Shane Meadows is awesome. Here’s more proof (if you needed it) of his ability to make sensitive and honest British films. Released in cinemas (including Hyde Park Picture House) on 9th October, you can see Paddy Considine with his “pubic weasels laid out for all to gawp at”.
This is the start of a series of ‘5 day films’ to be released by Warp Films, and has apparently attracted some top directing names for the future. Meadows says: “After taking two life sapping years to makeThis is England, I decided it was time to get back to my roots as a Guerilla Filmmaker. So me, Mark and our miniscule team decided to stick two fingers up to the establishment and make a film with our own money in only five days.”
Trying to make it big with white boy rap from Nottingham? If that’s not the premise for a fun-filled adventure, I don’t know what is.
I first heard about Marnie Stern when I came across her song ‘Patterns Of A Diamond Celling’ on a blog site. A strange WTF song with motivational-sounding lyrics and bizarre clicks and taps on the guitar, always building until exactly 2 minutes and 17 seconds in when I got my mind blown by some totally awesome riffage….
We tracked her down on tour in L.A and had a chat with her…
S: Hi, how are you?
M: Im ok Im in LA in California and its 96 degrees!
S:ah very nice well Im in Leeds, it’s never hot.
M: Its not nice its scorching hot you cant seem to win its either freezing or just unbelievably hot!
S: I wouldn’t really know, So how’s the tour going?
M: Well we haven’t started yet, we’ve just been practicing, and we have a new drummer so we’ve been practicing with him for the past week.
S: Oh right so you’re not using the guy from Hella anymore?
M: Well he was gunna do it, and then he couldn’t and then he could but we already had this other drummer here so…
S: I heard that you’ve got a bassist too.
Yeah Malia James
S: I’ve read that you took the guitar up pretty late on. What inspired you to do that?
M: I guess it was always something that I thought I wasn’t really allowed to pursue, because I didn’t seem like a real career and I think I felt pressure from my family, to make them proud of me by doing something that they would respect…. And then when I finished college I realised It was my life and I had to figure out something to do to make me happy. That was when I decided “OK im going to give this a go”. I knew a couple of chords and would strum around, but I thought in order to be a musician I thought you had to have some innate sensibility for it. I didn’t realise that you could just figure it out.
So what happened to make you think that music was what you definitely wanted to do? What do your parents think about your chosen career choice now that you’re doing it?
Now that things are going well, my family is very happy. For a while, I think they thought I chose music as a way to escape reality and responsibility. Playing the guitar was the only thing I could lose myself in for hours. That’s the only reason I was able to stick with it for so long. If I had found it boring, I would have given up ages ago because you hit lots of blocks and it takes time to get over those humps.
Do your mum and dad dig your music?
Yes. They rock out to it all the time in the house. And my grandma likes too listen to it when she’s cleaning her house. She’s 88, so I think that’s pretty terrific. She’s even come to 2 of my shows! Ha
I thought in order to be a musician you had to have some innate sensibility for it. I didn’t realise that you could just figure it out.
So when you were a child did you ever imagine that you’d be doing what you’re doing now?
No. I really had no idea what ‘d be doing. When I was very young I thought I’d be a doctor or a lawyer.
S:That’s what I like about the music actually Its kinda technical and a lot of the ideas are kind of proggy but its not overblown or pretentious. Do you think that’s a conscious decision?
M: Well its interesting, A lot of the ideas are intentional but the style just develops on its own. I really Admired bands like the Flying Lutenbockers?, Lightening Bolt and Hella for their skill, they’re really technically talented. I would listen to them and just think god, I want to play like that! That was part of me practicing all the time, to be able to get good but I also knew that I wanted to be able to work that technical aspect into plain old fun!
S:You mentioned bands like Hella and Lightning Bolt as being inspiring… What turned you on to that kind of music? what happened for you to start even going to shows? was there anybody that got you into all that?
I found Hella through 5RC the sister label to KRS. From there it was easy to explore and find bands of the same genre. I discovered Load records and at the time Troubleman was pretty popular. I liked those bands because they sounded wildly different from anything I’d heard and they all had their own unique approach that definied them.
S: Yeah I think that is what really works. Especially the guitar tapping. It works to make the song with the fun aspects.
M: Yeah the fun aspects are the most important part, for me at least I’m trying to access some sort of joy within a song. You want to just be able to put a record on a just feel good when you’re listening to it.
S:The guitar tapping technique is pretty cool! did you read up on it and study it, or did you figure it and feel it out for yourself?
I kind of just fumbled around and figured it out on my own. I saw a live video of the band Don Cab playing, and I saw that Ian Williams was tapping. I wasn’t sure what it was or how to do it, but I loved the sound of that band, so I started experimenting.
S:With the lyrics they’re really…
M: motivational?
S: Yeah!…I’ve come back to your second album. You know when you put a record down for a while and them come back to it. Like the first time I was like “whoa this is blowing me away” in term of the music and then the second time round I’ve really been listening more to the lyrics.
