When did you first start singing?
Oh man. It’s hard to answer. I Pretty much always have been singing since I was a kid, just around the house and stuff for fun and recording myself on a little tape player and listening to it back, but probably seriously singing for like the past 5 or 6 years. When i played in a band called Me Con in Portland, which was when I really started singing, and the first time I recorded my voice seriously and had to listen back to it and stuff. But I only have really started experimenting with my voice and stuff and thinking of myself as a singer since I have been doing US GIRLS...so like 2007.
Tell us about the first shows. What kind of reaction could you gauge from the audience?
People mostly just didn’t say anything, there was like no reaction. People would watch and then I would be done and people would kind of clap but they weren’t sure what to do. There would be a few people who would come up and say they really like it, maybe it was people from the bands I was playing with so they liked it, but for the most part I think people could see that I was just starting out trying to do something. I don’t think people really liked it at first, and I didn’t really like it at first. My live set wasn’t really what I wanted to be doing, it was just what I could do at that moment, so it was kind of... most of my first shows were kind of practices really that people unfortunately had to witness.
You started playing live before you were even comfortable with what you were playing?
Yeah. I just decided to do it as a way to get comfortable because I had to do it at some point if I wanted to tour and play music publically, which I wanted to do, I just didn’t want to put out records, I wanted to do something live and to perform for people in that setting. It was like ripping a band aid off – I just had to do it.
That’s interesting because I told you before that I think your songs have a fearless, almost underdog spirit. Do you think that courageousness comes from those early shows?
Maybe. I think I definitely have gotten to where I am now because I just started and didn’t really think about it, I just did it. But I think I have kind of always been the person that I am, and when it comes to being creative and performing, though I maybe have gotten nervous and just didn’t let anyone know it and kind of just did whatever I was doing even if it was terrible, I would always act like it was the best thing I’ve ever done. If you let on that you are having a hard time or don’t like what you are doing its very easy for an audience to pick up on that so I have always just kind of not cared about what reaction I got or what people say. I kind of always did it for myself.
Were you like that growing up?
Yeah. When I would be in a school play or something like that I would always be so energized by it and excited. Even if I screwed up or messed up my line or something it didn’t matter to me. I liked being in front of people and the moment I was in front of them I was in control of the environment that was going on. I like that, I like controlling people’s lives for a few moments.
How do you describe your music when talking with friends or family?
With my family I tell them that I just play pop music and usually they just leave it at that. But with friends, they, you know, they listen to similar music th
at I do or have a wider range of experiences when it comes to music and live music so they know what’s going on. But really, when anyone asks me what kind of music that I play, I just say pop music because it’s a really easy answer and then people don’t ask anything else... it’s an easy out so I don’t really have to talk...everyone knows pop music so you just say that and it’s the end of the conversation.There may be more questions if they listen to your record.
Yeah, and sometimes there are more questions. People will ask “Who else is in my band?” and when I say no one else is in the band they’ll ask “How are you just the band?” and I have to be like “well I do this thing...”, You know? Family people and the average Joes don’t really get it...they’re confused.
There’s definitely a loner outlook with U.S. GIRLS and the fact that it’s all you kind of adds to that, but do you consider yourself a social person?
I’m a social person but I also don’t seek out social situations. I’m not the kind of person that needs a lot of people around, I don’t need a lot of excitement and talking and communicating and partying and stuff. If I’m in that situation and I’m around friends or I’m around new people that want to talk to me I’m excited and I like talking to people because I like people, but I’m definitely not one to go out. When it comes to living in Philly and my life here, I don’t really go to shows, I don’t go to bars, I don’t go to parties, and if I do I find myself leaving after I’ve been there for an hour, but not because I don’t like people, it’s just I feel much more comfortable at home.
Go Grey has been out for a few months now. How do you feel the response has been?
I mean, I sold a lot of records when I was on tour and I have heard from friends and people who bought them that they really enjoy the record and they listen to it often and that’s great, but I haven’t, in terms of the press, I haven’t read many reviews or things like that, I try not to read those things, so I don’t know what the professional response to it has been, but the personal response that I have heard from people on a one-on- one thing has been really positive and I personally feel positive about the record. I think it was the best record I could make at the time when I was recording it, so I don’t have any regrets, and there’s nothing I wish I would have done differently. I did the best I could do which is really all I could ask, and I got out everything that I needed to get out at that time.
