While fans of the Distillers and other next-generation punk bands should ultimately find this transition natural and easy to follow,
Spinnerette --- the new vehicle for former
Distillers lead Brody Dalle -- has a decidedly more gentle rock edge as debuted on their first release, the "
Ghetto Love EP."
With languid, thumping rhythms and wiggling guitar underscoring Dalle's considerably quieter but no less fierce vocals, tunes like "Ghetto Love" and "Valium Knights" are the perfect comedown to a rowdy gig from the Distillers, the soothing medication to take after amped Distillers albums like 2002's Sing Sing Death House. The first Spinnerette album, A Prescription for Mankind, will emerge in June.
In a telephone chat with SG, Dalle spoke about her current project, old musical formats, and a fresh approach to creativity in light of becoming a mother in the years since the Distillers parted ways. (She has a daughter, Camille, with her husband, Queens of the Stone Age/Eagles of Death Metal frontman
Josh Homme.) In both talent and attitude, she could be in the running for Hot Rock Mom of the Year.
Tamara Palmer: In the few years since you last put an album out, there have been so many changes in the music industry. Have you had to take any precautions against your album or material leaking online before you could have a chance put it out?
Brody Dalle: You know what? I haven't thought about it. We haven't been particularly precious about it and I think having an attitude like that totally helps. If it happens, it happens but I haven't thought about it. You can manifest things if you get too precious and scared or if you think about something too much so I'm glad that's not been a part of my mental process, worrying about whether it's gonna leak or not. I know the Yeah Yeah Yeah's [album] did and that really sucked for them.
This is under a different name so people don't really know it. I think that's one thing that we have going for us. People are probably like, "Who's that?" or "Who cares?" if they have seen it. If it was the Distillers, there'd probably be more of a danger of that happening.
TP: It can go both ways, either by stimulating sales or by cutting into them.
BD: It used to help bands. I remember when we were on [record label] Hellcat and the Offspring album leaked. And they sold 12 million fucking records, so it didn't hurt at all, you know? That was way before the downloading thing took over, when people were excited and they'd hear [the bootleg] and then they'd go get the hard copy. Whereas now, when people have it, they have it. The ADD generation, they're just -- they're movin' on.
TP: That's what I'm afraid of, that the market for the physical product might not be the same as it used to be.
BD: Yeah, it's true, it's really, really unfortunate. There's so much stuff out there for people to buy, we're just getting bombarded with things. I think people just either get overwhelmed or they don't care anymore? It sounds really fucked up, but people are getting really complacent, and if they can just download songs straight to their iPod, why would they need to have this extra thing laying around unless they really are a fan or they really give a shit.
TP: I feel like a dinosaur because I DJ with vinyl and I've got lots of vinyl in the house.
BD: No, that's a dying art and that's beautiful. You should just hold on to that because pretty soon -- I mean, actually, vinyl's kind of had a resurgence, I'm sure you know that.
TP: It seems like it, and right when everyone seemed like they were putting the final nail in the vinyl coffin. Are you doing any kind of vinyl?
BD: Yeah, of course! Yeah, we're doing a single for "Sex Bomb" with a remix by Adam Freeland, and that's coming out in about a month. That's kind of a special release thing that we did, and we'll definitely press up vinyl [for the album]. It's just been a long process to try and just even have this record crown itself. It's been a real uphill battle.
TP: Well, you've had a lot going on as well.
BD: Yeah, but the changes within the industry and people being so gun shy about signing new bands or something they don't know about and people having a hard time having any faith in anything. I looked in the
LA Weekly the other day and there were, like, no shows, and I was like, "What the fuck is going on?" I know there's a recession, but entertainment, that's a leisure.
TP: You'd think it'd be more plentiful at this time.
BD: Fuck yeah! But there's nothing going on, I don't know, there's something depressing in the music I'm hearing right now, but hopefully that'll change.
TP: Are you finding difficulties when it comes to booking shows or are you going to tour?
BD: We're definitely gonna tour, it's just a matter of raising the profile of Spinnerette. If if it were the Distillers, it'd be no problem, we could play wherever we wanted and it'd be easy-peasy. But because it's a new band, people don't know about it, but we're going on tour for sure. It starts May 29 on the East Coast and then the record comes out. Then, we'll do the West Coast and the touring will start. Because I have a little girl, it'll be spread out.
