Regina Spektorinterview |
Brad: hello Brad: Regina Regina Regina: hello... Brad: Helkl Brad: sup Regina: yup Brad: Hello How are you Regina: i'm great, running about, thanks. Brad: How is the work on the New CD coming? Regina: it's done, though not mass produced yet... i'm doing that today...giving hard cash for a service, you know? Brad: I see Regina: yup... i'm going to make a small run... Regina: 200, before i leave to France Brad: I heard that you sound really different from the 11:11 CD now that you had a creative breakthrough ... is that true? Regina: i don't know about break through... but i deffinately feel like i sound like myself now, and then i sounded like myself then... they are both true, but this feels like the me right now... Brad: What is the difference for those who have not heard Regina: well... when i made 11:11 i was drunk on jazz and blues... i hadn't heard tom waits, and bjork, and radio head, and lots of the amazing people in the anti world of ny... also i let go a lot more now... a voice is just a voice... Brad: Is the new Cd more representative or still behind the times? Brad: After Talking to you on the phone I bet you are a funny Drunk, but you don't hear that on the CD Regina: still behind... i'm afraid that's the pattern... it's stark and intimate and real naked true kind of document... but it's not where my head is right now... Regina: yup.... i'm a funny everything.... i am a vodka cranberry girl... but i'm sober for music, cause i'd forget everything...:-) Brad: How can one get the New Cd if they want to get it, is it gunna be on Cdbaby as well? Regina: I'm going to send them a box before i leave... that's the plan.......but plans go wrong sometimes... maybe i'll have some on the 26th for a minute at the Living Room..... Regina: i leave the 27th, it's very stupidly ambitious.... Brad: Ahhh. Why are going. what are you going to be doing? Regina: oh, also i feel this is a real revealing sort of communication, casue i feel like i don't know how to spell... Brad: Hey- I can't spell worth shit. sea! Regina: I'm going to play music, and hang with some good friends... and also bum around and pick up French lingo... Brad: Two months right Regina: and eat!!!!!!! Regina: right....I'm going to return when the harvest is ripe, yo. Brad: Miss the antifolk fest though....You know all the curse words right? Brad: French curse words Regina: I'm going to be In paris for most of that time, but i'm also going to be a travel frog, cause i love trains.... Brad: I loved those jokers when I was over there in 97 Brad: That was when I really started to get into antifolk too, while I was there Regina: i'm going to miss more than the anti folk fest...i'm going to miss that whole part of NY so much...it's like a second home, all those beautiful faces and talents.....yeah... i know my way around a french jerk if i have to! i can tell it like it is... Brad: I see.... You know your way round a North Carolina Jerk as well. Brad: Or at least Virginia Regina: I hadn't really been part of it all then... i wish i would have known......but i wasn't even writing songs then... just 17... Regina: ha! i need to travel this here country side! cause i've seen more europe than america, i've never been west..... and you are anything but a jerk! Brad: Do you feel real worldly traveling all over and coming from Russia, livin in NYC and all. Go west its fun to visit. Regina: i've been midwest... worked on a butterfly farm... there's a songs on the new cd "Songs" called aching to pupate... it was birthed in WI Brad: We wrote a song on teh way back from NYC while in New Jersey called "I'll pump my own damn gas thank you" Brad: We then waited til we were completely empty in Deleware before pumping Brad: You know Jersey is Full service only? Regina: i feel like a lucky mutt, definately... i love europe, but i also end up defending America a lot of the time... "does all your fish come as a square and breaded?" "Do you drink cocacola for breakfast?" "Are you a Spears and Lopez fan?".....and I'm like, look- i don't want to defend everything... there's lots of problems, but i'm the typical american... and i'm a mutt, and so is everyone else... it gets very muddy thinking about it... Brad: One of my dogs is a mutt and we call her a summa dog "summa everything" Regina: yeah... my mama still doesn't know how to pump gas... cause she visits my grandma in jersey and fills up... i don't know how to drive... together we survive NY car trips... Brad: You can get away with not knowing in NYC but in NC you'd be in trouble Brad: or at least very bored Regina: i love mutt dogs... my favorite dog passed away last year... he was the first dog i met in this country, and his name was "knight"... he was part wolf, i am so sure... Regina: yeah... i think it's a freedom i have missed out on... i think i won't understand a big