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| Bird Watching, Forests and Politics Jamie Stewart, front man and founder of Seattle’s Xiu Xiu (Shoo Shoo), talks about the things that make him tick… June 25, 2005 by Leanda Quinquet Leanda Quinquet – You’re a week into your tour, how’s it going? Jamie Stewart – Very Well. LQ – Where have you played so far? JS – Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Montreal. LQ – How are the Canadians treating you? JS – Canada goes well for us; we have two more shows here. Then, everyone in the band lives in the west coast of the United States, so we’re going to play shows on the way back to the west coast. LQ – For people who have never heard what you do, how would you describe it? JS - (sighs and laughs) Usually I never answer this question. I could describe my impression of it but I don’t necessarily believe my impression of it is very important. LQ - Your new record La Foret is soon to be released in North America. What’s the story behind the title? JS – I’ll do my best to have it make sense. The title is La Foret which means "the forest"…ummm…partially it’s about the Bush Administration. In Northern California they’re cutting down a lot of old growth forest which have been untouched for 12,000 years, since they began in the first place. In the last couple of years I’ve really gotten into bird watching and it’s an area I’ve been to a lot of times and which is now in the process of being completely destroyed for a small amount of money. And also The Bush Administration has been responsible for more environmental devastation than any other administration times two. So part of it is about that, the record largely is also about fear, which is sort of a universal theme…then also a nod to the cure song (laughs) LQ - Deadly! Where was it recorded? JS – Ummm…let’s see. Partially in my apartment in Seattle, partially in my apartment in Oakland and partially in my friend's living room in Brooklyn. LQ – So, you produced it all? JS – Myself and with other people yeah…. LQ - Having told us about the albums title and the meanings behind it, would you say that they are the common themes of the record? JS – Aspects of it are about environmentalism and politics. And aspects of it are about personal things going on in my family and within the lives of people in the band. LQ – As you have said, a lot of your lyrics and subject matter within your songs are extremely personal. How do you feel about performing all of those live? Is it hard? JS – Sometimes it’s really difficult to do, but…sometimes it’s not (laughs). There are some songs that we just can’t play. It’s not really possible to do them and not have them seem…I’m not sure how to put it. Sometimes it just doesn’t work so we just don’t play those songs for the reason you described. LQ – Where is the band based? JS – One member lives in Seattle, one in San Francisco and I live in Oakland. LQ – That must be hard for recording. JS – It’s a little weird sometimes. Before a tour we’ll get together for a week and practice for like 12 hours a day for a whole week. Then for recording, we set aside a week and we all get together and work on stuff. LQ – When did you first start to write? JS – I think when I was about 24 or 25. LQ – What else inspires you to write? JS – All of the songs are about politics or things that are going on in the lives of the people in the band or the people that we are close to. LQ – Did you have any classical music training or anything like that? JS – No, I took a class in community college on music theory…but not extensively at all. LQ – How did you end up hooking up with your label 5 Rue Christine? JS – It was pretty fortuitous. We were friends with the band Deerhoof and a band that we were in before played with them a lot and when that band broke up, we recorded what ended up being our first record Knife Play and gave it to Greg from Deerhoof, and he thought that Slim who runs Kill Rock Stars would like it, so he gave it to Slim and he liked it. So it was half way luck, and half way niceness by friends. LQ – There’s a video that comes on the new cd, it’s very dark, sinister… JS – Yes. (sighs). LQ – How do you feel about it? JS – Well…my friend made it. LQ – Did he direct it also? JS – Yes… LQ – Enough said? JS – Yes. LQ – What music are you listening to at the moment? JS – (laughs) I listen to a lot of classical music, a lot of dance music and a lot of indigenous music from South East Asia. LQ – Where can people find out more about Xiu Xiu? JS – The 5 Rue website (www.5rc.com) and there are tons of interviews and articles online. LQ – Okay… well, I’d like to thank you for chatting with The Wig and good luck with the rest of your tour! JS – Thanks, it was nice to talk to you. |