the bigger places are rock clubs and bars. I’m not really into that scene. Traveling with a baby, I’d rather play in cool community spaces like old abandoned churches and peoples back yards.

TNG: Do you have a lot of new fans that just know you from Juno?

KD: Yeah, there’s definitely a bunch of people that are just hearing about me now, which is fine with me. The one thing that’s weird sometimes is people that just come because of that and they don’t care about hearing the music, they just wanna chat with buddies. I’m really used to, for years, having the type of people that care about my music and know me and know the type of person I am and have read my online diaries and know that I’m an accessible, friendly person. There’s suddenly a bunch of teenagers that get psycho on me, which makes me uncomfortable. It’s like “I’m glad you like me but relax.” I’m not at ease with being treated like a celebrity by the kids. I’ve never had that sort of thing with my audience: it’s a little awkward. I don’t are how people heard of my stuff, I just want them to hear my stuff.

TNG: Have you heard anybody complaining of the fact that it seems like all of Juno contains wall-to-wall indie music in the background?

KD: It’s funny, I consider my music just folk, I write folk songs. I’m on an independent label, but I don’t think I really play music like The Shins. People compare it to the Garden State soundtrack, it’s like “Do I sound like that?” I think it’s just a weird connection people make to music that they’ve already heard of, but I don’t think its the same. But I don’t care: whenever something does relatively well there’s gonna be a bunch of people pooping on it. All my songs on that soundtrack I wrote for me, and for the kids, and now they’re in a movie and maybe some new people will like it. And maybe people will think it’s crap, but the songs have been around for such a long time that I can't be bothered by the people that aren’t into it. I’ll just keep doing what I’ve always done. tng

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The Raveonettes' Sharin Foo: The New Gay Interview