BUST by Sarah Yeager

BU ST APRIL 2013

GRIMES

Outspoken electronica artist driving the Internet wild CLAIREY BROWNE ALABAMA SHAKES EMILIA CLARKE

APRIL 2013 10

STRANGE MAGIC

Eccentric electronica “it” girl Grimes lets us into her secret world. By Molly Simms

CLAIRY BROWNE

Our favorite break out music star of the year! Staring Clairy Browne. By Eliza C. Thompson

UP ALL NIGHT

Throw a grown-up sleepover party that’s light as a feather, stiff as a drink. By Lisa Butterworth

NO MAN’S BAND

The jazzy gals of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm sure knew how to swing. By Sonja Patterson

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HEAVENLY BODIES

Gravity-defying looks for spring, modeled by the Martha Graham Dance. By Kah Poon

looks / fashion + beauty

SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS

We’re cuckoo for the bold Latvian looks from QOOQOO. Alison Batz

IT’S SOMETHING OF a joke that birds are an indie fashion designer’s fave animal inspiration – you’ve seen Portlandia, right? – but Latvian label QooQoo took things one step further, its name was inspired by the call of the cuckoo bird. “For birds it’s a way of saying ‘Hi,’ in English it reminds one of something cerazy, and in China it means ‘cool-cool,’” explains Alyona Bauska, the label’s 29–year–old head honcho. Bauska founded QooQoo in 2010 to unleash her creative urges outside her ful time gig as a graphic designer. Since then, the brand has earned renown by churning out leggings, dresses, and tops adorned with geometric shapes, bright colors, and goofy, offbeat elements like cartoon bear faces. While this kooky sensibility distinguished QooQoo from the masses, the brand’s taken a more nature–inspired approach with her latest spring collection. QooQoo has stepped away from futuristic patterns in favor of a more botanical look; Bauska says her newest prints were inspired by “the romantic mimimalism of Latvian nature.” She was encouraged to go wild when she got glowing feedback on an Instagram picture she’d taken of a local greenery. “So it turned into a sort of ritual to go to a meadow every morning, pick flowers, and then photograph them in different ways.” QooQoo’s new photoprint floral designs were utterly charming, and the clothes still have plenty of playful touches, like graphic zigzags and cartoon animal stockings.

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broadcast / news + views

GAME CHANGER

Emilia Clarke claims her seat on another season of Game of Thrones. Eliza Thompson

EMILIA CLARKE, known alternatively by her Game of Thrones character names of Daenerys Targaryen, Daenerys Stormborn, Khaleesi, and the Mother of Dragons, gains a new mantle in season three: the Breaker of Shackles. But even as TV viewers watch her character become a conquering queen with an army of thousands as season three kicks off on March 31, Broadway audiences have a chance to see Clarke take on a different sort of iconic character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Clarke chatted with BUST about where her TV and Broadway worlds collide, the alleged photo frenzy during her nude scene on stage, and what it would mean to “double date” the Iron Throne. Apparently you have a habit of bringing breakfast to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, especially if you count chocolate as a breakfast food. Yes! That is very true. I like to take care of the cast. Everyone keeps calling me the

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Jewish mum, because I keep trying to feed everyone. I take Cory Michael Smith the chocolate macaroons from Dean & Deluca — it’s sweetness upon sweetness. Sean [Mathias], our director, is a crazy man for hot chocolate, so I’ll always bring him one. And Scott [Faris], our assistant director, is like a huge fan of oatmeal raisin muffins, so I get them for him. I’m loaded like a pack horse full of treats every day, but I think they’re appreciated, you know? It’s nice to do stuff for people when everyone’s stressed out. Does anyone reciprocate? Give you treats in return? They’re giving me all their love and support! They’re giving me a Broadway experience! All the muffins in the world couldn’t weigh up with that. Your co-star and your understudy told me that you get teased during rehearsals.

