Leading ladies
Issue #22
Some creative fellas talk about the female artists who have most influenced their work
By Venus Zine Staff
Published: December 7th, 2004 | 2:20pm
The continued Penus interview from issue No. 22
We asked some creative types to answer this question: Which female artist has been most influential or inspirational to your creative work?
Sam Prekop
Singer-guitarist, the Sea and Cake
I would say Joyce or Gal Costa. I'll go with Joyce this time around.
It was during my obsession with Brazilian music a few years back that I discovered Joyce. It certainly took me a little while to figure out what I found so interesting or brilliant in her work. At first I found the music somewhat fusion-y — not a good thing in my book — but upon further study, an amazing expressiveness hooked me — and this has nothing to do with the actual words since I don't understand Portuguese — but an incredible voice that gains its power from its utmost musicality. I was able to appreciate her voice as an instrument, and after this revelation the quality and sort of strangeness of her arrangements and guitar-playing struck. Joyce still makes records, but my favorite is called Femenina — probably early ‘80s, late ‘70s. I'd put this record certainly among my top 10 favorites. A dream of mine would be to sing with Joyce. A lofty dream indeed.
Chris Conley
Vocalist, Saves the Day
Joni Mitchell has been the most inspirational female artist for me. Her words are honest and poetic, her images crisp and vivid. The emotion streamed into her music is gracefully tender. Her melodies and chords are awe-inspiring, looping and lifting, floating through the air. And her lush yet fragile vocals on the album
Ben Perri
Vocalist, From Autumn To Ashes
It would have to be Hope Sandoval. She is so prolific in what she does, and she has an anonymity about her that gives off this mysterious aura that surrounds her.
Kyle Fischer
Guitarist and vocalist, Rainer Maria
That's easy: Edna St. Vincent Millay. I found a copy of her amazing book
Jamie Stewart
Vocalist, Xiu Xiu
The author Sandra Cisneros. She uses the most direct — and, to a certain extent, even simple — language to, without interpretation or pomp, tell about the tiniest but most devastating and intense childhood moments. She allows a two-page short story to cut your heart to pieces but make you feel understood and hopeful.
David Bazan
Pedro the Lion
Flannery O'Connor (writer,
Emma Thompson [is] a truly great writer/actor who seems to understand that success in a male-dominated industry doesn't mean burying the virtues that make women the saviors of culture that they are: namely, empathy.
Karen Peris (musician, The Innocence Mission). Her voice is impossible; strong and frail, grand and intimate, beautiful and so very sad. [Hers are] perfectly simple songs with the weight and complexity of a Pollock and the slow depth of Melville. One of the all-time greats.
Travis Morrison
Former vocalist, the Dismemberment Plan
Carole King. I could tell you why, or you could just listen to “It’s Too Late.”
She didn’t think there was a zero-sum balance between intelligence and warmth. She is the songwriter who taught me that vulnerability is the true result of emotional strength. She taught me to do a full accounting of the spiritual "books" in my songs, and not to blame anyone or to use my position as omniscient creator to abuse characters — fictional or real. And she taught me to be funny when talking about real heartbreak.
Finally, she had the good sense to write a song about the dance that her babysitter was doing: “The Locomotion.” That was the biggest lesson of all — songwriters wither and die when they tune out the world and ignore the needs of those around them. If your friends are doing a dance and there’s no song for it, write it already.
Anthony Gonzalez
M83
Shania Twain. Ha, I'm joking. I love the Mamas and the Papas. I love Nancy Sinatra.
Henry Barnes
Amps for Christ
I do like female singing the best. It probably goes back to early childhood when my mom used the Magnavox as a lullaby machine. She says I’d always ask for "the lady with the kind voice." That lady happened to be the haunting mountain singer Jean Ritchie. If you like the raw, hauntingly beautiful sound of early American folk before it was bastardized into easy listening, you would probably really enjoy her music.
Comments
Want to tell us what you think? Please click here to log in or just click here for quick comments