Spooner sat down withThe Rage Monthly to talk


about what has changed and what hasn’t. Tell us a little about how you and Warren came together to form Fischerspooner. We met in art school in a video art class. We


were doing videos and ended up doing some collaborations where I would do spoken word and he would play violin. I recorded it and the piece was called,The Inherent Meaning of Objects, which I made into a video piece. So basically,


we’re still doing the same thing now…Nothing has changed! (Laughs) When you started though, it really was some- thing totally unique and different. Did you have an understanding of that when you started? Not really. It just felt natural to me. It was just


a culmination of all of my different interests, they finally found a way to coexist: performance, fashion, music, photography, film, it all just kind of came together in this one project. It was a perfect way to express myself and to be very fluid and move between all of them. Was your interest in music there from the beginning, or did that come later? Oh god no! Music was the last thing that I came


I got involved in music


not because I was a musician, but because I was a performer


and a visual artist. Music was in a way the mise-en-scènes for me to comment on contemporary culture. I didn’t really set out to be a singer, but after making five records, I learned how to do it.”


to. I started as a painter in art school, though I hung out with a lot of musicians, so I was around a lot of it. But, I never trained or studied it. I moved from painting into experimental theatre and performance art, I did that for about a decade in a company called Doorika, a performance arts collective based in Chicago and did that for about a decade. Then I moved to New York and started working in commercial photography as a prop stylist, which is where I learned a lot about photo production. Warren, Karen Fischer and I worked on a film together and out of the film, Warren and I started working on a soundtrack. The soundtrack was a story, ‘cuz I’m always telling stories and that story ended up becoming the first Fischerspooner song and performance. That comes through in all of your work, in that you tell stories with your music and on stage. It offers a unique point of view, and is so much more of a performance because of it. What motivates your storytelling? Is it a family tradition? Thank you. I think it all comes from my southern heritage. My father is very charismatic and my family is very prone to telling stories. (Laughs) I also have this bizzarro life that really lends itself to stories. I always end up in some crazy adventure—like moving to Paris—after coming to visit for two days with just a carry-on suitcase. (Laughs) Taking risks is what life is all about:


“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” comes to mind. That risk-taking nature comes across in what you do on stage as well. It’s really pretty


breathtaking to watch. I love to perform, I’ve always enjoyed it so much.


It’s such an incredible form because all of the preparation—the intellectual, physical, spiritual


and conceptual preparation—all of those things collide in performance. You’re sort of buzzing in it all and running on adrenaline. It’s really spiritual for me, it’s almost like you’re whole being becomes one, accessing it all simultaneously…Everything kind of locks into place. The sensibility you’ve created with Fischer- spooner is very distinct. The vibe is a little different onyour current album,Sir. There is a lyrical sensibility and emotional vulnerability that hasn’t been there before. Is a big part of that because of Michael Stipes involvement? Typically, what you’re hearing in the writing is


what I would do anyway and then I would hand that material to Warren and he would edit and arrange it. His aesthetic is a little bit more minimal and when Michael got involved, he really wanted to change my vocal style and very quickly pushed me towards something different. He kind of pushed me to find a vocal character, more of a vocal personality and that was kind of hard for me. I got involved in music not because I was a musician, but because I was a performer and a visual artist. Music was in a way the mise-en-scènes for me to comment on contempo- rary culture. I didn’t really set out to be a singer, but after making five records, I learned how to do it. Michael really gave me the confidence to be more expressive and be more of a singer. He created some new boundaries, as far as the process with Warren and I as well. That yielded a certain level of comfort and I felt like I could invest more of my energies into the writing in a way that I couldn’t before. He kept my writing unedited too. There are certain songs on the album like “Stranger, Strange” where the center part of that song is a single take and is actually the first take. So, there’s a real immediacy and a rawness to it. That’s the way I tend to write, more melodically


and less rhythmically, more a storytelling sensibil- ity. Micheal helped me to find ways to take story and image and merge it with melody. He really pushed me melodically and as a vocal performer. He very clearly had an agenda to make it more emotional and to leave my writing more exposed. That definitely shows, especially in thatSir highlights your voice so much more. I don’t really want to say that I was surprised, because I think it was always there, just more a part of the background. It also seems like this is much more of an album that you can also perform live. You can certainly say surprised, because in many ways, nobody really heard me the same way before,


MARCH 2018


MARCH 2018 | | RAGE monthly


monthly


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