Kimya Dawson - Thunder Thighs

Kimya Dawson's seventh album might not be quite what you expect. After kicking off with familiar-sounding four-track-recorded, thumb-strummed acoustic folk, Thunder Thighs veers off in all manner of different directions. Involving the likes of the Olympia Free Choir, Nikolai Fraiture of The Strokes, Dawson's five-year-old daughter Panda and rapper Aesop Rock, the record takes a trip through a host of genres.

Miami Advice mixes a choral singalong with hip-hop, while The Mare and The Bear could have been lifted from the songwriter's kids' album, Alphabutt. Elsewhere, the sweary rap of Zero or Zillion takes a dig at musical snobbery and reprises the exuberance and anarchy of her Moldy Peaches days.

It's not all fun and games though. The wonderful thing about the ever-honest Dawson is that she ducks no subject and, as one would expect from her, there are some stark, tough moments here. Indeed, the ten-minute Walk Like Thunder sees her at her most vulnerable as she deals with her near-overdose ten years ago and the death of two friends to illness. It is incredibly moving.

The general theme of Thunder Thighs revolves around the importance of being kind, tolerant and considerate to others. However, Dawson's words are not preachy in the slightest and if you don't find yourself nodding in agreement with her philosophies, then you really need to have a good long look in the mirror.

Such is the eclectic nature of Thunder Thighs that, even though the 16 tracks here are all new, the record plays out like a Greatest Hits, meaning not only will it appeal to long-term fans but it's also the best place for the uninitiated to begin.

Review by Bobby Townsend. It first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media.

Kimya Dawson & Aesop Rock at Manning Bar, Sydney

KIMYA DAWSON & AESOP ROCK 

DONNY BENET 
Manning Bar 14/10/11

Playing to a sparsely populated room, Donny Benet belted out frankly ridiculous guitar and synth solos, in a set which could have been the soundtrack to an 80s straight-to-video thriller. It was a bit awesome in a tongue-firmly-in-cheek, Har Mar Superstar kind of way.

By the time Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock had finished their opening song, Manning Bar had filled up, and the unlikely duo set about delivering tracks from their as-yet-unreleased collaborative album. The combination of Dawson's gentle thumb-strummed folk and Aesop Rock's rapid vernacular was interesting, unusual and, happily, worked excellently. After a couple of tunes, Rock left Dawson to it. Songs from Alphabutt provoked audience participation and stuff from her new record, Thunder Thighs, sounded particularly strong. Of course, she was charming and funny between songs – her mid-set daydream about starting a Phil Collins tribute band with Donny Benet was especially fun – but the best thing about Dawson is her honesty and her worldly philosophies. She talked of how she has been 13 years sober and how it's okay to lean on people if life is shitty, while Walk Like Thunder was an incredibly moving tale of life and death which saw Rock return to the stage. At ten-minutes in length, it was truly stunning in its raw emotion and certainly the highlight of the night.

Changing the tone and the tempo, Dawson made way for Aesop Rock who, together with MC Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, had the room jumping with to some hectic hip-hop sounds. With Sonic seemingly intent on people putting their arms in the air all the time, Big Wiz dropped beats and scratched the hell out of the ones and twos as Rock belted through his lengthy back-catalogue. There were songs from Rock and Sonic's group, Hail Mary Mallon, such as the fun Breakdance Beach and The Poconos, while Catacomb Kids went down a storm. Dawson rejoined Rock on stage to close the show with a bit of rapping herself on Please Don't Tap On The Glass, Bats and None Shall Pass.

It was a rare joy to see two such different artists sharing a stage and creating an evening of such eclecticism. Equally intelligent, fun, emotive and entertaining, Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock provide a weird and wonderful combination.

Review by Bobby Townsend. It first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media.

Kimya Dawson interview

We called up our dear old friend Kimya Dawson for a chat about her new album and her upcoming tour of Australia:

 

“It just sort of happened.”

Kimya Dawson's seventh album, Thunder Thighs, is an unexpectedly expansive affair. Covering everything from gentle acoustic folk, big choral numbers, ten-minute epics and some rapping, it lands a long way from her initial vision. “My original plan was to do a home-recorded four-track album, just like my first three records. It didn't work out that way.”

In fact, at one stage, it looked like it might not work out at all, as Kimya found herself suffering a serious bout of writer's block, which occurred after she had given birth to her daughter, Panda, “I made [kids' album] Alphabutt and The Bundles' album with Jeffrey [Lewis], but I was really struggling for a while with writing my own stuff. It was like I was clogged.” This led to her assuming that she would have to put down the guitar once and for all, until everything became clear. “It took me a couple of years to realise that's supposed to happen when you have a kid; your brain is supposed to just focus on them. Then, as your child becomes more independent, your brain starts to work again.”

