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Interview with Mary Lou Lord Iota Café-Arlington, VA (4/28/05)
E.C.: How and when did you first get involved with music? Mary Lou Lord: Ooh, that’s a long one. Well, I have older brothers. Two of my older brothers loved The Beatles. One sister was 18 when I was born and one was 16. My brother John was 13 and Matt was 10. We lived in a very big house that was near a college. So my mother would rent out rooms to some of the college people. So we had a huge house full of teenagers when I was born. So I was just listening to everything from The Beatles to The Rolling Stones. All the crap that was going on when I was like an infant! It was like living in a huge frat house. I don’t know I guess I was really drawn to it. Because I got exposed to it at a very early age. But I always went for the very pop stuff. I love Karen Carpenter! Olivia Newton John-I instantly attached myself to that. Probably since it was very non-threatening and very pretty. While most 3-4 year old kids heard “Twinkle, Twinkle” and little children’s songs, the most child-like music I got was Karen Carpenter and Olivia Newton John. E.C.: What other bands/artists did you listen to during that same time period? Mary Lou Lord: 7 years old I was really, really little. But I loved Burt Bacharach, The Carpenters and The Beatles. That’s the main stuff that I remember. Then when I was 13 I discovered Jethro Tull. Forget about it. (Laughs) E.C.: You started “busking” on the streets of Boston early on in your career. Any strange stories while doing this? Mary Lou Lord: I lived in London. I had just bought my first guitar. I was horrible-I knew 2 songs. But someone the previous day had thrown a pound coin in while I was busking on someone else’s guitar. I was just watching their stuff while they went to the bathroom. So I turned around and someone threw money in and I was like “holy crap!” So the next day I went and got my own guitar-a Hondo for like 30 pounds. So I took it down to the subway and I’m like-“I’ll play those same 3 chords and that one song I know and people might throw money.” I didn’t even buy a case. I didn’t have enough money to buy a case! So I slung it over my shoulder and marched down in my high heeled shoes. I had a wicker basket and I’m out there playing and all of the sudden this dude comes out. He had this dog and I swear to God this dog had like 3 legs and the guy had one arm. So I’m there in my high heels with my wicker basket-playing my one song over and over. He’s like sniffing or huffing this can of something. He sits down next to me and I’m like OK. Then he passes out and we look like a really pathetic little family. But I’m making some money now. After about 3 hours he wakes up and I’m look-“oh, good morning.” He gets up, looks at me and then starts to take a piss on all my money. All the money was coins-I had nothing else to take since I had no case. So I took off and I look back and he’s picking through all the money and I was like “oh man, I just got robbed!” By this guy pissing on all my money. I was like goddammit I’m never doing this again. Of course the next day I was down there again. I never let anyone sit down next to me after that-I would just run away. That was the first time I ever played and I said to myself am I actually going to do this again? E.C.: Why do you think your musical collaboration with Nic Saloman of The Bevis Frond has lasted for such a long time? Mary Lou Lord: I just think he is one of the most exemplary songwriters in the world. My respect for him is the same that I have for some other writers I have known. People know I was friends with Elliott Smith and that I respected him greatly as well. Or Kurt Cobain. These were people that I knew that got famous later. Nic was the be all end all of what a songwriter should be. I just think that he’s extremely overlooked but he’s very difficult. He doesn’t want to go on tour-he’s very demanding. He’s a little bit of a primadonna. He started his career a little too old. He didn’t go for it until he was about 35 years old. That’s when he made his first move. So he kind of missed the boat in a way. But if time had been on his side and he had not been so difficult and set in his ways then he could have…I just think he’s one of the best songwriters who ever lived. E.C.: Are there any other artists/bands you would like to collaborate/write a song with? Mary Lou Lord: I would really only like to write songs with people that I’m a big fan of. I love this