5 Apr 2011
Interviews
Interview | Lail Arad
With the nip of winter finally starting to thaw and International Women’s Day celebrating it’s 100thbirthday just last month, it seems only fitting to welcome Les Femmes S’en Melent back in Paris for the (formidable) 14th year running. Having begun way back in 1997 as a single gig, Les Femmes S’en Melent has been getting together for over ten years now in order to celebrate and promote a whole host of independent, women artists. A shining example of such indie brilliance is 26 year old, Brit singer songwriter, Lail Arad. With a healthy (and hilarious) stock of DIY YouTube videos online, including an impromptu performance during Devendra Banhart‘s show in 2007, Ms Arad is performing as part of this years celebrated French festival and has just released her debut album out here, to boot. We caught up with the songstress before her show at Le Divan du Monde for une petite tête à tête on being involved in such an acclaimed event, her online ode to Adam Green and the first ever women explorer…
the girls are: Your debut album, ‘Someone New’ was officially released this month but was a long time coming, how does it feel to finally have it out there?
Lail Arad: I am happy that it is finally out, especially as it has been such a long time coming as you said. I think that’s quite normal actually though for releasing a record, you know, you find the right producer, you spend time in the studio, mixing, mastering and then all the promotion until they finally release it. I think it’s quite a common thing for artists to have to tour albums that they actually recorded a year ago or whatever. But the nice thing now is going to lots of new cities and new audiences and it feels new all the time that way and playing with a band now feels new. I think it’s nice to have time to reflect on it too before having to think about the next one.
the girls are: What can people who, perhaps, don’t know Lail Arad expect from the record?
Lail: There are 12 songs… I think what holds it all together is the writing and my voice because actually there’s lots of styles that I play with on the record. That’s maybe also because when we went into the studio, the one thing I was quite sure about, before we started, was that I wanted the songs to be the boss. I didn’t want to have to make any decisions in order for it to sound like one coherent album or a concept. It was a group of songs with which I decided “OK, now it’s time to do an album”, it wasn’t that I wrote for a specific release. Some of the songs we tried to add things to but it was nicer left bare and others were crying out for a pop orchestra.
the girls are: You are playing as part of Les Femmes S’en Melent tonight in Paris, which is an international and long standing festival in order to celebrate and promote women artists. Are you looking forward to being part of such a renowned event here in France? Do you think events like this are important?
Lail: I’m really pleased. Definitely, I think any festival supporting independent music is important, first of all and the fact that it’s for women, I mean I wouldn’t say I was an avid feminist but, hey it is still a man’s world; the music industry. Also, I think it’s nice to have a festival defined by something other than music genre, you know it’s not a folk festival, it’s women artists so it’s lots of different styles.
the girls are: Have you played Paris before? How would you say it compares to London?
Lail: I have played in Paris before, yes but I am not sure I have a very subjective opinion on the city as I have two very different experiences playing in Paris compared to London. Am not sure that my experience completely reflects the city, just me, but in London, I spent a few years on the gigging circuit playing every type of place; tiny rooms with no-one there or crowded rooms where no one is listening and I really did the leg work there. You have to do that, I think that’s important, that’s how you get stronger. But then I signed this deal over here in France, quite by chance in fact – I have no connection to France, so the first shows out here were big support slots or showcases so it was a very different experience. I do think there are some differences between the two, I mean Paris is so much smaller – you play 5, 10 venues and you’ve kind of played them all where as in London, I’ve been playing for years and there’s still some obvious places that I just haven’t made it to yet.
the girls are: The video for your track, ‘Over My Head‘ is a quirky and kitsch black and white number starring 30′s Broadway star, Ginger Rogers. If you had to choose a cinema icon to play you in a movie, who would it be and why?
Lail: Well, maybe that was who I would pick! Not to play me though – she is too blonde for me. Elizabeth Taylor died yesterday so maybe, in her honour, I should choose her.the girls are: You now have a full band performing with you in your live stage show, was that a conscious decision or more a way of presenting the songs closer to the recording on the album?