So, gradually the words and the melodies started to flow once more, and it became apparent that they were taking a different shape. Kimya explains how certain songs felt loud to her when she played them and that there was something bigger about them in her mind that she couldn't really place. Many of these new compositions grew to the point that they would no longer make sense were they recorded at home alone. So she got others involved, including the Olympia Free Choir, Aesop Rock, Nikolai Fraiture of The Strokes and even Panda, who is now five. “There are so many parts of the album which are about coming together with, and leaning on, your friends. I had all of these people, both in the Olympia community and the wider music community, available to be a part of this project. It was really a gift. The first song (below) and the last song on the album are recorded alone on the four-track, and I figured they would be good bookends because that was the original intention, but in between, the whole process just got way big. It felt really good to let all these different elements that co-exist in my life right now come together. I have this choir stuff and there is this quiet, alone stuff and then there is, you know, getting to know people in the hip hop world. And I have a kid, so some of the songs feel really kiddish.”

However, along with its fun elements, Thunder Thighs still contains the kind of raw emotion you would expect from a Kimya Dawson record. Indeed, Walk Like Thunder finds the songwriter at her most vulnerable ever. The tough, ten-minute journey deals with her near-overdose ten years ago and the tragi death of two of her friends to illness. “Some of the songs were really hard on my soul. I had to just push through. As I was writing Walk Like Thunder, I didn't think I would ever play it. Admitting that kind of vulnerability was one of the only things that I had left because I've told people everything about me. Admitting to feeling like I wasn't taking care of myself was a really hard one.”

While she says she avoids writing love songs, there is little else she won't address. Another subject that the softly spoken and wonderfully friendly Kimya touches upon on her new record is the inverted snobbery she has experienced since Juno. “I don't give a shit what people think about me,” she shrugs. “But people were badmouthing kids who were just getting into me after they'd seen Juno. I'd get emails saying, 'I was a fan before Juno. Not like all these fake fans. You must hate your new fans.' And I was like, 'Really? You think I would hate them?' It's weird, the elitist 'I liked this before you did' attitude. People get into what they get into. Once music enters your being, you can't change how your brain responds to it. Today I posted on Twitter saying 'I feel like listening to Dave Matthews,' and someone replied, 'Dave Matthews sucks. I'm really disappointed in you for saying that.' I was like, 'What? So what if I like Dave Matthews? My brain might like Dave Matthews. Is it not cool to like something that you like?'” To qualify this point, she adds, “I listen to Phil Collins all the time. You can't control what you're into.”

If you happen to be into Kimya Dawson and you live in Australia, then the good news is that she is heading there soon for the first time since 2008, and is looking forward to being fully fit this time round. “I was having a really hard time with tendinitis in my wrist,” she says of her only other visit. “I was in a lot of pain. So I'm excited to come back and to feel like I am really there. There are a lot of new songs and the shows are a little different.” Ah yes, that brings us to the rapping. Kimya will be performing with American rapper and producer Aesop Rock, who she worked with on Thunder Thighs. Along with their mates Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, they'll spend much of the evening sharing a stage. “There are songs where I'm playing guitar and singing and he's rapping. Then I play my acoustic set and he comes up for one of the songs from my album and one of the songs from our collaborative album [set to be released next year]. Then he does his set and I come back out and we do some more songs together.”

The lust for life and energy that is displayed throughout much of Thunder Thighs suggests that Dawson is absolutely loving working together with Aesop Rock. When she talks about it, she does so with unabashed enthusiasm. “I haven't felt this way about writing with somebody since Adam [Green] and I started writing together [in The Moldy Peaches]. Adam and I evolved and the feeling wasn't there any more. I didn't necessarily miss doing it with that person, but I did miss having that connection with somebody artistically. You almost have the same brain. Where one person stops, the other begins.”

Catch Kimya here: 
Oct 14- Sydney Australia - Manning Bar
Oct 15- Melbourne Australia- Melbourne Arts Festival- The Forum
Oct 16- Brisbane Australia- The Hi Fi

Interview by Bobby Townsend. It was first featured in Sydney's Drum Media. Click the below picture of Kimya and Bobby to read their previous interview from 2008.

Kimya Dawson to release new album!

Here at Bobbysix.com, we've been friends with Kimya Dawson for years and years. We first fell in love with her music when she was one half of the too-amazing-for-words Moldy Peaches with that crazy son of a gun Adam Green. Then we met her through a charity thing we were involved in and have always followed her solo career with love and interest - through her early stuff to her lovely kids' album via, of course, Juno.

She is one of the loveliest human beings on the planet; so full of warmth and love and kindness.

