Gossip is one of those bands that had me at “Hello.”
One of my best friends from college once made me a mix CD that included their music and said, “Check out this chick’s vocals, you’ll love it.” We were listening to the song “Jason’s Basement” in my car and, from that point on, my ears and heart belonged to Beth Ditto.
A couple of years later, I flew out to Austin for a wedding and saw that the band was playing at a small club called Emo’s. It took less than five minutes to make up my mind that I would leave the rehearsal dinner early and get my butt to that show.
At one point, I stood tongue-tied staring at Beth and her new drummer, Hannah Blilie, who were standing at the bar. I was too shy and nervous to ask if I could buy them a drink, and I think I’m still waiting for my day to do it. But let’s fast forward to the present time, when I have the opportunity to talk to Blilie about working with uber-producer Rick Rubin, touring behind their new album Music for Men and of course, her tattoos.
AfterEllen.com: So tell me a bit about the new album Music for Men. It’s a departure from the others in that it’s a bit more polished — not in a bad way — just not as gritty as the others. What was it like working with Rick Rubin? Hannah Blilie: This is our first major label record so that kind of plays into how that hi-fi sound came about. Basically, we had a lot of studio time and before we’ve never recorded anything in more than ten days and for more than $20,000 or something.
With Standing in the Way of Control (2006), we spent a total of ten days on everything. That’s recording, editing, mixing and we’re finished. It’s been more of a “get in get out” kind of approach just because those were the resources we had available on [former label] Kill Rock Stars. That was fine, that worked, but we’ve been a band for ten years and now we’ve got the opportunity to take it more seriously and spend some more time in the studio.
Having Rick [Rubin] there, of course, was a big influence. Basically, when we were working on songs for the album we knew we wanted to add more elements, not just one guitar and drums and vocals like our other records. We wanted to make it a dance floor kind of record. There are punk songs too, but we wanted a more hi-fi sound.
It was really cool for us to be able to grow like that in the studio because we never really considered ourselves professional musicians. (laughs) But Rick really nurtured what we were doing and believed in us. He tried to bring the best out of us.
AE: Was there interaction outside of the studio? HB: No, not really. We met with him a couple times before working on the record and talked about ideas. He’s kind of known for not really being there during the recording process, he’s a really hands-off producer. He just encouraged us and made us feel really good about what we were doing. He’s definitely a guru. He’s got this energy and this vibe that makes you want to do the best you can do.
I think we all kind of developed musically on this record and it was a really good experience for us. We wanted to see how far we could take it but not lose the minimalist approach. There’s not so much going on in the record that we can’t replicate it live. AE: You also just put out the Live from Liverpool album, was there more pressure on that or was it more like “this is what I do?” HB: That whole process (laughs)there wasn’t a lot of planning going into it, we were just on tour and it was like, “Oh, okay. We picked this date, alright. Let’s just do it.” I didn’t feel any pressure because it wasn’t planned. There wasn’t a whole lot of thought that went into it.
AE: What’s the most fun song for you to play drums on from this album? HB: I think the most fun songs so far are “Heavy Cross” – just because the audience really responds to it and it’s a fun beat to play. “Eighth Wonder” is really fun, it’s kind of more of a rock drumming approach. Also, “Men in Love” has a really weird funky drum beat and there’s cowbell.
AE: More cowbell! HB: (laughs) Yeah for me the growth between the two albums has been really awesome. We play some songs from Movement (2003) live and the difference between the albums is pretty huge. It’s a chance for me to challenge myself musically and play some things that are just really fun.
AE: Do you feel pressure at all being such a public figure for the queer community? HB: No, just because I feel like we’re just being ourselves and I think that’s kind of part of what appeals to people about our band. We’re outspoken queers and we talk about queer issues. We’re loud and proud, we come from the queer community and now we’ve got this opportunity to bring the message to the mainstream and it’s a really rad opportunity.
I don’t really feel pressure to be a spokesperson or anything like that because it’s really more about just being ourselves. I always feel the love from the queers and it makes us feel really amazing and empowered. AE: You guys really are all about spreading the messages, what do you think is one of the most important messages to get out there right now? HB: I think our message has always just been about self-acceptance and self-empowerment. Finding whatever support in your friends, your family, your queer chosen family, just knowing you’re not alone in who you are and feeling the way you do about the world. There’s always someone there to support you. There are all different scenes that can make you feel like you’re not alienated.
When we were coming up and listening to Bikini Kill, Huggie Bear, Sonic Youth and Nirvana, those were the types of bands that made us feel like we could play music or get a message out or be queer, be radical feminists. There’s always something you can latch on to – to make yourself feel empowered and accepted. It’s a basic message but a really powerful one especially for people living in rural areas who feel like they’re all alone in how they feel about the world.
AE: It’s a simple message that doesn’t get out there enough. Are you pumped to be playing with MEN? HB: Yeah it is so awesome! I love MEN. We toured with JD [Samson] and Le Tigre five years ago when I was just starting in the band, so it’s kind of like a full circle moment. Ginger and Michael are just a really amazing group of people. They get dancers and sign holders in every city for them. Just really fun queer stuff!
AE: So, I just started a tattoo blog so I’m really interested in the tattoos you’ve got, can you tell me about those? HB: (laughs) I have so many now since I kind of started making money with the band! I went really wild because I always wanted to have full sleeves. It was always a dream of mine but I just never had money to get tattoos.
Now in the past two or three years I’ve just gone crazy. The two main pieces I’ve got on both arms are paintings by the artist Tamara de Lempicka. She’s a 1930’s Art Deco-era artist. They’re two women on either arm and just really cool Deco-ish pieces. I have lots of flowers, horses and birds. I just got my left arm totally filled, so I’m excited about that. I got a giant chess piece. Oh man, I’ve gotten so many in the last couple of years. My mom is kind of freakin’ out!
AE: I can relate, I’m Jewish so my family is going a little nuts. But it’s like, after one, I’m not getting buried in a Jewish cemetery anyway, might as well keep going! HB: That’s right, might as well go wild! I definitely am going to get more, but I’m kind of running out of room so I need to come up with new ideas.
AE: The only problem is running out of any skin area. HB: Yeah and getting more ideas. I’ve been really into traditional tattoos lately.
AE: Is there anything you’ve been listening to these days – besides your album? HB: Ha! I’m not listening to my album! I was obsessed with La Roux for a little while. I really like her album. And then another British group called The xx. It’s really mellow boy/girl vocals, really pretty and dark.
A lot of the stuff I’ve been listening to is old though. A ton of old soul and African funk music. I’m in a weird African funk zone. I just go in phases where I download random stuff from the Internet and go wild.
