Marissa Nadler - Along the Path of the Clouds

Let's pick up where we left off in 2005. After the splendid "The Saga Of Mayflower May" it seems you went looking for new directions for your music: you brought in synths, electric guitars, drum machines... Was acoustic folk starting to feel too confining?

Honestly, I've never really considered myself an "acoustic folk" artist. Even on "Ballads Of Living And Dying" there are synths and plenty of reverb, theremin and atmospheric sounds. "Saga" was probably a brief foray into that territory, but I went straight back to my more "atmospheric" path.

In a way it seems to me that your last two albums, "The Sister" and "July", show the two sides of your music. On "The Sister" you rediscovered your best melodic streak with simple, stripped-back arrangements, while on "July" you found the right balance between acoustic folk and electronic sounds. Would you agree? And what do you think are the main differences between these two records?

Well, I basically consider "The Sister" an EP rather than a full album. I'm much happier with the way "July" was conceived and produced. What I mean is that the songs on "July" are more fully developed, it's a complete album from start to finish. I was really happy with my self-titled record from 2011, whereas "The Sister" didn't fully convince me and I really wish it had been released as an EP. With "July", on the other hand, I'm completely satisfied, and I think it's my strongest album to date.

Why did you decide to go with Randall Dunn as producer for "July"? Even though his musical background – Earth, Sunn O))) – might seem quite far from yours, your partnership works really well: what's the secret to your chemistry?

Yes, actually he's not that far from me musically. I met the members of Earth when I opened for them a few years back, I knew Stephen O'Malley through Sunn O))) and I've always admired his work. I tend to lean more towards listening to "heavy" music than anything too light. So it's a collaboration that makes real sense, especially after I contributed vocals to the latest album by Xasthur, a black metal artist.

Randall reached out and told me he'd be interested in producing my next album: I didn't hesitate for a second before saying yes. Also, to be more precise, he's worked with Jesse Sykes and Windows, so it would be limiting, all things considered, to define Randall purely as a drone/black-metal producer. I'm sure he'd rather be seen more broadly as a music producer, full stop.

Your songs always have a very wintry spirit, yet this time you titled the record "July" - how did that choice come about?

The songs on the album follow the events of my life from July of one year to July of the next. It was also recorded in July, so the title was an obvious choice.

"July" is coming out through two major international labels. How did you manage to bring Sacred Bones and Bella Union together on this?

It's a long story... Either way, I'm indescribably thrilled to be working with both labels. I can honestly say things are going wonderfully for me right now, especially considering how much bad luck I've had in the past.

The video for the first single, "Dead City Emily", is beautiful: can you tell us about it?

It was directed by Derrick Belcham. The two protagonists are me and the dancer Emily Turndrup. I think that by clicking on it and watching it, everyone will be able to form their own idea about the video, interpreting it in their own way. So I'd rather not describe it and leave everything to the audience's imagination.

In "Was It A Dream" you talk about the end of a love story. "Drive" digs into other painful memories… Were there particular events that inspired these lyrics?

Yes, it's all autobiographical, many personal events influenced these songs, but I'd rather not add anything else: whoever takes the time to listen carefully to the lyrics on the record will really be able to understand these stories.

Your songs have often been crowded with characters while also being autobiographical… How do you manage to combine fiction and reality in your lyrics?

In the past I used a lot of characters, but by now there's no more fiction in my songs. In short, now I'm only writing "non-fiction songs"!

Before dedicating yourself to music you were an excellent visual artist, close to the so-called new wave of American Gothic. Do you think that aesthetic has somehow remained present in your songs?

Yes, I graduated from the Rhode Island School Of Design. But I don't actually consider myself part of a specific group or scene. I wouldn't want, in other words, to identify my music and my artistic work with any particular genre in any way: I like to think that everyone is free to interpret them however they want.

Last question: do you have a tour planned to promote "July" and is there any chance of seeing you in Italy?

Absolutely: I'm organizing it.

(3/4/2014)

Can it still happen, in today's frenetic musical merry-go-round, to come across artists who respond to your questions quickly and kindly, without playing hard to get and without awkward intermediaries getting in the way? Well yes, it's possible when you're dealing with Marissa Nadler, a singer-songwriter from Washington who, over the past year, broke plenty of hearts with her "Saga Of Mayflower May". A collection of spectral, harrowing ballads, elevated by her crystalline mezzo-soprano and a sober, mostly acoustic instrumental palette (twelve-string guitar, ukulele, flute, banjo, organ, keyboards). The attention of specialist media worldwide (from The Wire to Pitchfork) for this album and for her previous one ("Ballads Of Living And Dying") has yet to find an adequate counterpart in Italy. So on Onda Rock, we're proudly going against the grain: we're naming Marissa folksinger of 2005, and we reveal it to her right away, at the start of our online exchange.

Marissa, I'll confess right away that I chose you as best singer-songwriter of 2005. For everyone else, who might not know you well yet, can you briefly tell us how your passion for music and your career as a folksinger developed?

I'm very honored by these compliments… I'm a writer, singer and painter. I think music is just another facet of my way of expressing myself, of giving voice to my feelings. As a child, I was deeply immersed in the arts, and in music too, obviously, but I was more inclined toward painting. I was convinced I'd become a famous painter, sculptor or fashion designer. My mother is a painter and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. But I loved singing a lot: I've always done it and I've always found it wonderful…

My first real musical experience, though, was at 16, in a garage-rock band. Then, I realized my voice was better suited to other musical genres. So I delved into traditional Appalachian music, folk, blues and jazz, without ever giving up on more "classic" rock. I still think, for instance, that the " White Album" is wonderful… Old music, in short, drew me in more. I liked stories of sadness and desolation, so I started singing and writing them: I dreamed of becoming a blues-singer. But for a long time I was too shy to perform in public. It's only in the past couple of years that I've found the courage to fully explore my musical potential, finally finding the strength to sing and play live.

