WEBVTT - Sleater-Kinney 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:22.636 Pushkin Slater Kinney has long been a safe space for 0:00:22.716 --> 0:00:27.036 band members Kerrie Brownstein and Koryn Tucker. What started as 0:00:27.036 --> 0:00:29.316 a group born out of the feminist punk riot girl 0:00:29.396 --> 0:00:32.956 scene in Olympia, Washington in the early nineties, has grown 0:00:33.196 --> 0:00:38.356 into a life affirming artistic endeavor. In late twenty twenty two, 0:00:38.516 --> 0:00:41.956 tragedy struck when Carrie's mother and stepfather were killed in 0:00:41.996 --> 0:00:46.236 a car accident overseas. In the months after, Carrie found 0:00:46.276 --> 0:00:49.116 respite from her men's grief by playing the guitar for 0:00:49.236 --> 0:00:53.596 hours on end and writing new music. Slater Kenney's latest album, 0:00:53.716 --> 0:00:56.876 Little Rope, is in part a meditation on Carrie's grief, 0:00:57.556 --> 0:01:00.476 but it's also proven to be a triumph for the band. 0:01:01.116 --> 0:01:03.796 Koryn Tucker, who handles the bulk of the singing for 0:01:03.836 --> 0:01:07.876 the new album, has been racking up rave reviews, including 0:01:07.876 --> 0:01:10.956 one from The New Yorker, who noted that Koran's performance 0:01:11.116 --> 0:01:16.516 is the most dynamic inflexible of her career. On today's episode, 0:01:16.556 --> 0:01:20.236 Bruce HEADLM talks to Carry Brownstein and Koran Tucker about 0:01:20.276 --> 0:01:25.036 their intimate recording relationship and how there's sometimes opposing approaches 0:01:25.076 --> 0:01:28.956 to creative work. Compliment one another. They also talk about 0:01:28.956 --> 0:01:31.996 the matriarchal nature of the early Olympia music scene and 0:01:32.036 --> 0:01:35.276 why they wanted their new album to sometimes sound gross 0:01:35.476 --> 0:01:41.716 and obnoxious. This is broken record liner notes for the 0:01:41.756 --> 0:01:46.476 digital age. I'm justin Mitchman. Here's Bruce Headlm's conversation with 0:01:46.556 --> 0:01:47.316 Slater Kenny. 0:01:48.276 --> 0:01:50.436 I think for some acts, and I think you might 0:01:50.476 --> 0:01:53.156 be one of them, critics almost get in the way. 0:01:54.116 --> 0:01:56.116 I think this is the first time I've been able 0:01:56.156 --> 0:01:59.956 to listen to one of your new records without reading 0:01:59.996 --> 0:02:02.956 sort of manifesto about what it meant from somebody, or 0:02:03.836 --> 0:02:05.956 you know, hearing all the kind of is it wired? 0:02:05.956 --> 0:02:06.156 Girl? 0:02:06.236 --> 0:02:06.396 Is it? 0:02:06.436 --> 0:02:06.556 This? 0:02:06.676 --> 0:02:09.676 Is this? It was just pure pleasure listening to it. 0:02:09.716 --> 0:02:14.116 Just a great album, and it also is it's incredibly lively. 0:02:14.276 --> 0:02:16.356 Like We've done a lot of interviews with people who've 0:02:16.396 --> 0:02:19.036 sort of been coming out of pandemic, and a lot 0:02:19.036 --> 0:02:20.996 of this stuff feels tentative. This feels like it was 0:02:21.036 --> 0:02:23.396 a shot out of a cannon. I want to know 0:02:23.916 --> 0:02:27.996 from you how this album started and the kind of 0:02:28.036 --> 0:02:30.236 world you were trying to create with this album to 0:02:30.316 --> 0:02:31.916 invite people in. What was it? 0:02:33.196 --> 0:02:36.956 I think because we did make a Pandemic album before 0:02:37.036 --> 0:02:45.116 this one, perhaps we got that insular, isolating sound out 0:02:45.156 --> 0:02:50.876 of the way this one, I think we were recommitting 0:02:51.836 --> 0:02:55.716 to the band, which to me is almost an act 0:02:55.756 --> 0:03:01.036 you have to do with each album is recommit to 0:03:01.796 --> 0:03:06.036 the need, recommit to the making and doing of music 0:03:07.036 --> 0:03:12.236 and find necessity in it and intention and purpose so 0:03:12.276 --> 0:03:16.636 that it's not random or something you take