Interview: Eschewing business of music, Marissa Nadler soars with ‘July’
Marissa Nadler, courtesy.
The last few years has seen a surge of musicians leaving labels to self-release albums. The frequent arguments against label partnerships have included more freedom of artistic expression, no hassle from suits and the ability to keep 100 percent of the profits. Folk singer and guitarist Marissa Nadler counted herself among that crowd of musicians. The 32-year-old Massachusetts native released her previous two projects, 2011’s self-titled album and 2012’s The Sister EP, on her own label.
Marissa Nadler, Donovan Quinn
9 p.m., Feb. 19
The Chapel
Tickets: $20.
Nadler had been dropped by Kemado Records after the release of her fourth album, 2009’s Little Hells. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign and a lot of legwork, her self-released albums made money and garnered strong critical reviews.
“I did learn every single intricacy of that self-release process,” said Nadler, who performs Wednesday at The Chapel. “It’s just that unless you’re Beyonce or Radiohead, it’s very hard to get that self-release to reach beyond that built-in fan base you already have. (And) what people don’t realize is that I maxed out four credit cards to do that the right way.”
Additionally, those intricacies of the business wore her out. Instead of focusing her energy on being creative, she was in charge of her own public relations campaign, boxing up albums and worrying about sales.
“Also, it’s very hard to keep giving yourself pep talks when you’re on your sixth album, and you’re (thinking), ‘Nobody even gives a shit what I’m doing anymore,’” she said.
Nadler learned a lot, but was very happy to sign with Sacred Bones Records (home of David Lynch and Zola Jesus, among others) for her new album, July, which was released February 4th.
“I had vowed to never work with another record label again as long as I lived when I started self-releasing, but I guess I changed my mind,” she said.
Q&A: Marissa Nadler on touring with a band and recording with a metal producer
You’ve agreed to speak to me on Super Bowl Sunday. I take it you’re not invested much in professional football?
No, I’m not, really. (laughs) I’m not watching the Super Bowl tonight. I’m from Boston, which is obviously a huge sports time. My dad’s really into sports … I like the hometown teams, that’s for sure.
On working with producer Randall Dunn, who is best known for working with doom metal bands like Sunn O))).
Randall wrote me an email asking to work with me. He also worked with Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter before, so this isn’t his first walk outside of the traditional heavier music.
I obviously write my own music and came to the studio with every song fully written and with the background vocals written. The producer just gets the right sounds out of you. He helped make suggestions about instrumentation, but there was no big overhaul of my sound. He had a lot to do with, like, ‘Let’s put synths here” or, “I hear a string section.” A producer in the hip hop world, for instance, I think may be a little different. They’ll find the song for an artist to sing. In the indie music world, that word can mean so many different things. He was wonderful to work with, and I think I’ll work with him for the next record also. We got along really well, and he had a lot of good ideas.
On touring with an all-female band for the first time.
It’s fun because we’ve got three-part harmonies. I’ve spent many, many years touring by myself, and it’s hard. There’s ups and downs to touring alone, obviously. You don’t have to pay a band, but you’re all alone. If you break a string you’re f****d.
You haven’t always been comfortable being on stage.
Yeah, I think now that I’m a little more seasoned, I’ve got more perspective on this. For the first few years, I was really trying to prove myself and fighting against that shyness. Now everybody knows I’m shy, and they’re not there to root against me. I finally got that through my head that they wanted to see me do well, and I think my psychology about performing has been improved.
You’ve been making melancholic folk for 10 years. Any chance of you swinging in an opposite direction in the future?
This is my seventh record. I don’t see myself making happy pop records. But I can see myself getting more ambient. I could end up going deeper into making cinematic soundscapes when I’m older.
July is her most personal, soul-bearing work to date, Nadler said. Written in July 2013, the album chronologically follows her life from summer to summer. She chose the name because she enjoyed the evocative simplicity of the one-word title. Joni Mitchell’s Blue was an influence.
The gravitational center of the record is the song “Firecrackers,” which details a break-up on the Fourth of July.
To produce, she turned to Randall Dunn, who is most famous for his work with doom and metal bands like Earth and Sunn O))). The two had previously been introduced by her booking agent, who also worked with some of those other bands.
“A lot of black metal is very beautiful and lush and atmospheric and ambient, which is a lot of the same qualities I’m looking to make in my own music,” Nadler said. “I think my music has that lushness and atmosphere. The lyrical content is more introspective and…melancholic and reflective. I thought it made a lot of sense to work with him.”
Dunn helped Nadler introduce strings to her recorded music for the first time, among other tweaks. But the most noticeable addition to the album is the presence of three-part harmonies — which Nadler wrote and recorded herself. It is those harmonies that presented a unique problem, which Nadler solved by bringing on an all-female band to tour with her.
“When I tried to sing the songs, with just one voice…it just sounded like it was missing something, so I was looking for multi-instrumentalists who could also sing to create the harmonies of the album,” she said.
Joining Nadler are classically trained cellist and keyboardist Janel Leppin, and violist and lap steel guitarist Nina Violet.
Nadler released her debut album in 2004, when she was 22. Ten years later, she doesn’t even remember what events led her to write it.
“When I was younger, I was afraid to say what was on my mind. I put Edgar Allen Poe to music, and I covered a Pablo Neruda poem. Now I don’t rely so much on those crutches,” she said. “I feel like the (July) songs…have a wide range of human emotions and I just write what’s on my mind,” she said. “I see it as being more honest. Maybe because of that, it’s affecting people in a stronger way.”
Follow Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.