Hello Stella, how are things?
Hi Mark! I’m fine thanks. Just editing some video footage I shot during my last trip to the dentist. I’m phobic, you see, of dentists, and so I thought if I was filming while I was getting a crown, I would be distracted. It distracted me, and now I see how absolutely ridiculous my dentist must think I am.
I guess let's start with how you came to be the vocalist for Dirty Little Rabbits? I believe the last thing I heard from you was the Whorse album (which was awesome by the way).
About 200 years ago, I was known to most of the Midwest as 'Sister Soleil'. I had a huge fan base in Chicago, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Iowa. I toured quite a bit through the Midwest and became very close with Slipknot. It was early in both our careers and we helped each other out quite a bit. Shawn Crahan remembered these early years, and a couple years ago, he tracked me down in Los Angeles. I hadn’t seen him in 10 years, and I couldn’t remember what he looked like. When I met up with him, I was relieved because this was the guy, I really really liked. This was the guy that slept on my living room floor and broke my MTV award. He played me some of his new music. It was totally weird and out there. I didn’t even realize that I was on an audition. He gave me some of his songs, and asked if I could maybe write something to one of the instrumental tracks. I chose the most melodic and most beautiful one, which actually, will be on our full length, called 'if'. I recorded it in his hotel bathroom with a pro tools set up. I can’t remember how it went on from there; all I know is that three weeks later, I was living in Des Moines.
Since your most recent projects are more alternative-rock oriented is it safe to say that you feel this style of music is more your forte? If so, why do you gravitate towards it as opposed to the pop and electronic-tinged sounds of your other works?
My fortes ping pong back and forth. I started out as an electronica artist, basically because I was surrounded by a bunch of guys in Ministry who wrote music on computers. I had a voice, and they had the gadgets. It started out as more of an art experiment, really. But then, I started getting a lot of requests to sing backup vocals on Goth/industrial records (at that time, it was a similar experience to writing for hip hop artists. There were a lot of beats, and no melody. I would get a call to show up and just sing. I’d write the hook.) It was early on that I started to realize that I was growing as a pop writer (even though I dreaded the word 'pop'). Pop hooks came easy to me. It was a cool combination, taking industrial beats and coupling it with pop hooks. After I went through the whole incredible journey of being an indie artist from Chicago, making songs to machines and playing raves, to signing a big record deal, and making music for the masses. It got scary. All of a sudden, I was way out of my league and I got lost. I didn’t have any confidence and I spiraled. I felt like I morphed into a kind of Stepford wife, to the pop world. I wasn’t there. I was trying, but I wasn’t there. I was listening to everyone around me, and you know, I got kicked around. At the end of the day, I should have stuck with my beats and gadgets. I was onto something unique and new before I derailed. I got dropped and I sort of lumbered around for a while, confused. Then I got pissed. That’s when I started a rock band. I didn’t do it because I wanted to try rock on for size. I did it, because, I was so angry, there was no place in pop that could hold that much piss and vinegar.
What about Dirty Little Rabbits drew you in and made you say "That's something I want to be a part of."?
The music. Dirty little rabbits is all about the music.
What do you feel you bring to the mix that makes this band something worth talking about?
I’m the bridge. I don’t know how else to describe it. I have a talent for connecting everyone together.
Your EP Simon was just released. I'm curious as to what you feel the goal of the EP is. Is it a simple introduction to potential fans or maybe something more than that?
I have always been a fan of bands that put EP's out before full lengths. Nirvana, Tori Amos, etc. Its self respect. This band is a career band. We put out an EP. We tour, we put out a full length, we tour, we work minimum wage jobs, we tour, we put out videos, we tour. It’s going to be a long steady haul and we know that. We are cool with that, because we believe in what we are doing.
Simon has an eclectic sound, drawing from a variety of influences. Is there a main songwriter in the band or do you write collectively?
We all write. It’s different every time. Usually someone has a nugget of an idea, and it develops further and more times than not, into something completely different. We are our own favorite muses.
What kinds of things are inspiring you at this point in your career? Is it important to you that the band draw their inspirations from similar places?
The only thing, I think this band is 100 percent in agreement about, is that this music is about being HUMAN. Period. Since I have joined the rabbits, I have heard the phrase "soundtrack to life' over and over again in our rehearsal room.
As Shawn Crahan is in the band and since he is best known as a member of Slipknot, are there any concerns that he his sort of "celebrity status" may overshadow what the band has to offer music lovers?
I think that if there were real concerns of Shawn’s celebrity status as a negative thing, I’d have to say, it was being overthunk. It’s always about the music. Its either good or not so good. If it’s good, it'll stick.
"Hello" is my favorite track on Simon. Could you tell our readers a little about that song and how it came to be? I love how it's hopeful sound sort of contrast many of the darker elements found on the EP.
See now, there is where the full length will round the sound out. The EP is a glimpse, but 'Hello' is the constant. 'Hello' is a career song. We will be remembering that for the rest of our lives. It literally is about the rabbits coming together. 'Hello' is a smash. I know that. It’s weird that we wrote it so early on in our career. I’m hoping we'll try to keep that in mind, that simplicity of writing 'Hello'. It was effortless. I hope we don’t complicate our music trying to outdo that song.
Do you have a particular favorite track on Simon? If so, which one and what draws you to it more than the others?
Hands down, always, 'Hello'. It’s undeniable.
What can we expect from Dirty Little Rabbits in the coming months?
We are finishing the full length. We are taking our time, making sure it’s right. We will be touring some, but mostly focusing on the album. We are doing a lot of internet activities...like shooting movies at the dentist's office.
Thanks so much for your time. Do you have any parting thoughts you'd like to leave our readers with?
Parting words? It’s a hell of a fight....as all great t |
