By: Unknown
For: Rave Magazine
Date: March 2nd, 2010
As lead singer of The Distillers, BRODY DALLE epitomised rebellion and raucous, guttural rock & roll. Last year, she released her first album since The Distillers’ break-up and introduced fans to SPINNERETTE. She talks to CHRISTINE LAN.
One of Spinnerette’s distinctions is Dalle’s expansive vocal stylings, which range from her trademark snarls and guttural screams to soulful higher registers. “It’s really fun for me – I’ve always sung difference voices but just never on a record,” says Dalle. “So it was nice for me to be able to record something and not feel awkward or weird or embarrassed, you know, just trying to get over that giving a fuck what anyone else thinks, and just doing it for myself. So that’s thoroughly enjoyable when you do something for yourself, you know. And I feel like it’s just gonna get better; this is kind of the beginning, just the start of scratching the surface.”
In “Distorting a Code”, the lyrics ring with poignancy as Dalle sings: “I’ve received a message / It’s to live and let go / But the past entangles into everything I know / How do I find my way back home?” It would seem that Dalle has arrived at a good place. “Yeah, I mean I have so much love in my life,” she affirms. “I have this tiny child and she’s the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me. But there’s this misconception that when you have a child and you start getting older and you get married, that everything is hunky-dory – that all the bad shit goes away, and you live on a rainbow. And it’s just not the case, you know, some people have accused me of going soft,” she chortles, “and of falling into a honey hole … it’s a bunch of bullshit. There’s so many things to write about … there’s just so much darkness and fucked-up shit and things going on with myself and outside in the world, so there’s endless matter to write about. And just because you have a child doesn’t make you less angry. If anything, I’m probably more passionate about things now than I ever was ’cause I’m bringing my daughter into this sometimes horrific world, so it’s about protecting her … I think certain emotions become heightened.”
How has Dalle managed to balance maturity and deepened understanding with rebellion so well? “I don’t know, it’s funny being such an overemotional person I think you have to turn it off, you know,” she ponders. “But you can also open the tap and let it go when the time is right. It’s the same thing with restraint – I don’t like being restrained, but sometimes I have to be. And that there is something that could inspire so many songs.”
“My career has really just been on hold for about four years, you know. Artistically, I feel like I’ve been locked in some crazy limbo and it’s a little bit depressing to be unable to creatively express myself. But being a mother, you have to sacrifice some of these things, you know, in order to raise a healthy kid in a safe environment, and to give the kid the best that you can. The formative years are the most important, so the sacrifices really mean nothing. I’ve just turned 31 so I’ve got years and years ahead of me. That’ll give me time to write lots of records. I wanna make two records this year … I have tonnes of stuff, a lot of songs … so I better get started.”
SPINNERETTE play The Zoo on Thursday Mar 4 with Mini Mansions and Mary Trembles. See www.spinnerettemusic.com for more information.