for granted, 0:03:18.076 --> 0:03:21.356 and then you get to the task of making it. 0:03:21.396 --> 0:03:25.836 But I do think because of that, and perhaps feeling 0:03:25.996 --> 0:03:32.316 slightly underestimated, that you know when you're on your eleventh album, 0:03:32.476 --> 0:03:37.036 that people wonder what you have to say. I think 0:03:38.236 --> 0:03:41.196 as we were writing, we knew we had something to say. 0:03:41.516 --> 0:03:46.116 I think there was an urgency to it. There was 0:03:47.196 --> 0:03:51.436 a deliberate, I guess nature in terms of songwriting and 0:03:51.516 --> 0:03:55.476 the craft of it and approaching things in new ways, 0:03:56.196 --> 0:03:59.356 but also returning to some of the methods that we 0:03:59.476 --> 0:04:01.636 have used for almost thirty years, which is the two 0:04:01.676 --> 0:04:04.596 of us in a room together with guitar and singing. 0:04:06.596 --> 0:04:09.916 So yeah, I think interest in terms of when you 0:04:09.956 --> 0:04:12.636 start writing a record and it's your eleventh album, you 0:04:12.836 --> 0:04:17.596 have to know that you want this still, because otherwise 0:04:17.596 --> 0:04:22.876 there's just a flattening of the whole experience in the 0:04:22.916 --> 0:04:25.276 sonic nature of it as well, which we didn't want. 0:04:26.516 --> 0:04:28.796 Was there something different you did sonically here? It's a 0:04:28.796 --> 0:04:31.916 great sounding record. There's a couple tracks particularly I thought 0:04:32.036 --> 0:04:36.796 just had a great sort of background sound. I think 0:04:37.636 --> 0:04:39.516 Hunt You Down was one of them that really just 0:04:39.636 --> 0:04:42.036 had a great sort of atmosphere. 0:04:42.596 --> 0:04:46.756 I think that, you know, we really approached it with 0:04:46.876 --> 0:04:51.156 wanting to have, you know, an album that was really bold, 0:04:52.036 --> 0:04:55.236 and we were fortunate enough to work with John Congleton 0:04:55.916 --> 0:04:59.316 as a producer on this album, and so we worked 0:04:59.356 --> 0:05:04.996 really hard on finding sounds that were cutting edge, kind 0:05:04.996 --> 0:05:08.716 of extra, that were loud and sometimes gross was a 0:05:08.756 --> 0:05:12.676 word that we used a lot, and we wanted it 0:05:12.716 --> 0:05:16.316 to be a little bit obnoxious at times. 0:05:17.196 --> 0:05:19.556 Yeah, But I think, like with something that Hunt You Down, 0:05:20.556 --> 0:05:23.716 we wanted to set moods. But I don't like music 0:05:23.716 --> 0:05:26.196 that is just vibe. But I do like things that 0:05:26.236 --> 0:05:30.596 are immersive that bring you into a world. And I 0:05:30.636 --> 0:05:35.476 think we we thought with each song about the rhythm 0:05:35.596 --> 0:05:38.996 and what tones work with the song, and about arrangement 0:05:39.036 --> 0:05:41.556 a lot. We also do a lot of editing. You know, 0:05:41.756 --> 0:05:44.396 when you start out as a band, a lot of 0:05:44.436 --> 0:05:47.316 it is first idea, best idea, or it's a culmination 0:05:47.516 --> 0:05:52.076 of everything you've been thinking about, everything that's been percolating 0:05:52.116 --> 0:05:55.036 and building up for your entire life. And then the 0:05:55.116 --> 0:05:59.396 first three records are kind of an extension of I 0:05:59.396 --> 0:06:04.396 don't know, that sort of back catalog of ideas. But 0:06:04.436 --> 0:06:08.916 then after that there is a searching and a seeking 0:06:09.196 --> 0:06:13.596 and so we don't always trust first idea, best idea. 0:06:13.916 --> 0:06:15.796 We sit with something for a while, hunt you down. 0:06:15.796 --> 0:06:18.276 As a song that we wrote three or four choruses 0:06:18.276 --> 0:06:23.436 for that we really made have elements come in in, 0:06:23.556 --> 0:06:26.116 you know, guitar parts that come in just once to 0:06:26.236 --> 0:06:30.156 just punctuate and accentuate a certain lyric. We really thought 