How they tease me? What did they say? Tell me! They said that they yell out, “Dragons!” or “Bring me my dragons!” during inopportune moments. That definitely does happen. I get quite a few Khaleesi jokes a fair amount of the time. They kind of all blur into one, but there have been some doozies. No matter how many muffins I bribe them with, I still get the Khaleesi thing! You’d think they’d chill out a little bit, but no. [Laughs] I’m normally the first to take the piss out of myself, so I kind of encourage it, I suppose. And a lot of the Game of Thrones fans have really come out to the show, which is really wonderful. And I hope they get a different experience than what they’re used to seeing me doing.

looks / fashion + beauty

COPY CAT 1

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3 4

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Grimes is an outspoken pop electronica artist who has delighted critics, confounded listeners, and driven the Internet wild. elizabeth weinberg

first time you hear Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes, you’ll probably ask yourself a couple of questions: What in the hell is this music, and why would anyone listen to it? Her voice is high-pitched and freaky, like a robotic Minnie Riperton – and her backing instrumentals sound like Nine Inch Nails put into a blender with Enya. But then you won’t be able to stop thinking about her. You’ll find yourself watching and rewatching her mind–bendingly fascinating videos, Google–stalking her backstroy, and humming her songs while you brush your teeth. Grimes is the kind of artist you become obsessed with, the kind whose music transporta you to a weird, shadowy world you never want to leave. And the critics agree: her latest release, Visions, was named one of 2012’s best albums by NME, Pitchfork, The Guardian, and The New York Times. Grimes is that rare musical artist who actually seems like an artist, with all the eccentricities that come along with that title. The 25–year–old Vancouver native grew up in an ultra–religious Catholic home, studied ballet extensively, and moved to Montreal in 2007 to attend McGill University. That’s when she started making a name for herself in the city’s arts scene, with the spare, synthesizer–heavy tunes she recorded in her bedroom and released onto the web; she still writes, records, and produces her electronic albums at home on a shoestring budget, using mostly scrounged–together equipment. Boucher soon got expelled from college for skipping class too often. In 2009, she and a boyfriend made national news after they constructed a houseboat out of scrap materials and sailed, along with a flock of live chickens and 20 pounds of potatoes, partway down the Mississippi River. (They would’ve gotten all the way to New Orleans if they hadn’t been arrested for unlawful camping and alcohol possession.) The following year, the Web took notice when she

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released Geidi Primes, a sci–fi concept album full of references to the movie Dune. Part of what makes Boucher so, compelling is her almost compulsive need to tell the truth. Boucher’s Tumblr (actuallygrimes. tumblr.com) was, for a long while, a space where she’d speak her mind on topics ranging from sexism to her undying love of Mariah Carey. In February, after the music blog Pitchfork copied large swahs of her Tumblr for a post of its own, she famously deleted almost all of her site, leaving only the message, “im out because i need some semblance of a normal life in order to be happy. bye internet <3” (a move which, of course, set off even more press attention). Luckily, her fans can still check out her Twitter account, @Grimezsz, where she tweet-binges about her obsessions of the day, be they Russian literature, video games, or Bieber. Boucher’s aesthetics both on and offstage, are also attracting plenty of notice. Her music videos, which she masterminds and directs, pack a visual punch; in “Genesis,” wearing a hat that reads “PUSSY,,” she wields a massive medieval sword in an apocalyptic desert landscape, flanked by a gang of lady friends who look like ravers with a serious fondness for Mad Max. Early this year, Karl Lagerfeld invited her to PAris to attend Chanel’s runway show, and Boucher made an entrance her way, shwoing up in a Japanese–Goth–fairy–princess outfit that set her far, far apart from the typical Fashion Week

attendees. And while she’s got modelesque beauty, she isn’t interested in selling her sexuality. Boucher has said, “Beauty fades, and then you’re fucked if that’s what you’re known for.” The singer’s also known for being outspoken about her unconventional work habits, gleefully talking publicly about taking speed, fasting, and isolating herself from her friends and family for weeks on end in order to craft her third album, 2012’s Visions. The result was a spooky, experimental collection of lo–fi electro beats, looped keyboard melodies, and her signature falsetto vocals. She’s now hard at work on her much–antipated fourthh album, but Boucher – whose speaking voice, incidentally is completely normal–pitched – took some time out from recording at her home studio in the wilds of British Columbia to talk to BUST about her crazy captivating musical creations.

