Joan As Police Woman

A conversation with Joan Wasser

(December 2008)

Interview by Adam McKibbin

Also published on ARTISTdirect

Prior to heading up Joan As Police Woman, Joan Wasser was most remarkable because of her close proximity to top-tier singers and songwriters.  The classically trained singer and violinist was one of Antony’s Johnsons, played in Rufus Wainwright’s band, and, in her own personal life, was dating Jeff Buckley at the time of the singer’s tragic death (she is reportedly the subject of Buckley’s scorching “Everybody Here Wants You”).

With two lushly written and personally revealing albums under her belt – Real Life (2006) and To Survive (earlier this year) – Wasser has stepped out into the spotlight in her own right.  Yet despite a commercially accessible sound, she has yet to gain the sort of traction Stateside that she has overseas.  She spoke about the differences between countries, the catharsis of painful songwriting, and the best albums to crank when you need a speed fix.

The new album came out and you were right off to Europe.  Your first album came out overseas well in advance of its release here.  Is it just happenstance that you’ve found a bigger and more receptive audience in Europe – or was it a deliberate plan to cultivate an audience there?  Or, as my wife puts it, why doesn’t Joan play L.A. more often?

Well, first of all, I’d love to play L.A. more often and it’s nice to hear that at least one person who lives in L.A. would like it also.  Regarding overseas, I would love to say that I had some master plan to conquer Europe so that I could remain anonymous in my own country – but I would be lying.  In 2004, I made an EP with a small grant and my own money, manufactured it myself and began opening for Rufus [Wainwright] and playing in his band.  In 2005, a man by the name of Tom Rose saw me at Birmingham Symphony Hall supporting Rufus.  He bought my EP and contacted me about selling it in his record store, Reveal Records.  After selling more EPs in his store than I had in a month on the road, he asked if I would be interested in making it the first release on the record label he had been thinking about starting.  This was the beginning of my European career.

I had already begun recording Real Life in pieces when I was on break from the Rufus tour and now I began playing my own shows in England and gaining steam.  A European record label, PIAS, learned about me from Tom and they and Reveal released my first full length, Real Life, in June ’06.  I had to stop playing with all other projects and began touring full time for Joan As Police Woman.  From there, it really hasn’t stopped.  I have mostly been on the road.  I didn’t have an American label in place and had no manager or time to look for one.  I just concentrated on playing good shows.  A label did come forth that I liked, Cheap Lullaby (out of L.A.!) and we released in the U.S. a year later, June ’08.  I will be playing shows in America in September of this year, but I sustain myself by playing in Europe.

I’ve talked to a lot of songwriters over the years and, while there is certainly some variation, I hear a lot of times about how it’s difficult to work and write on the road – that it’s hard to be in the right headspace.  How did you manage to focus and write the bulk of To Survive on the road?

Honestly, I was going through some hard times.  Writing songs actually kept me focused and sane.  I think part of my survival mechanism kicked in.  Strife can really create an extra ability to make art, in my experience.  Too much comfort can, at times, create sloth.  I think, more than this, I love working.  There are only so many days in one’s life!

I know from my own writing experience that it can be very cathartic to write about personal loss – that probably goes without saying.  But I’m not a musician, let alone a touring musician, so I wonder what it’s like to play these songs night after night – and revisit emotions that you may not otherwise revisit so frequently?

For me, creating a place to house those emotions has helped me better understand how loss affects me and to ultimately find more joy.  It’s not like the knowledge of one's loss is ever gone, it’s just placed somewhere else so one can live a normal life.  Expressing my feelings about it in the most beautiful way I know how helps me remember that it’s not as desperate of an experience as it might seem if it had just remained untouched and smoldering in my body and mind.  Singing about it reminds me that I am not unique, that everyone experiences the same general troubles and this is where I feel the most thankful that we have the power of communication.  As time passes, it reminds me of the honest feelings I had at that time.  If I didn’t have the songs, I know I would re-negotiate my memories and decided that I felt a way that I really didn’t.  I don’t know if it’s possible to remember honestly how bad/hurt/abandoned/angry/depressed you feel.  I think it’s hardwired into humans to remember a lighter experience so that there’s some momentum to go on.  Music is such a good meter for knowing that feelings can change, things get better, life truly does go on.

You’ve had a pretty interesting career arc thus far.  I wanted to touch on a few key plot points – starting with your classical training.  Formal education gets a little pooh-poohed in creative circles sometimes (and unfortunately we’re seeing things like music classes cut out of high schools and middle schools).  In hindsight, how was it for you?  Decision well made and money well spent?

Oh, man, I will never disrespect my classical training.  I started playing violin because they offered it in my public school in 3rd grade.  Anyone could rent an instrument for $10/year.  If this program had not been offered, I don’t know what I’d be doing now.  Most importantly, it taught me discipline.  I will never be grateful enough for that.  That is how one gets shit done!  And beyond that, I love the classical repertoire.  When you play a Brahms symphony, for instance, you learn early on how music works, how themes return, go through metamorphosis.  I learned that there really are no rules, you have endless possibilities at your disposal.  Any composer who is known today is known because s/he broke rules or did something differently or more magnificently.  I don’t’ hear that much difference between classical and any other form of music.  Radiohead are making classical music in my opinion.

You went on to work with a number of pretty amazing singers and songwriters – some of whom were fairly iconic already by the time you came into their orbit.  Have you ever been starstruck?  When was the last time?

Meeting Nick Cave was pretty insane, mostly because of his persona.  But damn that guy is down to earth.  I was starstruck recently when I saw Neil Young play and I was just in the crowd!  That person is a living god.  I think I was most starstruck, though, when I met the Dalai Lama.  Now that dude is famous.  That was in 1997 when I played electric violin for a peace conference. 

The part of your audience that knows you just from the Joan As Police Woman albums would probably be surprised to learn of your more sonically aggressive past.  What are your favorite albums when it’s time to turn the volume up to 11?

Bad Brains – Bad Brains
Jesus Lizard – Goat
Nation of Ulysses – 13 Point Program to Destroy America
The Grifters – Crappin’ You Negative