Lail: I have actually been working with the guitarist of my band for a few years now. I think it was always kind of obvious that there would be a band at some point and now suddenly, it’s logistically possible and there is a band on the album so it’s wonderful to finally hear all the songs like that. I still think that there area advantages to both, I mean as much as it is more energetic and more musical, it loses some intimacy. It depends on the venue as well, of course.
the girls are: You have been compared to New York’s Martha Wainwright and the Moldy Peaches’ Kimya Dawson particularly for your lyrical stylings and wit based observations. Are these notable influences for you?
Lail: Not really, I mean I like them both, they’re people I am very happy to be put in a sentence with but they weren’t my initial influences, no. I think the people I grew up listening to are still the biggest influence so for instance, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon. A lot of that 60/70′s music in terms of song writing and then later on in that year, before recording the album, I discovered Jeffrey Lewis and that was a very big revelation for me in terms of lyrics and attitude, maybe.
the girls are: Speaking of Jeffrey Lewis, he is famed for his satirical, comic book based digressions in his performances and, similarly, We Are Scientists actually did a series of comedy lectures alongside their last release – would you ever consider doing anything similar?
Lail: I’ve never done much visual art so I’m not sure… but in terms of lectures, well today I am attempting to do the whole show in French and I don’t speak French so I think that will be somewhat of a spectacle in itself!
the girls are: If you search your name on Youtube, there is a plethora of home recordings and performances, including your adorable confession to Adam Green following your timid approach to introducing yourself after his show at Union Chapel. Who else what you like to write a song for?
Lail: It’s really funny yesterday actually, we played in Grenoble and these two girls came up to me and said “oh we wished you had played the ‘Adam Green song” and I just thought how the hell do you know that from like three years ago? And they said, that’s how we discovered you and then we saw you were playing in our town!
Maybe I’d write about the first lady explorer… I’d find out who she was and then write a song about her. (Arguably, Isabelle Bird who is also, the first woman to be added to the Royal Geographical Society no less). Or Tom Wolfe – I’m reading ‘The Bonfire of The Vanities’ right now and I love it.
the girls are: Clearly this opportunity of extending your fan base and self promotion appeals to you, do you think new technology like Youtube, social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are important? Are you an subscriber to all?
Lail: I think, yeah it is now. It helped me a lot at the beginning, it was just using the tools that I could reach constructively, you know Youtube and myspace (although now myspace isn’t as useful any more) but Facebook still is. I use them all, it’s quite good for touring – you are able to touch base but obviously it is very time consuming as well!
the girls are: Which current bands do you rate?
Lail: Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros are a really great band from California. I went to see them recently and they were amazing. I’m still listening to Little Joy a lot. Let me think of something more obscure… there’s that great, hilarious band called Bonaparte, they have this great song called ‘Too Much’ – you should check it out. There are a lot of great bands, friends of mine, that are starting to make it in London now, Tristram, Lulu and The Lampshades, Treetrop Fliers, La Shark, A. Human.
the girls are: Describe Lail Arad in 5 words….
Lail: I. Don’t. Think. I. Can.
the girls are: What would your death row dinner be?
Lail: I just ate a Corsica salad, as I am playing there tomorrow and I saw it on the menu and thought, oh I’ll have that and it was great. It had like sautéed potatoes, chestnuts, ricotta, olives maybe that… on the sunny shores of Corsica too perhaps?
Draped in the neo-gothic ambience of Le Divan du Monde, tonight Lail Arad‘s sharp-tounged witticisms are both entertaining and enchanting. Literally translated as “the women mix it up”, Les Femmes S’en Melent certainly has an eye for these forward thinking femmes. Dabbling between her, brave and self devised, French discourse, the twee puffs of a kazoo to the keys, Arad is one such mixer and doing it all with a certain je ne sais quoi, wouldn’t you say Lail?
Lail Arad is back in London on the 7 April performing at The Elgin Food Pub & Music House.
Cheri Amour
Photography by Robert Gil for the girls are.