I guess everyone has different reasons for not wanting to read reviews. What are yours?
Well, it’s probably just that I don’t have a computer so I don’t have time to sit and research stuff, but also, I don’t know, I have known a few people in my life, musicians, who have gotten too wrapped up in reviews and what journalists say about things and I just don’t want to give myself the opportunity to get bummed out on some person having a bad opinion of my work. I rather just hear from someone personally what they think about it instead of what some person on the internet has decided to write. I always much prefer a conversation. I don’t think journalism is bad or evil or anything, but it enables people to either feel really bad about themselves or feel like too good and become egotistical.
I don’t think people even read reviews anymore, they just peek the grade or the score and go by that.
Yeah. Some people really buy their records based on what they read, which is fine, people have a system of buying things based on rating systems or something, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a review or something and decided to go buy it. I’ve just never done that.
Word of mouth is always the best way to find out about something.
Yeah, yeah, having a friend saying “You’ll like this, you should get it” or me already liking the band and I know they have a new record coming out so I just get it. I don’t care about the hoopla or the patting on the back. It’s weird too because it would be different if all these reviews were actually printed and they were in magazines or newspapers, I feel like I would take them more seriously and feel like they were more concrete, but with the internet I feel like it’s so mean spirited, it’s not even real, it’s not reality.
Songs on Go Grey that stick with you after listening. When you said you wanted to write more complex pop songs was it because you wanted to write songs people could remember? These are songs I can sing in the shower.
I don’t know, yeah, that’s the kind of music I like to listen to, pop music that’s got the hook that sticks with you, especially vocally, that’s the kind of stuff I connect with, the good vocal line, whether it’s the actual lyrics or the delivery that gets me, and I think that’s kind of what I was going for, trying to make this strange music that I know how to make but trying to make it accessible and, you know, like a commercial that sticks in your head. You know, there’s nothing better that i could ask for than someone singing one of my songs when they aren’t even listening to it, that’s great because it becomes their song because they’re singing it.
And when people wake up in the morning and start humming your song in bed.
Yeah, that’s great. I like that. I hope people are doing that. That would make me beyond happy and would make me feel like I succeeded.
Well, I think people are doing it. Now you didn’t plan on releasing your first album on vinyl but eventually there was a demand for it. Knowing Go Grey would see a vinyl release, was there anything during the recording process you did differently?
I think I just put a little bit more work into it, I had more time, I knew that people would possibly be spending money on it if they were buying it, and I knew someone was going to be putting money out to actually put it out so I wanted it to be complete and to be the exact vision that I had in mind instead of like the first album, which was really an experiment, and it was what it was, and I wasn’t able to edit it in any way and it was just put on vinyl the way it was. This time, I had the opportunity to have a little more control over what was being put out. I think I just thought about things more.
Are you still playing any material from ‘Introducing’ live?
Sometimes. I only play two songs from that album, I play the Springsteen cover (‘Prove It All Night’) and ‘Don’t Understand That Man’ but I haven’t done the Springsteen cover in about a year and ‘Don’t Understand That Man’ I do sometime s just because I like to sing it, so it just depends on the night.
At this point, are you tired talking about Springsteen?
No, I’m never tired talking about him! (Laughs) He is like my...you know... something that feels religious to me ...it’s why living in Philly is so great because there are so many fanatics here. Like, I actually got to see him in Philly in October which was the best. I had seen him in Chicago and Portland which was amazing but seeing him near where he is from and near where, you know, all his songs are written about this area, and seeing him with people who have seen him for 30 years, people who have been following him and love him and people whose lives are really affected by him and kept them going and giving them something in life, it was really special, and I finally feel like I have found my “Bruce Community”. Like, I’ve always felt for years I was just talking about Springsteen to people and it annoyed them, but now I have met people here who no matter how many times I bring him up or they bring him up we are still equally as excited about it. He has that kind of quality, it’s really incredible to still have that power, he’s like 60 years old, you know? When I saw him play just recently he played for like almost 4 hours and it was high energy and he only had one tiny break but he didn’t even leave the stage, he just went to the side of the stage and dunked his head in a huge bucket of water, like, that was his break. He just fucking gave it, and the tickets we got were $30 bucks and he played for 4 hours. If you go see the Stones your tickets are like $300 and they play for an hour and they suck. Our Seats were amazing, right behind the stage, his stage is completely opened up, we had the best seats because we could see what every musician was doing in the band, like, we were behind and above Max Weinberg, which was amazing seeing him drum because he’s such a powerhouse. Also being behind the stage you get to see the whole audience, like 30,000 people looking at you, you get to see them freaking out and just going crazy, it was the best perspective. It was amazing, and I didn’t even know I was going until the day of the show. The night before the show we had a friend at the house that was going and he was talking about how he was going to see Springsteen the next day and I was so bummed out that I didn’t get tickets. The next day I went to visit my boyfriend at work around 2pm and he was like “what do you want to do tonight?” And I just said, I don’t know, probably make dinner, watch a movie and go to bed or something, and he was like “Do you want to go see Springsteen? And I was like whaaaat? And that day they had opened a whole block of seats that were behind the stage and he got two tickets, it was the best, it was so much better than knowing for weeks that I was going to see him, it was just this thing, like, yeah, I’m going to go see Springsteen tonight. It was amazing.
