2005-03-05 ProductShop NYC

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drinks with regina spektor

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Regina Spektor is the latest talent to emerge from New York’s anti-folk scene. Armed with only a piano, a russian accent, and some light strings, her major label debut, Soviet Kitsch, was released this week by Sire/Warner. She's about to embark on another major US tour. She’ll be performing at the Bowery Ballroom on March 30th with Sean Lennon. I caught up with Regina – which happens to be my mother’s middle name (she used to be embarrassed about it but isn’t anymore) – and chatted about Judaism, thumbs, The Strokes, friends, and lots more. She was funny and quite adorable the entire interview. You just want her to be a lil’ talking teddy bear that you could hug. Of course, the teddy bear would need to keep her defining accent that peppers her singing and speaking voice. Without further ado……

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It’s Product Shop NYC’s round. What are you drinking?
Well, I’m drinking peppermint tea right now. Actually, I have three glasses in front of me. One is a Guinness glass with pear juice. And then I also have a cup of coffee. And then the peppermint tea.

Let’s start with some Jew talk. How has being a Russian-Jew effected your music?
Awesome. Yeah, I’m sure it does affect my music and me because it such a particular brand to be. I think in some ways that I have a more optimistic view of the entire country. More so than most of my friends. For me, I still see America as the land of immigrants dream. I find myself defending America a lot. It’s so much worse in other places. Especially and even now. To me, it’s important to uphold those ideals.

Were you Bat Mitzavah’d?
YES! I had a double Bat Mitzvah with my cousin, Marsha, in the Bronx. Marsha Marsha Marsha. It was really cool. It was basement of the synagogue where I was taught hebrew and everything. I wore this great big poofy dress that had like this white collar and I thought it was the best dress ever and, well yeah, it wasn’t. I thought it was so gorgeous. The whole community came to it. They had known me and Marsha for ever. We started going to there when we were nine. The party was great. We, me and Marsha, played piano at it. We dueted. It was so fun. We’re like twin sisters, except she’s a lot smarter than me. She’s in grad school for psychology and I write songs on a piano.

What is your song writing process? Are you able to sit and write everyday or do you have infrequent spurts of creativity?
More in spurts. I can’t figure out if its necessity or how I am. You try to write every day if I’m not running around all over the city. If I wake up and sit at my piano and I do write. I always start to work. Don’t quote me on this, I don’t know if it was Tchaikovsky who said it, but there is this quote like, “Not a day without a line” and he wasn’t talking about cocaine. He was saying that ever when you’re not inspired, you have to work and write. Sometimes you stumble on something and you work a lot of hours in a row and you have something. I don’t if that made sense. And now I’m going to start drinking my coffee

What are your feelings of “Modern Girls and Old-Fashion Men” a curse or a blessing?
Of course I’m proud of it. To me, it’s such a good song. It’s also the first time I sang a song I haven’t written. Julian wrote the whole thing. He wrote all over the places in airports, on tour. He finished it in a taxi. We had one day in a farm outside of Seattle and everyone was sick and tired. Except Fab I think. He was healthy. It was the first time we were in nature the whole tour. We got to record the vocals outside. There was a dog named Elevator there and everyone called her Ellie. We called her Vator. So the dog would bark whever we would sing loud. And Julian and I were doing our vocals at the same time and were singing loudly and the dog kept barking. We had to stick together a bunch of takes in the end. The only curse is that everyone asks me about The Strokes. I thought it was brave of them to take me on tour. I went from little bars to all over America. It was very kind. We're still very good friends. Them, me, Kings of Leon.

So the new record is out now and…
It’s out! Its out! I bought it! Actually, I bought it in two places. The first place was in Union Square Virgin Megastore. I was looking in new releases section and I couldn’t find it and then it hit me. It was right there. It started the second I got out of the subway. I got out of the subway and I was on a this rollercoaster. The guy who sold it to me went, “Would you like a bag for that.” And I was freaked out. I watched people pick it up and look at it and put it back on the shelf and it was so weird. I then also bought it at Other Music because it’s a great store and they’re really nice. They have big picture of me. It was weird. I felt like everyone could see me naked. It was crazy.

You said that the uptown Tower Records also has a window display.
I was looking at The Gates with David Kahne, who is working on The Strokes record, and he told me that they have the cover at Tower Records and I just didn’t believe him and we walked and talked and then GASP! There it is. It’s like something no real. Like look how big my head is.

Do you ever listen to your own records?
No. I mean. Unless someone puts me in the room and makes me. I listened to it so much while making it and mastering it. Usually what happens is, when enough times passes, I end up walking into a friends house and they’ll be playing something of mine and then I’ll be like “That sounds familiar” and not even realizing its mine for a minute. I’m to busy listening to other peoples records.

What’s your personal favorite song on your new record?
I don’t have a favorite necessarily. ‘Chemo Limo’ is one that is so particular. I just wrote it while I recorded but I don’t play it, but I never say never. I might but I just don’t. It’s like asking, which one of your fingers do you like the most. You have the pinky, the thumb….

What do you write your lyrics based on.
All fiction. Made up stuff. I’m not really sure what a lot of it is. Imagine all this made up stuff that’s rooted in real stuff. Fantasies. Sometimes I get a kick in the butt and then a year passes and I’ll walk into a studio and I’ll hear a demo and the song will remind me of something new and feel honest to me in a way that it didn’t before. I’m very secretive that’s why talking about myself is so weird. I don’t write about my own life. Event the encoded stuff is like hmmm. Hahah. Most of it is not. I’m thoughtful in life when I’m looking at art. When I write I don’t think about it. I just don’t want to be crude and thoughtful. Although, I really have the mouth of trucker.

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DOWNLOAD: Regina Spektor - Poor Little Rich Boy

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Posted by Jason at 12:51 PM