girl Haley Bonar-she’s from Duluth. I think she’s one of the best songwriters out there right now. She’s real young-she’s like 21. I think the world of her and I would love to write with her. I would love to maybe try again with Shawn Colvin. Try again-I should just say try! She’s played it really safe for awhile but she’s got a new record coming out. I think that people will see a side of her that I’ve seen all along. I think she’s finally learned to say “fuck it-I’m gonna do what I wanna do and not what I think is safe.” I know that she’s had that all along. Those two-and Dylan of course. E.C.: What record was the most enjoyable for you to create? Mary Lou Lord: Out of the three? Martian Saints was really fun because I got to do some in studio recording with Nic Saloman. There are a couple of songs on that that are mine-which is good. Then of course there’s the stuff that Elliott Smith wrote but he never recorded. But on the CD he’s playing everything. The memories of being in the studio with him and watching how he went about with things. He produced and played everything on it-drums, bass and guitar. This was like his “baby” that he gave me. Also we had done a little bit of writing together at that time-he helped me finish the songs. It was a very enjoyable time for me to hang out in Portland and hang out with Elliott. It was very different then being on tour. I suppose Martian Saints but Got No Shadow was great because it was a huge budget. To be in L.A. for three months and hanging with Jon Brion and Ethan Johns. Living in Malibu and getting treated like a freakin’ queen. It’s not everyday you get that so that was very enjoyable as well. Working with Tom and Rob-I bitched about the record saying “oh-it’s too slick” that was early on in the recording. But it turned out to be a very, very good record and I’m very proud of it. I’m proud of what they did. E.C.: What shows have been the most memorable to play and why? Mary Lou Lord: Well, I did the Lilith Fair tour when I was eight months pregnant. (Laughs) So that was pretty memorable. It was a very accommodating tour to be pregnant on. Obviously. So for once in my life I felt like I just had something that nobody else had. Girls can get catty and I was like-“I’ve got a baby! And you all want one!” And I didn’t feel like the “fat girl” for once. Everyone was like-“how you doing? how you feelin? what’s it like?” I’m like “yeah, I’m the shit.” I just felt like a queen. More like the “Queen Mary” though-the boat! Hanging out on that tour I met Neko Case. She would drag me off to strip clubs. I’m eighth months pregnant and she’s like-“let’s go to a strip club!” I’m like “holy shit Neko-calm down!” It was so much fun to just be in the presence of these amazing performers. E.C.: Are there any shows that you would like to forget? Mary Lou Lord: I did a show recently in Brighton. I played a show with Iron and Wine and Ponjay Loshay. It was like this huge Sub Pop night and I played in the middle. The people were just really, really rude. In England they get “scenester-y.” Especially the older crowd. I thought this was really weird and they just treated me really, really badly. Sometimes it’s a lot less about the music over there. Sweden is the complete opposite. They love music and wide varieties. They don’t give a crap what label you’re on-whatever. They are just very into the art. In England-they are really catty and “scene-y.” Even if they’re like 40 years old they’re still like that. I’m like “fuck off and grow up!” The people were assholes. No more Brighton. E.C.: What’s the largest crowd you have ever played in front of? Mary Lou Lord: I don’t know-I was on Conan O’Brien. That was pretty big and I was on MTV with Matt Pinfield. Apart from TV shows Lilith Fair was the biggest. At the end when we all did a song together. I was on the “B” stage. I guess this was Minneapolis I was on the B stage and the “A” stage was right across from it. The B stage was a little bit smaller but Patti Griffin and Neko Case and some others were on this stage. They arranged it so the A stage would stop and people would turn around and the B stage would start playing. It was the same amount of people-they would just turn. It was like in a big racetrack; it wasn’t in a separate venue. It was sometimes 20,000 people. E.C.: What lessons did you learn from making the jump to a major label for Got No Shadow? Mary Lou Lord: Yeah-don’t get pregnant 2 weeks after your major record debut comes out! The other thing is take all the free stuff