I read once that you tried to get your album to him. Did that work out?
(Laughs) Yeah, well, I don’t know if he got it but I went to the studio where he was recording and he wasn’t there. It was before my record was out on vinyl, it was just a CDR, I left one for him but I don’t know if he got it. I like to imagine he got it and he listens to it all the time.
What does it mean to be a part of the Siltbreeze roster?
I just feel lucky to get to work with Tom and be a part of his collection of records that he puts out. I think he has a great vision and I think he has great taste and I feel privileged that he likes my music enough to want to pay to put it out, I feel privileged that he even wants to listen to it. It’s special. And he cooks great meals for me too.
What band from the Siltbreeze roster is/was your favourite?
I’ve always really liked Harry Pussy, and when I was in college I got into the Dead C, and now my favourite stuff is, I don’t know the most current thing, but I like Psychedelic Horseshit and I really like the last Eat Skull record and i really like The Mantles record.
When you were touring last year and considering different cities to call home, before you decided on Philly, was a Canadian city ever a legitimate option for you?
Yeah, I mean, I really liked Toronto and I really liked Montreal a lot, I definitely considered them but the opportunities for places to live and work weren’t just there, but I would love to live in Canada some day. I think Toronto is an amazing city, its super diverse and they have amazing food and seems like there’s a good music scene, and I really like Montreal too because people seem to be doing amazing things there and it’s so beautiful there...it just wasn’t right for me at the time.
You sing over tapes at your live show. What happens when you’re touring and your tapes get lost or fucked up?
They have never gotten lost but on my first show on my first European tour when I used to play with reel to reels I went to plug it in and it was broken but I dodged a bullet because I was able to get another one the next day. Dealing with the reel to reel was a lot riskier because it’s like a dinosaur really, you can’t just get another one, it’s temperamental, and if something breaks you can’t just get a part for it. But it was something that I kind of enjoyed dealing with, the risk. I felt like, although no one could understand it, it was part of the performance for me, dealing with this old equipment that I had a personal relationship with. I was almost praying to the reel to reel machine every night to work, you know? Like, please work. That was the only thing I could do was pray to it and like worship it to get it to work because I didn’t know how to fix it or what to do. Now that I use cassettes it’s easier because you can get a cassette player pretty much anywhere even though prices have gone up and they don’t make as many as they used to, but I have a lot of tapes with songs and just found sounds and drum beats and things so even if a bunch of my tapes got fucked up I could make something out of it. I haven’t had too bad of a problem yet but hopefully I’m not cursing myself right now by saying that.
Tell me a little about the transition from being hunched over equipment on the floor to having things laid up on a table in front of you.
You know, standing up was something that I wanted to do for a long time but I would think about it and when it was time to play I would just set up on the ground because it was easier than trying to find a table, and it was also just a little bit easier because I felt more isolated to kind of hunch over and be in my own little bubble and I didn’t really have to look at anybody and it was still a really personal thing still. Then one day I played a show in new York and I set my stuff up on the ground but I just stood up, and I stood up for the whole set, and it felt fine even though my knees were shacking and I actually had to look people in the eye, but it’s been a lot better now that I’m standing up, I feel like I take more time to set up my equipment and I sing better now that I’m standing and my whole body is in a straight line instead of a curved, hunched ball on the ground. So it’s been a good thing for me and I feel like I have more of a performance now even though I still really don’t have any performance, but at least now I’m looking people in the eye which kind of, in a way, allows me to connect with people. I have to face the reactions of people when they are experiencing my music, you know? Some people leave, some people plug their ears, some people are confused and I can tell, some people are really happy and dance and I see all that and it’s nice. I still just kind of play in a continuous line, I don’t ever stop and wait for a reaction, I just play and do my thing because I don’t want to waste anybody’s time and I don’t want to take any time away from a band that’s playing after me, so I still just play in a continuous line but now I have to see what people do during that line.
