CHRIS WALKER VS. BANDS AND BOOZE, THE SECOND ROUND: ST. VINCENT

The second round of Bands and Booze is almost over but don’t start crying your eyes out just yet, we still have two more days of great musicians and interviews.

After yesterday’s My Brightest Diamond feature it’s fitting to showcase the artist filling Shara Worden’s shoes on Sufjan Steven’s European tour while My Brightest Diamond tours the US. Today on Bands and Booze, I’m proud to bring you none other than the multi-talented Annie Clark – otherwise known as St. Vincent.

You might know Annie as guitarist for The Polyphonic Spree however; she’s about to break out on her own with St. Vincent’s debut album, Marry Me, due Spring 2007. The songs I've heard are amazing, I can’t wait for it to come out. From the moment “Paris Is Burning” tip-toed into my ears and magnificently bloomed through my speakers I knew Annie’s music was something special. After I heard “All My Stars Aligned” it was over. Annie’s voice is so alluring and her music is such a breath of fresh-air into an otherwise increasingly stale genre (i.e. female singer/songwriters). St. Vincent is an undeniable force.

Much like My Brightest Diamond’s piece, I value this interview as one of my favorites in the series and, once again, get giddy as a school girl dealing with such a talented artist. I don’t know what it is. Regardless, there’s a reason I’m so enamored with St. Vincent’s music and hold Annie in the same esteem as Shara, it’s the same reason Sufjan picked Annie to tour in Shara’s place. Hopefully after today’s Bands and Booze interview – in which Annie talks about the upcoming album, why she doesn’t drink Keystone Light, and the single life – you’ll have a better understanding why, as well.

Okay, this is totally nerd-tastic but are you familiar with the part in the first Lord of the Rings when the Fellowship meets the Elven Queen and she's totally enchanting and practically bewitches everyone? That's what listening to your music feels and sounds like.

Annie Clark: Thanks!

No problem. As you know this is for Chris Walker Versus: a site dedicated to mayhem, debauchery, and unacceptable antics - typically caused by alcohol. So, I'll ask the first, standard, question: what is your favorite alcoholic drink?

AC: I am a whiskey girl. On the rocks. Very delightful for sipping.

Very nice. Is there any alcohol you refuse to touch?

AC: I grew up in Texas and for some reason the beer of choice during those pivotal underage years was Keystone Light in the tall cans. Perhaps it was the only brand “one” could get at the drive-thru liquor store with “one’s” older sister’s fake ID. In any case, I now stay away from most beers with pictures of frosty mountains on the can.

Keystone Light is disgusting so, completely understandable. Now the rest of these questions get difficult because you seem so poised, such a lady, so I can't imagine you getting rip-roaring drunk and partying like a rock star.

AC: I am such a lady! Thanks for noticing.

Don’t mention it. Regardless, I’m going to try and see what debauchery filled stories I can get. You've done extensive touring now – both as St. Vincent and with The Polyphonic Spree – do you have any good drinking stories from the road?

AC: I was playing with the Spree last summer in Manchester, England on Toby, the kung fu/theremin-player’s, birthday. He would usually take a theremin solo during the show, but on this particular night, he arranged for Tim to hand him the lead microphone. Alcohol as his copilot, Toby got on the mic and started a monologue about how he and I had been dating for three years and how in love we were (all of which, sadly, was a lie). But, it’s improv, and the one rule of improv is never say “no” to a situation. So, alcohol and adrenaline as my co-pilot, I, of course, went along with it. Next thing I knew, he got down on one knee and proposed to me, to the delight and dismay of the crowd! It was, oddly, a really beautiful moment despite the fact that it was a cruel, cruel joke to play on a swooning audience. Even though I had no part in planning the spectacle, the guilt really hit home when [we] got backstage after the show and the club had sent up a bottle of champagne and a cake!

Ha. Ha. You should’ve started doing that at all the shows. Nothing wrong with champagne. So, what is the strangest/funniest/most outlandish thing a fan has ever done to get your attention or given you at one of your shows?

AC: When I announce the song “Marry Me” I have often heard, “I’ll marry you!” or, “I do!” which is a sweet lie because no one has, as of yet, put their money where their mouth is. And I’m not getting any younger here...

Ah, if only I were single. So, you've spent many a year in Dallas now and, if I'm not mistaken, it's where you recorded the St. Vincent album. What is your favorite bar in Dallas?

