INTERVIEW BY Rachael Clegg

bloody mother fucking asshole...from the very wainwright dynasty that brought us  loudon, rufus and the mcgarringles, martha is an altogether different kettle of fish. mention of leonard cohen and feminism and not being 21,  all crop up in rachel cleggs interview with one of 2005's rising stars

Interview with Martha Wainwright

Night and Day Café

February 28^th  2005

Rachael Clegg

When I join Martha Wainwright she's casually smoking, drinking and chatting away to her entourage, in the relatively dingy confines of the back room at the Night and Day Café. She's wearing battered basketball boots, a denim skirt, and old t-shirt – an outfit that seems to reflect her demeanour perfectly: a relaxed and very down-to-earth woman with what seems like an infinite catalogue of experiences. We sit round a table talking as Martha smoked away chatted animatedly about the meaning of her songs, her life, and the perception of women in music. Extremely warm and open during the interview, with a real ‘been there’ aura, this is all somehow mapped in her eyes and face. Her humility regarding song writing is striking, considering that during her set, she undeniably and naturally, had complete command of the audience.

RC: When I was watching you perform it seems that the content of your songs are a little too heartfelt to be merely hypothetical situations.

MW: That’s because they’re not [laughs almost recollecting each and every one ]. There isn’t one line in any of those songs that isn’t actually true. It makes for very un-prolific song writing.

RC: Some of the lyrics seem a little too close for comfort, which relates to my question, do you always write directly from experience?

MW: Oh yes, a lot of the songs were written years ago; they took a long time. I’m not a very good guitar player or a very prolific musician who writes about everything they see and who sees everything as a song. [It’s all from my experience and] it’ll continue to be that way for a while. I think eventually I’m going to have to resort to crap song writing to churn them out because no one can have that many life experiences. [Laughs] And now I’m finally with someone and we do all our shit together, which is what I wanted [and] I wonder what I will write about.

RC: I was going to ask that actually, if you did have your dog and two kids what would be your subject matter?

MW: Well you know my mother and my auntie [the McGarringle sisters], both wrote all their songs when we were kids and they were at home.

RC: In terms of the content of your songs, as a woman I could relate to them very strongly and I am sure other women could as well. Is there a dominant element of womanhood in your writing?

MW: Well, you know, I think about what it all means to have this body and to be a woman. There is a lot of that and there are a lot of self-conscious feelings as a woman [in my songs].

RC: The music industry is arguably male-dominated with significantly fewer women involved than men; in almost every area of the business. Do you find it empowering to be a woman working in this context?

MW: Definitely. You know it’s interesting, my Mom always used to talk about this man’s world and because I was born in a matriarchal family I don’t even think about it. I went to dinner with Jonathon Rice and he said something that really made me angry, although I didn’t say anything. He said: ‘I think this is the best thing that a woman has done since [Joni Mitchell’s] Blue’…You know, I was shocked by it. It’s true that women are…considered as a thing that you can process into a sentence. That makes no fucking sense.

RC: It does appear sometimes that women in music are subject to a different set of critical criteria than that of men.

MW: Mmm… They do [with critical acclaim] but they are still as criticised as the guys. People love music whether it’s from a woman’s mouth or a man’s mouth so it should be an even playing field [but] clearly it’s not.

RC: I remember a male friend of mine commented that I knew lot about music for a girl, the comment didn’t bother me but his girlfriend raised the question as to why it was important he stressed ‘for a girl’…

MW: When you think about how many girls are music fans I mean for me definitely most of my passionate fans are women. We’re more than 50% of the population. I mean let’s get real here; women are starting to make money. We as women are going to have to figure out how to deal with being independent but also wanting love and wanting to be taken care of. It’s a real changing time. The feminist movement happened in the sixties and the seventies but right now we’re living it. We’re figuring out how it works.

RC: It seems like in the songs there is a toss-up between the wanting of love and commitment and a woman’s indulgence in freedom and solace such as when you sing about being alone driving your car.

MW: Yes because you have to find solace in the things that you have, you know I spend a lot of time alone, I didn’t have a boyfriend the time that most women do, which is their early to mid-twenties, for five or six years [I didn’t have a boyfriend] and you know everyone around you is finding love.

RC: During their early to mid-twenties it seems that everyone is settling down and with certain women the fear of 'being-on-the-shelf' can kick in, but then there is also this element of all the incredible things outside of love that a woman can do with her life, particularly during her twenties.

MW: Yes, but the funny thing about men is that they can love a powerful woman. It’s going to be harder [as a ‘powerful’ woman] to have a ‘normal’ relationship [and] to get married and have kids and find someone [that you can do that with], but men do love women who are like that and all you need in life is to go through it with someone, so you know, it’s OK. It’s better than being in the corner.