What does it mean to you to be a part of an all-female compilation like the Estrogeneration record that NNF released?
It feels special. I grew up listening to Riot Grrrl music and worshiping kind of like...I don’t know... feminist culture and things like that. It feels good. It feels like I’m accomplishing something that I wanted to do when I was 14 and listening to Bikini Kill. It feels good to be just represented on vinyl with a bunch of other woman just doing what they’re doing, and everything we’re all doing is different and unique and our personal perspective and I like it. I feel like it’s a record that can’t be critiqued because it’s just really honest and upfront, I almost feel like it’s a zine or something.
I had a chance to listen to a song from your new 7” – Lunar Life- Sounds different than the stuff from Go Grey. What can you tell me about the song?
I’m not playing organ on it at all...a friend of mine is playing on it. One day we just decided to get together and play music and I was doing this weird drum machine beat and my friend just kind of played over it. I recorded it and took it home and I probably did 40 different vocal takes over it, like, I couldn’t get one that I liked. I ended up just doing one and made myself stick with it and then just decided that it was going to be the one that I was going to go with it. It’s a really weird song. I felt like it was at a time when I was feeling really desperate and kind of self-conscious about my voice. I’m happy about how it turned out because I was trying to perfect it for so long and then I just ended up deciding to accept its imperfections and just go with it. I think it’s a good song...it’s just kind of...you know...it just is what it is.
Your voice kind of reaches a new level on that track.
Yeah, I mean, I wanted it to reach a new level, and I think that’s why I re-did the vocals so many times and why I became so self- conscience about it. I re-did it so many times and I was thinking about it so much, whereas I usually just kind of do it and don’t think about it so much, I just kind of let it be and flow naturally, but with this one I was really trying to...I was going for something but I just couldn’t get the effects right and I kind of just gave up and said fuck it. I think the vocals on that song are pretty bare and raw and I think mostly it’s just hard for me to listen to which is why maybe I feel a little weird about it.
You did the artwork for that 7” like you do for all your releases
Yeah, I’m an art student, I graduated from art school, and I always made collages and drawings and thinks like that, I’ve always done the artwork for every band that I’ve been in. I love music art work, you know? I think it’s great to create visuals that go along with the music that you make. That Dirty Beaches 7” that’s coming out is the first record that I’ve done where I haven’t done the artwork, I mean other than comps and things, which is a different story, but I didn’t do the artwork for that but I really like the artwork that was made and I feel good about it, but I’m also definitely a control freak which is why in think I make a lot of the artwork for my records (laughs).
Speaking of, what's the status of the Dirty Beaches split 7inch?
As far as I know, I think it should be on its way. I was sent the master of the songs about a month and a half ago and I approved them and so as far as I know it’s at the press and should be coming out soon, I hope soon because I’m excited about it. I love Dirty Beaches and I’m really excited to hear his stuff on vinyl. I have three songs on my side just because I had some songs that would fit and I wanted to fit as much on there as I could because why not? So I have three songs that I only played live, but maybe they are on the internet, I don’t know. A song called “Today” one I think is called “Excerpt” and the other one is called “My Marie”. They are all songs that no one has heard yet so we will see how it goes.
Since we’re talking about 7 inches, do you have an all –time favourite?
Oh my god, that I own? Oh man, it’s hard because to me there’s a difference between a 7” and a 45, you know? A 7” to me has a certain punk quality or something, like, it’s modern, and I don’t know what would be my favourite modern 7”, I couldn’t say, I don’t really have many, but in terms of old records there’s countless singles that I own that are really important but I couldn’t say that I have a favourite.
Would you say that a 45 is more R&B/Soul ?
Yeah, to me a 45 is a single more so, like pre-85 to me or something, and 7” to me, just in my book, is more modern, i don’t know, i never owned many 7 inches, i own a lot of 45s but i don’t buy many new records.
