This Interview was conducted on September 11th 2002 by
Krisbee and first appeared on Krisbee's Website.
Krisbee: Are you bummed out by the TV coverage today as much as I am?
Kimya Dawson: Yes, it's sad.
Krisbee: I have been trying to stay cheery, and there isn't any good distracting TV on!   (Topic Switch)  Are you happier performing with people, or solo?
Kimya Dawson: I am happiest performing with the band; what I do solo isn't necessarily always a fun thing, it's different.
Krisbee: I unfortunately only have the rough trade solo CD, so I don't know of your other work, like with Jeff Lewis, etc.  Its much sadder sounding.
Kimya Dawson: I have 2 CDs called "Knock-Knock Who?" and "My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess," the one on Rough Trade, "i'm sorry that sometimes i'm mean," the 5 song EP with Jeffrey Lewis, and a 7 song album I did with my good friend Matt Rouse called,  "Titanium Heart and the Chains of Love".   A couple of weeks ago Toby Goodshank and I wrote a song together called, "All Holes Filled"... my solo stuff seems sadder I guess.   I think the Moldy Peaches stuff is pretty sad though.
Krisbee: It seems much more personal. Are your solo songs more autobiographical?
Kimya Dawson: The Moldy Peaches songs are more abstract, mine are more straightforward.
Krisbee: Moldy songs are sad too, but there is a levity to them; like, I know this is sad, but it could get better.
Kimya Dawson: I feel the same thing with my solo songs.  I think because I am not as experienced of a guitarist the tempo is slower and that may make them seem sadder, but I think they are hopeful.
Krisbee: That's an interesting observation, you could be right. Mazzy Star seems sad because of how slow they played. "Trump Style" is sad, but hopeful.
Kimya Dawson: So is "Rocks With Holes" and "Eleventeen."
Krisbee: I have had "Rocks With Holes" stuck in my head for weeks now.
Kimya Dawson: Really?
Krisbee: Yup! Its great... I love the line, "I can spoon a guy, and still be his friend".
Kimya Dawson: Ooh,  that's "Everything is Alright" - not "Rocks With Holes!"
Krisbee: Damn! Excuse me! I'm cheating with the CD here, and I see that now.
Kimya Dawson: It's okay!  I never remember song titles.  I have a song on an Olive Juice music Antifolk compilation and the title of the song is different than the title of it on my CD; sometimes I don't remember what I name my own shit.
Krisbee: Too much music, its' overwhelming. I remember knowing every line of every song when I was in high school, and now I am overloaded with musical background, that I have a haze.
Kimya Dawson: I still remember every word of every song I heard on the radio between 1980 and 1992, but I can't remember to spray my fricken allergy medicine up my nose in the morning.
Krisbee: In "Everything's Alright", I was amazed at your recall of all those childhood references, and how I forgot... how could I forget how important Silver Spoons was?
Kimya Dawson: On Nick at Nite a little while back they had a Silver Spoons marathon, I taped a bunch of them.  I had forgotten about the episode with Jason Bateman...
Krisbee: I had a crush on Erin Grey. I probably had a crush on Ricky Schroder.
Kimya Dawson: Ricky Schroder was my 1st crush,  The Champ was my favorite movie when I was really little have you seen it, the remake with Ricky Schroder and John Voight?
Krisbee: I have, but Jon Voight always creeped me out, so I stayed away from it.
Kimya Dawson: It is so sad.  Ricky Schroder and Huckleberry Fox, in Terms of Endearment, and Henry Thomas in ET were my dream boys, and the kid who was Alec in The Black Stallion.  Holy cow, I loved crybaby boys.
Krisbee: Do you still love crybaby boys?
Kimya Dawson: Oh... yes.
Krisbee: I haven't seen in many interviews you talking about your Washington years, is that a sensitive topic?
Kimya Dawson: No, what would you like to know?
Krisbee: Would motivated you to move out there, how did the Olympia scene influence you...
Kimya Dawson: I went to a college in Boston that I didn't like and heard about Evergreen from some hippie I knew from high school, so I transferred.
Krisbee: What did you go to college for?
Kimya Dawson: Originally teaching, but then in Olympia I studied bunch of different things.  My 1st year I was in a multicurricular program called- Home: A Mutually Shared Responsibility (haha).  I studied creative writing, stand up comedy and the sociology of humor, multicultural lit, art stuff, but I always figured I'd get my masters in teaching.
Krisbee: You still might!
Kimya Dawson: Maybe... I am not a very good student.
