Joanna Newsom: Exclusive Interview Part I
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- Gigs in Paris met with the beautiful harpist Joanna Newsom to discuss home, family, recording, authors, writing, the harp and all of those rumours. We separate fact from fiction over this five part interview. bit.ly/uPr1Nx
I like the fact that she's so brilliant, so gifted, but worries about grocery shopping and feeding her family and friends. Not self absorbed.
3:51 I can relate to this so much... I'm not a musician, but I'm a writer, and whenever I'm talking about a story of mine to someone and they ask what it's about, I just find it impossible to describe it without saying every plot point or the ending. I really do regret every word that comes out of my mouth, because it always sounds like such a bad story if I'm trying to say what it's about!
how cute to think of a little 5 year old Joanna Newsom asking for harp lessons!
Joanna, there is no possible way on this earth that you wouldn't produce a fantastic novel. I would bet most of my limbs on it. Well not most, half. Half of my limbs.
When I hear your music I see paintings in my mind. You have a certain way in that sense. Write a book.
x
amazing that she was working on all those HOOM songs simultaneously... her mind!
Poise, beauty, talent, magic. So inspiring.
I love her style, and she landed ANDY yeah!
I'm a writer too. My stories, especially my short stories, tend to be really bizzare and strange, and whenever someone asks me what a story of mine is about, I actually don't know what to say because in all honesty even I don't know what it's about half the time. It's like it comes from my subconscious or something...like deep down, in my head, I do know what it's about but I can't really put it into words, so it usually ends up sounding really pathetic xD
Art has no rules. I’m late but if ur still into writing, I’m excited to see ur impact in the world.
Indeed, and not even just for her music and her intelligence. If you want, you should check out the Portlandia episode she appears in. There's an extended sketch before the credits of "Small Hatchback" in Season Two. She's absolutely stunning IMHO.
Amazing interview, she’s so cool and seems like her talent is so effortless
She's so insanely talented, beautiful, cool, funny, smart... like damn
Clearly an artist, and a sweet heartist at that, grounded and real withal.
@TongueFu3410 No it really isn't. She embraces "musical theory"--she's a schooled musician who studied composition at Mills College, so she's deeply trained in theory. She does, however, have her own voice. Knowing the language and science of music makes more possible--don't be afraid of it!
Well, we can agree to agree this time. However,I have been a bass player for more than forty years and my lack of theory has, for the most part, never stopped producers and artistes from the UK and Europe asking me to record with them or join their groups - for which I an thankful.
Very good interview and questions!
she is talented musician and her husband is talented comedian what a couple.
I'm glad we agree. As a guitarist of 20 years (playing by ear) I know what you mean. I just meant that music theory has a place. I dont comment too often but I get tired of people with maybe a bit more knowledge than others, putting people down on sites like this (and by that I dont mean you) and I could see what Dallas was saying, although I agree wholeheartedly with what the OP was saying.
I agree with you on the fact that being proficient in an instrument/ music does not mean one has to understand music theory Lucien. Music theory on the other hand has a definite meaning, it explains the relationships between frequencies of sound and how they're perceived.
i met this girl,everything ended pretty bad,she showed me joanna for the first time,years ago.and looking at the past i think i fell in love with joanna instead of that girl.
If she wrote a book I'd read it over and over.
Fitzgerald: The rich are different than you and me.
Hemingway: Yes, they have more money.
Hmm, reading Hemingway eh??? I hope there is something in her other interviews about her influences, especially her use of the pentatonic scale.
Oh my goodness! Her voice is normal!
Nice interview! Good Job.
She is so nice and lovely
If you look on Wiki, there's an explanation for her voice change. In earlier interviews her voice was different it seemed.
There is more than one good way of doing things.
She kind of looks like Allie Brosh, my favorite cartoonist :)
thank you!
Wow, so many assholes in these comments. I would fail to believe that if you were intelligently using your time, you wouldn't be here commenting stupidly negative things. But anyways, she is lovely as always
She is pure grace embodied in the flesh
Many musicians make great music, some play by ear, some have a solid grounding in theory. Whether that music is good or not is completely subjective. I think Dallas was a bit heavy handed in his comment and, the OP just didnt have the technical knowldedge to express what he meant in a way that musicians would express it.
