Mary Lou Lord has been around the block...after a decade spent dealing with things that would make most humans crumble, she is back with the delightful new album "Backstreet Angels", a collection of covers and originals that shines a light on what it means to persevere. Knee-deep in preparation for her first visit to Japan, Mary Lou was kind enough to reflect on her collaborators, working with her daughter Annabelle, the Boston-area busking scene and the wish that Kurt Cobain and Elliott Smith (two friends of hers) could have found their way into collaboration...
Your new album,
“Backstreet Angels”, is a really beautiful collection of songs and your first
new album in over a decade. Parts of it were recorded oceans-apart with
Australian musician/producer Maryanne Window while others were produced more
locally at Sonelab and Bang A Song studios. What made you decide to get back
into the studio and how did the record come together?
I
originally decided to do a Kickstarter. I had just gotten GarageBand and had a
few songs in the can, and thought it was going to be an easy (and mainly)
acoustic project. My friend Billy Ruane had just died, and he was perhaps my
best friend. I was also coming out of loss of a three year relationship with
someone, as well as going through a foreclosure. So, my thought with the
Kickstarter, and the album, was to keep "moving forward". I needed to
put myself up for the challenge, otherwise, I might have never gotten out of
the black fog I was in. Putting myself up to the challenge of doing that album
gave me "hope". And it also was a way for me to see if anyone was
still interested in my music. It was a great way to litmus that.
One of the things I
was most struck with is that your daughter Annabelle sings lead on album
stand-out, “I Feel Better”. You must be
so proud of her, and there is something very profound about the passing of the
torch to a very literal “next generation” of singer-songwriter. What was that experience like for you, as a
mom and a musician?
Yes,
daughter Annabelle was 13 when I initially began this project. I was in Denver at a performance and I checked
my computer and there was an mp3 sent to me by someone. I listened and it was a
young girl doing the Beatles' version of "Till There Was You" on a ukulele.
At first it took me a couple minutes to
get my head around the fact that it was my daughter! She hadn't let on to me
how much she had been practicing, nor, that she had begun to sing. I was
knocked out by this. She's 16 now and she's become a great young writer. Her
guitar playing is wonderful and her singing style is sensible, non-dramatic,
and most importantly honest. I'm beyond happy that she took part in the making
of this album, and I think it was good for her to learn a lesson in perseverance,
persistence, and patience. Through me showing her or telling her about music
that I like, it really gives me back the spirit of hearing something
awesome-for the first time again.
You have always
covered a lot of others’ material on your albums, but balance that with very
focused and well-crafted originals. Some
of these collaborations have been career-long (Nick Saloman from the Bevis
Frond, for example), but you seem to keep finding new artists who inspire you.
Where do you find inspiration these days and how do you choose which songs to
cover?
I've
never been an artist who has to write as a means to express myself, or some
kind of cathartic experience. I think I find that kind of joy in the
"sharing" of a song I might find or discover. Where some people only
want to write a song, my passion is finding songs that fit exactly what I too
might feel, and then, either share them, cover them, or simply pay the songs
themselves the honor of being the best listener I can be. There is a very
silent art and half of what makes a great song "do" what it should
"do", is when the listener connects with that feeling. Listening
might be the most "silent" thing, and no one gets a trophy or a medal
for "listening" because it is invisible, but it's important. And some
of the songs that Nick from the Bevis Frond has written are some of those songs
that affected me profoundly. Just amazed me in their craft, structure, in
either the lyrics, melodies, guitar playing, and even his singing. It comes
from a place of honesty. And it was naturally a good fit when we would team up
somehow-I was already a big listener of his songs. I still love his music.
Speaking of your
songs, I imagine that they are like children – it’s tough to choose one above
the others. But let’s say you are forced
to make a “Sophie’s Choice”; is there one that you are particularly proud to
have written or that is special to you?
Yes,
it's funny that you say that songs are like children. I suppose that when
making a record, it's like their wedding day. There's a lot of preparation that
goes into it. Then you take the picture, and they go out into the world. They
will have their own experiences, and you won't be there. So, you try your best
to make sure they are the best they can be. I guess if I could pick only one,
it would most likely be "Western Union Desperate". I like that one.
