ANTIFOLKinterview |
January 21st 2003: |
The following EXACT same questions appeared in R.S. issue 908 and were asked to Joni Mitchell. Antifolk Online gave them to Randi Russo with the instructions to answer them however he would choose to. And to have fun with em. Here are her responses: |
RS- How did you start singing to people? Randi- well, I first started to sing in junior high and high school, in chorus class... other people's songs of course, and in a group setting. It wasn't until I was 19 that I started singing my own songs solo to other people... and I didn't really actively pursue singing and songwriting as a performance art (I was always singing and writing at home but rarely played out) until I was about 26. RS- What is the first concert you went to? Randi- I guess I'd have to say it was an outside concert in central park for earth day back in the 80s... I think the B-52s were playing that day. It obviously wasn't much of a memorable experience for me. It was a free show, so I just decided to go at the last minute. I'm more of a fan of small shows in small clubs, and I do not remember who was the first well-known act I saw in a club. I did see Nine Inch Nails in some tiny club in New Jersey years before Trent Reznor hit it big... I guess that might have been my first show. Memory is failing me now... it all seemed to occur many lifetimes ago. RS- How did you find your own voice as a singer? Randi- I just kept playing and playing, made lots of 4 track recordings and got comfortable with my voice over time. Now I listen to recordings that I made in my late teens and early twenties and I cringe... I had no confidence in myself then and you can really hear it in those recordings. RS- Is that why the vocals on your new album sound so much more womanly and sexy? Randi- why, yes! i was just a girl then... RS- Years ago Dylan was asked in "Rolling Stone" about some women performers, and he had issues with their onstage sexuality, but he seperated you from the rest of the pack. Randi- wow. I didn't even think he knew me. I'm so flattered. RS- Do you think that you have paid a price in terms of some men viewing you as this blonde hippie goddess, not an artist? Randi- well, certainly... so that's why I dyed my hair this mousy brown color. ...people think it's natural (especially when I add that two or three strands of gray to give it that authentic look), but it's not. Ever since the dye job, I've been treated as an artist. And those old hippie days are over... they went out with goth days. I threw out my Peter, Paul and Mary records on the same day as I trashed my NIN albums. RS- Did you face men who were trying to reshape your image? Randi- of course. I almost snapped one of my CDs in half after one of my shows when a man increduously said, "you wrote all those songs?" and upon affirmation, he added, "yeah, you're good... but you just need to shake it a bit when you're up there." Well, the only that shook right then and there were my hands -- they shook so violently that the jewel case of the CD I was holding cracked in half. RS- You once told me that all your heroes were men, and all of them were monsters. Randi- yes, because all my heros are dead people. Most of those whom I really admire and who have inspired me are dead. So, when they come to visit me at night... well, they look kind of scary... I'm haunted. RS- Throughout the years, the media have at times pitted you against some of the women that you have helped inspire. Have you ever regretted anything negative you said about any of your disciples? Randi- No. I do not perceive my judgments as negative. Some things I say, people call it negative, while I just call it the truth. RS- If you were to run into a Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera.... Randi- I'd give them air kisses on both cheeks and a big smile, like I was some high society park avenue mom. Why not fight fire with fire? It takes a phoney to communicate with a phoney. RS- Would you give them any advice? Randi- No... that would be a waste of time. Only time will give them the advice they're needing... in a few years, when they're not as young and hot and when this whole teen-pop-sensation era is over, they'll have plenty of years left to have life teach them the hard knocks. RS- Has the music business changed very much in your lifetime? Randi- No, in the sense that there are still scoundrels out there that want to exploit you and take you for everything you're worth, and the music that corporations put out there is consistently lame. There is this whole DIY internet thing going on, but I think it was almost easier to make things happen when DIY meant SST Records, and it was still a small operation. Easier in the sense that it wasn't so congested. Now, every mugly's got their own CD, putting out crapola, and there's major congestion. The good stuff can't get through to the right ears. Well, it gets through to the right ears, audience-wise, but not to the ears of a person with some clout or money who can help you get your stuff out to more people. The so-called creative people that are in A& R positions do not seem to have a creative bone in their bodies... or any bones at all... spineless weasels trying to figure out the final dollar amount on a human being's work. Or, they are too afraid to assert their opinions to the head honcho at the record company on artists that they do like, for fear of losing their jobs. ... they seem to be making terrible choices all of the time. You really have to turn to the small indie labels to help get the good stuff out there as best they can. RS- So how do you feel when people say the whole business is going down the crapper? Randi- flush twice and light a match. |
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With Randi Russo |
