Interview with Jolie Holland

photo by Kate Kunath

Culture Bully’s Jon Behm and Tom Waits may have only one thing is common: they are big Jolie Holland fans. Whether or not this also makes them best friends is up for discussion, but for the time being Jon was able to catch up with Holland (who is another of his all-time favorite singer/songwriters) to chat about music, journalism, and her new album The Living and the Dead. For those of you interested in a more personal experience with Holland of your own, she is coming to town on October 25 to play a show at the Cedar Cultural Center.

Jon Behm: Music journalists have tried to peg your music as just about everything, from “hillbilly chic” to the “more eccentric cousin of Norah Jones.” What is your least favorite thing about music journalists?

Jolie Holland: I dunno. I have a lot of affection for people who make their living in the arts in general, or those of us who try to. If I had to do an interview or write something about art in another medium, I’m sure I would sometimes lose my balance. Speaking of, I’d love to try my hand at an interview or writing an article sometime. One bias of music journalism that I’ve been thinking about lately is the fallacy that what comes out now is the most important, or that linearity actually relates to people’s experience of music. I didn’t hear Neil Young until 1996, not to mention James T Booker. I just heard Jimmy Dale Gilmore’s first records last year, and it came out in 1972. Some of my least favorite moments with music journalists boil down to regular human nonsense. I don’t like to make generalizations about people. It probably had little to do with their actual job. It sucks when people have to write about music they don’t like, of course. Sucks for the musicians as well.

JB: If you had the chance to take the place of the journalist and write about your own album, how would you describe it? (Or, do you think, as Elvis Costello put it, “writing about music is like dancing about architecture”?)

JH: Wow, he’s the one who said that? I’ve heard that before and I didn’t know it was him we were all quoting. Awesome. Well, I guess music journalism gave us that line. It’s not my job to describe my music. I don’t. If I do I’ll usually be really dorky about it and say “it’s in the rock section with everything else.”

JB: What is the significance of the title “The Living and the Dead?” Does it have anything to do with the 1941 Patrick White novel and/or the 2006 horror film of the same name?

JH: No. Never heard of the novel or the movie. I dreamed about the phrase last night, strangely enough. I dreamed that the US had a new military campaign by that name. It gave me the creeps. Uh, I dunno. Music is so much about what our dead gave us. It’s a cultural medium that speaks backwards and forwards to the generations. Dead people designed the guitar and the piano and recording devices, amplifiers. Gazillions of lives of dead people and animals went into designing these bodies we sing out of. We’re the tip of an iceberg.

JB: I have heard that you have performed in punk bands as well as hip hop. Is there any possible way that we will get to see that side of you in your upcoming Minneapolis show?

JH: I didn’t ever perform in a punk band. I did really love Screeching Weasel when I was sixteen. One of my old best friends used to be in a seminal ska punk band from NYC. I used to play violin and sing backup with CR Avery, who is a hip hop artist out of Vancouver BC. And I collaborated with Sage Francis. And Dave Mihaly, who used to play drums with me, used to do this amazing hip hop piece he made during the first Bush administration, when he worked in group homes. It was called Stellazine, after the over-prescribed “anti-psychotic” drug. It’s a great song. He used to perform it from behind his kit. I remember one of the lines went “George Bush looks good in the
poles—Lets talk about your long term goals”

JB: Would you cite any hip hop, punk, or other influences that people might find surprising given the nature of your music?

JH: Uh, how do you ever know what people are going to find surprising about you? I don’t know what people think about me. Hmm…..um….uh, I don’t know. One of my favorite records of all time is an incredibly offensive and f’d-up record by my crazy old friends who lived in Austin. The title is almost too offensive to write. Actually I can’t bring myself to write it. It was a fake gangsta rap album performed entirely under the influence of Robitussin. Stefan Jecusco is still making great music. He has a MySpace page.

JB: At your last Minneapolis show you were quite sick (it was still a great performance though). If I remember right, your onstage remedy was whiskey and cough drops. Is that a cure you learned on the road?

JH: Cough drops are pretty good, but so much sugar is eventually bad for you, especially if you are actually sick. And Ironically, the hell-food store brands (that use, like rice syrup or whatever) just taste too sweet. Santasapina, the pine flavor is my favorite! A little whiskey in a hot toddy is awesome for singing. I had a cold in the studio, and we were making hot tea with a drop of bourbon first thing in the day. So nice. Really does help you sing.

JB: You seem to have moved around quite a bit over the years, before finally settling in San Francisco. Is there still a desire there to be somewhat of a rolling stone or do you move around enough while touring that it is nice to have a permanent home?

JH: Argh. I do wish I lived somewhere. It’s a sickness that has nothing to do with me being a touring musician. I was like this before. I just can’t figure out where I want to live. The upside is that I’ve been doing this so long I’m starting to feel like I have multiple home towns. I’m practicing with the band here in Portland, and it feels so great to be here.

JB: And now that you are staying put, so to speak, how does that affect your music?

JH: Well, I kinda wish I was staying put. I sort of live both in Brooklyn and Portland right now. I lived in LA for eight months, and rural New Zealand for a month, and the road for about a year since I lived in SF.

JB: Do you have any favorite spots to tour? Anywhere where you tend to get an extra warm reception?

JH: New Orleans was sort of the deepest experience for me. People know what music is for there. It’s for moving energy. It’s for healing.

JB: Your label mate Tom Waits is an outspoken fan of your music—have the two of you ever thought about collaborating?

JH: I’ve certainly thought about it. Can’t speak for him. I invited him to sing “You’re Not Satisfied” with me on Springtime, but he couldn’t hear it working out. We’ve never even spoken on the phone.

JB: What comes next now that the album is finished? What are your hopes/aspirations/fears for the future?

JH: I’m really excited about going on the road with my band. Rachel Blumburg on drums, Sean Flinn on guitar, Dave Depper on bass. For some runs, Shahzad Ismaily will be able to join us.

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Also: Jolie Holland “The Living and the Dead” Review