What was the last new record you bought?
The last new record I bought? Like, a new record that I bought? Like still in plastic? I bought some records recently for my boyfriend as gifts and I listen to them, but the last new record I bought I couldn’t tell you. I got him this comp that’s called The Wolf Den, it’s like a collection of southern blues and gospel recordings from the 50s and 60s, it’s really good and it just came out. Probably the newest records that I bought are like Mississippi Records stuff, I buy those when I see them and when I have money. I love them and I listen to them to death, so that’s probably the newest stuff I bought and they are all old songs. A lot of the newer records that I have are friends’ records or I get them through labels or tom from Siltbreeze will give me the Siltbreeze stuff and I listen to that and I love it, like, I listen to the Eat Skull record and, like, I feel like my copy won’t even play anymore, you know? But I just don’t buy new records because a lot of the time I don’t have the money to spend on them and a lot of the times I go to record stores I am just more drawn to the old records.
I know you listen to a lot of older music, R&B, etc. What have you been listening to lately?
Lately, Wes and I have been going through all of our cassettes. I have a cassette of the Inca Ore/Grouper split and I’ve been listening to that a lot, and The Chickens cassette, and I’ve been listening to Patti Smith a lot, Springsteen of course, and revisiting a lot of Thin Lizzy records, and I’ve been listening to a lot of country music, like a lot of Tammy Wynette, and like some female country singers, but mostly old stuff, nothing fun, you know? (Laughs) Just tapes, like, I have a mix tape that has Royal Trux and Hasil Atkins and Gun Club that I’ve been listening to a lot, but everyone knows that stuff and I guess it isn’t too fun.
So you know, the Chickens 7” was just released.
Yeah, yeah, Chickens are amazing, both of those guys live in Philly and the bass player also plays bass in my boyfriend’s band (Hot Guts). It’s weird because when I first moved to Philly, the first person I played music with was Kyle, who is the main guy in Chickens, and they both play in FNU RONNIES too, and so he and I were messing around with samples with real drums and then playing guitar and bass over them, we wrote about three songs and nothing really came of it, but one of Chickens songs is one of the drumbeats we made, so that’s cool. He’s like one of the only people I’ve played music with in Philly. Mike (Reser) who plays organ on Lunar Life is the bass player in Chickens. I played a lot of music with mike, and I played with Kyle when I first moved here and on the new FNU Ronnies record I sing on one of their songs, so I pretty much just play music with those two guys and play music with Wes at home (laughs). Chickens are amazing, I really like them and they are really wild live.
On the Atelier Ciseaux blog it says “Meghan Remy chose Philadelphia”. The city is so much like you, gritty and tough, that I tend to think that it’s the other way around and that Philadelphia chose you.
It’s really funny because the last time we talked you were talking about Philly sports teams having grit and comparing Philly to my music, and I really thought about it and I was actually talking about it tonight too. I do think that Philly chose me in a way, I mean, I came here and I decided to move here, but it’s like it was waiting for me to show up or something (laughs). It feels good, this is the first place I ever lived where I didn’t see myself leaving, so we’ll see.
You're currently saving money to record a new record with a full band in studio. Can you let us know some new songs and what direction you think it's headed?
You know, I want to record with a full band, but I also want to keep it in my style of doing things, so I’m sure on the record there will be songs with just me on them. It could end up being that the full band is just me but recording everything, you know? I definitely want to continue in the kind of structured pop vein, but I’m definitely feeling like I want to start scaring people a little bit more and maybe be a little more aggressive and get some stuff out. We will see, I have no idea, I haven’t even started recording, I mean, I’ve started writing but it’s still in the works and there’s no plans for it to come out soon. Who knows? It could morph into being a lounge record (laughs). One song I just wrote this past week is called ‘Daddy’s Out Of Town’, that’s the newest song.
Thanks for your time!
Thank you! I’m excited about Halifax and the festival and getting a little vacation. It won’t be much of one because I fly in and play and then I leave again the next day, but I hope to see some music and meet some people and stuff, and I hope that people will come out.
http://www.myspace.com/usgirlssst
http://www.siltbreeze.com/usgirls.htm
U.S. Girls, Homostupids, Ultrathin, Mess Folk, Meat Curtains, DJ PLEASE! @ The Khyber - 10:30pm, May 29th - $8 advance $10 door
0 comments:
Post a Comment