Jarboe hardly needs an introduction, but i'm gonna give her one anyway because she deserves one. While she's mostly known for her role in Swans (she joined in time for the GREED and HOLY MONEY albums), where she has often erronously been viewed as either the catalyst sending Swans off on a completely different trajectory (a lesser one, in the minds of some early-Swans enthusiasts, a concept DEAD ANGEL strongly disagrees with) or, even more of an insult, as a mere appendage to M. Gira. Proponents of this peculiar belief system have overlooked some salient points, though: For one thing, Jarboe already had a history in experimental performance and music (she, in fact, was trained in piano and vocals at a young age); two, anybody who seriously believes that Gira could have been steered in a different musical direction against his will is sadly mistaken (by his own admission, Gira's intractability on certain musical issues is part of what undid Swans in the end); and three, anyone who listened to Jarboe's otherworldly folk-influenced vox on albums like CHILDREN OF GOD and mistakenly deduced that she was some kind of wallflower waif failed to grasp the picture as well. The truth is that Jarboe's arrival in Swans is probably the one thing that allowed the Swans -- who had painted themselves into a corner early on -- to continue, and her input to later, sadly overlooked classics like WHITE LIGHT FROM THE MOUTH OF INFINITY and LOVE OF LIFE helped created some of the most compelling work of the Swans' mid-period albums. An interesting thing to note about Jarboe and Michael's roles within Swans is that, over the course of about twelve years, they have completely flip-flopped: the brooding, rage-monster Gira and ethereal, gentle Jarboe of the early albums gradually metamorphasized into the genteel, blues-folk crooner Gira and the truly frightening power-banshee Jarboe on the final Swans discs.
But Jarboe was never limited to Swans: Her work in World of Skin (with Gira), Beautiful People Ltd., and as a solo performer has always been every bit as interesting -- sometimes more so -- than her work in Swans. Whereas Gira, the undisputed leader of Swans, has always favored monochromatic sound palettes, Jarboe has always been interested in a considerably wider range of sounds. This burning need to reinvent herself practically from track to track is most noticeable (and works to best effect) on her solo albums SACRIFICIAL CAKE and the recently-released ANHEDONIAC. Her new album is not only likely the best thing she has recorded up to this point, but actually matches the early Swans output for sheer scary excess and brutality, while evidencing far more diversity (including the use of guest musicians on the level of Mark Spybey and the jolly fellows from Panasonic). Currently at work recording an album in Israel that will most likely be the flip-side of ANHEDONIAC, Jarboe was generous enough to give us a few moments of her time earlier, and thus we have a wee li'l interview to spring on you....
DA: Do you feel a certain freedom to move in new directions without preconceived expectations now that Swans is a thing of the past?
J: I was never influenced by what we were doing in Swans. The solo work outside of Swans did affect the development of Swans albums, however. This can be traced back to the original Skin albums which affected CHILDREN OF GOD. From the standpoint of pure psyche, however, the cyclical nature of the work has evolved and contimues to do so.
DA: One of the things I liked most about SACRIFICIAL CAKE was the wide variety of styles and sounds -- is it your intention to continue in that fashion, or is your newer material headed in a more singular direction?
J: On my newest cd, ANHEDONIAC, the song "Sacred Disciple Wannabe" is very different from the song "Rage"..... Using different styles comes naturally to me as I have such a diverse musical background.
DA: Are you planning to continue making use of the archive of tapes from your father's desk. Some of that material sounds genuinely eerie....
J; I don't know about further use of my father's tapes, but on ANHEDONIAC, I used excerpts from an audio letter Michael made when we first met.
DA: You're originally from the South, even though your music career more or less started in NYC -- and now you live in the South again. I'm curious as to how the feel of the South factors into what you're doing now, assuming it does at all... how has the move changed your artistic perspective?
J: I was a very active soundscape /experimental artist in the South before I went to New York. I, in all my perversion and extremities, am the result of a Southern upbringing. When people dismiss the South as being conservative, I think about the other aspect of the South which is that there is also a great tradition of eccentricity.
DA: You've mentioned in the past having to improvise on a limited budget in the studio to come up with certain sounds; are you still having to do that, or has the recording situation gotten better?