Krisbee: Best teachers are the worst students...
Kimya Dawson: That's nice.
Krisbee: I can tell how much you love kids, do you think that will always be a part of what you do?
Kimya Dawson: Oh yeah!
Kimya Dawson: I could take grad level remedial teaching courses, but I never finished at Evergreen though;  one quarter left.
Krisbee: In the limited view that I have, the people who succeeded the most had only a few classes left to graduate. Odd phenomena... I have a friends from my college, they had only a little more to go, but they broke off, and they made it big in their careers.   They got what they needed and left.
Kimya Dawson: I would like to someday take some photography classes and film classes.
Krisbee: I was a film major... and a photography major. Dropped the photography for the film.
Kimya Dawson: There you have it!
Krisbee: Interestingly, some of the best photographs or shots, are the most simple, mistakes really.
Kimya Dawson: I really just want a refresher in how the damn camera works and some darkroom stuff.  Ii took photo and darkroom classes in high school, but I don't really remember anything.
Krisbee: It will be a lost art, due to digital cameras and video (for the film side).
Kimya Dawson: The people still doing it will be the ones who really love it though.
Krisbee: There is a certain greatness about people who do their own printing... It's the whole idea of not just what you take the picture of, but the real art of photography. Of light and dark.  I also love people who record their own albums (bad segue).
Kimya Dawson: Thanks.  I have actually been considering trying to do some fancy version of my songs, just out of curiosity.
Krisbee: There is a real humanity on solitary recorded music, like you are being let in somewhere where not everybody gets to go.  I love that I can hear phones ring, or birds in the background.
Kimya Dawson: I agree.  My songs are supposed to sound the way the four-track recordings sound, but I hear Vanessa Carlton, Norah Jones, and Avrile Lavigne on the MTV and wonder what my songs would sound like recorded like that.
Krisbee: I think your songs would lend themselves to more of an orchestral style, with violins.
Kimya Dawson: I would maybe make an album called, "this is just an experiment- please by my CD-Rs for $5 at my next show".  The 3rd eye blind guys said I can record at their studio; their producer said he would produce my stuff.  Weird right?   I think it would be an interesting adventure, to let someone else decide what they think would sound good; it's scary and gross but I think it could be fun.
Krisbee: Another interesting project might be even less: one take, open mike, see what happens.   I have been playing around with binaural recordings, where you put microphones in your ears, and you record exactly what you hear.  That would be an interesting experiment, to record what the performer hears.
Kimya Dawson: I have a bunch of live recordings of my shows; I am a mess live.  I mess up at least once per song.
Kimya Dawson: Weird... I like the word binaural.  I hear myself being scared,   my teeth chattering; the music would be subtle in the background.
Krisbee: I love hearing how scared people are when they perform, that they just do it, regardless of how frightened they are; it's really inspiring.
Kimya Dawson: There is a live show I did on WFMU (note, 1 hr 46 mins in) where I was probably the scaredest I have ever been, on Andy Waltzer's show.
Krisbee: Steve Espinola said he was petrified playing on WFMU also.  What were you thinking that made you so scared?
Kimya Dawson: I don't know, I hadn't even been playing very long. I don't get that scared any more. I used to shake, now I just forget what I am doing.
Krisbee: How do you feel afterwards?
Kimya Dawson: It's strange...  I always just want to sit and watch someone else play. I liked playing before Daniel Johnston and I like playing with Seth, or Paleface, or someone like that so I can just get really into what they are doing right away and forget about my show or else I just want an ice cream cone and some tea.
Krisbee: I never saw you play before Daniel Johnston , and I saw him every time he played at the Knitting Factory.
Kimya Dawson: I played once before him and once after him at Sidewalk Cafe.  We played three Moldy Peaches shows with him on the west coast.
Krisbee: He is amazing!
Kimya Dawson: He really is incredible.   I would love to play a show with Daniel Johnston and the Danielson Familie.
Krisbee: Danielson Famile are also incredible...
Krisbee: Was his dad with him taking care of things?
Kimya Dawson: No, he had a tour manager.
Krisbee: When I saw him, it was his dad, which I though was so sweet.
Krisbee: I was amazed when I read in your diary how you still travel by greyhound, staying in hostels.
Kimya Dawson: Well, I don't need glamorous accommodations.
Krisbee: Still a struggling artist?
Kimya Dawson: I am not struggling to be an artist, I am okay for now.
Krisbee: That's good!
Kimya Dawson: If I had to pay rent it would be a struggle.  If my parents were to sell this house I would be fuuuucked.