TP: That sounds way more civilized anyway.
BD: Yeah, and at this point in my life, even if I didn't have Camille, I don't think I could do an eight-week tour. I think I might just go crazy.
TP: That kind of lifestyle is either for you or not for you: A different city every day for months on end.
BD: Yeah, have you ever toured? I know you guys do the Suicide Girls tour and perform?
TP: I mean, I'm not a performing . . . [laughs]
BD: You're just the writer.
TP: Exactly! But I have been on the road with a band, just not for more than two or three days. I have slept in the little bunks on the tour bus before and don't understand how anyone could do that for very long.
BD: Believe me, it becomes your safe place, like, "I just want to get to my bunk! I just want to get to my bunk." It's like your little haven.
TP: It's a little bit too claustrophobic for me.
BD: That's what we all thought when we first started doing it, but then it becomes your womb.
TP: I can see how it could be.
BD: Also the movement -- a lot of people get car sick, but I don't have that problem so it's like being rocked to sleep.
TP: Okay, I can see how it could sort of be like
Magic Fingers.
BD: [laughs] Totally!
TP: So, since you'll be doing short stints on the road, will Camille come with you?
BD: No, not to start, not until we can build a bigger profile and enough momentum. She'll be at home with her daddy. He has a break in his touring cycle, so it works out really good.
TP: Will this be the first time you have been apart from her?
BD: No, we've been apart here and there. My dad died and I was gone for four weeks, which was gnarly, but it was in Australia. That was the longest; that was pretty brutal. She was about a year old, but my husband was here and his family was there so that made a big difference. That was so intense; that's not a good example because my mind was on this awful thing. Josh and I have gone to England once for eight days, he played and it was just kind of a mummy and daddy get-away. You gotta have them. But she's been on tour; she's been on tour with Queens a couple times. She's ready to be a road dog.
TP: What's her interest in music? Is she a rock child?
BD: She has really eclectic tastes and I think it's because we do. I'm not trying to shove anything down her throat. She picks what she likes. She loves Eagles of Death Metal, of course. Basically, she loves the stuff that she hears a lot. When we're in the process of making a record, that's what she hears all the time so she's obsessed with Spinnerette. I remember one time [Distillers/Spinnerette guitarist] Tony [Bevilacqua] and I were driving in the car and she wouldn't let us take it out and play something else. She threw a little tantrum, it was really cute.
TP: She's probably also your own harshest critic, too.
BD: Totally! She will also hear the first bar and she'll know what it is. She loves Cibo Matto actually lately. She loves the Ramones.
TP: Kids love the Ramones!
BD: They do! But come on, how could you not?
TP: So Spinnerette is really almost as new as having a child, or are they about the same age?
BD: It's a bit younger, we've had a couple of incarnations. It started in 2006 after Camille was born. The Distillers broke up before I got pregnant and I played with a whole bunch of people including one of my girlfriends who played bass. Tony and I would just play for hours and gather people together to start something new, and then I got pregnant and put everything on hold. As soon as Camille was born, I went over to [writing partner/member of Eleven] Alain Johannes' house and started demo'ing. It wasn't really even spoken about; it just blossomed into this thing. One of the first songs we wrote was "Ghetto Love" and once we had written it, we were like, "Wow, let's do another one!" And onward it went and then it had a title and became this thing, and the record company wanted us to make a record so they paid for it and onward and upward, that's what happened.
TP: So you didn't cook up any musical concepts when you were pregnant, it just evolved later?
BD: I mean, I did have a lot of ideas, but nothing's really come to fruition until now. It's taken a long time. There's no such thing as accidents, I don't think.
TP: Did you have more to do on this project than you did on the Distillers records? It seemed like that band went through a lot of lineup changes, but you remained at the core. Did you have to handle everything yourself?
BD: I was very hands-on, and if you're talking about the music part, I played everything from Wurlitzer to bass to guitar to percussion. So it's a much more musical project. It's definitely what I want to be doing and is a bit more intricate than the Distillers were. I love the Distillers, but this is really just straight-ahead, easy, not much to think about - except my lyrics, I thought about my lyrics a lot. But the music was simple. And Spinnerette is definitely shooting in a different direction.