AC: I like bars where the Patsy Cline is on endless rotation and where the teeth are optional for the barmaids.

Those are the best spots! I just go for Bowie and Strokes on the jukebox. So, who holds their alcohol better, you or drummer Brian Teasley?

AC: For the safety of himself and others, Brian Teasley does not drink alcohol. He has, however, slammed eight Red Bulls in a matter of minutes, gotten into fist-fights with sandwiches, body-slammed himself on the dressing room floor, and thrown snack cakes in the faces of Franz Ferdinand. I am notably more subdued. But I am not above fisticuffs with Little Debbie, the bitch.

How many guys, on average, would you say try and hit on you/buy you a drink at your shows?

AC: I am extremely single, so clearly not nearly enough.

Ha. Ha. Okay, I'm a bartender and someone asks me for a St. Vincent; how do I make one?

AC: Oh! I know this one! It’s like a Shirley Temple with a splash of arsenic.

Hmmm. What is your ultimate hangover remedy?

AC: Coffee. MySpace. Youtube. Stephen Colbert.

So, into the music a bit, if my copy of "Paris is Burning" weren't an MP3 it would have a hole burned though it, I seriously listen to it that much. I know you've finished recording the album and I'm dying to get my hands on any new St. Vincent material whether it's an EP, an LP, a new single - anything. When can we expect the full-length studio album from St. Vincent to finally be released?

AC: So cool! Thanks. Yes, the album is done and ready to go. I’ll be putting up a new song on MySpace in the next week or so. The album will be out Spring 2007.

Can’t wait. Last I heard you hadn't officially decided on a title; have you picked one yet? Or even a track listing, perhaps?

AC: The album is called Marry Me and there are ten epic songs!

Awesome. Now, to me, your songs are like mini, epic, masterpieces. I mean, just the sheer magnitude of "Paris is Burning" feels downright overwhelming. And "Marry Me"- don't even get me started on how incredible that song is. Can you explain your song writing process? I know this a horrible question to ask an artist, but I mean, do you start by penning poems or lyrics in a journal, or with a guitar riff/melody in your head? I'm really interested.

AC: Thanks! It depends on the song, really. “Marry Me” I wrote at the piano all in about 20 minutes. It just, kind of, appeared. I recorded the vocal in one take minutes after writing it, actually. “Paris is Burning” had been percolating for a while – about 9 months – and I rather painstakingly arranged and rearranged it until it was what you hear. On that song the words really dictated what the form ought to be, like any dramatic, theatrical structure. But I’m always scribbling down clever things people say or odd puns just in case they could be useful for the future. Always foraging, begging, borrowing, and stealing.

You're a member of the Polyphonic Spree, should we expect any guest appearances from Tim Delaughter or other Spree members on the St. Vincent album? - aside from Brian Teasley, of course.

AC: Yes, there are a few lovely Spree members on the album. Louis Schwadron played some french horn, Daniel Hart and Rick Nelson played strings, Ricky Rasura played harp on a song, and Mark Pirro played bass on a song. Other featured guests include long-time David Bowie pianist, Mike Garson, and Heather McIntosh from Elf Power. It’s an illustrious batch!

Great. So, what is your favorite album of all time? What is your current favorite album you're listening to now?

AC: All time? That's way too tough! I have been spinning Midlake’s “Trials of Van Occupanther” for two weeks now. It’s so melodically rich and so well done. Midlake, Mile’s “Bitch’s Brew”, and the Captain Beefheart anthology as of late.

Any books you've been reading lately, or other recommendations you'd like to turn readers onto?

AC: For some reason I haven’t picked up a novel in ages. Lately, I’ve been rereading Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish”, which is, admittedly, very dense. And I just finished a book called, “The Politics of Lust” by John Ince, which deals with erotophobia in Western, and specifically, American culture.

Nice. Well, that about does it. Are there any other drunken stories, tales, or things otherwise you'd care to share before we finish up?

AC: Buy me a drink at the next show and we’ll make some.

I most definitely will. I guess that just leaves the final question, which are better: ninjas, pirates, or Vikings?

AC: Vikings, clearly. They’ve got raping and pillaging down in spades!

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To stream four songs off St. Vincent’s upcoming Marry Me, read blogs, see tour dates with Sufjan, pictures, information, and more, visit the links below:

St. Vincent Official Site.

St. Vincent on MySpace.

St. Vincent Blog.