street roots
July 6, 2012
POTTER from page 1
You can t just be doing this by yourself.
You re playing all of this mellow music, but I
can tell that you have a fire under your ass.”
He suggested that we start a band, so a few
months later, the Nocturnals were born.
S.Z.: Some folks may think you had
overnight success',but in fact you have been
making music and touring relentlessly for
years. Can you talk a bit about what it has
been like for the Nocturnals to pay their dues
and grow into the super successful band that
you all have cultivated?
G.P.: I think that is something that a lot
of people miss when they first hear about
us. They think that we’re new. But it was a
slow, slow burn and we wanted it that way.
The music we’ve been creating for the last,
almost, decade really has helped us to sculpt
what type of band we want to be. It’s ever-
changing and ever-growing. We never really
have settled into one genre. I think that’s
worked to our advantage because it’s
allowed us to cross over into so many areas
of music. The music community is so broad.
We really love the idea that we are
undefinable.
S.Z.: The new album, “The Lion The Beast
The Beat” is your fourth. You co-wrote
Loneliest Soul with Dan Auerbach of The
Black Keys.
G.P.: We actually co-wrote three songs
with Dan. “The Lion The Beast The Beat” is
a record that kind of catapulted us into
many different settings. Co-writing with Dan
was one really amazing creative process
because it did take us out of our comfort
zone.
I was in Nashville for the country music
awards and I called the band and said Dan
has a couple days in the studio, let’s just go
a n d se e w h a t h a p p e n s — without any real
intention of it winding up on the album. We
made three songs in three days. The
Loneliest Soul is the one song on the album
that is actually the recorded result of what
we did in his studio. That’s all straight from
the studio.
S.Z.: It would seem that the game has
changed. Last week NPR intern for All Songs
Considered, Emily White, wrote an article
claiming that, at 21 years of age, she had
purchased only 11 albums, though her iTunes
collection holds over 11,000 songs. What do
you think of what musicians are facing - in
terms of distribution and reaching the public -
to make a living?
G.P.: When we started out, we were
selling CDs out of the back of the car and
that was a viable form of income. Now,
everything has changed because it has
become a song-by-song culture. You pick the
music you like and you can edit your own
playlist, so albums have sort have fallen by
the wayside. My goal as a musician is to
always create bodies of work much like a
photograph. It’s a moment in time and it’s
something that will never be the same
again. Everything changes; fashion or art or
music they are all ever changing, they’re
fluid. So, in a way - as negative as it is to
think it - albums are a lost art. I enjoy the
future because I’m a part of it, but I think I
firmly keep my creative impulses in the
past. In that historical sense, an album is
still important to me.
S.Z.: You have lent your success to a variety
of causes including cancer, homelessness, fair
trade and the environment. How significant is
that in your career?
G.P.: It’s a fine line because I don’t
believe in preaching. But we’re given a very
rare opportunity to speak out about things
that matter to us. Some of my favorite songs
are political songs. I think Bob Dylan is a
genius — but as a songwriter. I don’t choose
to overtly make (political) statements in my
music. I think it makes the music suffer and
I think the message can often be lost. You
can only do so much and I choose to do it in
my personal life and in association with the
band, but also in my free time, when I am
not on stage.
There are many causes that are close to
my heart. My brother has epilepsy. And so
we’ve worked closely with the Epilepsy
Foundation. I don’t have kids, but when I do,
I don’t want to hand them over a tar-colored
world. I want to hand them over a green,
beautiful world with inspiration and music
around every corner and something
growing. So, you just do your part.
S.Z.: The Nocturnals are chameleons in
terms of genre. What is the driving force
behind that?
G.P.: Well at the heart of it, we are five
people in a band where one voice needs to
be created. Whether I realize it or not, I am
deeply inspired and sort of subliminally
affected by everything that everybody in the
band listens to. We live around each other,
we are in a bus together. Everyone comes
back from walking around a new city and
they’ve got piles and piles of vinyl and CDs
and new songs to listen to. I like to feed off
of that burgeoning bucket of influences. If
one of us comes back from a record store
with a pile of amazing old soul gospel music,
all of a sudden, whether I know it or not,
some of that stuff is permeating into a new
song.
S.Z.: What are your thoughts about sexual
power as it applies to musicians?
G.P.: It starts with people like Memphis
Minnie, Elvis and James Brown. People saw
how they moved on stage and it was
startling.
As I have grown into the performer that
I’ve become, I’ve become more comfortable
with my body, more comfortable with
dancing and being an idiot on stage and sort
of shaking around and realizing that it’s the
music that’s making me do that. It’s been an
interesting journey for me because I didn’t
start that way. I started standing very still. I
throw it back to starting with Elvis and
James Brown and moving up through the
'60s and '70s with people like Mick Jagger
and David Bowie. These are huge influences
on me and my movement on stage. If I put
out a spa music record of nothing but whale
noises, then I’m certainly not going to move
the way I move on stage now.
S.Z.: You exude an image of a liberated and
self-actualized woman, which is beautiful. But
women, sex and show business doesn’t always
mix so positively. Last year, a Parisian version
of Vogue was criticized for featuring a 10 year
old model in stilettos and the show, and
“Toddlers and Tiaras” is under fire for the
sexualization of young girls. Is there, in your
opinion, a link between pop culture images
such as these and the objectification and
sexualization of young girls?
