Interview with Exene Cervenka
[photo by J Edge via Bloodshot Records]
Exene Cervenka is largely known for her contributions to the seminal Los Angeles punk band X in the late-’70s and ’80s, but she has since focused on a laundry list of solo and side projects including her recently released solo album, Somewhere Gone. Somewhere Gone is a beautiful, classic country-tinged recording that is layered with strings and vocals which make the sparse production expand into a rich, engaging sound. All the songs on the album were written by Exene, except for “Willow Tree,” which was performed by Exene and Amy Farris. The song is appropriately placed right in the middle of the album and works as a base from where the rest of the music seems to stem from. We spoke recently about the creative process behind the album, what it was like recording in Missouri, and the loss of Farris, her good friend and collaborator.
Andy Theiss: How would you describe this album to someone who hasn’t heard it?
Exene Cervenka: In a word?
AT: Sure a word, or however you would like to describe it.
EC: I like to describe it in a word: “intimate.”
AT: I understand you lived in Missouri for the past few years. What influenced that decision?
EC: I was looking for a place to go that was rural and gave me a space to think and play and experiment with songs. I wanted a big house in the middle of nowhere: lots of space to work on my artwork and songs. I was creating in a vacuum.
AT: Sounds like an artist’s utopia. Why did you leave?
EC: Once I exhausted everything I could do in Missouri, I knew it was time to move back to L.A. and work on this new venture.
AT: On this album I hear the influences of Neko Case, Elizabeth Cotten and even Mother Maybelle Carter.
EC: Well thank you, if I sound like any of them it is a big compliment; I would be honored to compared to them. But I never try to sound like anyone else; I just make music and try to sound like myself.
AT: So who are your influences?
EC: There are so many…
AT: Well, what was the last CD you had on?
EC: Earlier I was listening to the Cramps and before that Bill Haley, most recently I was listening to two Christmas songs that I recorded with X, “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Clause is Coming To Town.” We recorded them with a Chuck Berry rhythm.
AT: That sounds great, I can”t wait to hear them. Can you tell me about your writing process?
EC: I write a lot, every day I try to write something. Sometimes you’ll get a lot, other times a few pages or you’ll just close up the book with nothing there. But the key is just writing and writing and writing. My ratio is about 50:1, so 1 good thing will come out of 50 others.
AT: You seem really creative in a lot of genres: you write poetry, keep journals, etc. Do you use your writings for the songs?
EC: Some of what I write goes to songs, some goes to poetry, that’s what I mean by 50:1. I look for a hook or something catchy that I can work with. I don’t steal my poetry to go into songs. They mostly come out of my head and my own experience.
AT: Tell me about who is on this album.
EC: Cindy Wasserman is from the band, Dead Rock West. She is my favorite singer right now. Lou Whitney is from the band the Skeletons. He recorded the album and played bass. Jason Edge is on here he is from Missouri and he played drums. Joe Terry is an amazing piano player and I was introduced to him by Dave Alvin (from the Blasters.) Dexter Romweber plays keyboards and he is from the Flat Duo Jets.
Amy Farris, my dear friend, sang with me and played the strings. On “Willow Tree” we sang and played together. It was really special. [Note: The acclaimed violinist, cellist and singer recently passed away at the age of 40. She appears on six songs on Somewhere Gone.]
AT: Can you tell me about the recording process?
EC: I recorded this album with Lou Whitney and myself. I then determined what I wanted to add to each song and called people to come in and play. So they would fly into Springfield (Missouri) and record with me only a day or so to get what we needed. I would play live and sing and they would play their parts with it on to separate tracks. I would add players as needed.
AT: That’s amazing because it sounds like you are all together in this process all in one room.
EC: It really does, doesn’t it? For the next album I’m going to make, more of it is going to be recorded live.
AT: I see you have a tour coming up. Are you going to be playing mostly from this album?
EC: It’s going to be a mixture including brand new songs and some covers. Cindy Wasserman and Frank Lee Drennen from Dead Rock West will be joining me on tour. But there will be no other string players as it is too hard to replace Amy Farris so I’m not going to try.
AT: New songs as in songs that have yet to be recorded or songs from Somewhere Gone?
EC: Brand new songs, never recorded.
AT: How has your music changed over the years?
EC: I feel I’m a better songwriter. People say the first record is best, as you’ve been saving up all that material for it and the rest of the albums aren’t as good. I don’t believe that is true. Unless you look at some of the artists on the Nuggets box sets—they had their one song and faded away. I want to keep the quality up and keep improving.
AT: I saw you perform with Auntie Christ about 10 years ago, and I recall you mentioned from the stage that you’d never used a credit card. Am I remembering that correctly?
EC: No, I may have said something about computers because at that time I was against them, but now I have accepted them, and realize they are a necessary part this society.
AT: Sort of a technical follow up question. Did you record this album to two-inch tape or use ProTools?
EC: No ProTools. We used a regular board with no automation, but we did not record to two-inch tape. It sounds like we did, doesn’t it?
AT: Yes, it does. Last question, the album cover artwork, was that your design?
EC: Yes, it was from a collage I made and if you get the vinyl album you will see the full piece, the CD doesn’t show the whole image, it’s cut off.
[Interview by guest contributor Andy Theiss.]