Krisbee: I'm glad that you can have the opportunity to make art as your full time endeavor... I wish you could make it as your living...
Kimya Dawson: Which leads back to the idea of selling out:  "by my real CDs from me directly"  as the title of a studio produced album. What do you think?
Krisbee: I think that's great... sort of like "Steal This Book."
Kimya Dawson: I will be the next Sheryl Crow, and at the same time a totally respectable indie musician.
Krisbee: Do you follow the messages over at the Olive Juice board?
Kimya Dawson: I used to, but people are really mean and hurtful there; I don't need that kind of negativity.  I wish the people who had bad things to say would at least use their names.  I feel weird going to sidewalk sometimes because I don't know who hates me.
Krisbee: I think the minute something has so many defined rules, it loses its' appeal. If people are arguing about what is anti-folk, what isn't... it becomes its' own kind of cliche. Does that make sense?
Kimya Dawson:  I know what you are saying.  I always thought it was just a community of people who could try to help each other by being supportive.
Krisbee: Does this all hinge on the moderate success you have had? Kind of a jealousy?
Kimya Dawson: I don't like to even think about the Message Board.  So many people are still so awesome and such good friends; some people are just mean.  Maybe it is jealousy, I am not sure.  I try to be nice and I try to help out people I think are good musicians
Krisbee: Well, I like you, if that means anything.
Kimya Dawson: Thank you!
Krisbee: Do you sell your CDs via mail at all or just at shows?
Kimya Dawson: Depends on if I have any copies.  I have a bunch right now so I am selling some to people who email me, but once I run out I might not have more for awhile. It's inconsistent.
Kimya Dawson: Are there other anti-folks beside me and Steve that you have heard?
Krisbee: Jeff Lewis, I have his CD... Prewar Yardsale. I didn't get to buy Major Matt Mason yet.  I met Peter Dizzoza, and I will be picking up his new CD on Olive Juice when it comes out.
Kimya Dawson: Will you come to the show on Wednesday and see Cockroach is Dead and The Larval Organs?
Kimya Dawson: Check out Stipplicon and Dufus.  The Ricky Schroder lover in you might like Gay Pimp and
Testosterone Kills. You should email Barry Bliss and get his CD and get Paleface's stuff.  Get the Rough Trade Antifolk vol. 1 Compilation, I like everyone on that (Adam and I put it together).
Krisbee: It seems you have a great relationship with Rough Trade.
Kimya Dawson: Oh, you can order it at Amazon UK.
Krisbee: That's how I ended up ordering your CD.
Kimya Dawson: Yeah, Rough Trade are the best.
Krisbee: Its' funny that I have to order things half way around the world for people that live 45 minutes from me.
Kimya Dawson: I have to go.  I am going to go take some kids up the street to play in my friends yard with her son.
Krisbee: Play outside! Its' too nice to be inside.
Kimya Dawson: Bye!
Krisbee: Bye!
Krisbee's Interview of
Kimya Dawsoninterview
Krisbee's Interview of
Krisbee: Are you bummed out by the TV coverage today as much as I am?
Kimya Dawson: Yes, it's sad.
Krisbee: I have been trying to stay cheery, and there isn't any good distracting TV on!   (Topic Switch)  Are you happier performing with people, or solo?
Kimya Dawson: I am happiest performing with the band; what I do solo isn't necessarily always a fun thing, it's different.
Krisbee: I unfortunately only have the rough trade solo CD, so I don't know of your other work, like with Jeff Lewis, etc.  Its much sadder sounding.
Kimya Dawson: I have 2 CDs called "Knock-Knock Who?" and "My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess," the one on Rough Trade, "i'm sorry that sometimes i'm mean," the 5 song EP with Jeffrey Lewis, and a 7 song album I did with my good friend Matt Rouse called,  "Titanium Heart and the Chains of Love".   A couple of weeks ago Toby Goodshank and I wrote a song together called, "All Holes Filled"... my solo stuff seems sadder I guess.   I think the Moldy Peaches stuff is pretty sad though.
Krisbee: It seems much more personal. Are your solo songs more autobiographical?
Kimya Dawson: The Moldy Peaches songs are more abstract, mine are more straightforward.
Krisbee: Moldy songs are sad too, but there is a levity to them; like, I know this is sad, but it could get better.
Kimya Dawson: I feel the same thing with my solo songs.  I think because I am not as experienced of a guitarist the tempo is slower and that may make them seem sadder, but I think they are hopeful.
