Amy Klein is best known for her role as the guitarist/violinist in the ever-rad Titus Andronicus, but grrl’s got more than just sweet axe skills up her sleeve. I was lucky enough to exchange a few questions with her about her diverse and surprising side projects and snagged a little summary of her credo about women in rock n roll. Oh and if you haven’t already, check out Amy Andronicus, her fantastic Tumblr!
“It’s Joni Mitchell meets PJ Harvey” dope.
I’ve listened to your projects Hilly Eye and Solanin – both of them boast vastly different aesthetics. I’ve heard you talk a lot about punk rock, Patti Smith, and Riot Grrl but who are the influences behind the far more ethereal Solanin project?
When I wrote those songs, I was living in Tokyo in a tiny apartment. I would spend a lot of time wandering through the local park and also getting lost in the narrow winding streets of the city. It was a period of intense introspection and I was really inspired by looking inwards–telling my own stories in metaphors, making my own life into a fairy tale. I listened to a lot of Japanese psychedelia and noise, and also to a ton of folk music. I was obsessed with Joanna Newsom and Blue Roses. I had just graduated from college with a degree in poetry writing, and so reading and writing poetry was probably the most significant influence on my songwriting.
You have such a developed and determined voice about the inequities of woman in rock n roll, I just have to ask what is it like playing guitar in a band like Titus Andronicus. I’ve been to a number of Titus shows and most of them begin and end in a mosh pit of bro love. Do you get more criticism as a female guitarist?
I think that people tend to judge you differently when you’re a female in a traditionally male business like rock and roll. When I read reviews, I often hear the critic describing my appearance instead of how I played. Countless critics have noted that I “have a big smile.” Bloggers might point out that I am “diminutive” in size (not true!) or that I “look like the girl next door.” I wouldn’t call this criticism so much as I call it marginalization. When you’re a woman standing on a stage and expressing yourself, people are looking at you and (whether they realize it or not) trying to make you fit into some kind of pre-defined definition of what a woman is. The part about performing I enjoy is resisting and challenging that mentality. For example, I like to dance really aggressively, head-banging, moving my shoulders, and using all these 70′s rock and roll macho stage moves when I play with Titus Andronicus. At first, you can see people in the audience are shocked, but then they really get into it! Performing is a great way to change people’s attitudes about what women and men really are. That’s the power you have as a female musician in a rock band.
When did you start playing guitar and violin – I assume you started playing violin when you were young, that’s not the kind of instrument you just pick up!
Yeah, I started playing violin when I was three years old! My parents made me do it–for purposes of cultural edification. I eventually stopped taking lessons-maybe when I was ten. But I re-discovered the violin during my senior year of high school, when my school string ensemble happened to have an electric violin lying around. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was a black Yamaha and I loved how it sounded–much more exciting than a normal violin. The ensemble teacher was sympathetic to my rock and roll dreams, and let me borrow it for awhile. I joined a band immediately!
I got my first guitar guitar for my birthday when I was a freshman in high school. I had started going to local shows and was listening to music seriously on my discman (remember those? Haha.) I wanted to be in a band so badly but I didn’t know the first thing about how to write a song. I practiced in my room for years before I finally started coming up with my own melodies. It wasn’t natural for me to start writing songs on the guitar, but I told myself that if I kept on trying and didn’t give up, then one day, I would be able to do it.
We have you billed as Amy Klein, what kind of set will that entail?
I just recorded a solo album of new material. It’s a continuation of the solo work I was doing with Solanin, but now it’s a little less psychedelic and more folk, blues, and Americana-oriented. I have a lot of new songs that fuse classic 60′s folk and 70′s rock and roll. It’s Joni Mitchell meets PJ Harvey. Joanna Newsom is still present, of course, but now she’s sitting side by side with Stevie Nicks. You can download the album at amyklein.bandcamp.com and listen, and judge for yourself. The recording features Nick Shuminsky (the drummer of a band called Free Energy,) but for the live show, I’m playing with my friend Kiri (from the band Delta Hotel) and my friend Rebecca (from the band Crazy Pills.) They’re both Brooklyn-based musicians who heard the songs and wanted to help re-create them live.We are all really excited to open for Air Waves!
Amy Klein is playing Glasslands 2/22 with Air Waves!
Get yr tickets HERE