part of the mindset and ideals of America till i get one of those giant metal vehicles... and just drive right through... and keep going... Brad: It is a big fat country... Brad: I heard a little of you on an Anders Griffen Cd. good job Regina: that boy... he's so special, and wonderful... i am real glad that we are friends and make music... that disk is beautiful... Regina: i can only begin to imagine... i have friends who showed me pictures of Arizona, and Utah, and Cali, and it's so ...big, and like a cathedral in a way....just holy... Brad: I got married in Vegas Regina: by an elvis? Brad: No by a lady named Charlotte who married Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett. We lasted longer so far Regina: good for you! now get crakin' on those babies! Brad: hahahaha... (j/k Vanessa) (no not really anti-fans) Regina: do you know the three man made structures seen in space are- the great wall of China, the Staten Island Landfill garbage hell, and the reflective dome from Las Vegas Elvis Cassino/Hotel? Brad: No I only knew about the great wall Regina: pretty sad right? what the fuck are we doing? Brad: Just talkin Brad: Making garbage Brad: Heatin up teh earth Regina: yup. Brad: Only the cold parts though right? Brad: Drinking kills brain cells, but only the weak ones. Regina: yeah, so when you drink you are really evolving your brain to the next level... survival of the fittest cells... very uber mench, no? Regina: but we're also singing songs about pickles and meat balls, and death penalty, and Oedipal complexes, and paris, and love, and soup and stuff... wow i write a lot about food..... Brad: What do you want to get outta your music? I don't want a pickle.. Regina: i think what i want out of my music is not much... i'm trying to figure out what my music wants out of me, and accomodate... not to fuck up.... help it a long... be true to it... Regina: i guess i want some comfort from it too... Brad: How do you mean... comfort? Regina: i feel so wonderful when i play... when i am making things up and no one's around i feel even better... it's so comforting, and a tiny reason to do and be... comfort. Brad: I sa lot of what you do spontaneous? Regina: i'm not articulate at times, it makes sence in my head, but i could be writing rediculous things...? Regina: um....... on stage? no, i work it out before... i think that's the composition part... i get that thing, good and bad, from classical music... and i like to have it in my head... at home when i write, it's a combo.. i'll do spontaneous things, and that will trig a series of strings beginning to unravel, and then i am working... Regina: some of the things i will do on stage after i live with the song for a while are spontaneous, though... that's the jazz blues influence... Brad: Ahh Regina: ohhhhhhhh? Regina: hee-hee Brad: Yeah! Regina: you know, this is my fist time on IM and i can totaly see how people get into it! Brad: wow Brad: Its your new crack Regina: yeah... and when i'm in france i'll be sitting there, with my seventeenth croissant, and an expresso going mad on this IM shit... Brad: Pan dde chocolate Regina: it's very interesting, but i bet couples have fights on this thing... cause there's no inflections... everything is flat lined... Brad: speakin of couples You datin anybody?": Brad: I am spoken for so no worries bout ma Regina: i know you is! Regina: ummmmmmmm. well, it's complex. i put it better on the disk, so just listen up close to it...you'll hear that i'm bad at that kindda stuff, but also not bad at it... oh... i don't know... i'm trying to figure it all out these days... Brad: And I am am a good guy too, so I am forever spoken for Regina: that vegas charlotte girl did a good thang! Brad: Charlotte did do it right plus it was taped for the BBC With songs like Mary Ann, do you scare guys? Brad: Murderin guys and all Regina: i think that i am definately quirky....but boys are wierd too, you know? Brad: I hear ya, I pretend to be one you know Regina: and besides i also talk about....well, do i even have any sweet talking songs about boys? Brad: True True Regina: i think that love is love, and that comes through.....i definately am a lovaholic.... Brad: I hear ya. Regina: i can tell you one thing though.... my biological clock is like a cookoo monster... everytime a see babies on the street my ovaries bite..... am definately gonna have a litter of mutts! Regina: but not now....... that's my brain talkin.... Brad: Boys listen up Brad: What are your plans upon your return to teh States? Regina: it's so much more fun to write about stories, though.... cause it's the distilled virsion of the whole... Brad: Screw the return elaborate Regina: oh......well, it's like the difference between reading a brilliant novel full of charecters..and learning and abstract lesson from art... vs. a "how to" book of heavy handed directions and examples... you know? Regina: i feel like i learn from art and lit and music, and i don't won't to put forth " you loved me, you broke my heart, i work a shit job" kind of stuff... Regina: i'm going to try and play a festival in MA and some shows in NY, finish a CD i've been working on (a different one), learn to tango, go kiss a boy in Florida, and visit some good friends on a farm in Hawaii.... sounds good for now... Brad: What kinda art you like? Regina: i love chagal, and picasso, van gough, and silvia plath, and dumas, and camus, and sartre, and mozart and chopin and muchos moderns..but i'm bad with their names....i stopped remembering names well when i turned 13........ maybe even before....... hans chrisitan anderson and astrid lingren.and there's just so much good out there, it's such a rich world.....what an escape...i'm a big escapist, i think.... Regina: i love the little prince, and also i have a very strong love for the russian arts...it's more like my blood....like tchakovsky, and prokofiev, and visotsky, the great russian bard and actor, and galich and the whole underground brilliant person with guitar and words music world i grew up listening to... very contraversial, and a type of salvation for many adults of my parents age living there... Regina: also, i love bulgakov, chechov, gogol.... Brad: Mike Rechner took my pal and I to teh Jewish Museum and the Googinhiem (spelled very badly here) Brad: I love art and used to be an art Major in School before switching to business Regina: That's awesome... why did you switch? Regina: i think the jewish museum is a really great place, i walked for hours when they had the chagal there... Also, i can't wait for paris... I love the cieling he painted in the opera house... i love opera as well... Don Giovanni, and Marrige of Figaro are amongst my most Faverite! Regina: that's favorite... right? Brad: A lot of things really.. I think one of the major reasons was my Favorite artist and a childhood friend Died after getting kicked out of art school. Plus just kinda a thing like questioning myself and all. I still love it and don't do it as much as I should. Regina: you'll find your way back to doing it as much as you need... i'm so sorry about your friend... Brad: Roger the artist, died hitchhiking and Bill was on a motorcycle when someone pulled in front of him Brad: Its ok... I have had two people who at one time I considered my best friends die on me. I have already warned Ben, Brian, Erin and Vanessa to watch out!!! Regina: oh! that's funny in a bitter sweet sort of way, off course..... i think they'll be fine, and it sounds like you have a great thing going... next time you visit ..if it's not summer, i'd love to meet in person... Brad: You don't like me ion the summer Regina: unless you want to visit, le paris? Brad: I am not against Paris I liked it. is that your summer home? Regina: nope......i'm staying with this amazing woman....girl.....my age, really....who has traveled, and is a writer and actress, and musician....Eleonore...and we are taking it all on! Brad: You go! Girl!.... Woman! Regina: brad......i sortta have to leave now... i've lost track of the time casue it's so much fun talking with you, but if i don't take the cd to the printers, it really won't be done on time... Brad: Ok thats ok. Maybe we can do a little later and finish it up? Regina: i'd like that... i have a show tonight at Joe's pub, but maybe tomorrow? how will i summon you... you got me here, but i wouldn't know how to get off this cyber thang, or back on again... it's not at all like riding a bike, you know... Brad: Be good. It was great talkin to ya Brad: I'll call ya, or you call me Regina: ok.....phone.....got it.......all the best, and say hi to summa from me, would ya? and vanessa too.... peaces Brad: Will do halfway done Brad: Can't waitto hear the Cd Brad: bye Regina: thanks..... it's both frightening and liberating to have it... we'll see...bye.. Brad: Bye Brad: bye and hello Regina: yup. Regina: Hey again, how are you today? Brad: Sleepy Brad: My dog craped all over the place last night and I stayed up cleanin Regina: oh..... i'm completely excited! i just got a box of freshly baked CDs... Brad: YEAH! are they really hot? Regina: oh...that has nothing to do with your dog..i'm bad with the typing timing. Brad: me too I like it it challenges the reader Regina: i think they are cool...... they're in little slim trays, and black and white cover, and they have 12 songs...and they're called "Songs".... Brad: What's on the cover Regina: oh...the cover, black and white photo of me in this funny fur trimmed hood... Regina: i think this is a diverse little disk...hip hop, and ballady, and trippy, and dark and quirky...but not all at the same time.... it switches from song to song... it's and obstackle course... Brad: Will people