0:06:30.156 --> 0:06:33.516 about that song as a journey, I think, and we 0:06:33.556 --> 0:06:36.996 did that with a lot of these songs, really sat 0:06:37.036 --> 0:06:40.356 with them and wrestled with them over and over again 0:06:40.636 --> 0:06:44.396 until we had sort of the perfect version of them. 0:06:45.076 --> 0:06:46.716 And then, of course you try to throw that out 0:06:46.716 --> 0:06:51.116 when you're recording and accentuate things that are imperfect or 0:06:51.156 --> 0:06:54.196 things that are messy, or things that kind of teeter 0:06:54.556 --> 0:06:55.236 on the edge. 0:06:56.596 --> 0:06:58.716 Can you tell me a little more what that writing 0:06:58.796 --> 0:07:00.996 is like. You mentioned that you guys have always just 0:07:01.036 --> 0:07:05.756 sat in rooms with guitars, I assume facing each other 0:07:05.876 --> 0:07:09.036 and writing. Is that what's it like for you? What's 0:07:09.236 --> 0:07:12.956 the room like, what are you playing? How does that work? 0:07:13.716 --> 0:07:17.676 For this album? I was actually using a friend's apartment. 0:07:18.156 --> 0:07:22.276 He has an apartment downtown and that was kind of 0:07:22.396 --> 0:07:24.716 nice because Corn and I, when we do write together, 0:07:24.876 --> 0:07:28.236 it is often in our own homes or you know, 0:07:28.716 --> 0:07:31.716 small rooms, whether it's been a basement, that's very often 0:07:31.796 --> 0:07:35.156 a basement or an office or some kind of den. 0:07:35.836 --> 0:07:39.276 But we were in a space that was more like 0:07:39.316 --> 0:07:42.676 aloft in downtown, and neither of us live downtown. A 0:07:42.676 --> 0:07:45.116 lot of people in Portland live on the east side 0:07:45.116 --> 0:07:47.036 of town, so you're not kind of immersed in the 0:07:47.396 --> 0:07:50.796 city of Portland. So we were on this sort of 0:07:50.876 --> 0:07:54.196 upper floor able to kind of look out at the 0:07:54.276 --> 0:07:59.116 river and see the skyline and you know, see the 0:08:00.196 --> 0:08:02.356 sort of the mountains, you know, Mountain Hood in the 0:08:02.476 --> 0:08:06.436 in the distance and Mount Tabor, and that was kind 0:08:06.476 --> 0:08:10.956 of nice to build, to have this particular space that 0:08:10.996 --> 0:08:16.476 we didn't necessarily know we're going to have that. We 0:08:16.596 --> 0:08:20.116 only wrote music there. It wasn't anywhere that we did 0:08:21.396 --> 0:08:26.076 any other living. We just went there and wrote and worked, 0:08:26.556 --> 0:08:30.556 and I think that kind of insolarity can be good. 0:08:31.036 --> 0:08:34.036 You know. Sometimes I like when you're writing and you're 0:08:34.036 --> 0:08:37.316 sort of it's ambient and you're kind of eating and 0:08:37.356 --> 0:08:40.116 breathing music and you can walk from your you know, 0:08:40.596 --> 0:08:42.756 where your amplifier is, to the kitchen. But I also 0:08:42.876 --> 0:08:47.236 just like getting in my car or walking and being 0:08:47.276 --> 0:08:49.276 in the space where I know what I'm there to 0:08:49.356 --> 0:08:51.956 do is write and work. And we had that with 0:08:52.036 --> 0:08:53.916 this album, which we have not always had. 0:08:55.236 --> 0:09:00.436 I think that we we give ourselves multiple avenues to 0:09:01.196 --> 0:09:05.916 arrive upon a song, whether it's jamming on something or 0:09:06.476 --> 0:09:08.876 working on a particular part of a song, trying to 0:09:08.876 --> 0:09:11.756 crack a certain chorus of a song, you know. I 0:09:11.876 --> 0:09:18.636 think that we allow ourselves to experiment with different ways 0:09:18.676 --> 0:09:23.316 of writing in different places, different setups, so that we 0:09:23.356 --> 0:09:25.596 can approach things from different angles. 