You are involved with lots of projects. What would be your favourites?
My two favorites are my solo project and the Laundry Room Squelchers. I love playing solo because I have a very dark, brooding Leslie thats kind of present all the time but i try to squash , so playing alone I can kinda let all that energy out without having to share it with other people's energy in a band. When I play with the Squelchers the more fun, social, excitable Leslie energy lets loose. Not that I play negative music solo or anything like that, I happen to think my music is really positive and upbeat, its just more of a personal expression whereas with the Squelchers it is more of a social expression. I also love playing with Scott Martin because he is an amazing musician and I feel like we connect on some special plane that is very safe and intuitive when we play together. I also love to sit in sometimes with Feverqueen because Cortney Tidwell's voice is otherworldly.
You just visited Australia for the International Noise Conference (INC) events recently. What were the highlights for you?
I loved Australia SO much I can't even begin! First I met some amazing new friends, Keg De Souza, Dodo, Fur Chick, Nic Tammens, Rod (Cooper), Lloyd Honeybrook, and that’s just a few! While in Melbourne Nic and Lloyd took Claire, Graham, and I to Ferntree Gully to the rainforest to hike. It was so beautiful and had such a sweet, musty smell. We also got our legs covered in leeches (except for Claire). I freaked out so bad I broke out in hives! It was such an adventure! Then we saw thousands of fruit bats!!! I saw a red back on my fake red hair. The INC shows were so much fun and the bands were all so good. It was also nice to have a night off in Melbourne because we got to go see another show that featured some of the lady performers who had played INC the night before. I also tried a Roo Burger.
How many INC performances have you done? Maybe you've lost count?
O wow! That is a good question! I would estimate around 75-100. That includes 7 Miami INCs, a EuropeanTour, Australia, a full USA tour, and several other 2 or 3 week USA INC tours. I really love the INC tour concept Rat came up with because even though it can be daunting to play a bill with 30+ bands for the 20th night in a row, its ideal because in every city or country you pretty much get to see the entire underground noise community in one or two nights! Instead of playing with 2 or 3 locals acts, you get the whole scene. There aren't any small shows that no one comes to because you have secured an audience with all the bands so I think its brilliant. Rat's a genius!
Being a main Squelcher lady must be interesting. Your live show is .... lively. Are there any rules to the squelcher game for you?
That's funny you would ask because when I first started touring with LRS I thought it was all fun and games but there are "rules". Rules I thought were silly at first but now make sense over the years. Rat trains us like a football team and he is the coach. My personal favorite rules of LRS touring are (based on experience):
no couples on tour
no feedback
don't get off the exit to go to a gas station unless you can see it from the road
no gps, use a map!
eat whatever you want
party
What's it like being on the road with Rat Bastard?
Amazing and intense. Rat is no bullshit. He is a man with a plan. He definitely is the one in control, but he is a good leader. He books the greatest shows, we eat at the best places, and every now and then you can get him to take you to Snoquamie Falls outside of Seattle to see where the filmed Twin Peaks and to eat at the diner they used in the show on your day off.
One thing that really strikes me about you is that you don't fit the description of one might imagine a serious noise artist/squelcher to be like. You a a very happy person, yes?
I try to be! I definitely can be pretty sour and emotional sometimes! However, when I am on tour I keep a pretty good attitude. When things get tough, I just remember that I work all the time when I am home so I can save enough money to go to Australia or on any tour and that its all gonna be ok, I am technically on vacation! So I am generally easy to get along with on tour. I go with the flow.
What drives your desire to play noise? Or play "not noise" at noise events?
I have just always wanted to play music and perform. I wish I could sing so I could have been a popstar! I play noise because that is what I just naturally started playing after college and people responded to it (unlike my not-so-good bands in college). I still think I play noise but I have just always wanted to play pop and I finally have some gear that will allow me to attempt to make pop music. I still have noise elements in those songs, but its just where I am at with my music right now. NoisePop! LOL
What set up/equipment do you use? And how do you use it?
I use radios, kaosillatorpros, kaoss pad, micro korg and random other things. I basically come up with a melody and a beat and layer and try to make different parts of the song and then still use improvisation when I play live by stringing all the parts together and making a few small songs in one big giant song snuggie.
Aside from musical adventures, what else do you get up to?
I'm a naturalist. I really want to be a forest ranger or lead guided hikes or something to that effect. I love to hike and am pretty obsessed with finding and identifying wildflowers. I have a wildflower blog which I haven't updated recently, that I post flowers I find on my hikes and identify them. In Middle Tennessee where I live we have these amazing places called Cedar Glades. They occur in these three counties here and hold many rare and endemic plants (plants that do not grow anywhere else in the world). I have named most of my recent songs after these plants. One endemic plant in particular, the Tennessee Purple Coneflower was endangered , but as of last Thursday it was taken off the list due to recent conservation of the glades. I was so excited! I'm a Cedar Glade enthusiast. They are abundant with magical energy and have the most beautiful wildflowers blooming nearly year round.
What's up next for you?
I will be playing Voice of the Valley Noise Rally which is in its third year and takes place in Pentress, West Virginia deep in the woods. They have generators and a small outdoor stage and everyone camps all weekend and performs at night. The another Squelchers tour a week after that called Phi-Phenomena. Its LRS, Cock ESP, John Vance, and myself solo touring in a huge RV on the East Coast and Midwest for a week. 10 Bands, One Hour, Five Minute Sets Each with a 1 Minute break in between. Should be amazing and totally absurd! Then LRS is gonna play Colour Out of Space in Brighton in November.
Do you have any interesting collaborations on the horizon?
Tomorrow is my first practice with my new band. It is me, Cortney Tidwell, Laurel Parton, and Sally Worsham. Not sure what we will sound like, but I think Sally wrote a song about 69in' in French.
Any releases coming up?
No, I am almost done writing enough material for a new record which will probably be called 'Cedar Glades'. So hopefully by the end of the year I will have a new record.
