Chantal Claret of Morningwood

Chantal Claret of Morningwood

By Erin Broadley
Aug 22, 2008

The last time SuicideGirls interviewed Chantal Claret, her band Morningwood was one week away from releasing its self-titled debut on major label Capitol Records in 2006. Her excitement crackled through the phone line as she told Auren Suicide about how a New York girl who dropped out of film school to start a band suddenly found herself one of the most electric, captivating women in rock.

It has been a few whirlwind years of non-stop globetrotting and Morningwood is back. Now, with the release of a new Morningwood EP and full-length album on the way, SuicideGirls invited the self-proclaimed “Mae West of rock and roll” to come hang at SGHQ to chat about their highly anticipated EP, the hilarious and innovative video for Morningwood’s new single “Sugarbaby” (complete with a puppet crafted in Chantal’s likeness), and what it’s like being one of David Letterman’s favorite bands.

Check out the dirty version of the “Sugarbaby” video after the interview.

Erin Broadley: Congrats on the new Morningwood EP. How have things been going with the release?
Chantal Claret: Awesome! It’s the most not-set-up EP ever released. All this stuff started picking up… MTV got the video and started loving it. So when that all happened, the label’s just like, “Let’s put this EP out so people can download it [since] all this stuff is happening.” It’s not supposed to be big numbers, big release; it’s supposed to be a slow build. But everybody’s loving on it. Build some excitement for the full length, which we’re going to record pretty soon. The response is incredible. I think we have a great song and a great video that goes with it so people are super excited.
EB:
It is a great video and James W. Wojtal Jr. from the Jim Hensen Studio made the puppet, right?
CC:
Yeah, James W. Wojtal Jr. He used to work for Hensen and he also worked on the puppets for Avenue Q. he’s amazing.
EB:
Was it a dream to have a puppet made in your likeness?
CC:
I did not know that I wanted a puppet of myself until I saw it. I put it on my fantasy list right then when I saw it and checked it right off.
EB:
Did you get to keep it?
CC:
It’s totally sitting in my house. I open up the closet and I’m like, “Hi how are you? Kiss, kiss, kiss.” When we went and did MTV, James [Mindless Self Indulgence’s Jimmy Urine, Claret’s husband] was operating the puppet and none of them know MSI so it was like “puppet guy!” We live totally parallel; he’s totally underground.
EB:
Underground, sure, but every time I’ve seen MSI it’s crowd hysteria and sold out beyond belief. They have people that follow them on tour.
CC:
Yeah but they cant get arrested on MTV. It’s crazy. So he came to MTV and they were like, “Who’s going to work the puppet?” when we were filming and I was like, “He will!” So they’re like, “Ok puppet guy!” [Laughs] It was so funny. [Laughs] So awesome. There’s a picture of him on MTV but he’s just on there as like “puppet man.” We’re totally polar opposites of what our bands are good at… he has cult following stuff and we’re in commercials and get the MTV treatment and radio stuff.
EB:
Is it tough being in a relationship with someone who’s also an entertainer?
CC:
No, it’s great. We manage to see each other a lot more than we thought we would. I don’t know what it’s going to be like when my band starts touring but, as of now, I’ve been able to see him a lot, go out with him, it’s amazing. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Ultimately we’re both going to have to find new professions when we want to have kids because we don’t want to be touring. You don’t want to go into labor on a tour bus. That is totally not my idea. Unless one of us is super successful and we can afford to live that way, you can’t really do that. We’re at some point going to have to look for new jobs where they can keep us together and at home, which will be a sad day for everyone, but a happy day for us.
EB:
Let’s talk about the making of the “Sugarbaby” video. Do you usually come up with the video concepts yourself? Because I know you went to film school.
CC:
Yeah. Adam Neustadter, the guy we made our three videos with, we collaborate with him. We get so many treatments and they’re so shitty.
EB:
“New York Girls” was hilarious. Those dogs…
CC:
[Laughs] Oh thank you! That one I did because I was so bored and restless, like, I just want dogs! Cute dogs, there’s nothing more I love. I want dogs humping. And I want subtitles. With Adam it’s great to work with him because we’re so used to getting all these horrible treatments like, you’re in a grey room ,in an abandoned house, playing with each other. I just saw a video like that the other day and it was the stupidest thing.
EB:
Yeah, why are houses always crumbling around bands?
CC:
Exactly. It’s repulsive. With the “Jetsetter” video we came up with the treatment together. “Nth Degree” was his idea but we came up with all the album covers. “Sugarbaby” was definitely a brainchild of ours.
EB:
They’re all very creative videos.
CC:
It’s great having somebody you can work with, that you trust they’re going to take what you want and make it come to fruition, which is what his specialty is. He’s so great to collaborate with. After we come up with the idea, I can just sort of walk away and know it’s going to come out looking amazing. I hate performance videos. It’s boring. You have an opportunity to introduce yourselves as people and characters.
EB:
And bring out the personality!
CC:
Exactly. It’s like the Beatles; they were masters of that. A Hard Day’s Night is basically a glorified music video where they’re just running around and you get to know each one of them. To me, for most bands [the video] is a huge wasted opportunity. You have an opportunity to tell a story and endear yourselves to people and become a character. Bands don’t seize that at all.