RC: Does this idea of a powerful woman appear much in the songs?

MW: I don’t know, I mean, there’s a power to it and I got up tonight and I was very aggressive but when you really listen to a lot of the lyrics it’s all about love and vulnerability and sort of a wanting of someone is isn’t going to leave me.

RC: Moving on from the woman thing anyway…

MW: [Laughs].

RC:  With your Father being a folk singer [Loudon Wainwright], your mother a folk song writer [Kate McGarringle, one half of the celebrated McGarringle sisters] and your brother [Rufus Wainwright], there must have been a point at which you departed from this folk background and developed your own style. Was there a defining album that marked this departure from what you had previously experienced in music?

MW: It’s interesting… First of all, I grew up with my mom, [who] had a lot of really interesting records; I always [heard] music that was very different [to what most people listened to], whether it would be [classical], Edith Piaf, old blues [or] country music. So I did have some objectivity but the first thing I found independent of them, and that was new at the time when I was twelve or thirteen, [was a tape] I discovered of ‘I am Your Man’ by Leonard Cohen. Although some people compare my family to him [that] was my first understanding that music is not really about music; it’s about words. It was the first time I was like ‘what does that mean’; I finally got my head around poetry [which] I never had. It was Leonard Cohen.

RC: You mentioned that you had been brought up listening to the blues. Is it merely coincidental that the structure of your songs is blues-based; particularly in the manner you sing the same line twice?

MW: That’s probably just laziness.

RC: You mean  ‘Can’t be arsed with this, I’m havin’ it twice’. !?

MW: [Laughs] I would hope it was the blues.

RC: What other influences feed into your music?

MW: Well, you know, just a general concern about my standing on the planet. In many ways I think like a teenager because I don’t have a regular job and I’m not stuck in the rut but I think many people are. That allows me [time] to think about [things] and get sad about them or worry about them.

RC: Do you think the song writing experience then, is actual life itself as much as picking up a pen or guitar?

MW: I feel very close to the person on-stage singing so that is my experience. Waking up every morning and being in reality, breathing the air that everyone else breathes, being next to the person that you want to be with; I would hope that they [and song-writing] are one-and-the-same. That would be great.

RC: In terms of your next project, what are your ideas?

MW: To be perfectly honest because I made a very artistic type of record, because no one would sign me essentially [swigs a drink]. I almost think that it’s kind of that thing where you make the odd record and then if it does [work and] people are interested that maybe you could go for something a little bit more poppy the second-time round. You do that and then as you continue you can go back to more arty stuff but why not try and make a bigger-sounding poppy record? I think it’s good that I didn’t do that for my first record as I would have had to duplicate it.

RC: You don’t feel you have any ties, musically, of course?

MW: No, I mean, I think I know what I like, and I think if I went into the studio and a producer [started] doing something that [I didn’t like] I would go and stop it. That’s the beauty of not being 21 anymore. In many ways I thought I wanted to make a record when I was that young; and it’s taken me along time and I’ve wondered why but now, in retrospect, being here it’s sort of like ‘well, I’m old enough to make my own decisions’.

RC: The pressure of the first album must be immense.

MW: Yeah, but it goes [away]. I was worried went we sent it up to press because there would be no one else to blame but me because it is kind of self-produced with someone who let me do what I wanted to do. I was worried about people shitting on it…[but] there’s been a lot of really nice things said, so I feel a lot calmer about it.

RC: How do you build a skin to protect yourself from being shat on?

MW: You don’t. You are totally insecure, completely insecure. I mean, you get good at having a photo taken and saying witty things and get a conversation moving if you have to because people have paid to get in. I don’t know where my skin is. I haven’t grown that thick skin yet.

RC: Do you think anyone can really grow it?

MW: Maybe but I think in the folk world when you’re doing music that’s really about how you feel it’s harder and I think that’s good because you want to keep a bit of a soft edge.

RC: When you are playing you seem to have quite good command of the audience; I was surprised at how quiet it was during particular moments in the set. How do you achieve that?

MW: Well, when you’re standing alone on stage with a guitar you do automatically demand some attention. You have to address the audience and make them feel like they are part of what’s going on. I think you also have to feel that you are interesting enough for them to be interested. It’s like an ego boost that you have to give yourself: ‘I am actually going to intrigue these people’.

RC: You seem really possessed on stage, is this how you literally feel ?

MW: Yes, because it’s hard -  it’s physically painful -  it’s like running a marathon  -  it’s easier if you get yourself into it.....

words:

Rachael Clegg Feb-05

web:

http://www.marthawainwright.com

http://www.drownedinsound.com/recordings

pictures:

(c) Martha Wainwright / Artist  Website

(c)(p) 2005 - mbm 4 msuicdash