Newspaper Page Text
Page 12
Flagpole Magazine
November 20, 1991
Freelove and underwear
Laurie freelove's debut album, Smells Like T ruth, is both
passionate and ambient, with the artist's distinctive voice
rising from a multi — cultural musical landscape which
includes Native Australian instruments the didjeridoo and
bullroarer, as well as multiple guitars. On a chilly Friday
morning, Ms. Freelove spoke with Flagpole about her
music and other matters of relevance.
Flagpole: I understand that you were a painter. Flow and
why did you make the transition into music.
Laurie Freelove: I still am a painter, and I always did
music while I was painting. There wasn't any real transition
period except to say that when I got a record deal I was
obligated to put a tremendous amount of energy into doing
the music.
FP: I know that you lived in several foreign countries. In
what way do you feel that your time abroad affects the type
of music that you write?
LF: I think that having the experience of other cultures was
instrumental in giving me the information that there are
other things going on in the world besides what's happen
ing in my own country. So perhaps it freed me up to do
something different, to not feel so confined
FP: Something I noticed in your music is that there is a
Middle Eastern atmosphere to it.
LF: Somcally, it's very emotional. I don't know if you can
relate that to any particular country. A woman I talked to in
an interview last night said it was very medieval.
FP: In terms of images, for me it brought to mind cavernous
a cathedral.
LF: “Cavernous cathedrals?' That’s good.
FP: Why did you move to Austin initially and is the music
scene there as good as it is said to be?
LF: I moved to get warm. I was on my way to San Jose
because I had intended to just soak up some of the
painterly atmosphere there and the history, but I ran out of
money here and it was a good place to stop.
FP: Where you aware of Boo Hewerdine's work prior to
meeting him in Austin?
LF: No. I never heard of the guy, but I'm glad that I did get
a chance to meet him because he is very definitely one of
my very, very best friends and also a tremendous musici an.
He's got this native intelligence about music and he’s very
authentic.
FP: / really liked The Bible and I like the song that you co
wrote with him on your album
LF: Good. Then you’ll like the new stuff that we wrote also.
When we sit down we just sort of bat around ideas I'll say,
"Look Boo, I've got this song and I don’t know what to do
with it “ He’s about the only person on the face of the Earth
that I would trust that to. He'll start playing along with me
and the next thing you know it's moved to the place it should
be. He's a catalyst for good thinking around music, and we
have done other things.
FP: You're artistically suited to each other.
LF: Yes, I guess we are. I always considered writing a song
a private act and it’s very unusual for me to be able to sit
down with someone else and do it in front of them. It s kind
of like walking around in your underwear.
FP: Right. You better be good friends if you are going to do
something like that That's about as personal as you can get
with your underwear on.
LF: [Laughing] Right. Well, you asked me about the music
here. There is a ton of it, a lot of different kinds of musicians
here. It’s a good place to be. very friendly. I can't really say
enough good things about it.
FP; Your lyrics are very poetic. Have you ever formally
studied writing and do you write poetry or prose?
LF: No. I went to a workshop once on songwriting, and the
indication was that I should straighten my act up.
FP; So did you?
LF: No! I went, and what I found out was that if I wanted to
write a pop song about puppy love, I should follow those
rules. Some of the ruies wefe to steer clear of subjects that
are uncomfortable, like grout sacftiess.
FP: In other words, be trite ai; all' times.
LF: Yeah. It reminded me of that Cosmopolitan article !
read once; "How to Avoid Getting Wrinkles." The first thing
on the list said "Stop Smiling." I didn’t pay too much
attention to it.
FP: There are many direct and more indirect references to
God in your songs. Are you a very religious person?
LF: You are the first person to even mention this It is
something I noticed after putting all the songs together and
looking at the lyrics. I can't really give you an answer about
it. It strikes me as interesting. You know the Don Juan
books? There's reference to an eagle [in them ]. It's like that,
an everlasting energy reviving itself through things eter
nally. It's a hard question for me to answer. What do you
think it’s about.
FP: / think you ‘re thinking about all that type of thing, or why
would you be writing about it? There seems to be a cosmic
contemplation going on in there somewhere Then again, I
think how a person hears a record may have as much to do
with them as it does with the person who created it
LF: I noticed it and was perplexed by it I think that since
I’m so into structures and the logic of things that maybe it’s
about higher logic
FP: Time to read some metaphysics. Laurie Your press kit
says how old you are Time to think about what happens
when you die.
LF: [Laughter] You’re cruel! [more laughter]. You may be
on to something though.
FP: When you play live are you on stage alone, or do you
have backing musicians?
LF: Boo's in the band. We have a little ensemble. We’re a
small outfit playing smaller clubs so we’re not able to carry
out some of the huge, dense numbers like “Smells Like
Truth" or “Heaven on Earth."
FP; When Boo performs, do you play in his band?
LF: No. He doesn't have a band. Right now he’s just
finished his new album. I don’t think he’s organized what
he's going to do. Ultimately, we'd like to play with each other
more and maybe we'll tour together, but I don't think we'll
tour in each other's bands.
FP: The “Keep Your Underpants On" tour.
LF: [Laughter] Yeah. He's going to like this. He's kind of
shy
Laurie. Boo and the rest of the ensemble will be playing
The Point in Atlanta on Monday. November 25 I plan to be
there, and you should think about making the trip, too
Lisa McDonald
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