EB:
Well, I think the puppet thing is pretty good. Seeing a puppet doing lines of coke is hilarious. Watching a normal person do lines of coke, not so much.
CC:
[Laughs] Well, originally the song is a really straight story and there’s no way to get away from that unless it totally doesn’t have anything to do with the song. I always like it when videos go with the song and tell the story or relate to it somehow. Since it’s such a straight song you need it to be story-based. Originally we were talking about having it be an actress but that’s so cliché. We were like, “This is so boring, what do we want to do?” Adam and I were talking and one of us said “puppet” and it was like, “Bingo!” Who doesn’t want to see a puppet? Then we can do anything; we can be as straight as we want with the story and it’s still going to be funny. The more dramatic the puppet is, the funnier it is. She’s a sugar baby.
EB:
The songs that are on the EP, are these old songs that were unfinished that you reworked or is it completely brand new material?
CC:
These are all brand spankin’ new songs that we’ve been writing for the past year and a half. So we have a full record ready to be made but these are the first four that we decided to release. There’s no real theme to them except that they’re awesome. Awesomeness is the theme of this EP.
EB:
Isn’t that always your theme? [Laughs]
CC:
Yeah, pretty much. We try and remain consistent. People say we’re a one trick pony of awesomeness. And that’s fine with me. I’ll be awesome ‘til the day I die.
EB:
Like, “How do you describe your sound?” You say, “Awesome.”
[Laughs] Yeah, that’s what I’m going to say from here on out. The new one that I came up with was, we like music that sounds like huge and that can be played in stadiums, and also in strip clubs. We try and fuse those together. I think we’ve done a good job.
EB:
Stadium strip rock. What are some of the most pleasant experiences you’ve had with Morningwood fans?
CC:
All of them are pretty pleasant. Most recently, we just played the Bust Magazine 15th anniversary party a couple days ago and I’ve stopped making out with people for “Take Off Your Clothes.” My husband stopped making out with his fans. I stopped making out with boys, but I’m still allowed to make out with girls. So it was the first time I’ve had another set of lips touch mine since I got married.
EB:
[Laughs] Just another day at the office
CC:
It really is. It’s pretty funny.
EB:
But it’s not like you’re the one taking off your shirt during that performance.
CC:
No, and that’s a common misnomer. Not once have I, ever. And that pisses me off so much in interviews when people are like, “She gets naked on stage…” Not once have I ever gotten naked.
EB:
Don’t you think that’s one of the biggest misconceptions about a persona that’s sexual on stage or is flirty, especially a woman. It’s so commonly misconstrued as meaning that if you give yourself to the public in that way then you must give it away all the time.
CC:
It’s interesting. Not to get philosophical about it, but for me it’s feminist in a way because you’re having these two alternate female perceptions, like a man could never do what I do for “Take Off Your Clothes” on stage. He would be lambasted. Like, how dare he. But the fact that I’m a woman doing it, it shows a strong woman and not a weak woman. It’s a power thing and it’s interesting. You’re not degrading women because I’m a woman doing it, and then in the same regard I’m sort of worshipping these women. Afterwards I’m like, “Oh this is the most beautiful woman. Thank you so much for bringing her on stage.” It’s a really interesting dichotomy what’s going on, on stage, which I love.
EB:
You used to have an advice column in Alternative Press Magazine, you had a radio show, and then you and James did a YouTube “Blogmitzvah” advice series. What do you like about giving advice to people? How did you become an advice queen?
CC:
I think it’s some Jewish Yenta shit going on because I don’t even know. I’ve always given advice to friends but it’s never been a conscious thing. But people just started e-mailing me all these questions. I guess the feel like they can talk to me when they don’t know where to turn. I get questions once a week about like, “Should I take the morning after pill? I just had unprotected sex.” It’s amazing. Obviously I’m not necessarily always right or wrong but it’s my advice. It’s what I can give. The fact that people like it and respect it and need somewhere to turn, I will happily do it as long as I can.
EB:
What can we expect on the next record?
CC:
I’m so psyched. We don’t have a title. Titles are always the hardest part for us; that’s why our first one is self-titled. We liked Sugarbaby because it’s a great term and we wanted it to all go with the artwork that we were thinking. But if its not sticking out to you in your head then what’s the point of forcing something? That’s like making something be a concept record when it’s not. Why? You could have just had it be a record.
EB:
Whatever it is, you’re going to have to live with it.
CC:
Exactly. People’s first impression of you is the title of the album. It’s like naming a kid, you know. That’s hard to do. I want to call it the Immaculate Misconception of Morningwood.
EB:
So you guys are playing David Letterman coming up?
CC:
Yeah, September 24th. Apparently we’re one of his favorite bands! That’s amazing. That’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. He had us play his Halloween show a couple years ago when he could have had anybody. We got all dressed up. They wanted first dibs on us performing so we’re doing it on the 24th and I’m happy to be going back.
The new digital Morningwood EP is available now via Capitol Records. Get it here. And for more information on the band go to www.morningwoodrocks.com
"Sugarbaby" Video:
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