Interview with Grass Widow
Grass Widow, a rising all-girl rock trio from San Francisco, spoke to super fan and IHYEB contributing writer Brady Tackett through e-mail correspondence over the winter break. With two wonderful releases behind them (a self-titled LP and EP), the ladies are now poised for their next record.
Brady: How does San Fran influence the music? What’s your favorite surf band?
Raven Mahon: Definitely our environment influences us, but not necessarily in a summer of ‘67 kind of way or a California Surfin’ Safari kind of way. I’d say our foundation rests in the scene that existed in the Bay Area a few years back, before the explosions of MySpace and modern networking technology. When Hannah and I were in our first band together, Shitstorm, (which Lillian later joined) we played with friends in the parks a lot, practiced with a generator out by the bay and were essentially non-existent on the internet, as were most of our friends’ bands. I feel fortunate to have that time to reference, in an age when so much happens in virtual world.
Hannah Lew: I love surf music, but have never thought of SF as a surf town. I know people that surf here, but it’s too foggy for that sunny beach vibe. We do have a lot of So-Cal transplants here that bring the sunshine. Really if you tour through here, you’ll come to know that it’s sort of an island. It’s 6 hours to LA, 12 hours to Portland, and I don’t know how many hours east you’d have to go to hit a city, but basically we’re sort of isolated from the rest of the country. We kind of just do our own thing.
Brady: The press calls your music ‘punk.’ Does the political climate have an influence on songwriting?
Raven: I’m definitely aware that music itself can be a forum for discussions of political and/or social issues, and respect artists and musicians who are taking the opportunity to use their voices in that way. Our music tends to be more personal and based on our individual experiences, but we chose to exist as a band in an intentional way. That is where we feel we can express our politics. We participate in benefits and donate as a band, to causes we believe in, like the San Francisco All-Ages Show Space Project, Girls Rock Camp and now relief efforts in Haiti.
Hannah: We’re faced with many decisions everyday about how to do things as a band. When we play shows it gives us the chance to create an environment where people of all races and genders can participate. We’ve never felt comfortable inserting any didactic messages into our lyrics or preaching at shows. For me, our music exists in a non-verbal place, where ideas and images can thrive, but not necessarily any “messages.”
Brady: What are your songs about and what will they be about in five years?
Lillian Maring: Our internal climates inspire what hopefully comes through in each song. We each have a tendency to deconstruct everyday experiences. The music itself may be upbeat but the lyrical content is often, for us, like condensing an hour’s worth of psychoanalysis into a couple minutes of melody.
Hannah: Our songs are generally about what we are going through or what we are passionate about/interested in. That being said, we are constantly taking those experiences and synthesizing them into something that we would hope could be universal and not self-indulgent. We’re able to write about very personal subject matter through our music, using metaphors and leaving room for people to insert their own stories. Sort of like a book without a cover.
Brady: What’s your favorite song that you’ve released thus far?
Lillian: We don’t play this one out anymore, but I really like “Time Could Bend,” from our self-titled LP on Make A Mess Records.
Raven: Hmmm.. I don’t have a favorite. But I like playing “Tattoo” and a song we’re about to release called “Uncertain Memory.”
Hannah: It’s like choosing your favorite child: I guess “Lulu’s Lips.”
Brady: What are Grass Widow’s plans for 2010?
Lillian: Release another full length, go to Europe. Help start an all-ages venue in SF.
Raven: To dedicate a lot of time to the project.
Hannah: To make this next record and tour!
Brady: How long have you guys known each other/been playing together?
Lillian: I met Hannah in the spring of 2006. I started playing with Hannah and Raven, as a fill-in drummer for their previous band Shitstorm, when I moved to SF in 2007.
Raven: Hannah and I met through our mutual friend, Wu Li Leung, who was also in Shitstorm. That was about 7 years ago?
Hannah: We’ve been playing as Grass Widow for around two-and-a-half years.
Brady: Hannah, there are some of your short films on your site. Any plans to use those in your work with the band?
Hannah: We’ve been throwing around some music video ideas that maybe we’ll have time to do when we’re done recording . I kind of work totally differently as a filmmaker than I do as a band member. I work better alone creatively as a filmmaker, whereas the band is so triangularly collaborative. Our collaboration is really special and satisfying, but I do look forward to having the time to focus on film. I’ve been working on a script that I may develop into a film in a year or so. You can check out my films at Hannahlew.com.
Brady: What do you do for fun?
Lillian: Shuffleboard, Web mastering.
Raven: Sleeping.
Hannah: Will Shortz, Monday thru Wednesday.
Brady: How often do you practice and where?
Raven: We have a practice space in a meat locker. For real. It’s about five square feet and we share it with our friends, Rank/Xerox (and Nodzzz for a while) and some stragglers.
Hannah: We practice once a week usually. Then we listen to our practice tapes and practice in our heads constantly. Constantly.
Brady: Dream tour (where and with what bands)?
Lillian: The world.
Raven: New Zealand, Turkey… with bands from those places.
Hannah: I’ll go where she goes.
Brady: What do you love about music?
Raven: It’s older than words.
Lillian: Music can provide an opportunity to transcend the literal or obvious interpretations of daily life, to create a space in which to form your own ideals and motivations. It can be a link to another world, another culture. It unites people.
Hannah: I can’t describe it.
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