{"id":98314,"date":"2024-08-29T18:03:13","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T22:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/08\/29\/laurie-anderson-on-why-amelia-earharts-story-is-super-timely-and-crafting-a-doomsday-comedy-about-the-empire-falling\/"},"modified":"2024-08-29T18:03:13","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T22:03:13","slug":"laurie-anderson-on-why-amelia-earharts-story-is-super-timely-and-crafting-a-doomsday-comedy-about-the-empire-falling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/08\/29\/laurie-anderson-on-why-amelia-earharts-story-is-super-timely-and-crafting-a-doomsday-comedy-about-the-empire-falling\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurie Anderson on Why Amelia Earhart\u2019s Story Is \u2018Super Timely\u2019 and Crafting a \u2018Doomsday Comedy\u2019 About \u2018The Empire\u00a0Falling\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tEarlier this summer, avant-garde musical pioneer Laurie Anderson stopped by Billboard<\/em>\u2019s first-ever Indie Power Players event at the Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan to accept the Indie Icon Award<\/a>. When I bring it up to her over Zoom a few weeks later, Anderson laughs off the idea of being hailed as one of the GOATs. \u201cThat was a little embarrassing \u2013 or a lot embarrassing,\u201d she demurs. \u201cYeah. Icon. But you know, it\u2019s flattering. It was sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Brent<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tBillboard Indie Power Players Party Celebrates Vibrant Independent Music Business in New York\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tShe\u2019s clearly retained some of that Midwestern humility from her childhood in the suburbs of Chicago. But if Laurie Anderson isn\u2019t an indie icon, then who is? After making waves in the New York City art scene since the \u201870s, she brought her uncompromising, idiosyncratic vision to one of the major labels, Warner. Bros., with 1982\u2019s Big Science.<\/em> A heady, funky m\u00e9lange of minimalism, electronica and art-pop, the trailblazing classic enjoyed improbable crossover success thanks in large part to its single \u201cO Superman (For Massenet),\u201d which became a No. 2 hit in the U.K. Over the ensuing decades, Anderson has become an influential force in exploring the ways music, technology and performance art intersect. Plus, she\u2019s done everything from voicing a Rugrat to directing films to winning a Grammy.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lattermost came thanks to Landfall<\/em>, her 2018 album with the Kronos Quartet. On Friday (Aug. 30), Anderson returns with Amelia<\/em>, a Nonesuch release that delves into legendary aviator Amelia Earhart\u2019s ill-fated final flight. But while questions such as \u201cwhat really<\/em> happened to Amelia Earhart?\u201d and \u201cwhere did her plane crash?\u201d have recurred throughout popular culture for nearly 90 years, Amelia<\/em> isn\u2019t interested in answers, or even asking questions. Instead, Anderson \u2013 through her indelible mixture of storytelling, sing-speak and dizzying soundscapes \u2013 takes us into the cockpit with Earhart throughout the course of her flight, drawing on flight logs, diary entries and contemporary interviews to give a sense of the frightening vastness of the ocean, the thrill and loneliness of exploration and the othering of female pilots in the 1930s. Like much of her work, it\u2019s soothing, unsettling and thought-provoking.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey called her Lady Lindy, they didn\u2019t even take her seriously,\u201d Anderson says. \u201cBut she was doing this really dangerous thing. She was very hands on, unlike Charles Lindbergh, who was a white gloves pilot in many ways. She really was working with the guys under the hood.\u201d It\u2019s that element of Earhart\u2019s life that makes her story feel \u201csuper timely\u201d to Anderson, who notes that \u201cgirls still aren\u2019t really encouraged to do engineering\u201d nearly 100 years later.<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow, Anderson walks Billboard<\/em> through this project\u2019s roundabout gestation, why collaborator ANOHNI is perfect \u201cfor every project\u201d and her work on a \u201cdoomsday comedy\u201d that will serve as Part V to her groundbreaking magnum opus from 1983, United States Live.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you arrived at Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Indie Power Players event in June, you gave a surprise performance with this little handmade electronic device in your mouth. How long does it take you to make something like that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOh, you know, it\u2019s sorts of time depending on what you\u2019re making. I\u2019m making a few things now for a big show in the fall. Right now, the project that I\u2019m doing called ARK<\/em> is mind-boggling. There are so many pieces to it that it\u2019s just weird.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s ARK<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tARK<\/em> is a big thing with music pictures and electronics on a stage in a big theater [Factory International<\/a>] in Manchester, which is going to open in the fall [Nov. 12-24]. And it\u2019s something about the end of the world.<\/p>\n