"Good Intentions Paving Company" by Joanna herself :)
OMFG so she does read hemingway...that confirms so much for me...particularly when you think about AFtA and 'Only Skin' as being complementary!
@EmeraldSky33 Thank you! Your comment made me laugh. Though I don't think of her voice like that, but it was too hilarious reading that.
love her. what's the song in the background?
People put people down all the time to one degree or another. I've been put down a few times and it used to hurt. I put down people - usually bands or artistes whose material I don't like. But I don't do it publicly, it's always in my head. It isn't that they're no good, it's just that I don't like their image or their performance. Oh well.
its weird liking her cause i love britney spears but yet they both have a talent i adore
Check out - SlapHappy / Henry Cow - Some Questions About Hats (1974)
it's been done before :)
I'm in love.
I know lots of successful musicians who cannot read a note of music and I know plenty who can. It is possible to know music theory (exploring the frequency between notes and the relationship between a major triad and a seventh; where 9ths fit in and why, for example) and not be able to play an instrument. The bottom line, here, is simple: you can either play or you can't and the ability to explain music is neither here of there.
fuck i need that posture lmao
It's different which is saying "fuck you" to the Music theory because it revealing that not all music has to be by these big stars wearing a ton of make up, it can be soft and sweet with dicerning lyrics, and a with a harp no less. It's always good to be different, and say "fuck you" to normality, and be the opposite of cliches.
Anyone know which of her tracks is playing in the background?
It's Good Intentions Paving Company.
Do you know what music theory is?
Yeah I know. I just like her and wanted to help. Commets removed so everybody can chill now.
True artist!!!
@CantSeeTheStars
You're so welcome. :-D I love making people laugh!
hemingway scriveva in piedi battendo sui tasti della macchina da scrivere come fucilate,piuttosto diverso dai tuoi soavi ritmi joanna.in ogni caso sono ashamed di dire che non ho mai letto il sig. hemingway ma lo faro' senza dubbio dopo la tua suggestion. cosa mi consiglieresti per iniziare?
There are too many conversations where people are just cocking off because they know a little bit more than someone else. I wish we'd all just share the knowledge. :-)
I understand what you are saying: it is YOU who needs music theory in order to play.
He did. A year ago.
Haha it's gingham...she's adopted a sundress look from the 50s. I have a similar one in yellow :)
You would never think this was her voice by the way she sings. It's still attractive ;)
@EdgarxXxApproves She'd be amazing at writing a novel or autobiography. :)
@scotchvelo
Very true. Newsom can actually hit the notes. Marshall is under the misapprehension that she is Aretha Franklin or something.
@FolkyFan15 Oh Joanna please write a book.
good intentions paving company
I think you meant "timbre"
I have seen comments about Joanna being a "hippie" and she should go back to that. I don't see her that way. I see her as having some style and as a person that enjoys fixing up a little bit sometimes. What is wrong with that? She is young and she should have some fun expressing herself. People change.
It is not necessary to understand music theory (whatever that means) in order to play an instrument outstandingly. Music comes from the soul, not the blackboard. Any competent musician will tell you that.
@scotchvelo you're right, she's better.
she lost her lisp. shes so wonderful!
*would have
You are sixteen? And if I wanted to boast, dear boy, you'd realise that what I've written so far are facts. I've said nothing about my achievements, where I've been and who I've played with and I intend to keep it that way. Nor do I intend to continue this correspondence. Good luck to you,Myles.
I'd Marry Her, Even 14 Years Difference!
@TongueFu3410
I prefer music theory. :-)
Explain yourself, because I think you mean something else that has nothing to do with music theory.
wow she has a hot voice!!
She's my celebrity crush. Sing to me baby
59 people including you do not understand music theory.
I'm not a trained musician but I don't think it has anything to do with musical theory, it's more a "fuck you" to what is considered the "norm". If her voice strayed from the rules of music too far she wouldn't be a good singer, she just has a strange voice :)
her singing voice and her speaking voice are completely different. and her singing voice is more mature.
