annie

Q&A WITH ABBA 1: BACKGROUND & MUSIC
Nic: So Abba. I know um more about you than I obviously know about these guys. (Audience laughs) But but we’re not going to talk about that, right?
Abba: I’m being really quiet.
Nic: I know, I know. I wanna talk a little bit about your background, growing up in New York, growing up in the household you grew up in. Um your parents played a lot of music. A lot of protest music was around the house wasn’t it?
Abba: Um yea. I mean folk. I mean Beatles was the thing that I…You know & I guess some Beatles music was protest music. But yea…I don’t know if they were a red diaper and I’m a pink diaper person. But pink diaper people. Um we have diaper people now don’t we?
Nic: Yea we do now.
Abba: But anyway…but…they’re not…anyway. Um yea so yea. There was I mean there was you know…I think Woodie Guthrie got my dad’s first guitar for him.
Rachael: (giggling) Damn.
Abba: Yea so…so that was kind of a good history and you know. But um Joan Baez and Dylan who I didn’t appreciate till later cause he seemed like he was bitchin’ about women all the time. Um…
Tom: I totally appreciated that to be honest.
(Audience laughs)
Abba: So um yea. But uh, I was kinda…I would say Beatles was the strongest thing. I mean I just you know. I liked sound. I felt really comfortable with sound cause you couldn’t see it and it just you know. I related to it, so Beatles music really kinda resonated with me a lot. So…
Nic: When did you first start playing music? Did you, I mean…people sometimes start playing an instrument; people sometimes start singing. Which came first for you?
Abba: I don’t know. I was probably singing. But uh you know guitar I guess and then piano. Guitar when I was six or something and piano probably around then also. And then um…yea. I think I wrote, probably around seven when I wrote the first song on the piano. And my mother tells this tory that I wrote this song for the music class and did the notation or whatever and my music teacher—she had a really tight bun and these skeleton earrings and she was kinda scary and it’s sort of amazing I ended up doing music because she was such a bitch.
Tom: (whispering) A good one!
Abba: Yea right, go for the bitch thing. So um…but um. My mother was like infuriated with her cause I had written this song and you know she sent you know the song back to my you know whatever with me to my mom with like all the incorrect you know like (in false voice) “This note isn’t the proper note for her and it should be a half step.” and blah blah blah blah you know.
Nic: And you were seven?
Abba: Yea so um.
Nic: Amazing
Abba: Whatever. I do remember the song though.
Nic: Are you going to sing it to us or play a bit of it or…?
Abba: I um haven’t played it for a really long time. But it went something like…it’s not going to be…I was thinking oh I should play one that’s like my eighteenth song because I was still young but it was better. But um that was it went something like…well there were two songs. I don’t know which one was first. One was

[Cages Song]
I’m in cages, can’t get loose. I wanna be free, free and loose. Why can’t I be free? Why can’t I be away from slavery? I can’t leave and get away… So (Audience laughing and applauding)
Rachael: You wrote this at seven?
Abba: Yea, don’t ask me. I do believe in past life stuff. But um
Rachael: I still haven’t written a song…(unintelligible) That’s amazing.
Abba: But that was yea. I was like woah. I was a pained child but I was also very happy. But um and then there was this other song that went uh

[Zoo Song]
Oh my, it’s really hard to try, living in the zoo stepping in the poo, having carrots thrown at you. Popcorn in my nose, peanuts in my toes. I’m getting rather sick, looking like a broken toothpick. Oh my it’s really hard to try with saliva in your eye from all the boys and girls spitting at you…
(Audience laughing)
There was more to it but I don’t remember.
Nic: One presumes that your parents had taken you to the zoo and…
Abba: I became a vegetarian at five.
(Audience laughing)
Nic: What about what about an early song that you played with guitar when you first started playing with the guitar? Is there something that you can remember that you can play for us?
Abba: Oh God I wrote pathetic love songs for awhile.
Nic: Well everybody did by the sound of things.
Abba: I know.
Nic: Everybody does by the sound of things.
(Audience laughs)
Abba: Everybody does, I know. Um (strumming) I, this is…this is kind of later-ish. But it’s not a pathetic love song cause I don’t really know…Well it’s kinda pathetic.
[Walk Into A Tree Song]
Um but okay. I’ll do it. It’s short. I had a ruff ruff meow meow life. I’ve been a pussy cat a tiger and a dog’s wife. When I would walk and not look in front of me the bark felt hard in my forehead when I walked into a tree. The bark felt hard in my forehead when I walked into a tree. You can’t see the forest if you walk into a tree. You can’t see the forest if you walk into a tree. You can’t see the forest if you walk into a tree. But you can see the stars circle in your head. Wish upon me. Wish upon me until you do it again until you’re dead.
(Audience laughing and applauding)
Abba: And I’ve been a pop songwriter ever since.
Nic: As you can see it’s very entertaining in our house with two young babies.