\n\tI mean, we could be facing that soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWell, it\u2019s kind of in the back of people\u2019s minds. And I really like what\u2019s in the back of people\u2019s minds. It influences you even though you\u2019re not necessarily talking about it. So that\u2019s why I wanted to do that. It\u2019s also \u2014 it sounds really stupid \u2014 but it\u2019s like a doomsday comedy.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow else does one approach doomsday?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tExactly. That\u2019s what I think. Yeah, yeah.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo Amelia<\/em> is your new album, but I gather you\u2019ve done this piece before \u2013 in 2000 at Carnegie Hall.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThat was its distant cousin, let\u2019s say. That was a very long time ago. Those pieces don\u2019t really sound like each other at all. That was something that I was commissioned to do for Carnegie Hall, and then it was kind of horrible, actually. Really. It\u2019s really pretty bad. So I stopped working on it. Then a few years later, the conductor [Dennis Russell Davies] said, \u201cYou know, I really liked that piece.\u201d And I said, \u201cYou did?!\u201d He said, \u201cYeah, let\u2019s just do it for string orchestra.\u201d So we did and it sounded pretty cool. Then, in the pandemic, he got back to me again and said, \u201cLet\u2019s record that.\u201d And I really like this conductor a lot. He\u2019s really supportive and cool. So we recorded it, and then I thought, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m gonna put some other stuff on top of this.\u201d And that\u2019s what this record is.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo did Carnegie Hall specifically commission it to be about Amelia Earhart, or was that your choice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNo, they just wanted something about flight, so I chose Amelia. I really got very fond of her working on it. She was she always talking to women \u2014 she was like the original blogger, first of all. She was talking to reporters at every stop, she would send telegrams at every stop, and she would write in her pilot\u2019s log and in her diary. She was very conscious of her public. She also married her press agent, which tells you a lot. What I liked the most about her was she said, \u201cYou know, if I survive this trip\u201d \u2014 and she wasn\u2019t sure if she would \u2014 she said, \u201cI want to start shop for girls.\u201d At that point, boys in school took shop, which was like engines and motors and metal and woodworking, and girls took cooking and cleaning. I was like, \u201cWhoa, that\u2019s very cool.\u201d She said, \u201cGirls should find out how engines work, too.\u201d She didn\u2019t live to make that happen. But it was I was very impressed with that because her plane crashed like 87 years ago, on July 2 [1937], and you look at what\u2019s going on now: Girls still aren\u2019t really encouraged to do engineering or government, medicine, politics. It\u2019s just kind of weird that women haven\u2019t made more progress, I think. So anyway, that was an important story to hear now.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s timely.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tSuper timely, especially when we virtually just elected a president who kind of thinks women are stupid. It\u2019s crucial to look at people who did really amazing things. And she was a great pilot. People were very patronizing when she was doing it: they called her Lady Lindy, they didn\u2019t even take her seriously. But she was doing this really dangerous thing. She was very hands on, unlike Charles Lindbergh, who was a white gloves pilot in many ways. She really was working with the guys under the hood. And I really admire that about her. People are always asking me, \u201cHow do you work with technology?\u201d And it\u2019s not like it\u2019s so amazing. It\u2019s still [seen as] weird for women to be working with technology.<\/p>\n

\n\tI hadn\u2019t heard she was called Lady Lindy \u2018til I listened to the album. That\u2019s doubly a shame, since he was a racist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s a pretty odd character. And pretty, I think, horrendous in the end. Just a really scary, weird guy. And what a story that he actually killed his son \u2013 did you go for that story?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe baby thing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, the baby thing and trying to get the organs for his sister. I was like, \u201cWhoa, that\u2019s the weirdest story ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat dovetails a bit with something I wanted to ask. Like the Lindbergh baby, people are still coming up with theories and evidence about the Earhart crash. Not that long ago, someone said<\/a> they might have found her plane. Did that ever make you think, \u201chmm, maybe I should address this in the project?