You go to bed around three in the afternoon? Yes. [laughs] I just completely become nocturnal.

What kind of kid were you? Just insane. I’m actually shocked that I was never put on ADD drugs. I was hyperactive, and I have a movement disorder called restless leg syndrome, and when I was a kid, it was way worse. I was just annoyingly always in motion.

Your rep said you didn’t have a cell phone, and the whole BUST staff gasped. What’s that about? I just don’t like it when people can contact me all the time. The only people who have my landline number are my journalists, my publicist, my manager, and my dad. I don’t

When I learned that you did a ton of ballet when you were young, I was surprised. That’s such a regimented world, and you seem like such a free spirit. Why did you stop? I stopped because everyone was hitting puberty, and it was clear that I was compeltely different from everyone else in dance [laughs]. I shaved off all of my hair. I was like, I’m gonna start grade eight with a Mohawk. That was the beginning of the end. But I really like anything intense. People think I’m loosey–goosey, but actually, I’m an obsessive workaholic. I really like work that involves a cathartic intensity. You’ve talked about being raised in a super– religious Catholic household. How do you think that affected you later in life? I think it’s the reason I became a bad teenager – it was a reaction to my religious elementary school. But in a sense, being so reactionary caused me to get interested in weird music and alternative stuff. So I’m kind of lad that I was raised religious. What’s a normal day like for you? Well, it depends. Right now, I’m recording, so I get up around 7 or 8 p.m., I drink tons of coffee, and play videogames with my brother and boyfriend for about an hour. Then I go downstairs and work until probably 2 or 3 p.m. and then I go to bed.

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You live in rural British Columbia. What made you decide to base yourself there instead of somplace that might be better from a career standpoint? I tried to stay in New York and L.A, but if I’m not completely out of a city, then the press never ends. Basically, I had to move to the middle of nowhere to avoid doing it. At a certain pint, it’s like, “If I don’t actually make more music, then what’s the point in doing all this?” U just don’t want to get lazy, and I don’t want people to perceive me as one of those artists who has some success and then rides on that for as long as possible. This way, no one can get mad at me for not going to parties, ‘cause I’m, you know, in the woods.

“I want to create an image that’s simultaneously interesting and beautiful, but not super sexual or particularly feminine.”

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like having interactions with people unless it’s face–to–face. It’s really hard for a lot of my friends, or people in general, to understand.

“Whether we like it or not, we live in a sexist society. And there’s a prevailing feeling in society that stuff that young girls like is not artistically valid.”

There are lyrics on Visions that are very dark, and when I first heard them, I was like, “I’m really worried about this girl.” How do you feel when you look back at the person you were on that album? I think it’s just a good encapsulation of how I was at that time, which was just depressed and crazy. But I think I’m always kind of depressed and crazy. Why did you think you need feminism more now than you did before? Because , whether we like it or not, we live in a sexist society. It’s not always super– overt, but I think it’s the reason critics don’t like Taylor Swift, for example – because her music is marketed to young girls. And there’s a prevailing feeling in society that stuff that young girls like is no artistically valid. I also don’t want it to be incredibly discouraging for women who want to produce their own work. It seems like a lot of people want to take over, in ways that don’t happen with my male friends. And if I swear or talk about drugs, it’s front page news. But all my male friends swear and talk about drugs in interviews all the time, and no one could give two shits. When I learned that you did a ton of ballet when you were young, I was surprised. That’s such a regimented world, and you seem like such a free spirit. Why did you stop? I stopped because everyone was hitting puberty, and it was clear that I was compeltely different from everyone else in dance [laughs]. I shaved off all of my hair. I was like, I’m gonna start grade eight with a Mohawk. That was the beginning of the end. But I really like anything intense. People think I’m loosey–goosey, but actually, I’m an obsessive workaholic. I really like work that involves a cathartic intensity. You’ve talked about being raised in a super– religious Catholic household. How do you think that affected you later in life? I think it’s the reason I became a bad teenager – it was a reaction to my religious elementary school. But in a sense, being so reactionary caused me to get interested in weird music and alternative stuff. So I’m kind of lad that I was raised religious.