Q&A WITH ABBA 2: RECORDING PROCESS, FIRST ALBUM, SONG SELECTION
Nic: Abba’s made a couple of records, she just actually finished making a record which took awhile. An independent record can take a little longer and having babies in the middle of it can slow the process down.
Abba: But quicker than the Blue Nile.
Nic: That’s true, that’s true, that’s true. The Blue Nile just released their fourth album in twenty-five years? Uh no compromises there. But you’ve uh made records at home um and I’m wondering as an artist without the record label behind you I mean…I’ve talked to a lot of people who are unsigned and uh there’s a whole different process of selecting songs and uh deciding what songs to put on a record. Tell us a little bit about that process for you. Maybe even talk about the first album you did a few years ago and how you picked the songs for that record. How you decided to record those songs. Cause independently you have to sort of grab chunks of time here and there and grab musicians and favors and friends.
Abba: Um yea. Well I had a bunch of songs that um like I had written in my teens and early 20s and I and I had the opportunity to record them with…I don’t even remember how I hooked up with those musicians honestly. But um brilliant musicians and well I was working in a recording studio in Woodstock um cleaning the toilets and serving the Suzanne Vega pizza and whatever. Not at the same time. And uh…though I wish I had been in a way. She’s…anyway…I like one of her albums. Um so I was there and I hooked up with some people and um you know I always had musicians that were really good musicians that were interested in playing with me cause I was such a bizarre player. I would reel in these like really cool sorta jazzy bizarro people. But um and I had these songs and you know, it sparked something in some great players and that was you know…And I was so you know it was an interesting experience doing that record because I was like you know. My issue as an artist has always been I used to do gigs—I’d do a gig and I’d get a wonderful response and I would leave my guitar at the club for a year and sit in my apartment. Um and ah I uh you know was so grateful these musicians wanted to work with me that I just sort of you know. It’s like thankyouthankyouthankyou and um. Kind of the wrong attitude to go into working situation. But um but it worked out you know. I made this record that I was fairly happy with and um and I don’t know. The songs just were the songs that were supposed to go on it. I guess they were you know the songs that I’d enjoyed playing the most and um you know. It’s interesting. I was hearing you guys talk about you know doing songs and they lose kinda some of their energy sometimes and I do feel like there’s a freshness when you’re fucking up and trying to figure it out. “That’s a weird chord, I think I’ll keep it!” And um but I’ve been thinking lately you know it’d be really good to go on tour with songs and then record an album. So you’re really you know, you work em and work em and work em and then you do all this other stuff. I mean that’s how I kinda feel about some of the songs.
Rachael: I like that idea. That’s a good idea.
Abba: Yea, you know…so. But I guess you know it’s the yin and yang of songwriting you know. The raw sort of dirty nasty and the really well sort of like my song is my friend you know. I really know this song really well now you know. I can play it with my eyes closed looking out of the back of my head. Um…which I do all the time. No. Um so yea. And then the record I just did I did a little album, a little sort of EP kind of thing. Um that ah I don’t know what song I’m going to play. I mean I guess I should play a song from somewhere, right? From outer space…um.
Tom: Wait now. She gets to choose?
Abba: I get…yea totally.
(Nic and Tom talking over one another)
Nic: Play…play…
Tom:How did that happen?
Abba: Well you know what?
Tom: I’m smelling something unfair right now. (Nic laughs)
Abba: Well you know what? I would say something but…but I’m not.
Nic: Good. Thank you.
Abba: You’re welcome honey.
Nic: Yea.
(Audience laughs)
Abba: I’m trying to bring the vulgarity down to a low roar.
Rachael:You’ll have to sleep with Nic in order to…
Nic: Well…I don’t know about that.
Tom: Not again. How do you think I got played on KCRW in the first place?
(Audience laughs)
Abba: I know. He’s just bent over and greased up every night fore these guys. Um, oops.
Nic: It’s the only way you can get airplay, I’m sorry. You know, people think I take cash. Um…(laughs)
Abba: You know what? This is Hollywood. You gotta like, you know. The more you ignore someone the more they pay attention to you. It’s the boyfriend-girlfriend syndrome. Ignore me? Ohohoh! Please come here! Oh we love you, we love that song. I don’t want to play it for you. Anyway…I’m not actually going to pick a song.
Nic: The good news is that you can curse here. Cause I always have to tell people they can’t curse in the station. But please. Swear away.
(Audience: ohh!)
Abba: I’m sorry. So anyway, do you want…
Nic: I think you should play a song from that first album.
Abba: From the first album? Oh wow. The one that I had to fight to get on? (chuckles). The good thing about doing an independent album is that you don’t have to fight.
Nic: You have to fight with yourself.
Abba: Fight with yourself which I…Okay. This is a good one. About…(strumming guitar) I don’t know.
[Song]