Younger
lol yeah wthell does tonguefu's comment even mean. no relevance
ehhhhhh, i gotta say i really do despise her singing "voice" (which im very skeptical about being her natural voice) but i love the instrumental aspect of her music. her vocal melodies are incredibly beautiful its just i have a very hard time believing shes entirely comfortable singing like that (speaking about her timbre)
sorry ik u wrote this seven years ago. but i feel does it rly matter if it’s her natural voice. maybe she sings in a style because it fits the melodies that u so much enjoy. i see no problem with it.
lol are you younger or older?
Yeah, it's more an FU to America Idol and all those other sons of Simon.
well then learn to adapt
in mgmt she's hot as hell I'd make her my wife
You mean you'd ask her to be your wife.
I'm a pretentiousness knob? What does that make you, then?
Kathylouu.... No one cares.
SHE landed Andy- pffffffttttttt scoff scoff.
Her speaking voice is so pleasant, so why does she sing like a cartoon character?
if she's not good at writing...
That makes you a bad writer.
Even when I write experimentally I can explain to my peers exactly what the focus/goal of my piece is. If you want to write something worth reading you need a "why." The how comes later. If you can't describe your story, then you don't have a proper foundation, which leads to inane, uninteresting writing. The meaning of music is difficult to communicate because it is a method of communicating abstract ideas using sounds which are essentially meaningless. #staypleb
I just wish people would sing in their real voice. A lot of musicians and singers put on an "indie voice" or make their voice more babyish. I want to know what her voice sounds like when she doesn't put any of that on. And she is just herself on that stage.
+newbedfordite YES she may sing how ever she wants this sounds so good though
that's just her voice. If you listen to milk eyed mender, you'll hear that her voice has gotten much more mature within the last 10 years.
that's just her voice. If you listen to milk eyed mender, you'll hear that her voice has gotten much more mature within the last 10 years.
she sings normally in divers go check it out ;)
she sings in the only voice she knows how to sing in.
a quote from her:
"I used to do musicals," she recalls. "I used to do a lot of theater, and I would always get cast as the wicked witch or the little kid. It was always a character role because I had this really intensely charactered voice. I didn't have a smooth, classically beautiful voice, and I just got self-conscious about it and thought I couldn't sing, and so I stopped singing."
"... A pivotal moment in Newsom's decision to sing again was hearing Appalachian folk singer Texas Gladden's rendition of "Three Little Babes" in an American Music class at Mills. Newsom was struck by its beauty and recognized how Gladden's unorthodox voice only made the recording more exquisite. Newsom would go on to cover "Three Little Babes" on The Milk-Eyed Mender."
www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/joanna_newsom/
It's so off-putting that her mannerisms & speaking voice are so normal, because when she performs, she seems like some sort of whimsical/ deranged pixie; she goes all cross-eyed n'stuff. I guess I just pictured her as an uber eccentric chick.
Joanna doesn't understand the word summary or what it means to summarize.
sexy ho:(
Wow, I thought she was smarter...
+carmenvrmd some people best articulate their intellect in their medium. i'd say, based on her comments about describing her work, it sounds like she's the most confident when she's writing music and lyrics and i personally think her lyrics are quite intelligent/emotionally intuitive and i think that the music she writes is also very intelligent. some people just don't navigate interviews incredibly well (although i wouldn't say there is any intellectual deficit in this interview...just because she doesn't employ the same vocabulary she uses in her music doesn't mean she's unintelligent).
+Christian Doyle Well said.
Can't people be realistic and humble and also be excellent artists? What were you expecting? She's one of the most authentic people in both her art and her personality. Just because how she conducts herself in interviews isn't as esoteric and complex as her music doesn't mean she isn't intelligent.
Can you imagine if in her every day life she spoke with same kind of cerebral language she uses in her songs?? She'd be insufferable. She's smart in that she knows how to compartmentalize and be an authentic and sociable person in daily conversation. (That said, there are older interviews from the Ys era where she speaks much more cerebrally)