When Aussie singer Clairy Browne hits San Francisco this week with her R&B rockabilly band the Bangin’ Rackettes — it won’t be the first time she has appeared in town. elizabeth weinberg

Clairy Brown and her Bangin’ Rackettes – a nine–piece–co–ed Australian R&B outfit that pays artful homage to the girl group storm the stage, they are not afraid to cause a scene. In fact, Browne says, a scene is exactly what she’s going for. Inspired by “‘60’s hysteria...where people go nuts over music and performers are loose and wild,” Browne, 31, brought her Melbourne–based musician friends together in 2009 to form the Rackettes. Now, in addition to a five–man “jazz machine” backing her instrumentally, she’s got three harmonizing ladies singing backup who bring each set to the next level. This united female front is “really important” to the band’s sound: big, soulful, and undeniably retro. As the group becomes increasingly well known (with a Heineken commercial, two big tours, and an upcoming U.S. album release on the way), they inevitably invite comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Adele. But Browne is quick to point out that “retro” is a catchall word, and she wants to avoid putting everything she does in “little boxes” As far as influences go, Browne names John Waters, Tina Turner, and TLC as faves and describes the concept of her new “Love Letter” video as “Prince goes to prison.” She says the girl group thing is all about “tough women,” from Turner – who she says “broke the mold” for what it was to be feminine in music – to Destiny’s Child, who sang “sex– positive, strong” songs. “Our aesthetic,” she says “can be high–glam and highly gendered, but it can also be gritty and tough. I think a lot of women in the music industry use tenets of third–wave feminism, like being sex–positive or highly feminized, as a marketing thing. Which gives the wrong idea to the young women watching them. But we’re grassroots, this comes from ourselves, and that speaks to our politics.” When Aussie singer Clairy Browne hits San Francisco this week with her R&B-rockabilly band the Bangin’ Rackettes — touting

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their steamy debut, “Baby Caught the Bus,” with its single “Love Letter,” featured in a Heineken ad — it won’t be the first time she has appeared in town. She was here on vacation a decade ago, crooning karaoke in the Castro. Clubs warned her she could only perform one song, she says, on the phone from a South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. “So I’d take a bunch of wigs and do as many songs as I could in as many wigs as I had.” But security caught her. She says, “I was like ‘How could you tell?’ and they said, ‘Because you didn’t change your sweater!’” You once said that if you weren’t singing, you’d be writing about gender politics. True? Yes. I’m just really interested in queer politics, and I’m highly involved in that kind of thing. I used to do a lot of writing about politics in general, but I’ve kind of stepped away from it and I’m just living it at the moment, because music takes more time. Where were you published? It’s so embarrassing now, but I had a blog called My Name is Lena, even though my name is not Lena. And I wrote a fair bit of erotic fiction, essays, think pieces and Judith Butler-style academic queer history stuff. And I was writing in a couple of local socialist magazines, as well. And the article you’re most proud of? I wrote about how transgendered people were truly spirited people and gender warriors. And I was kind of impressed by my own s***! Are you yourself gay? I’m queer, yeah. I’m coming out in Texas! But I’m not ashamed to say that. Do you have a significant other? Is she in the band or at home? I have quite a significant other. At home. And he’s trans.