Q&A ABBA 3: THE NEED TO WRITE SONGS
Nic: Rachael you were talking about ah songwriting as though it’s I think you said like a muscle you need to exercise and I know that Abba tells me that there are times when she just has to write songs. You just gotta sit down, go somewhere, write songs. Um some people have the luxury of maybe…I think it was Sarah Mclachlan I was talking to she said, “I just go to the woods for a month and write songs.” Because you know she can you know. Ah most people have to juggle the responsibilities of life ah and I’m wondering if Abba you could tell us a little bit about how you find the time to write songs and why you feel…
Abba: I don’t.
Nic: Well tell us why you feel the need to. I mean what…I guess it’s a it’s may be a difficult thing to describe but I’m interested to know if you can and maybe if the other guys can chime in on this as well. Um why do you have to write songs? Why is that something that you have to do?
Abba: Well, I mean…You know what you started saying about the I mean the songwriting process for me is basically I need to I need to make it a lot shorter since I have twin one and a half year olds…change the time frame here. But um you know as an artist I feel you know this is a…I mean I have to write songs because I will be an insane mad person if I don’t basically. I’m already kind of an insane mad person but I I’ll be a dangerous one. (Audience laughs) To myself probably mostly. But um and ah so I have to do that. There just isn’t a choice. And you know it took my parents a long time to realize that. They were like: you know what? She’s an artist. She’s an artists! She’s an artist! You know they were like no typing classes, no working under a fluorescent light you know. Cleaning houses maybe and cafes but that’s about the level. But I you know so. But yea I um you know. I don’t have a choice I guess is my thing. I don’t really have a choice. And the songwriting process for me…I usually need to really…I mean I’m in this zone right now. I’m curious to know if you guys get into this place. I get into…I would love to be in a hotel room. Like, stick me in a hotel room! No but um I get into this zone where I’m like I’m in songwriting zone. Like I…like there…it’s almost like my period or something but it’s a longer stretch of time and (laughter) it’s not like I’m bleeding…well no it is like I’m bleeding actually. Like but…I’m trying to get…
Rachael: I feel you. I feel you.
Abba: …to get as clear as possible. I start tripping in my head and I know it’s time to basically start writing songs. And I need to walk around for like hours and just kind of look at something and listen to music and you know pick my toe nail and you know make the bed and yea. I mean it’s a whole thing I have to do you know. And that’s why it’s hard right now. But um but um I get you know I have to get it out and I have to write a song and that’s where I am right now. Even trying to think of the songs for this for playing tonight every time I picked up the guitar to start playing maybe some old songs to get a little bit familiar with some of these songs I would start writing something new. So it’s kind of I can feel there’s a bunch of stuff that’s just gonna explode out.
Nic: You know Rachael you were telling…
[On stage: Tom shifts away from Abba]
(Audience laughing)
Abba: I have I have lots of diapers so don’t worry.
Nic: Rachael you were saying about you know how many songs you wrote before you did your first record and I’m wondering if before Abba plays another song if you have that same thing. Where you just get into a place where you just have to write. I mean…
Rachael: I get really annoyed cause I’m a pretty lazy person actually. And so I feel the urge to like, get that down, get that down. I’m like: goddamnit it’s four in the morning do I have to get up and record this? And like it took me a long time to like actually get up and write it down. And um you do you just feel uncomfortable if you don’t do it. I’m not sure if I feel like okay this is what I need to do. I know that’s something’s wrong when I’m not doing it. So I’m just working on the negative about it. But then as soon as you’re into it you feel really good and free and kind of in your zone or whatever you want to call it. And um you feel very satisfied after you’ve at least gotten something down if you haven’t um kind of um put on any opinions or editorials of what you’re doing. You just get into it and do it and you feel really good afterward. You get excited about the perfect line and you tear up at that one thing that makes you feel all this emotion. You’re like I got it! I got it right there! Um but yea I think I work on the negative. I feel like I feel something’s missing if I’m not doing it. But it’s so natural for me now to just sit down and write something that it really just becomes part of your lifestyle. It’s your way of expressing something, it’s no different than having coffee with a good friend or going out for lots of lots of drinks with another person, you know? It’s like…not to say anything about this evening. Um no. But it’s all it’s all just part of keeping yourself healthy and expressed and um. But yea. You definitely feel like something wrong when it’s missing. You feel uncomfortable.….
Nic: Well maybe I can uh I can come back to to…I’m going to ask you that in a minute. I don’t want you to feel left out.
Tom: I have a man in the Philippines. I pay I pay him a dollar a month and he writes all my songs. (Laughter) It’s fucking great. It used to be Mexico but the prices went up and I shipped right out to the Philippines. Capitalism works for me.
Nic: You got to make sure you’re shipping those jobs offshore to the cheapest possible place. Um. Let’s come back to Abba. Maybe you could play us something that you recorded recently, something that is on the album that you just finished.
Abba: Sure I’ll do that. (Tuning guitar) Let me look at your tuner. Yea it’s saying it’s right. I couldn’t be bothered to plug in my tuner. I know it’s very non-professional. Very Neil Young. Um no he probably plugs in his tuner. Um this is a song called Nothing at All.
[Nothing at All]