Interview: Amanda Palmer

http://www.dresdendolls.com

The Dresden Dolls have been described as a number of things, their music is however impossible to pigeon hole. So we won't bother trying . . . Suffice to say lead singer Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione have created something aurally and aesthetically wonderful. One of the best live acts on the go, anyone seeking something beyond the mundane should check them out. Here Amanda tells us about what she's been up to recently.

HOLV: Hi Amanda how are things?

AP: Hi Chris things are wonderful. I'm taking a really truly relaxing break for the first time in six years.

HOLV: Can you tell our readers who are perhaps not familiar with the Dresden Dolls what to expect from the music you make?

AP: It really depends who I'm trying to explain it to. I usually start by telling people that the instrumentation is just piano and drums, and that we play passionately aggressive rock music, a little bit influenced by cabaret. I often tell people that the band really needs to be seen live to be understood. a lot of what makes the shows so spectacular is the fanbase, the performance artists with whom we collaborate, and their collective creativity.

HOLV: You are quite a visual duo, is the Dresden Doll sense of style as important for you as the music?

AP: Not at all. people often find it surprising when I tell them that brian and I barely think about what we wear and how we look. I've been sporting the same sweaty black t-shirt and tights on tour for the past year, and that was after I retired the sweaty black dress that I had been sporting the four years before that. Brian usually wears shorts and sneakers. there is, however, the makeup. that really throws people off. But much like the "costumes" we wear, its much more suggestive than anything else. We slap on a little bit of white powder and eye makeup in 5 minutes and it sweats off before the 4th or 5th song is over. I always find it ironic that we are known as a "makeup band" when the vast majority of pop bands out there are spending far much more time on it than we are. But this goes to show, its all in how you look at it.

HOLV: We hear things are on hold whilst you both pursue different projects. Can you tell us about what you have planned with regards to a solo career, will it be vastly different from The Dresden Dolls?

AP: I don't think my solo ventures will be vastly different from what I've done with the band, simply because the songs are coming from the same place. I will be up on stage doing pretty much what I do with the dresden dolls except without an excellent drummer to play off of. This does create a kind of freedom, however. There's something much more powerful about connecting solo with an audience that I enjoy exploring. I've also been toying with different collaborators to form a ramshackle back-up band with a rotating cast of characters. I'm lucky to know some excellent musicians and playing with other people is really invigorating. But I think people will find the songs that I put forth solo could just as easily be at home on any Dresden Dolls record.

HOLV: Finally are there any current artists out there who are inspiring you?

AP: Yes. I'm a huge fan of both Antony and the Johnsons and Regina Spektor. It's been wonderful to follow them both out of obscurity and to see their genre of songwriting and performance get the kind of recognition it deserves. It fills me with hope. There are some lesser-known artists who I'm really excited about, for instance: Jason Webley, a one-man guitar and accordion-wielding force of nature. he puts on one of the best live shows i've ever seen. Reggie Watts, the former lead singer of Maktub, who is now doing stand-up/beat-boxing/looping, is another inspiration. he's just insanely talented. i saw a band in Nashville a few weeks back called Dixie Dirt that blew me away, a female-fronted Sonic Youth-y four piece. I'll be surprised if their name doesn't grow like wildfire.

Interviewed By Hammond