LUSTER | JOANon
the band's name :
One day, one of my friends
said, `You're channeling Angie Dickinson from [the 1970s TV drama] 'Police
Woman,' I guess because I have this blonde hairdo. While my name is cool,
I'm bored by it. I feel like a spy anyway. I grew up on cop shows -- 'Kojak,'
'C.H.I.P.S,' 'Charlie's Angels' -- and I love their style. Angie's
character, Pepper, was a bad-ass divorced cop who got business done in a
polyester pantsuit. Need I say more? I love the whole aesthetic of ladies
in hot polyester 70s suits, who are packing heat, and that whole thing of women
kicking ass in a man’s world.”
her new approach to music :
I believe that beauty is the
new punk rock. I do feel more able to express myself, but this has a lot to do
with the fact that I am singing my own words. I was much more interested in
screaming bloody murder in the Dambuilders. Now I am more interested in getting
across that same feeling across through a softer approach.
hearing her own voice :
I hadn't sung and didn't particularly like the way my voice sounded. It was all very new and quite terrifying.
her tough-guy problem :
I had to be stronger than all the boys. I had to be able to compete in their world. I had to be indestructible. But what is that about? Previously I felt that showing weakness was the most horrifying thing. Now I know it's the strongest thing you can do."
her ep:
I was just trying to make the most beautiful thing I could. I think that beauty is the finest manifestation of any emotion you can name — anger, love, lust, anything. So I’m still a punk-rocker, but this is my new definition of punk. I’m gonna wreck you with beauty.
writing new material for real life:
My new record is more concise and more honest. When I began writing songs, my lyrics were very poetic and in saying that, the meanings were quite veiled. Not that I stopped writing poetically, I am just into being clearer and always attempting to get to the heart of what I am trying to communicate.
recording real life:
i love the old soul records so we recorded the basics, all of us playing at the same time in the same room. it’s all raw emotionality.
her songs:
My Gurl
“I will bend in the ocean and
spread the sky”
I had recently experienced
massive personal trauma and change. I sensed this movement unfinished. My band
The Dambuilders would break up in a few months. As a child, one experiences life
with wonderment. I knew I had to access this magical, holy and safe place to
survive the tumult that would ensue.
Prime
Mover
“I want everything”
“..staring at my
face again” is a response to all the women who recount stories about men who
talk to their tits rather than their faces. I say that sucks but stop being a
victim and letting it hurt you. “I know my tits are hot but I just need you to
fix my faucet” might work. Hold yourself like someone who should be respected
and you will receive it most of the time. Trust yourself to the extent that
preconceptions (Farrakhan) are able to be eradicated.
Stagger Into the Light
“This is an attempt to recover the
song in the reed, how it bends to become you”
Move from the closed eye of darkness into the open eye of light
and potential. Rumi, the most famous of the Sufi poets, deals with this concept
frequently. He describes the wild-growing reed as a potential flute full of
songs and melodies. Everything, he feels, has every potential if one is open to
it. The world is a constantly growing garden this way. The most mundane object
becomes the most exciting. I marry romance and dedicate my life and death to
it.
Game of Life
“Will I fall into the
arms that cannot hold me or will I hit the target and fall into the arms of
you?”
The red giant is the last fiery phase of
a star before it explodes and dies. I was heading straight for this apocalyptic
end. I realized I could not look for arms to catch me if I fall. I have to be
prepared for the fall and be able to get up myself. I had to form my own fate.
There was a time, though, that I let the concept of fate hold me
back.
How Come You’re So Solid
Gold?
“Start now”
I have learned that you
must relieve yourself from any secrets. If anyone tells you to keep something
hidden, you can very easily be manipulated. Do not fool yourself into thinking
that you are exempt.
Real Life
I wrote it for this boy who wore glasses and was a computer programmer- I thought he was going to be my future ex-husband.
Eternal Flame
This is a song about telling someone that you can't live for them.
The RIde
II saw Whitney Houston singing it. .. . . it's a song about knowing a relationship you've just begun is doomed.
Christobel
It's a song about being obsessed.
the violin:
it is very similar to the voice-,unfretted , and for the most part single noted and melodic. they are rather interchangeable, for me in terms of getting the feeling across.
music:
i have always loved music of all kinds, for me music is music.
religion:
i have learned a certain amount about all religions because i feel very connected to spirituality. i have been able to take the good parts and throw out the negative parts, because i was never raised with someone telling me this is the way it is and its the only way.
performing and recording:
I guess that I love both and they are best when they become one entity
antony : i play violin in his band and worship every morsel that emits from his sanctuary.
joseph arthur : he has this beautiful creative mind.
david bowie : bowie's the best!
jeff buckley : he was a ravenous lover of music of all types. he was soft and small so i called him kitten.
al green : his music makes me want to be in love.
nina simone: i do love nina. i think of her as honest and bad-ass. the anointed ruler of unabashed self expression!
the smiths: i never really cared about lyrics until the smiths. my best friend and i listened to 'meat is murder' probably everyday in the 9th grade.
elliot smith: elliot was sweet and kind and gentle, beyond comparison; he was a friend but not a close friend.
patti smith: i wish she had been heralded as the second coming, although she never would have accepted it.
mary timony: my lady! mary was definitely a major force in my life.
rufus wainwright : he's a force of nature really. he taught me to have confidence in what i do.
hello kitty :
I was immediately drawn to her winking at me. First of all it's so obviously female, with the eyelashes and the beads...and yes, it's a cartoon, but it's very self-confident, without being boastful, but also, like, foxy....She's just completely at peace with the fact that she's powerful. People have given stickers to me after shows...or people say, 'yeah, my girlfriend has that on her bass'.
punk rock:
To me punk rock rock symbolized saying what you thought without worrying about the repercussions. Now it's more of a fashion statement.
her ever changing style:
I just like assuming characters with the way i look. i'm always changing my look, and my mom says she doesn't recognize me because i change the way i look a lot. I just like dressing up, and I like to observe the way people act in light of what’s going on.
a dambuilders reunion:
You know what? I don’t know about that. One thing I’ve learned is that when something ends nicely don’t open it up again.