0:09:26.196 --> 0:09:29.076 We also sometimes send ideas back and forth, you know, 0:09:29.236 --> 0:09:34.676 using software, you know, where we can really flush out 0:09:34.676 --> 0:09:36.996 an entire demo of something, and then the other person 0:09:37.756 --> 0:09:39.596 gets it and sits with it for a while and 0:09:39.636 --> 0:09:42.556 maybe reharmonizes the chords underneath it, or works on a 0:09:42.596 --> 0:09:43.436 top line melody. 0:09:44.996 --> 0:09:47.556 Can you walk me through? I mean, lots of standouts 0:09:47.556 --> 0:09:50.636 on this record, but Untidy Creature, which is the last track, 0:09:51.236 --> 0:09:52.956 so I'm starting with the end, but I thought it 0:09:52.996 --> 0:09:56.356 was such an outstanding song. How did that start? How 0:09:56.356 --> 0:09:57.876 did that go back and forth between you? 0:09:59.476 --> 0:10:01.876 The funny thing about that song is it actually was 0:10:01.916 --> 0:10:04.756 the first song we wrote for the album, and we 0:10:04.836 --> 0:10:12.276 wrote it in was it twenty twenty one, beginning of 0:10:12.316 --> 0:10:16.876 that year, and I think Carrie had this great riff 0:10:17.036 --> 0:10:21.716 idea for a song, and I think we just started 0:10:21.796 --> 0:10:27.196 jamming on that one and coming up with an idea 0:10:28.396 --> 0:10:31.996 for the song. And I think it came together fairly 0:10:32.076 --> 0:10:37.116 quickly in terms of the music of the song, but 0:10:37.156 --> 0:10:40.756 the lyrics really changed over the year. You know, I 0:10:40.796 --> 0:10:45.636 think that I wanted it to be a really personal story, 0:10:45.756 --> 0:10:52.116 but it also definitely reflects what happened in the past 0:10:52.116 --> 0:10:54.916 couple of years in terms of women's rights in this 0:10:54.996 --> 0:11:02.076 country and in terms of feeling autonomous and feeling respected. 0:11:02.236 --> 0:11:05.116 I think that, you know, it's meant to reflect that 0:11:05.436 --> 0:11:07.476 experience and rebel against it. 0:11:09.196 --> 0:11:12.796 Of that opening riff, it actually reminds me, it's like 0:11:12.836 --> 0:11:16.876 a minor version to me of the Waterloo Sunset riff, 0:11:17.116 --> 0:11:20.756 kind of the way that little figure just descends when 0:11:20.756 --> 0:11:23.596 you work out the music for that, and did you 0:11:23.636 --> 0:11:27.676 work out the music really solidly before the lyrical ideas 0:11:27.716 --> 0:11:31.676 came yes, When do you guys kind of lock in 0:11:32.276 --> 0:11:34.596 your guitar plank? Because I can't think of another band 0:11:34.756 --> 0:11:38.276 that has an interaction between guitar players the way you 0:11:38.316 --> 0:11:41.036 guys do. You don't have a bass player, but there's 0:11:41.036 --> 0:11:43.516 something amazing about how you fill up the space with 0:11:43.556 --> 0:11:47.756 your two guitars. How do you work that out? 0:11:48.316 --> 0:11:53.756 That is a very ineffable thing, and it's a sonic 0:11:54.596 --> 0:11:59.516 vernacular that we came to very early in this band, 0:12:00.316 --> 0:12:03.796 and it is very instinctive in some ways in terms 0:12:03.836 --> 0:12:08.476 of how we fill things out sonically. You know, neither 0:12:08.516 --> 0:12:12.716 of us are trained musicians, so we are often approaching 0:12:12.796 --> 0:12:18.316 things a little bit differently, probably not always doing what 0:12:18.436 --> 0:12:22.716 is expected in terms of chord progression, no progression, kind 0:12:22.756 --> 0:12:27.916 of hybridizing scales and sliding into notes that might not be, 0:12:28.516 --> 0:12:32.956 you know, the most comfortable for the listener, and I 0:12:32.996 --> 0:12:37.876 think that then affects how Korn sings. We also dtuned 0:12:37.916 --> 0:12:42.796 to C sharp, which always creates something that feels I 0:12:42.836 --> 0:12:49.076 think a little bit scary and certainly a little bit sour. 0:12:49.436 --> 0:12:53.476 Sometimes the tuning is slippery in C sharp. No matter 0:12:53.956 --> 0:13:01.116 how many people intonate these guitars, it definitely creates some 0:13:01.236 --> 0:13:05.116 dissonance there that we like, you know, we like creating 0:13:05.156 --> 0:13:10.036 a sonic landscape that isn't just something that you can 0:13:10.076 --> 0:13:13.116 sort of relax into it, because then when it does, 0:13:13.276 --> 0:13:16.676 when all the notes align, it's very satisfying. But there's 0:13:16.716 --> 0:13:19.716 a lot of times where the notes are misaligning, you know, 0:13:19.756 --> 0:13:22.436 when it's it's just right on the edge of not 0:13:22.596 --> 0:13:26.036 being right. So I think we're aware of that as 0:13:26.036 --> 0:13:30.316 we are putting the guitar parts together and we utilize 0:13:30.956 --> 0:13:35.356 that discord, we seek it out a little bit and 0:13:35.436 --> 0:13:40.316 we toy with it. And then we can also contrast 0:13:40.356 --> 0:13:43.836 that really well with something pretty like Untidy Creature starts 0:13:43.836 --> 0:13:47.556 out with that big riff and then it breaks down 0:13:47.596 --> 0:13:52.916 into a very beautiful, catchy verse, has much more classic 0:13:53.116 --> 0:13:57.036 like chord, you know, structures. And then the other interesting 0:13:57.116 --> 0:14:02.276 thing about that song is that because we didn't record it, 0:14:02.596 --> 0:14:06.956 Korin misremembered the chord she played under my riff, so 0:14:06.996 --> 0:14:12.636 she ended up writing two different chord progressions. And when 0:14:12.676 --> 0:14:15.276 I remembered that she had written two different ones, I thought, well, 0:14:15.356 --> 0:14:19.076 let's use both. So at the end of the song 0:14:20.396 --> 0:14:23.756 it switches. She just her guitar switches. I'm still playing 0:14:23.796 --> 0:14:28.636 that riff and her part switches. And I think we 0:14:28.676 --> 0:14:31.516 are conscious of the ways that that can really change something. 0:14:31.556 --> 0:14:35.596 It can make something go from minor to major, or 0:14:35.676 --> 0:14:38.156 even something a little more subtle than that. And it's 0:14:38.316 --> 0:14:41.956 very satisfying. We are such a guitar bassed band. That 0:14:42.116 --> 0:14:45.156 is such a tool for us in terms of how 0:14:45.196 --> 0:14:52.716 we express, you know, the emotion in our song. And so, yeah, 0:14:52.756 --> 0:14:56.076 we are we are very particular about it, but mostly 0:14:56.116 --> 0:14:59.756 it's instinctive. But we also, I think have gotten better 0:15:00.356 --> 0:15:02.036 at utilizing it effectively. 0:15:03.316 --> 0:15:06.196 Just so I understand, are you using standard tuning and 0:15:06.196 --> 0:15:10.676 then tuning everything down three se It's not a it's 0:15:10.676 --> 0:15:11.956 not an alteration. 0:15:11.956 --> 0:15:14.716 That would be even more insane. Yes, And in fact, 0:15:14.756 --> 0:15:17.156 sometimes when we've had people come into the studio or 0:15:17.316 --> 0:15:21.836 join us live and we say, see sharp, they're imagining 0:15:21.916 --> 0:15:25.476 some real jazzy, crazy tuning and really no, it's just 0:15:25.516 --> 0:15:28.236 basically standard but dropped you know, a step and a 0:15:28.276 --> 0:15:28.756 half there. 0:15:29.956 --> 0:15:33.316 And was this just something you started doing early or it. 0:15:33.236 --> 0:15:34.116 Was such an accident? 0:15:34.236 --> 0:15:37.476 Great corn, Yeah, it really was an accident and was 0:15:37.956 --> 0:15:41.076 I think when we first started playing together, I had 0:15:41.156 --> 0:15:45.356 detuned my guitar for my former band, I was the 0:15:45.436 --> 0:15:49.396 only player. I was the only instrument player, and I 0:15:49.596 --> 0:15:54.476 liked singing with a slightly dropped tuning because it made 0:15:54.476 --> 0:15:57.876 my voice. It just gave like a drama to my 0:15:57.996 --> 0:16:01.676 voice that I liked. And so when Kary and I 0:16:01.716 --> 0:16:06.316 started playing together, when we finally tuned our guitars to 0:16:06.396 --> 0:16:09.116 each other, it