that you can. If they’re like “tour bus or a van?” Say “tour bus.” Whatever the most expensive thing is-take the most expensive thing. E.C.: What were some of the highlights for you in making your latest record? Mary Lou Lord: The latest one was kind of a bitch because I have this vocal condition called spasmodic disfonia. It’s a neurological vocal thing. Same thing that Linda Thompson has and Diane Rehm. So I’m in good company. The doctors said that smoking didn’t have anything to do with it. I enjoyed being in England, I was there in the spring. We went to Norfolk. It was just so cool to hang out for 3 weeks with Nic (Soloman). Under no pressure. The last time we worked together was on the Got No Shadow record and there was so much pressure. This was just our little-it was more of a Polaroid as opposed to a portrait. Sometimes Polaroid’s can be really cool-more than a professional portrait. “Got No Shadow” was like a very professional, high tech photo shoot-and this was a Polaroid. E.C.: What current performer would you like to do a double bill with? Mary Lou Lord: None really. I’d love to do more shows with Haley Bonar-but I’ve already played with her. E.C.: Can you explain your recent involvement with managing/developing new music acts? Mary Lou Lord: The reason I decided to make a shift in career is obviously because of my voice. I have to be realistic about continuing making records. But I’ve always been a fan first. It comes through in my shows-I do tons of covers. I’ve also made a lot of mistakes. I want to work with music but I don’t want to…I wouldn’t know the first thing about engineering and it bores the shit out of me-sitting in the studio. I think I would be a really good publicist. So I’ve started this management/publicity company and I will handle the publicity part of things. There’s nothing I like more than being on the phone shooting the shit about music. That’s basically it-to be a fan and promote the bands that you believe in. E.C.: How did “Speeding Motorcycle” get in a Target ad and did you get compensated as much as Sting did for his Jaguar ad? Mary Lou Lord: I’m sure I didn’t get as compensated as much as Sting did! I didn’t write the song. The people from Target got in touch with Kill Rock Stars. But the thing is, the song is not on Kill Rock Stars. It’s a Daniel Johnston song. The Pastels have covered it, Yo La Tengo covered it. I always thought my version was like the “crappest.” So these people called me and I’m like “why don’t you use Daniel’s? It’s Daniel Johnston.” They didn’t get it. I mentioned The Pastels and Yo La Tengo too and they said “no-we want yours.” I was like “oh, shit, but mine’s pretty crappy.” So if they didn’t get my version they weren’t going to use it at all. Daniel was going to get like $55,000 and I was going to get 6 grand. So I said alright. We cleared it with his people and they were like-“fuck yeah-do it!” I was absolutely honored to do it. E.C.: What bands/artists are you listening to currently? Mary Lou Lord: Haley Bonar. The bands that we’re working with-Emergency Music and Darkbuster. Darkbuster is more of a punk band. Their record is a band that I’m managing. Their record is coming out nationally in August. They will be playing Warped tour too. It’s a really good record-they’re a really good band. Ken Casey from Dropkick Murphys and Dickie Barrett from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones guest on the record. So that’s good company. Lars from Rancid is also a huge fan. They’ve got this great backing of musicians that were influenced by them. It’s cool. E.C.: What activities do you enjoy when you’re not playing music? Mary Lou Lord: Party poker online. No, I’ve got addicted to party poker. I hang out with my daughter and try to understand how to be a good publicist. I don’t quite know yet but I’ll figure it out. E.C.: What future plans do you have with your music? Mary Lou Lord: I’m just going to do the odd show here and there. Mainly look for bands to work with. So if there’s any band that wants to send me their stuff-Jittery Jack Management. I’ll probably do like 3 or 4 more spins and then I’m going to hang up my hat. I think I will be retiring from the road. I’m ready to take on a new challenge. I want to be really good at it. I’ve always been an all or nothing type person. I think of my beginning when I was 22-the one armed man and the tripod dog all the way to the fucking Conan O’Brien show. I think I’ve done alright.
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