Interview with Kristin Hersh

Hi Kristin, how do you feel, after all these years, to be invited to play Meltdown Festival? Do you know Robert Smith personally? 

To tell you the truth, every show is the same to me. Every time I play guitar, the point is to empty myself and find music. And that’s an honor. So this show is an honor. And Robert Smith has been so lovely.

Have you already thought about the lineup and the setlist for the festival?

I’m playing with a cellist but I never have a set list. I play whatever I feel like. That’s probably a mistake but it’s one I make often.

Going back to the early years of your musical career, can you tell us how it came to you to become an artist? What made you do it? You were just 14 years old …

I started playing guitar when I was 9, so by the time I was 14, I thought I was mature. Not sure why I decided to become a musician in the first place, but when music took hold, it overshadowed everything else. It became auditory and visual hallucinations as well as my reason for living.

photo by Peter Mellekas

Throwing Muses are a part of your life that is very important. Can you talk about that period?

Throwing Muses has been my best friend since I was a kid. We’ve never stopped working…if we aren’t in the studio or on the road, we’re talking about how best to go about settling our dreams into place next time.

In your latest record “Wyatt at The Coyote Palace” you play everything practically. The sounds are great and “disruptive” and bring the listener into your universe. If today you had to describe yourself to those who do not know you yet what would you say? Is there a song that fully represents your philosophy of life?

The B-side, “Like a Dog” from Throwing Muses’ University. I like B-sides because they hide. I like being “like a dog,” with a highly developed id and super ego but missing all the crap in between. And I love the odd gate on the kick drum that brings shimmer to the tossed away lyrics and then returns to an airless vacuum. Something to be said for dogs, shimmer and vacuums!

For song lyrics, are you inspired by real things in everyday life? Or is it an inner journey of the soul?

The lyrics are an instrument: percussive melody. Which fools me into telling the truth.

Your new tour, which will see you as protagonist on stage, has just started. What’s the most exciting moment for you before a concert? The entrance on stage, the first song, the reaction of the public or other?

I think this tour started a year a half ago, but as you say, each leg of a tour feels new. My goal is only to bring a song about the same way I do in my bedroom. It shatters me every time (in a good way!)

In addition to Throwing Muses, you also founded 50FOOTWAVE and you are a very acclaimed author. RAT GIRL is considered one of the best books ever written on rock. What does RAT GIRL mean to you?

It was my teenage diary but also a non-fiction novel. So it’s a story that happened which still works as a “story.” If that could help one kid, it was worth writing.

photo by Peter Mellekas

Can you tell us something about Wonderland’s “very special” video? Who did the animation and how did this come about?

My son Wyatt animated it when a friend killed himself. It’s hard to watch. But very sweet, oddly. No anger, just sadness.

Would you like them to use your music for a movie? Which director might you like to collaborate with and will you be contributing the soundtrack for the forthcoming ‘Rat Girl’ TV series?

People tell me my music doesn’t work in movies because people listen to it 😂

See you at the festival and thank you for the great music Kristin!

Thank you so much!

photo by Peter Mellekas

Keep up with Kristin Hersh
Website | Facebook | CashMusic | Twitter | YouTube | Soundcloud | Bandcamp | Live Performances

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Instagram | LinkedIn | Email

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Article by Giuseppe Bellobuono