happened to be C sharp, and we're like, great, 0:16:09.756 --> 0:16:10.356 that's what it is. 0:16:10.436 --> 0:16:12.476 Yes, it could have been D at that, you know, 0:16:12.556 --> 0:16:14.276 I mean, it could have been it could have been 0:16:14.316 --> 0:16:17.316 E flat, could have been d Literally the moment we 0:16:17.396 --> 0:16:21.916 decided to codify it, it was C sharp, and for 0:16:21.956 --> 0:16:26.956 some reason, we still only tune to that. It is 0:16:27.836 --> 0:16:31.196 the language of this band. It's like you step into 0:16:31.196 --> 0:16:33.876 the land of Slater Kenny and everybody speaks C sharp. 0:16:34.116 --> 0:16:36.196 That's just it's one of the only rules. 0:16:38.076 --> 0:16:40.236 After a quick break, we'll be back with more from 0:16:40.316 --> 0:16:47.276 Slater Kenny. We're back with more from Bruce Hedlam and 0:16:47.316 --> 0:16:48.076 Slater Kenny. 0:16:48.796 --> 0:16:52.836 So did the lyrical idea? Does it grow naturally out 0:16:52.836 --> 0:16:56.476 of the music or you're just hearing it and you think, well, no, 0:16:56.556 --> 0:16:58.556 I have this, I have a lyrical idea I can 0:16:58.596 --> 0:17:00.876 apply it to this or are you listening to it 0:17:00.916 --> 0:17:02.916 saying it's got to be this, this is where it's 0:17:02.956 --> 0:17:03.356 leading me. 0:17:05.036 --> 0:17:06.396 I think it depends on the song. 0:17:07.716 --> 0:17:13.596 I think for a tidy creature, that one had some 0:17:13.756 --> 0:17:17.956 lyrics that came very naturally while I was singing, but 0:17:18.036 --> 0:17:22.916 I really wanted to develop a story in that song 0:17:23.196 --> 0:17:27.676 that you know, was about one particular experience that was 0:17:27.716 --> 0:17:31.356 about being inside of a world instead of a moment 0:17:31.916 --> 0:17:32.956 inside of a feeling. 0:17:33.956 --> 0:17:37.596 And so that involved a lot of. 0:17:38.236 --> 0:17:42.236 Writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting those lyrics, but 0:17:42.356 --> 0:17:46.796 it was the music had come first in that particular song. 0:17:47.076 --> 0:17:49.996 Yeah, I feel like both of us. But I definitely 0:17:50.356 --> 0:17:52.516 write things down all the time, either in my notes 0:17:52.516 --> 0:17:55.556 app or on an actual you know, in an actual 0:17:55.596 --> 0:18:01.756 notebook lyric ideas, but I can't always be certain that 0:18:01.836 --> 0:18:04.076 they will fit with the song. You know, a song 0:18:04.116 --> 0:18:07.356 like Needlessly Wild or the verses of Hunt You Down. 0:18:09.356 --> 0:18:14.596 It's like the music compels me to sing a certain 0:18:14.596 --> 0:18:17.036 way or to sing certain words, and often we will 0:18:17.036 --> 0:18:21.156 have placeholders and it's almost like a feeling like the 0:18:21.636 --> 0:18:24.116 word has to sound a certain way in your mouth. 0:18:24.516 --> 0:18:29.196 You can't shoehorn some new set of consonants in there, 0:18:30.076 --> 0:18:34.156 or you know, or it has to be this way syllabically, 0:18:34.276 --> 0:18:37.396 like it does inform things. You want it to be 0:18:37.476 --> 0:18:43.516 singable and not, you know, sort of clumsy. So sometimes 0:18:44.076 --> 0:18:48.156 the melody a little bit dictates the lyrics, not every obviously, 0:18:48.196 --> 0:18:50.756 you know you hear certain when I listen to a 0:18:50.756 --> 0:18:52.756 band like The National, I think there's no way that 0:18:52.796 --> 0:18:56.396 you know, Matt beren Journey must be almost telling a 0:18:56.396 --> 0:19:00.676 short story here. But for us, I think, and especially 0:19:00.756 --> 0:19:05.196 Korin with her capabilities as a singer, she can convey 0:19:05.356 --> 0:19:10.076 a lot with very few words, but they still have 0:19:10.156 --> 0:19:13.316 to be the right words. But I do think the 0:19:13.476 --> 0:19:17.156 music can kind of inform what we end up singing about, 0:19:17.436 --> 0:19:21.156 because it's a feeling, and if you put the wrong 0:19:21.236 --> 0:19:25.156 lyrics over there over it, you can really tell, you know. 0:19:25.236 --> 0:19:26.956 Sometimes those are the songs that don't end up on 0:19:26.996 --> 0:19:32.956 the album because they just don't feel connected in that way. 0:19:33.236 --> 0:19:37.116 The relationship is muddy between music and lyrics. 