who have gotten to see you live recognize the songs? Regina: yeah..that's my main reason for putting it out... Brad: For your peeps Regina: yeah....people have been asking me for songs from live shows... so, for better or worse. Regina: Also, there are a couple songs on here i never really play live...they are even more secret.. Brad: Who accompianies you on teh CD? Regina: just me and all my different voices, and piano....there are many voices in my head, you know:-) Brad: No I don't know- tell me--- Regina: no but seriously, it sometimes feels more like performance art than singing, so i'm pretty self contained....but my next disk will have some of anders on it... Regina: oh.....well, i change accents, and play charecters... like a play... Brad: ahhh Regina: there is definately the "me" that is recognizable in each song, but sometimes even i have to search for her... Regina: to give an example, there's songs about incest, prisoners, pickle jars comming to life, love songs, and little french choruses.... so much of it is from a point of view that isn't mine... Brad: The love songs...... jk Regina: hey........nope, those are.... Regina: but acctually so are the pickles.... Brad: hahaha Brad: Are you taken any to Europe? Gunna play any over there? Regina: i'm leaving in exactly a week, and i'm going to take them along.hense the slim trays..so i can carry more....also i'm totaly going to play there..... but i wish i had a more convenient instrument..like the saw....or a flute, or even a guitar...it's hard to be dependant on such a big instrument, like piano.....i'm not very portable... Regina: i know how to play one string blues on the guitar, though... Brad: I have to go for like 15 min.... My dog took a shit in front of me Regina: ok....... Brad: Believe me I wish it were not so Regina: just write again when you are ready... Brad: will do .... it is NASTY Brad: I feel lik eSamual L Jackson in Pulp Fiction when he says I got brain detail Regina: i never saw it, but the soundtrack rocked......i listened to it on a crazzy road trip.... Regina: how many zzzz'z in crazzzzy? i always get that wrong... Brad: 7 Regina: that sounds sketchy.....even to gulible me.... Brad: Every Word is true Regina: ha! Regina: i had a fun time a sidewalk cafe last night... Brad: Did I miss anyone worth seeing Regina: i had a show and i had forgotten all about it with the leaving the country crazzzzzzzziness.....and Danny Kelly and Casey H. and Rick Shapiro had sets..... Regina: Yeah..i only could stick around for Danny's set- it was great! he had some amazing songs..... "my flag is red black and blue....." Brad: Don't know of Danny Regina: you don't? you really should add him to the site... Brad: Allright most of th eshit is up... I'll have to do a little rework before Vanessa gets home though Regina: oh.....the dowggy. Brad: Yep Brad: Fire ass Brad: I am sure glad I have no sence of smell Brad: anyway back to the Cd Regina: ok... yeah? ummmmmm Brad: You are takin it wit chu are you gunna play over there Regina: i am going to look into it..i know there are a few cafes i can play, and maybe i'll find some other places when wonedring the streets and such. Brad: Ahhh good jib Brad: job Regina: jub? Brad: WHat is the most revealing lyric on teh new cd Regina: ummm... hard one, let me think a second..... Brad: Second is up Regina: oh shit, i really don't know.... there's nothing that comes to mind, cause it's probably all revealing.....in it's own way. different parts are revealed in different lyrics...to each his own.. Regina: is this a cop out answer? i don't mean it to be.. Brad: I think that it is Regina: oh..... well, here's a revealing one " if you often smile, but often don't smile....which do you do more often? smile? or not..." Brad: What are you interseted in besides Music and Travel? Regina: oh...i love so many things, playing toys, and i love stones and flowers, and good films, and books, and dancing.i love to dance! Regina: i also really like to doodle pictures... and sculpt Regina: i have always wanted to learn how to sew.... do you know how to? Brad: No my wife crochets and knits though Regina: i want to learn and make dresses and stuff, i've been saying it for years..those who know me just laugh these days....especially my mom..she has heard it since i was 5... Brad: What toys do you play? Regina: i love legos, and stuffed animals...but old ones, that have been played by people i know....and i love those cars you pull back and then they wind up and ride like lunatics! Brad: ahhh Brad: What is the best lego thing you have ever made? Regina: i learned to crochet last summer.....it's great for airplane travel.... Brad: Mary Ann Farley Crochets as well. Is there an antifolk Connection? Brad: I made a working Voltron out of legos the lions could turn into the big robot Regina: oh....i'm bad at following