What is the perfect world you imagine for yourselves as a couple? Well, obviously just equality would be nice. And I’d like for different identities to be recognized and acknowledged and just become part of the everyday, so that it doesn’t become a struggle just to basically exist in the world, legally, workwise or socially. But onstage, you definitely have fun with the voluptuous Russ Meyer-“Faster, Pussycat” archetype, right? For sure. You have to. I’m trying to bring back tough frontwomen who aren’t afraid to say what they think, and who don’t really conform to any typical ideal of femininity. And I think that’s really sexy, that whole Russ Meyer style of accentuated women. And I’m feeling the part, so why not?

sic I love that is influenced by many different genres, a range of artists and styles, from Etta James to Tom Waits to Cee Lo Green, not just confined to soul. Of course we love the gritty unpolished grunt of 60’s recordings and a lot of our influences were around in that time but I do’nt think of our music as being retro per se. I think the fact that there are few bands committing to this sound and style makes it refreshing. But still modern…

When did you realize that you wanted to be a professional musician? I always wanted to. And I realised it was the only job I really truly loved and didn’t feel like work.

Is there a special soul scene in Australia and Melbourne? Its pretty cool. There are some cool DJs that play brilliant rare 45s. There are a couple of bands that dig the style. Like Saskwatch, they are really rad. You can usually catch a residency that present singers with the Deep Soul St band or just Melbourne soul influenced artists playing around the place.

Which bands, musicians and singers are your biggest influences? Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Etta James, Aaron Neville, Erykah Badu, Sarah Vaughan, Prince, Cee Lo Green, Outkast, Tina Turner and the Ikettes, Esther Phillips, Aloe Blakk, Little Richard, Tom Waits, Patsy Cline, The Shangri-las, Sister Rosetta Tharpe…. so many more….

I’m trying to bring back tough front women who aren’t afraid to say what they think, and who don’t really conform to any typical idea of femininity. When did you first start singing? Did you sing from an early age or were you a late developer? I have always sang. When I was four I used to sit and sing sad songs for hours on end. It’s in my blood. How did you get exposed to Soul and R&B? It has always been in my life. I have listened to many styles of music over the years, Rock’n’Roll, R&B, Jazz and Northern Soul… I think there is something heart wrenching about old school Rhythm and Blues. My grandmother used to play me all the great jazz singers. So the love was set in stone early on. There seems to be a big interest in soul with Divas like Amy Winheouse, Duffy, Adele or Sharon Stone recently having great success. Do you see yourself as part of this kind of “soul revival”? I feel like music that is influenced by great old soul songs has always been around, DJs playing in underground clubs and that sort of thing, so I don’t really see it as a new movement. It just so happens that the artists you mentioned are more in the forefront in the last five years, so I guess it seems like a soul revival…. But to me its just playing mu-

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There is an excellent underground Monday night Jazz Party which is the best night on at the moment. Its kind of a speak easy, heaps of amazing muso’s just get up and make the place swing. What makes you particularly proud in terms of your first album? It’s a great feeling having accomplished something like that as a family of nine. We are all very close so we are all super proud that we did it together! It’s our blood, sweat, tears and jazz parties. On your album there is a great version of “Bang Bang (My Baby shot me down)”: which version do you prefer – Chers or Nancy Sinatras version? I love both. How do your write your songs? It’s a collaboration. Jules (bass) and Darcy (Sax) are the key writers, we put ideas to each other and try and collaborate, workshop… until we have a song. Why are you making music? What means music to you? It translates cultures and fills hearts and evokes passion and love. It shares politics. I only claim to know the music of my heart.

Is there something you can do better than making music? Oh sure. I’d like to write about gender politics.

What are you working on, what are your plans for 2013? Hopefully a Euro tour! And of course we are always writing. A second album is to come. Please complete: never ever ask me to… Carry big things.

“When Clairy Browne and her Bangin’ Rockettes storm the stage, they are not afraid to cause a scene.”