0:19:38.436 --> 0:19:40.636 You mentioned the singing on this song, and I would 0:19:40.636 --> 0:19:44.276 say the whole album, it's fantastic. I'm not sure you've 0:19:45.516 --> 0:19:49.476 sounded better. In fact, Kryn, are there things you can 0:19:49.516 --> 0:19:52.076 do with your voice now you feel you that you 0:19:52.116 --> 0:19:52.996 couldn't do before? 0:19:54.476 --> 0:19:55.116 Yeah? 0:19:55.356 --> 0:20:00.196 Weirdly, yes, Over the years, I have started taking better 0:20:00.236 --> 0:20:04.196 care of my voice, and I did start working with 0:20:04.596 --> 0:20:08.956 a voice coach in Portland who helped me work on 0:20:09.116 --> 0:20:13.156 and maintaining my voice on tour, and I think he 0:20:14.076 --> 0:20:18.956 taught me a bunch about singing. He taught me how 0:20:18.996 --> 0:20:24.436 to work through different parts of my voice and control 0:20:24.476 --> 0:20:27.476 them a bit better. And so I think kind of 0:20:27.556 --> 0:20:31.236 unconsciously that came out on this album because it was 0:20:31.836 --> 0:20:35.076 it was a very emotional album, but it also has 0:20:35.116 --> 0:20:38.596 a complexity to it that I think sort of really 0:20:38.876 --> 0:20:41.716 speaks to where we are in our lives right now, 0:20:42.636 --> 0:20:45.756 and I wanted to be able to convey that with 0:20:45.836 --> 0:20:46.956 the singing as well. 0:20:48.316 --> 0:20:53.436 Carrie, did you find her singing on this album different? Yeah? 0:20:53.676 --> 0:20:56.116 I think it is some of Korin's best singing. I 0:20:56.196 --> 0:20:58.316 go back and listen to something like dig Me Out 0:20:58.396 --> 0:21:02.356 or The Woods, which are two albums that Sleader Kinney 0:21:02.396 --> 0:21:05.756 are sort of known for, and Korn's voice is incredible 0:21:05.876 --> 0:21:09.956 on both of those albums. But the control role on 0:21:09.996 --> 0:21:16.436 this album, the nuance, the diversity of sounds and voicings. 0:21:17.236 --> 0:21:22.116 A song like Small Finds, there are three distinct vocal 0:21:22.116 --> 0:21:23.156 styles on that song. 0:21:24.276 --> 0:21:24.476 You know. 0:21:24.516 --> 0:21:28.236 The verse has kind of a tossed off ensutionient, almost 0:21:28.316 --> 0:21:31.796 Kim Gordon feel, and then the chorus is this big 0:21:31.876 --> 0:21:35.876 rock voice, and then the coda, which takes you out 0:21:35.956 --> 0:21:41.596 of the song, has this whole other, almost Jim Morrison 0:21:41.716 --> 0:21:45.396 doors vibe. It's sounding to me, you know. And then 0:21:45.436 --> 0:21:50.076 of course there's something like the choruses of Hell, which, yes, 0:21:50.156 --> 0:21:52.036 you can maybe imagine that on dig Me Out, but 0:21:52.116 --> 0:21:54.836 not with that control, and not with the verses being 0:21:54.916 --> 0:22:02.516 so pretty and melodic. So yeah, I'm very impressed. And 0:22:02.556 --> 0:22:06.196 I really needed quarant to sing more on this record 0:22:06.196 --> 0:22:10.556 because I had just gone through loss in my life 0:22:10.596 --> 0:22:13.996 and was grieving and didn't really think that my strength 0:22:14.036 --> 0:22:16.436 was going to be in singing on this album, and 0:22:17.636 --> 0:22:21.516 so Koran really stepped up, and it's probably the most 0:22:21.556 --> 0:22:24.636 singing she's done since very very early Slater Kinney. 