M: The lyrics are really important they are what I use to drive myself. Cause for like a decade I was playing shows to nobody. I didn’t have a label or a booker or anything so It was very frustrating and very difficult. It got to a point where I thought no one would ever come to see me play. But at the same time, it really helped me to cut my teeth and be so appreciative of the people that eventually began coming to the shows.
S: And that’s where that style of lyrics came from. It was me just telling myself to “keep going”… But even now I have to tell myself that too. You know, you tour, you’re tired you have to tell yourself “keep going, there’s more to come!”
S: How important has the DIY ethic been to you as an artist?
M: I was on my own and outside of the music scene for about a decade before I got my record deal. That felt pretty DIY. So in that sense, It’s helped to mold who i am as a person as well as a musician. I don’t really follow any particular set of guidelines though. I would love to have my music in commercials and that isn’t very DIY in the typical sense.
S: Kill Rock Stars seems to have its own ethics in being an indie label, feminist, artist friendly…. Was the signing to Kill Rock Stars in line with your own views on how music should be put out?
M: Absolutely. I love that they give complete authority to the artist creatively. They never say “We want you to sound a certain way, so make this kind of record.” They let you go in and make the record you want to make and I think that is why their credibility has withstood the test of time.
S: To be honest I haven’t actually heard the new album yet?
M: Yeah its different, it’s a lot more straight ahead and straight forward.
S: I always think the art is a reflection of the artist themselves?
M: There’s so much music out there and not many are really honest with it, and not many show themselves. I think it takes a long time to really show yourself and develop your own style. Its so frustrating seeing so many bands where everything sounds derivative and you don’t see any of the person in the music, unless it’s the person showing off on stage, you know like “oh I’ve got personality I’m gunna pour a beer on my head”. But who cares about that? I just think I tend to like music where you can see where the artist ideas have come from.
S: You have a refreshingly positive style of music
M: I Mean I get depressed constantly. I don’t know its because I haven’t explored it enough but the reason I don’t make more sombre music is because but when I make depressing music it just tends to be clichéd, boring and obvious.
S: I first heard of you it was your track patterns of a diamond ceiling which was on a blog. I started listening to it I thought it was quite experimental but then half way through it just totally starts rocking out.
M: during the period when I made that record I was going through a much more experimental phase. And I was really interested in ideas with sound and what kind of emotions I could make from sound. I was generally just feeling pretty arty. And the the last record was basically just about me wanting to have fun.
S: What motivates you, how do you get yourself “in the Zone”?
Everyday I wake up and give myself an operation for the day. A different thing to focus on that way things don’t stay too abstract. When I have a focus of say, working on melodies for the day, it makes things much easier. Otherwise I end up meandering around for most of the day.
S: Do you write as a band?
No, never. I write the guitar and the vocals then I send It to Zack and he puts the drums on it. Then we do overdubs doing the guitar and vocals all over again.
S: is this because you’re too much of a perfectionist to let anyone else interfere?
Pretty much… I’ve never done it any other way. It takes me so much time to come up with each part that I don’t know how I’d ever be able to do it in a live setting. Although, Zach and I have been talking about trying to work out some new parts together.
S: So are you ever specific of how you wanted the drums to sound, or do you send them off not really knowing how things will turn out? Have you ever been really surprised by a songs outcome?
Sure. I mean everybody hears things in a certain way. It’s been nice because a lot of the time his beats work off my rhythms and they are things I never ever would have thought of. Of course there have been a couple of times where I have heard a part differently, but I think that’s what makes us such a good team.
S: Is there anyone you’d love to work with?
Tons of people! Mick Barr, Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt. Basically all of the bands I love!
Is there anybody else you feel is doing cool stuff at the moment music wise?
Ponytail is a favorite of mine. I like Mick Barr’s band Kralice.
What do you do outside of music, any other hobbies or passions?
I like crossword puzzles, reading, watching movies.
NY or LA?
NY! I thought I wanted to make the switch to LA, but every time I spend time here I realize it’s not for me. I think it is just too spread out.
At home or on the Road?
At home! I don’t really like to do much besides play music and stay in the house. I do enjoy getting to visit different places and experience different things, but I am more comfortable at home.
Any plans for the future.
Well, pretty much just touring at the moment and then the next album. We have all the material for it, it’s just a question of recording it.
Tiny 13 year old dork that sits inside all day wearing awkward jackets and pretty hats. Scatters black petals on Rei Kawakubo’s doorsteps and serenades her in rap. Rather cynical and cute as a drained rat. In a sewer. Farting. And spitting out guts. Not our words, the words of 13 year old female fashion -on- ista…you get me. She’s got the blog everyones bloggin about.
Shane Meadows is awesome. Here’s more proof (if you needed it) of his ability to make sensitive and honest British films. Released in cinemas (including Hyde Park Picture House) on 9th October, you can see Paddy Considine with his “pubic weasels laid out for all to gawp at”.