G.P. I’m from Vermont. Being sexy was
not a part of my awareness growing up. It
was actually not cool to wear make-up to
school where I came from. The more
dreadlocky my hair was, the cooler I was. I
think if I had grown up in a city or in a place
where there was more exposure to pop
culture maybe I would feel differently. But
from my perspective, I think it’s the choice
of the parent. I see that happening ... stage
moms really believe that by hyper
sexualizing their child that it’s going to let
them live that youth that they never had. It
scares me that they are actually taking that
youth away from their kids. I think there is
something beautiful about the innocence of
being a young girl. I just ran around naked
all of the time, as a small child, and there
was nothing sexual about it. So it makes me
scared for the future to think that running
around naked would hold a completely
different meaning than it did for me as a
barefoot kid, covered in dirt running around
in Vermont.
S.Z.: What words do you have for young
girls who are trying to unfold and celebrate
their own identity as women?
G.P.: You find your talent and your
integrity first. I wouldn’t be dressing in the
clothing that I’m dressing in, and I wouldn’t
be dancing and moving the way I do, if I
wasn’t confident in my songwriting and my
performance and my singing and my grit
and integrity and the work that I have done
to get to this place. For years I was hiding
behind blue jeans and cowboy boots and
men’s T-shirts. I needed to hide and
incubate my skills in order to come out of
my shell and become more comfortable and
own my womanhood. It took a long time.
There is no reason to rush it. And there is
no reason to not value, first and foremost,
your talent and your art and whatever it is
that makes you happy. You want to be a
biochemist? Figure that shit out first.
S.Z. You have said
that often you drag the
band to a local farmers
market and then bring
your finds back to the
room/ tour bus and
cook dinner together.
What is the importance
of good food in your
life?
attempt to break Jay-Z’s record for the most live
shows played in 24 hours last week. How did
you come to be involved his project?
G.P.: I’ve known Wayne (Coyne) from The
Flaming Lips since last summer. We met at
a music festival and he took a hilarious
picture of me. I was actually electrically
shocked on stage. And I ran and hid behind
my Leslie (amplifier) to try and tell my crew
what happened. And Wayne took a picture of
me and tweeted it out to his 100,000
followers, or whatever, and said, “Grace
Potter is on acid.” Really, I was just shocked
and I looked crazy. Ever since then we have
had a fun rapport where we would
communicate back and forth a lot. When I
heard about this record-breaking attempt, I
freaked out and I begged Rick Krim, the
head of VH1.1 said I have to do it. Oddly
enough, I had just been working with Wayne
on a song for a new Tim Burton movie. I
wrote this song and then when I was done
writing it, I thought Wayne’s voice would be
perfect. So the show just kind of came up in
conversation. Wayne thought it was great. It
all came together. It was really beautifully
timed and I am so excited to be a part of it.
S.Z.: You’ve collaborated with Wayne Coyne,
Kenny Chesney, Dan Auerbach, Ann and
Nancy Wilson, Warren Haynes, Joe Walsh.
What are you learning from this network of
relationships?
G.P.: I just learn respect. I think there
are so many people that don’t understand
the intimacy of a
performer, and the
importance of real
chemistry. You think
that this whole
I wo »M b ?I be dressing 1» the industry works like a
clothing that r m dressing ln y manager calls
another manager and
and I w o iild trt be dancing
says you have got to
a n d m o v in g th e w a y i do? if 1
wassi^t confsdeat in my
songw ritlag and my
performance and my singing
and my g rit and Integrity
and the w ork that I have
done to get to this place«
G.P.: Food is family
and that’s what gives
people a sense of
unity. If everybody
eats the same thing,
then we are all
running on the same
gas. I really believe
that there is a sense
of community in
sharing a table or a
dish or understanding where your food came
from. A carrot that you’re eating out of a
plastic bag, you don’t know where it came
from. But you go to a farmers market, you
come back with all of this produce and it
came from within 30 miles of where you are
sitting. It just tastes better, it just feels
better. It completely rubs off on everything
that you do and so, for me, food and the art
of being together as a band is what makes
this whole thing work. I don’t think the
machine would be running at the speed that
it is if we weren’t nourished by what we’re
doing. And that’s not just on stage, that’s off
stage as well. That’s my way of creating
when I’m not on stage — cooking food for
the people that I love.
S.Z.: What is your favorite meal to make?
G.P.: On my birthday last week, I made
wood-fired paella. It’s my favorite thing to
make right now because it’s fresh on my
mind .. the smoky flavor and the saffron and
the seafood ... it’s so good. I’m a complete
carboholic. Anything pasta-related and I’m
happy.
S.Z.: You must have a great metabolism!
(Laughter) You and the Nocturnals and other
musicians joined The Flaming Lips in their
get these two
together. But that’s
not how it works. I
mean, yes, that
happens, but
sometimes it’s a
nightmare, a
complete disaster,
and two people don’t
actually get along. All
of the people you
just listed are people
who I feel deeply
connected to because it wasn’t someone
making a phone call and putting us together
— with the exception of Kenny, who literally
heard my voice, picked up the phone and
said let’s try this. These connections are
made over time and you build up trust and
respect for these people who have worked
so hard to create their own careers.
Hopefully I can put the same amount of care
into my career because I think it’s the right
way to live your life.
S.Z.: What is your trajectory for the
Nocturnals and your future in the music
business?
G.P.: It’s hard to ever set goals beyond
today. I’m just so happy with what we have
now, I feel that we’ve really accomplished so
much. I had a very long bucket list at the
beginning of my life, and I’ve crossed off
more things than I ever thought I would.
And this road has taken me down roads that
I didn’t expect — I’ve done things that
weren’t on my bucket list. I feel very
grateful for that. The world is going to need
music forever. So I hope I get to keep
bringing it to as many people as possible for
as long as I live.
sue@streetroots. org
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