And now, “My Buddy Valentine” - it's just a great song, and I loved having the
experience of writing with both Nick and Maryanne on that one. I love that
we'll always be connected through a song. You know?
There has always been
connection between you and Kurt Cobain and Elliott Smith, two artists who
impacted your artistic development and life in very meaningful ways. Both were the subjects of documentaries this
year (“Montage of Heck” and “Heaven Adores You”, respectively). I was wondering if you had seen either and
what you thought of them? More generally,
is it difficult as an artist to separate yourself as a fan when you have a
relationship with someone whose work has such an impact on you?
Yes,
it really still amazes me that I did know Elliott and Kurt as people, as
friends-and thankfully, before they got famous. I did see the montage of heck
movie, and I thought it was great to see all those lovely home movies and
photos of Kurt when he was a child. I was sort of shocked at how much old
footage there was actually. That was late 60's early 70's. Before the video
boom of the mid-late 80's. It was all on Super 8. It was clear to see he was
beloved as a child. It must have been very tough on him to lose that type of
Camelot - yet have all that happy child footage constantly reminding him of how
it "was" during that happy time of innocence. Maybe he always wanted
it to remain that way and went back to childlike expressionism and never fully
developed as a grounded person because of that stunt in a mature growth.
Possibly he saw a happy return when he had his daughter. It perhaps connected
him back to his own childhood, but alas, in order to protect her, he knew he
finally had to grow up. Maybe it was all too much for him. I haven't seen the
Elliott Smith movie yet, but I'm sure it's lovely. Elliott and Kurt were a lot
alike in many ways. In my heart, one of my biggest wishes is that Kurt had
lived long enough to have met Elliott. Elliott was either in Portland at the
time, or just about to be back in Portland. I know that had Kurt met Elliott,
he would have adored his music. And in my biggest fantasy, if they had met they
could have made a side-band together. Elliott could have shown Kurt so many
things - where Elliott's whisper was from the same place as Kurt's screams, if
the two had connected, it would have been one hell of a band. I also think that
they could have been two people on the planet that understood each other as
friends, more than most.
You’ve been very
vocal and active in the Boston area speaking up in defense of “busker’s rights”,
a tradition that has long been a vibrant part of that city’s street culture but
which has had wavering political support over the years. You yourself came up in the scene…is the
fight to preserve performing on the streets triumphing?
Performing
on the streets was great. When any new artist begins, they need some kind of support
while they practice, being, learn the instrument-this stuff takes hours and
hours. I started late in life, and it was a time when I had to somehow make
money. So, with busking, I was learning my craft, while getting supported for
doing it-at the same time. In other words, if I wasn't busking, or anyone else
for that matter, they will have to become a waitress or something in order to
live. Busking allows for freedom, and allows the ability to work on your art at
the same time-as well as gives a person one of the main ingredients in
persisting, which is "hope". I will always fight for this right. It
was very good to me, and has been for thousands and thousands of people.
You’re heading off soon
for a tour of Japan, which I have to imagine must be really exciting! Is there
a plan to tour your record stateside? What’s
on tap for you next?
Yes, I'm going to Japan for the first time. I'll be there
in early October. I'm very excited. Somehow “Lights are Changing” found its way
onto a popular soundtrack to a popular young people's show called "Terrace
House". My song is wedged in between the likes of Taylor Swift, Black Eyed
Peas, and Weezer. Again, it's the Bevis Frond song, "Lights are
Changing". It just goes to show the timelessness of that song, and the
fact that, well, it's a great song. It's one of those songs that could have
been a hit. But, somehow, I'm kind of glad it wasn't. The song will remain
timeless and have plenty of spins left in it. Music, great songs, should be
like that. And in your earlier statement about songs being like children, well,
with that foster child (haha), it will be a nice reunion, and the tour will be
a reunion of sorts as well-whether in Japan or stateside. I go where the music
brings me.