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOh, no, no. I think some of those are sort of credible but most of them aren\u2019t really. They\u2019re pretty iffy. The very last one? Maybe. I don\u2019t know and it doesn\u2019t matter to me.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter immersing yourself in her world and travels, do you ever get the urge to visit some of these places \u2013 Howland Island, New Guinea \u2013 for research? Or have you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIf I could go anywhere, I\u2019d go to the Galapagos. Just to see what that would feel like. But no, I never really felt like going to look for her plane. I\u2019d rather write about certain things than go there. Although that\u2019s not to say that wouldn\u2019t be really, really fun to do.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe album features guest vocals from one of my favorite singers, ANOHNI. What was it about ANOHNI that made her make sense for this project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tShe makes sense for every project. I just love her singing. I got to hear her new show a couple weeks ago. So beautiful. I\u2019m just a complete fan. She\u2019s singing in ARK<\/em> as well; she\u2019s singing the part of the Buddha. It\u2019s so inspiring to work with her.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo Amelia<\/em> is a \u201cdistant cousin\u201d of something you started in 2000. Last year, I saw you perform your Let X=X<\/em> show at BAM in Brooklyn,<\/a> and it was absolutely incredible. Similarly, that found you revisiting some of your older work, with Sexmob as your backing band. When you revisit this material, how do you balance the urge to tinker with it and make it different, as opposed to staying true to the spirit of the original piece?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tReally good question, because that\u2019s something I\u2019m doing in this project called ARK<\/em> now, which is subtitled The United States Part V<\/em>. It\u2019s basically what I see as the empire falling, in a way. But you never know; there are complex ways that things fall apart and then come back into shape, so you never know. There are a couple of things that refer to earlier pieces. Sometimes I think I\u2019m the only one who\u2019s going to notice that but sometimes other people do. It\u2019s a wild project to be doing. But anyway, with Amelia<\/em> I was very happy with how the orchestra seemed to be almost the ocean in it or the wind. It had this wildness to it that was really fun to work with. I did this backwards, actually. I did the orchestra and then I did drum and bass overdubs. Which is crazy. Tony Scherr, the bass player, I just said, \u201cI want you to improv over the whole thing.\u201d I didn\u2019t play it for him [before]. He just did his part live. He\u2019s an incredible player and he did some really intuitive things. It felt very spontaneous. I loved what he did.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you\u2019re working on these things, are you a one-take, two-take person, or do you obsess over tweaks and changes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOne hundred percent obsession. It goes on forever. It\u2019s never right. Oh yeah. I love it. I love sitting in the studio and sampling things and playing around and that\u2019s kind of how I put it together. Just a long time alone in the studio. It\u2019s a lot of fun for me to do it like that.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter having a seven-album deal with Warner Bros. back in the day, you\u2019ve been with Nonesuch for a while. Being on an indie must jibe well with your tendency to take your time, as opposed to being forced to hit deadlines to deliver albums.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s probably true. Although they didn\u2019t bother me about that at Warner. They didn\u2019t say, \u201cCrank them out, come on!\u201d The time I was [at Warner] there were some real music lovers, and they were just really interested in what I was doing. And at Nonesuch, I feel the same. For me, it depends more on the people than on the actual label. So I didn\u2019t really feel that kind of pressure.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve done a number of performance pieces that haven\u2019t made it to a recording studio. I\u2019m thinking of your 1999 piece Songs and Stories From Moby-Dick.<\/em> I\u2019ve always been curious, do you ever think about going back to those pieces and making a proper document of it on an album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNo, I don\u2019t. I want to move forward. If there\u2019s a point in incorporating it into anything then I would, but not just to go back and set the record straight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this summer, avant-garde musical pioneer Laurie Anderson stopped by Billboard\u2019s first-ever Indie Power Players event at the Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan to accept the Indie Icon Award. When I bring it up to her over Zoom a few weeks later, Anderson laughs off the idea of being hailed as one of the GOATs. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}