Your second album cast a spell on us from the very first listen. Can you tell us what the saga of Mayflower May is about? Is there some kind of "concept" behind it? What ties together the stories you tell in your songs?

Mayflower May, Flora Barone queen of Vaudeville, Mr. John Lee and his velvet rose, Henry, Lily and her tragic fate, Calico of the mountains, Shannadeeah who dies in war and comes back in a coffin, Annabelle Lee (not an original creation of mine), Mary of the yellow lights… You could say I'm driven by characters… I like using symbols, which often stand for my friends, my lovers, my dreams in general.

The character of Mayflower May, to whom I'd already dedicated a song on my first album, is an alter ego of mine, who lives and dies the way I'd want to, who suffers all the pains I've felt in my life — heartache, above all — but taken to extremes I could never actually reach. For instance, Mayflower May kills herself in a number of ways across songs on both my records. All the characters, like Mr. John Lee, for example, are real people from my life, but projected into a fantastical space-time. Where they die in every possible way and live out intense romantic relationships.

Listening to the record, it seems to me that Joan Baez, especially in the way you modulate your voice, and Leonard Cohen, for his ability to draw melodies and emotions out of extremely spartan soundscapes, are two important reference points for you. Is that right?

Leonard Cohen has had an enormous influence on me, Joan Baez I wouldn't say. I understand why the comparison comes up, mostly because of the tone of my voice, but I think my main reference points among women are actually Joni Mitchell and Nico.

Joan Baez didn't write most of her songs, she had a political stance, she was more poetic and sang in a more operatic style. In the end, I think Joni Mitchell is my real influence among singer-songwriters.

As for Leonard Cohen, though, I'll admit it: I consider him a master, and I'm honored that you've heard something of his in my music.

The ballad is a bit like the eternal phoenix of popular music, a genre that always seems on the verge of extinction and yet miraculously keeps finding new life. In your case, how do you approach this kind of composition, and which aspects — musical and lyrical — do you try to favor in order to keep its magic alive?

Well, all I can say is that I love sad songs a great deal, the kind that break your heart. I feel like I could never have the expressive urgency to write a happy song. You could say I'm not familiar with happiness, because I'm under the influence of all the world's demons. A lot of the sad stories I read in books or hear on the radio make me want to write something about them, to give voice to pain in the form of a ballad. I'm a real traditionalist and I love old music. It's as if, through this kind of expression, I wanted to pay tribute to antiquity.

Your settings are always spectral, melancholic, wintry I'd say, and that's also the mood conveyed by the graphics on your website. Is there something that particularly inspires you about this kind of landscape and atmosphere?

Oh yes, winter… I love winter and I feel "cold" at heart. I like bare, surreal landscapes, and even my paintings seem solitary and wintry, like Giacometti's sculptures or Turner's watercolors. The aesthetics of sadness is my favorite terrain. I'm drawn to wounds and death, violence and pain, winter and solitude. I like creating atmospheres people can travel through, to escape the tedious traps of modernity and the empty plasticity of the modern world.

What are your musical tastes? What music do you usually listen to?

Nina Simone, The Band, Nico, Lee Hazlewood, Josephine Foster, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Leadbelly, Billie Holiday: to me they're all a kind of medicine. I actually like a lot of music: from opera to fado, from country to folk. On my records I try to recreate a little amalgam of my favorite genres.

You, Joanna Newsom , Elizabeth Anka Vajagic , Josephine Foster and even the return of the legendary Vashti Bunyan : it seems like a particularly good moment for folksingers. How do you explain this re-explosion of the folk movement, which even on the male side ( Devendra Banhart , Bonnie "Prince" Billy , Sufjan Stevens etc.) seems to be enjoying unexpected success?

Maybe the audience simply needs to hear real, sincere music, both from men and from women. I think the folk revival is a very positive thing, because it gives voice to a lot of non-commercial realities that are honest to the core. Personally, I love all the artists you've mentioned.

Your website mentions an upcoming EP: can you tell us something about this new project of yours?

Actually it will be a whole album, entirely unreleased material, and it will come out in March. A psychedelic image of the Carter Family. Helena Espvall of Espers plays cello, Greg Weeks plays synth. I'm really excited about this project and I think it will be my best record to date.

It was supposed to be an EP, but the muse of Sadness has struck hard these days!

In another interview, you said your style might become more experimental. Can you explain more precisely what you mean?

I feel ready to move forward. I've made two records that are very similar in style, and now I'd like to start, for instance, playing more banjo and harp, and trying some experiments with beats. My aesthetic, though, will stay the same: I'll keep writing music tinged with melancholy, because I'm a sad girl.

You're also involved in the visual arts: your website features some paintings and wood sculptures...

Like I said, as a kid I wanted to be a painter. I went to art school, and painting is still an important part of my life. I never imagined I'd end up working as a musician - I always thought I'd devote myself to painting. But now writing music comes more naturally to me, and I love this work. With painting I had a more troubled relationship, a struggle for perfection. With music, I feel freer to create and explore, in an almost handmade way.

Can we hope to see you play in Italy sometime in 2006?

Yes, I'll be in Italy in May with Jana Hunter. And I can't wait!