Krisbee: That's an interesting observation, you could be right. Mazzy Star seems sad because of how slow they played. "Trump Style" is sad, but hopeful.
Kimya Dawson: So is "Rocks With Holes" and "Eleventeen."
Krisbee: I have had "Rocks With Holes" stuck in my head for weeks now.
Kimya Dawson: Really?
Krisbee: Yup! Its great... I love the line, "I can spoon a guy, and still be his friend".
Kimya Dawson: Ooh,  that's "Everything is Alright" - not "Rocks With Holes!"
Krisbee: Damn! Excuse me! I'm cheating with the CD here, and I see that now.
Kimya Dawson: It's okay!  I never remember song titles.  I have a song on an Olive Juice music Antifolk compilation and the title of the song is different than the title of it on my CD; sometimes I don't remember what I name my own shit.
Krisbee: Too much music, its' overwhelming. I remember knowing every line of every song when I was in high school, and now I am overloaded with musical background, that I have a haze.
Kimya Dawson: I still remember every word of every song I heard on the radio between 1980 and 1992, but I can't remember to spray my fricken allergy medicine up my nose in the morning.
Krisbee: In "Everything's Alright", I was amazed at your recall of all those childhood references, and how I forgot... how could I forget how important Silver Spoons was?
Kimya Dawson: On Nick at Nite a little while back they had a Silver Spoons marathon, I taped a bunch of them.  I had forgotten about the episode with Jason Bateman...
Krisbee: I had a crush on Erin Grey. I probably had a crush on Ricky Schroder.
Kimya Dawson: Ricky Schroder was my 1st crush,  The Champ was my favorite movie when I was really little have you seen it, the remake with Ricky Schroder and John Voight?
Krisbee: I have, but Jon Voight always creeped me out, so I stayed away from it.
Kimya Dawson: It is so sad.  Ricky Schroder and Huckleberry Fox, in Terms of Endearment, and Henry Thomas in ET were my dream boys, and the kid who was Alec in The Black Stallion.  Holy cow, I loved crybaby boys.
Krisbee: Do you still love crybaby boys?
Kimya Dawson: Oh... yes.
Krisbee: I haven't seen in many interviews you talking about your Washington years, is that a sensitive topic?
Kimya Dawson: No, what would you like to know?
Krisbee: Would motivated you to move out there, how did the Olympia scene influence you...
Kimya Dawson: I went to a college in Boston that I didn't like and heard about Evergreen from some hippie I knew from high school, so I transferred.
Krisbee: What did you go to college for?
Kimya Dawson: Originally teaching, but then in Olympia I studied bunch of different things.  My 1st year I was in a multicurricular program called- Home: A Mutually Shared Responsibility (haha).  I studied creative writing, stand up comedy and the sociology of humor, multicultural lit, art stuff, but I always figured I'd get my masters in teaching.
Krisbee: You still might!
Kimya Dawson: Maybe... I am not a very good student.
Krisbee: Best teachers are the worst students...
Kimya Dawson: That's nice.
Krisbee: I can tell how much you love kids, do you think that will always be a part of what you do?
Kimya Dawson: Oh yeah!
Kimya Dawson: I could take grad level remedial teaching courses, but I never finished at Evergreen though;  one quarter left.
Krisbee: In the limited view that I have, the people who succeeded the most had only a few classes left to graduate. Odd phenomena... I have a friends from my college, they had only a little more to go, but they broke off, and they made it big in their careers.   They got what they needed and left.
Kimya Dawson: I would like to someday take some photography classes and film classes.
Krisbee: I was a film major... and a photography major. Dropped the photography for the film.
Kimya Dawson: There you have it!
Krisbee: Interestingly, some of the best photographs or shots, are the most simple, mistakes really.
Kimya Dawson: I really just want a refresher in how the damn camera works and some darkroom stuff.  Ii took photo and darkroom classes in high school, but I don't really remember anything.
Krisbee: It will be a lost art, due to digital cameras and video (for the film side).
Kimya Dawson: The people still doing it will be the ones who really love it though.
Krisbee: There is a certain greatness about people who do their own printing... It's the whole idea of not just what you take the picture of, but the real art of photography. Of light and dark.  I also love people who record their own albums (bad segue).
Kimya Dawson: Thanks.  I have actually been considering trying to do some fancy version of my songs, just out of curiosity.
Krisbee: There is a real humanity on solitary recorded music, like you are being let in somewhere where not everybody gets to go.  I love that I can hear phones ring, or birds in the background.