J: Well, the main reason for using imagination and experimentation in the studio is that the resulting sounds will not be 'canned' factory sounds like those that come with any synthesizer. If I hear music and recognize a stock sound, I feel that that musician is simply lazy. It doesn't matter what kind of budget you are working with, it is your ability to hear and reject cheesy samples and sounds that anyone can use by simply buying a piece of equipment. Stock sounds can be processed in an imaginative way without spending a lot of money on effects. This is why I say I favor performance over effects.
DA: Much of the material on SACRIFICIAL CAKE is almost like sinister nursery rhymes. I'm really curious as to the inspiration for that.
J: It is one of the forms I like to use. Telling somewhat sinister 'bedtime stories'. On my cassette, BEAST, which is available from the Swans' website, I have numerous vignettes / stories. One of the first things Michael and I collaborated on was in 1984 where I was part of a group show at Nexus Gallery in Atlanta called The Body Show. My piece was an installation in a small entirely black room with hidden speakers. You walked in there and heard me telling one of Michael's stories in the dark.
DA: What is the story behind The Beautiful People Ltd. (something I know very little about, alas)? Will there be more from this group?
J: This was a project with downtown persona/eccentric/legend Larry Seven. He also works as Larry Lamay when he is a photographer for many of the important art galleries in Manhattan. He is one of the cognescenti of the old neighborhood- one of the artist pioneers who moved into the East Village in the early 80's when it was a very dangerous no man's land. The agenda of Beautiful People Limited was to use only vintage analog or handmade equipment. Larry made most of the sound recording equipment (including compressors, limiters, reverb) from found and Radio Shack components. The toy organ I played on the track "Newborn Child" was retrieved from the waste bin on the street, repaired, utilized for the recording of that one song before it burned out and had to be thrown away again...We used rebuilt RCA ribbon microphones and a vintage 8-track recorder....
As for more of this aesthetic. Larry and I did several of the tracks on ANHEDONIAC together as well as SACRIFICIAL CAKE.
DA: I already know some of the story behind the delay of ANHEDONIAC, but DEAD ANGEL's readers might find the story of the artwork interesting....
J: Obstacles were put in front of me due to objections by employees at several printers because of the Richard Kern photographs of me as well as the lyrical content of some of the songs. "Blessed are piss and shit. Come now annoint" and a closeup photograph of my vagina surrounded by open wounds. First the objections were explained as "we're all Christians here" and then the objection was from a woman who claimed she was a "feminist" and thought I was advocating battered women....
DA: I'm pleased to see that the rhythmic interests of your earlier releases is alive and well on this new one. How did you get the likes of Mark Spybey and Panasonic involved?
J: Mark let it be known through a friend of mine that he would like to work with me. Panasonic traveled all over Europe with us as our opening band for the 97 tour and they became friends.
DA: Some of the songs ("Anhedoniac," "Circles in Red Dirt") sound almost like evil industrial fairy tales -- like the Brothers Grimm. Do you see it that way, or am I just imagining things?
J: You see it correctly! I frequently use a sly black humour in my work that is sometimes quite subtle. "Not Noah's Ark" is also an example of this....
DA: So what's the story behind the album -- both thematically (in regard to the album's "story") and as a post-Swans statement of sorts?
J: The theme of this album is 'anhedonia' which is a term meaning: 'inability to experience pleasure'...The reason I put a 'c' at the end of this term is to reference 'alcoholic' and 'maniac'....There are personal and professional reasons I decided to make this the theme of the album. There is a message there for Swans fans, past members of Swans, as well as M.G. personally. For followers of our body of work, the meaning is not a mystery. I made the album for persons who are familiar with the history. That is one of the reasons behind the album's avilability being through the website and personal mail-order.
DA: Are there plans to present the album live, by any chance?
J: At this time , I am writing new material which I am recording in Tel Aviv, Israel. I will be there from November 1 to mid-December. Six weeks. After I come back, there are plans for two isolated shows. One in Chicago with Mark Spybey in January and another with Backworld in New York City . I will perform selections from Anhedoniac at these shows in addition to other material.
Jarboe can be contacted by email at jarboe@mindspring.com.
More information (much more) regarding Jarboe and Swans is available at the official Swans site. Jarboe's new disc, ANHEDONIAC, is available only through this web site by mail order. In addition, there is an extensive list of live Swans tapes from throughout their history, also available only through the web site, for extremely reasonable prices. The site is highly recommended for its wealth of information (including discographies, sound clips, and press/interview posts) and pictures. Check it out.