0:22:25.796 --> 0:22:29.836 So, Koran was your voice your first instrument growing up? 0:22:31.036 --> 0:22:34.996 My dad is he was like a hobby musician. He 0:22:35.436 --> 0:22:39.196 played folk music in the sixties. He opened for Pete 0:22:39.236 --> 0:22:44.556 Seeger once yeah, And he was always playing music when 0:22:44.556 --> 0:22:48.076 I was little. I remember being two or three years 0:22:48.076 --> 0:22:50.876 old and singing folk songs with him, and he would 0:22:50.916 --> 0:22:53.596 play guitar and be like, sing this one, you know, 0:22:53.636 --> 0:22:57.276 And I just thought that was what kids did growing up, 0:22:57.556 --> 0:23:00.156 was learning folk songs. 0:23:00.716 --> 0:23:02.156 I was wanted to sing. 0:23:02.356 --> 0:23:06.636 I think I got really anxious as a teenager. I 0:23:06.636 --> 0:23:09.636 didn't feel comfortable pursuing it because I I was just 0:23:11.156 --> 0:23:15.756 I didn't have the self confidence. But when I arrived 0:23:15.796 --> 0:23:18.996 in Olympia and I connected with the music scene there, 0:23:19.756 --> 0:23:24.516 it was so supportive and so wide open in terms 0:23:24.516 --> 0:23:27.876 of what a band could be, what a singer could be, 0:23:28.636 --> 0:23:31.916 that I wanted to start my own band. I was 0:23:31.956 --> 0:23:34.996 so inspired by other women in bands that I wanted 0:23:34.996 --> 0:23:37.756 to do it myself. And so I started a band 0:23:37.796 --> 0:23:42.196 right away and started singing in it and performing with 0:23:43.036 --> 0:23:45.956 no real training and no real idea what I was doing. 0:23:47.796 --> 0:23:52.436 Was there a particular song, a moment that made you 0:23:53.596 --> 0:23:54.956 feel that you wanted to do this. 0:23:58.076 --> 0:24:01.556 I think there was a moment. 0:24:01.636 --> 0:24:05.676 It was February fourteenth, nineteen ninety one, and it was 0:24:05.996 --> 0:24:11.076 a Valentine's Stay show with Bikini Kell and Bratmobile two 0:24:11.196 --> 0:24:16.596 bands that I was extremely inspired by, and I think 0:24:17.196 --> 0:24:21.516 Feels Blind by Bikini Kel was probably one of the 0:24:21.516 --> 0:24:26.356 most inspirational songs. It hit me so hard at that age. 0:24:26.476 --> 0:24:30.516 I was eighteen and I saw what they did as 0:24:30.556 --> 0:24:35.076 a band. It was so impactful. It wasn't professional, it 0:24:35.156 --> 0:24:40.796 wasn't polished, but it just really dared people to do 0:24:40.876 --> 0:24:44.836 something different with our lives. And I felt like it 0:24:44.876 --> 0:24:48.436 was a calling for me as well to start singing 0:24:48.436 --> 0:24:49.276 and do my own band. 0:24:49.996 --> 0:24:51.716 Carrie, what was it for you? 0:24:53.516 --> 0:25:00.236 Gosh, A single moment. I think for me, it was 0:25:00.276 --> 0:25:02.996 definitely in high school when I started actually going to shows. 0:25:03.036 --> 0:25:06.116 You know, I had grown up listening to a lot 0:25:06.156 --> 0:25:09.596 of pop music in the eighties and watching MTV. I 0:25:09.636 --> 0:25:15.036 could never decode how or what people were playing. There 0:25:15.116 --> 0:25:20.836 was a lot of spectacle surrounding that music. You couldn't 0:25:20.836 --> 0:25:25.436 really permeate the artifice of it. But I started going 0:25:25.476 --> 0:25:29.196 to shows in high school and I remember seeing hammer Box. 0:25:29.396 --> 0:25:33.276 They were a band from Seattle, The Fastbacks Beat Happening, 0:25:33.876 --> 0:25:37.996 and I would just watch these people play, like Kim 0:25:38.036 --> 0:25:41.036 Warnick or Kurk Block from the Fastbacks, and I could 0:25:41.076 --> 0:25:45.476 actually see what they were doing I could see what 0:25:45.516 --> 0:25:49.396 the pedals, the guitar effects pedals look like. I saw 0:25:49.436 --> 0:25:51.756 that there was a quarter inch cable going from an 0:25:51.756 --> 0:25:55.476 amp to a pedal to maybe a tuner if we 0:25:55.476 --> 0:26:00.076 were lucky, And I could see how their fingers moved 0:26:00.076 --> 0:26:03.516 across the fretboard. I could see that there were monitors 0:26:03.596 --> 0:26:09.836