Late 2004 - LaGravePub.com

LINK - PART 1 / LINK - PART 2

INTERVIEW WITH REGINA SPEKTOR

By Aquiles La Grave

About six months ago I asked a friend to help me paint a room as a Christmas present for Meghan Kelleher, he said he'd do it if he could pick the music we'd listen to. What he chose was the usually ominous sign of the self entitled indie music conosieur, a burnt cd. After much deliberation and crude words he convinced me (by sheer upperbody mass) that this once I should listen rather than retreat into my pile of Lou Reed bootlegs. It was Regina Spektor and I haven't quite been, well, the same.

ALG: Your music seems to create a distinct space where you can communicate raw emotion, I?m wondering how you approach the songwriting process emotionally, and technically.

(RS) I just read and listen and pay attention a lot, and then i sit at the piano and work for many many hours... sometimes i also hummm...

ALG: Tell us about Soviet Kitsch.

(RS) It was made about a year ago, with Gordon Raphael and Alan Bezozi. It was recorded in NYC and London, and it was the first time i ever used strings and a punk band on a record... i also worked quite a bit with my friends Crackerfarm (www.crackerfarm.com) to come up with the album art...

ALG: You have recorded 3 albums, how do you see the evolution of your sound, say from 11:11 to your most recent album Soviet Kitsch.

(RS) 11:11 was very jazz/blues influenced... Songs was just a simple collection of, well, songs... and Soviet Kitsch is all over the place, punk and classical influenced... I'm excited about the next one, whatever it will be.

ALG: You recorded a song with The Strokes recently, how did that come about?

(RS) I was on tour opening for them in America, they invited me to sing on that song...

ALG: When I first heard your name it was in the context of performance art, do you relate to that term?

(RS) I've never done official performance art, though I like the element of acting used in songs... if that's what you mean...

ALG: How do you approach live performance?

(RS) Very nervously, and lovingly...

ALG: Do you expect your audiences to be active of passive?

(RS) I expect them to be listening, that's as active as I care for them to be... a little head movement is nice, at times...:-)

ALG: If you had to choose between a meal at Odessa and a jar of pickles which would you choose (not my question but I promised I?d ask).

(RS) Neither, these days... I'd go right to 2nd Avenue Deli and get me a good meal with some pickles on the side... no need to choose...

ALG: Who are your major classical influences.

(RS) Everything I've played/listened to from childhood- Chopin, Bach, Mozart, too many to mention, really...

ALG: Who are your major modern influences.

(RS) Ummm- it all starts with The Beatles, and continues with Queen... I am so behind on pop culture, though... I listened a lot to Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchel, Patti Smith, Velvet Underground, Nirvana, Tom Waits, Bjork, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, so many more... many many !!!

ALG: You seem to have an almost preternatural instinct when it comes to playing the piano, how old where you when you started playing, and who have you studied under or over, we?re not particularly picky.

(RS) I have been so lucky with piano! i've had two amazing teachers- In Moscow Eugenia Ivanovna Chebotaryova, from the age of six, and in New York City Sonia Vargass, from the age of ten... wonderful teachers!

ALG: Are you reading or listening to anything new or old right now?

(RS) These days it's all Nirvana all the time, with an occasional U2 or Bowie mixing in there, sometimes... Also, I've been listening to Blond Redhead- "Melody for certain Damaged lemmons" - what an amazing record...And of course Dylan and L. Cohen

ALG: My grandmother once told me that I shouldn?t think of myself as the last can of cola in the desert. A narcissist at heart I took her advice and have since thought of myself as the last stick of goat cheese in the desert, what would you be?

(RS) Well, if you were a true narcissist, you'd think of yourself as the desert itself, so being the last goat cheese is humble, and even saddening, considering you would be doomed to a stinky death by melting in the sun... I guess... as for me, I'd like to think of myself as a well in the desert, one of many- this will satisfy both, my love of "The little prince", and my Aquarian nature and my wish to give... this is all bullshit, of course, because I just made it up... who knows what I'd say if I was asked tomorrow, I might choose the goat cheese idea instead...

ALG: Who is Daniel Cowman?

(RS) ------- The only clue i'll give you is that he's not a super hero- like "Superman" or "Spiderman" or "Batman"... he posses no powers relating to the cow- like drowning the bad guys in steaming streams of milk, or mooing them to death, or anything silly like that...

ALG: How did you end up being associated with the Anti-folk movement?

(RS) Well, it's all a blur of open mics and hotchocolatebeers -but: i played a bunch of shows at Sidewalk Cafe, on the Lower East Side, some of my songs were potty mouthed,and i am friends with/fan of a bunch of other NYC kids who did the same thing... it's an Anti-folk-vicious-circle-cycle-rock-acoustic-punk-non-thing-that-means-different-things-to-differe nt-people... and i think that's how....