Interview with Ari Up & Tessa Pollitt of the Slits
[Ari Up of the Slits]
Finding a balance between the crass sounds of punk and dub long before bands such as the Clash began formulating a commercial blend of the two, the Slits now seek to reclaim their sound and place in history with a return to both the studio and the road after a twenty five year hiatus. In doing so an opportunity presents itself as a meeting place for family and friends to combine their collective thoughts under the guise of one of rock music’s true innovators. In this brief interview, original Slits Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt discuss this new union of friends and family, including members of the Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants and Siouxsie & the Banshees, as well as future plans for recording and what it was like to reconvene after such a long time apart.
Chris DeLine: What was the recording process like for you after the long absence?
Ari Up: Very hard—very quick + very sexual.
Tessa Pollitt: Being in the studio was like going back home after a long trip away for me. It put direction and purpose back in my life, but Ari has been recording a lot over the years. I can’t wait to get an album recorded with the new musicians, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.
CD: Did working with Paul Cook and Marco Pittoni feel like an old memory revisited or have you kept up with them both for all this time?
AU: It felt very Sex Pistols verses the Slits. They are family!
TP: Working with Paul and Marco, and also Chris (bass player from Adam and the Ants), was a laugh and a half. We recorded in Edwin Collins Studio, an old school studio used by Dennis Bovell a lot. It was good to work with people from that era, also Holly Cook Paul’s daughter is now a member of the Slits! Pass it on to the new generation is what we say.
CD: When considering your roll as a female punk icon, who today inspires you musically?
AU: PUNK? I think we’re icon for women and men, period! Not just punk… or what is punk anyway?
TP: I like Missy Elliot, Pink, White Stripes’ drummer—she could be a Slit! There seems to be more women picking up instruments. Gypsy music is my favorite at the moment: Hungarian, Bulgarian, North African and Eastern music.
CD: What plans are there to continue the Slits name in the future?
AU: The continuation of The Slits Revolution.
TP: The Slits are here to stay.
CD: Will the group be touring at all this fall, and recording any other new material?
AU: Yes—USA.
TP: Yes we are touring all over USA. Check our website.
CB: If the Slits had one final show to play, who would you most like to share the stage with?
AU: Are you joking? Nothing is final! We don’t even go there!
TP: Kurt Cobain or The Simpsons.