the patterns for "things" but i've made wierd fun space machines, and rockets, and underwater ships....futuristic...oooooooh... Regina: Wow...voltron! that's impressive....i found a broken voltron in brooklyn one morning by the side of the road..i donated it as a car mascot...... nope, the only crocheter i know in anifolk, is Rachel Lipson....she's great! Regina: i hope that's the right last name, i'm bad with names, especially last..i say it with confidence, but sometimes i make half of it up.....it sounds right... Regina: She's good friends with Jeff Lewis among many other good friends.... Brad: Cool- Mary ann Farley does too Brad: and you as well Regina: Who's she? i have a song called marry ann. Regina: But two rr's in Marry, couldn't be the same girl... Brad: http://www.antifolk.homestead.com/MaryAnnFarley.html Regina: cool, i'll check it out Brad: you got any questions for me? Regina: wow, technology is amazing...i just clicked on that and went somwhere far.... Brad: hahaha Regina: yup.......what'cha laughing at, it is gonna kick your butt! Brad: Somewhere far Brad: I do not have much of a butt Brad: I take NoAssAtAll pills Regina: I saw Lach last night- he's super nice, how long have you known him? Brad: I just met him last week Regina: How did you get into anti-ing it..... Brad: emailed back and forth a little like for 4-5 yeras I think Brad: Through Roger Manning Brad: Then KirK kelly and Cindy Lee Berryhill Regina: this is where i don't know names again....but i think it's cool that communities can span states and countries..... Brad: Then Paleface and Lach and so on Brad: They were all part of the old scene Regina: Paleface is amazing as well... Brad: I just Saw Roger Manning on VH1 talking about antifolk in teh Beck Behind the music Brad: It was really cool to meet Paleface and Lach who I have liked their music for a while you know Regina: i don't know much of the history of it....definately not back to beck and jeff buckly, to me it's part of the mythology of sidewalk..... i'd like to look into it... Brad: Maybe I could get someone to write something about it. Regina: definately! it's always so good to meet people who's music you admire, and then to find out they are cool people as well.... Brad: I am hopeing to Interview Cindy Lee soon and maybe she will talk about the older days Brad: Back when you were in Russia Regina: good...keep me posted, i think i'm only gonna have some access to random email for the next two months, so it'll be good to know what's up... Brad: And when the fort was not in sidewalk Brad: cool try and give the fansite new countries Brad: We had one from Japan Yesterday Regina: oh....yeah..... the olden days...i had to wire my own electrisity, and carry water from a well (really did that.....but not in moscow) yeah...i read a bit about that on Lach's page on the site.... Brad: cool Regina: i'll pass the word on. Brad: I got 5 quick questions and then I should get going and finish shit detail Regina: sure..... Brad: Coolest Country? Regina: hard to say..... i loved Barcelona when i was in spain....I love NY, so that's a hard one...and i absolutely fell in Love with Israel..... I felt so at home...The shit that goes down there with the everyday terrorism breaks my heart, I'm totaly with the people of Israel... !!! Israel is so beautiful...... Brad: What do you wanna be when you grow up? Regina: ummmmmm. a musician. Regina: but actually a broader term..... i want to always be doing art..... different fields.... Brad: hhaha i thought you were gunna say "i don't want to grow up" Regina: well.....i don't think wanting to will change anything.the truth is, i probably couldn't grow up even if i tried.....we were talking of legos, weren't we? Brad: What three words would ypour best friend use to describe you? Regina: silly, kissable, monkey? Brad: What three words would you use to describe them? Regina: frinds? Brad: best friend Brad: silly Regina: oh.... yeah... silly, kissable, monkey....yup! Brad: same thing? Regina: off course, other wise it's not fair! Brad: Last one- Regina: i don't have one best friend, you know..i have a few really wonderful best friends..but the three words span them all..... go figure! Regina: yup... Brad: Would you have worn the Swan dress that bjork did at the oscars? Regina: definately! i love clothes like that....i wear stockings as shirts, and an occasional tu-tu...so yeah....not a question in my mind.... Regina: i love dresses! Brad: ohhh Kay Regina: ohhhhhhl Ight! Brad: Thanks for doin' THis!!! Brad: I hope you had fun Brad: If not sorry Regina: my pleasure- thanks to you...i'm sorry you had to endure poopage... from both me and your doggy Regina: i had funalicious fun! You better take care now..have fun this summer, see you in the fall.... Brad: Be good over there- but not tooo much Brad: Bye Regina: bye....... Brad: Y not |