Kimya Dawson: I agree.  My songs are supposed to sound the way the four-track recordings sound, but I hear Vanessa Carlton, Norah Jones, and Avrile Lavigne on the MTV and wonder what my songs would sound like recorded like that.
Krisbee: I think your songs would lend themselves to more of an orchestral style, with violins.
Kimya Dawson: I would maybe make an album called, "this is just an experiment- please by my CD-Rs for $5 at my next show".  The 3rd eye blind guys said I can record at their studio; their producer said he would produce my stuff.  Weird right?   I think it would be an interesting adventure, to let someone else decide what they think would sound good; it's scary and gross but I think it could be fun.
Krisbee: Another interesting project might be even less: one take, open mike, see what happens.   I have been playing around with binaural recordings, where you put microphones in your ears, and you record exactly what you hear.  That would be an interesting experiment, to record what the performer hears.
Kimya Dawson: I have a bunch of live recordings of my shows; I am a mess live.  I mess up at least once per song.
Kimya Dawson: Weird... I like the word binaural.  I hear myself being scared,   my teeth chattering; the music would be subtle in the background.
Krisbee: I love hearing how scared people are when they perform, that they just do it, regardless of how frightened they are; it's really inspiring.
Kimya Dawson: There is a live show I did on WFMU (note, 1 hr 46 mins in) where I was probably the scaredest I have ever been, on Andy Waltzer's show.
Krisbee: Steve Espinola said he was petrified playing on WFMU also.  What were you thinking that made you so scared?
Kimya Dawson: I don't know, I hadn't even been playing very long. I don't get that scared any more. I used to shake, now I just forget what I am doing.
Krisbee: How do you feel afterwards?
Kimya Dawson: It's strange...  I always just want to sit and watch someone else play. I liked playing before Daniel Johnston and I like playing with Seth, or Paleface, or someone like that so I can just get really into what they are doing right away and forget about my show or else I just want an ice cream cone and some tea.
Krisbee: I never saw you play before Daniel Johnston , and I saw him every time he played at the Knitting Factory.
Kimya Dawson: I played once before him and once after him at Sidewalk Cafe.  We played three Moldy Peaches shows with him on the west coast.
Krisbee: He is amazing!
Kimya Dawson: He really is incredible.   I would love to play a show with Daniel Johnston and the Danielson Familie.
Krisbee: Danielson Famile are also incredible...
Krisbee: Was his dad with him taking care of things?
Kimya Dawson: No, he had a tour manager.
Krisbee: When I saw him, it was his dad, which I though was so sweet.
Krisbee: I was amazed when I read in your diary how you still travel by greyhound, staying in hostels.
Kimya Dawson: Well, I don't need glamorous accommodations.
Krisbee: Still a struggling artist?
Kimya Dawson: I am not struggling to be an artist, I am okay for now.
Krisbee: That's good!
Kimya Dawson: If I had to pay rent it would be a struggle.  If my parents were to sell this house I would be fuuuucked.
Krisbee: I'm glad that you can have the opportunity to make art as your full time endeavor... I wish you could make it as your living...
Kimya Dawson: Which leads back to the idea of selling out:  "by my real CDs from me directly"  as the title of a studio produced album. What do you think?
Krisbee: I think that's great... sort of like "Steal This Book."
Kimya Dawson: I will be the next Sheryl Crow, and at the same time a totally respectable indie musician.
Krisbee: Do you follow the messages over at the Olive Juice board?
Kimya Dawson: I used to, but people are really mean and hurtful there; I don't need that kind of negativity.  I wish the people who had bad things to say would at least use their names.  I feel weird going to sidewalk sometimes because I don't know who hates me.
Krisbee: I think the minute something has so many defined rules, it loses its' appeal. If people are arguing about what is anti-folk, what isn't... it becomes its' own kind of cliche. Does that make sense?
Kimya Dawson:  I know what you are saying.  I always thought it was just a community of people who could try to help each other by being supportive.
Krisbee: Does this all hinge on the moderate success you have had? Kind of a jealousy?
Kimya Dawson: I don't like to even think about the Message Board.  So many people are still so awesome and such good friends; some people are just mean.  Maybe it is jealousy, I am not sure.  I try to be nice and I try to help out people I think are good musicians
Krisbee: Well, I like you, if that means anything.
Kimya Dawson: Thank you!
Krisbee: Do you sell your CDs via mail at all or just at shows?
Kimya Dawson: Depends on if I have any copies.  I have a bunch right now so I am selling some to people who email me, but once I run out I might not have more for awhile. I