MUSIC
WALK LIKE A MOGUL
Bangle Susanna Hoffs Goes For Baroque BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH
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AROQUE FOLK IS NOT ONLY THE name of singer-songwriter-guitarist Susanna Hoffs’ new record label, it’s also the style of music that comprises her great new solo album Someday. The busy performer, who still tours with her iconic ‘80s band The Bangles, has been so busy with other projects, including collaborations with fellow popster Matthew Sweet as Sid and Susie, two recent Bangles collections and life at home with two children and husband, film director Jay Roach (“Austin Powers,” “The Campaign”), she hasn’t had time to release a proper solo album. Until now, with an upcoming tour that brings here to town on October 29. Calling from her home in Los Angeles, Hoffs talked at length about her new album, her love of melodic pop, all things inspired by and from the ‘60s, and of course the Bangles. This is your first solo record since 1996. How did it happen and, more importantly, why did it take so long? Susanna Hoffs: I had been dreaming of making this record for years and years and years, but between juggling family, life, being a Bangle and making a couple of couple of albums with the bangles. Some of the songs I was saving ended up being on those records. But then in a very short period of time, a lot of new songs were written. How did that happen? I met this kid, Andrew Brassell, who had moved here from Nashville. My niece grew up in Nashville and he had been friends with her. He’s very talented and has a very singular focus on music. He kinda walked into my life. He actually ended up staying in our guest room for a while, so there was a lot of new musical presence in the house amidst all my other goings-on with family and kids and finishing up that Bangles record [last year’s woefully under-promoted Sweethearts Of The Sun]. So there was a revitalization of youth and new ideas there. Not only that, but he dragged me out of the house to see a friend of his play at Largo [a local music and comedy club ], and I love going there. I ran into [producer] Mitchell Froom, who I’ve known since the ‘80s, and we’re neighbors. He asked me what I was up to musically and that led to the creation of this record. I financed it myself and made it independent of a label.
“I’M ALWAYS WORKING ON SONGS WITH MELODY. MELODY IS KING.”
lot of your music. My intention, going in, is always melody. I’m always working on songs with melody. Melody is king. And yes, we wrote the songs with just two guitars. Then when we played the songs here for Mitchell Froom, I have a piano here in the living room and he played the piano. What has always attracted me to my favorite songs is the intense, emotional power of a good melody. The songs of my own, I set bar high because it’s what I like. And with a solo record there are no compromises or give and take, it‘s your statement. That’s the thing about doing a solo record as opposed to doing it with the band is, the opportunity to let it be extremely personal. It gets filtered through all the members of the band, otherwise. And that’s the beauty of it, it’s not any one person. And in the case of the Bangles, because we all sing, so it’s more of thinkng how all the combination of our voices work when we sing, in concert with each other.
SUSANNA HOFFS PLAYS EDDIE’S ATTIC ON OCTOBER 29 AT 8 PM.
And you call the style of music you’re doing now baroque folk. It kinda of came after we were done, we were talking about baroque pop a lot while we were doing the record. The record itself informed what the label should be called.
But this was your singular voice. Right, so we started thinking, ‘Ok, now how can we approach this in the studio? We’re sitting here with two guitars and me singing and it sounds a certain way.’ But Mitchell was struck by the ‘60s sensibility of the songs. No matter how I write that always seems to come through, because that’s what I grew up on and that’s what I love. And still, it’s what I mostly listen to. So we started talking about all the great music of the ‘60s, the girl singers like Lulu and Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield. We started thinking about the arrangements on those records, like “Downtown” or “Son Of A Preacherman,” or “Walk On By.” Oh, you know what I’m talking about.
The songs have a very acoustic, ‘60s baroque feel to them, but that’s a trend in a
So that’s where the strings and horns came in.
It’s on your own label, Baroque Folk. I’m kind of embracing the times we’re in, with all its nuances and challenges and how dramatically different we are now than in the ‘80s when the Bangles were on Columbia Records. It’s such a different time, but people still love music. As long as people love music, then everything is ok with me.
PG 22 • October 2012 • insiteatlanta.com
That became the color palette for the record. And we got excited about it then because Mitchell hasn’t done arrangements like that in a while. It worked out well with the name! So now I have my own label. That’s great, but do you sit at a huge desk with a cigar and act like Phil Spector, “Bring in the next act!” Haha, no. But that’s funny, that’s what we think of when we think about running a label. But there’s a lot of work to do, to keep advancing it and pushing forward. If I wasn’t so busy keeping my own project going, it’s like the little engine that could, you know. If I wasn’t so busy, I’d love to help other artists, so maybe! I always love it when people come up to me and tell me that something I did or one of my songs had an impact on them. If I ever had time, I’d love to see what would happen if other people came on to the Baroque Folk label. I think Someday is the best ‘60s record I’ve heard in a long time and I mean that in the best way. Oh, thank you so much, Lee. That means a lot! It was kind of a golden age, I know we agree on that. And now you are taking the record on the road. I’ve got a great band I’ve been playing and hanging out with. We’ve really only done one show [at McCabe‘s in April], so you’re gonna see the beginning of the tour. Are you bringing [album guests] Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher [of Elvis Costello’s Attractions and Imposters] with you? I’m bringing the bass player from the Bangles now, Derrick Anderson [Smithereens, Dave Davies, Bob Cowsill] and we have a full band, with Andrew Braselll, who co-wrote the songs. Like us, we’re all sort of on the same musical page and that makes things easy and fun. This will be your first full band shows since,
‘91, when your first solo record was out. Yes and there’s a vulnerability to it, for me. It’s a little scary. I’m walking into this thing without [Bangles] Vicki [Peterson] and Debbi [Peterson] or Matthew [Sweet] and I have this feeling like, ‘Oh my God, it’s just me!’ But I’m finally doing this again and it feels really real. It’s exciting, because there’s no pretense or show biz about it. In Atlanta, you’ll be back at Eddies Attic [site of Hoffs and Sweets Sid And Susie performance a few years ago]. I made a point to play only small venues for this tour. Listening rooms. The intimate settling was very attractive to me. I remember sitting out on that deck area there, and I could hear myself very well when we played, because the acoustics seemed really good. Sometimes you remember clubs by the sound. That was one of the most packed shows I’ve seen there in a long time. It was hard to get to the stage, and we were huddled in the kitchen before the show! And they were having a little bit of a leak in the kitchen. The memories are coming back to me now. I opened a door there once and [singersongwriter] Steve Forbert was in there changing his pants. That’s so funny! I remember huddling in that kitchen but that’s so cool. You know what, that’s fun. And it brings me back to memories of old days in the Bangles, when we would tour in the UK and we’d have to change in the van. Or standing in the kitchen of some little club and putting our make-up on, all that kinda stuff. People always think the music business is so glamorous but the fun part of it, is that its really not. No, at the end of the day, it should come down to the songs. Exactly. The best part is I get to play music for a living and I’m very lucky for that. For more information, visit www.eddiesattic.com