Anyway, the exciting news is that she has a new record out soon. It features appearances by Aesop Rock, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, Nikolai Fraiture of the Strokes, Forever Young Senior Citizen Rock and Roll Choir, Olympia Free Choir and more. As a little teaser, here is a live clip of one of the songs that is included in the album. It is typically honest and heart-wrenching. And the video features some cool chickens.

The Bundles - The Bundles

The Bundles’ eponymous debut album may have only taken a few days’ studio time to record but, in reality, it was over eight years in the making. Beginning with a get-together between Kimya Dawson and Jeffrey Lewis in 2001, The Bundles became a full band a year later with the inclusion of Anders Griffen on drums and Jeff’s brother Jack on bass. However, due to the growing success of their individual projects, it took until 2009 for the quartet (along with troubadour Karl Blau) to record an album.

The Bundles sees those original Dawson and Lewis’ demos tidied up and given depth with extra instrumentation and some rather nice choral singing at appropriate junctures. There are a few new tunes too, which were written on the spot by all five artists in the studio. A mix of sweet, slow acoustic ditties and lo-fi garage, the album’s ten songs often have a Moldy Peaches-style structure to the vocals, with Lewis and Dawson alternating or singing different lines on top of each other at the same time. This sense of ordered confusion layers the songs, as different snippets of each lyrical thread take prominence randomly.

While possibly only for existing fans of the anti-folk genre, this DIY, raw and ramshackle album has warmth and charm without the slightest hint of pretension and is another example of the honesty of the individual members of The Bundles. As Dawson herself puts it on Over The Moon, “Everything that I am doing isn’t the means to an end/It’s the means of creating a meaningful existence/And I just wanna sing with my friends.”

Adam Green - Minor Love

Six solo albums on from The Moldy Peaches' indefinite hiatus, Adam Green has gone back to his roots. After albums that have offered lush strings, ambitious arrangements and, on last album Sixes & Sevens, a shimmering mix of swing, soul and jazz, Minor Love lands back in the anti-folk realm of his magnificent debut, Garfield. By playing almost every instrument on the record and recording it in one go, the New York-based artist may have stripped things back, but this is no regression. In fact, he shows an emotional maturity never before offered in his usually flippant and potty-mouthed lyrics. You see, this is Adam Green's break-up record.

Following the end of his marriage, Minor Love finds Green in introspective mood, and Breaking Locks is a downbeat start: "I've been too awful to ever be thoughtful, to ever be nice." If it weren't for that distinctive baritone croon, you'd struggle to believe this was someone more used to penning words like “There's no wrong way to fuck a girl with no legs.” However, this isn't a journey through tear-soaked self-pity, there are still sniggering mentions of flatulence in his often cryptic lyrics, but more so than ever, there are really interesting themes and stories which punctuate sadness with moments of optimism.

Jumping between acoustic ditties and occasionally ramshackle garage-rock songs, Minor Love may not contain the obvious, leftfield pop gems that have been scattered through his previous albums, but it is his most coherent record to date and finds a happy middle-ground between Adam Green's deliciously irreverent past and a new sense of humility and depth.

Kimya Dawson at Komedia, Brighton

KIMYA DAWSON
ANGELO SPENCER
Komedia, Brighton 19/05/09

Angelo Spencer was naked at The Komedia. Not literally, of course. The skinny Frenchman was very much clothed, but, due to a lack of a van to carry his kick-drum, high-hat and bass, the one-man band was forced to appear with just his electric guitar for company. While he struggled to adjust, he still made a raucous noise and, as is his way, stopped songs midway in order to explain something about the lyrical content or - more likely - to go off at a random tangent about hiking.

Spencer's wife, Kimya Dawson, has come a long way since I first sat cross-legged to see her in the tiny Freebutt a few years ago. Post-Juno, the venues have grown and so have the crowds, meaning it was standing room only. I'm not a snob when it comes to artists becoming successful, especially when the growth is organic and, like Dawson, the artist stays 100% true to their roots, but with larger crowds comes the inevitability that the idiot count will rise amongst the audience. Back in the day, crowds at Kimya shows would consist of meek nerds in cardigans and appropriately indie t-shirts. And, while the vast majority of people last night were simply music fans who acted with perfect etiquette considering the intimacy of the show, there were also too-cool-for-school, oh-so-kooky and leftfield 'I'm mad, me,' kids (like the ones that stood directly behind me) who insisted on chatting loudly and shouting comments that were inappropriate considering the solemn nature of the show (more on this later). Never mind that one of the most honest songwriters in the world was playing gentle acoustic music a few feet in front of them, these idiots wanted to be the centre of attention. Okay, Kimya's shows are often best when there is a constant exchange between her and the crowd (indeed, until recently, she didn't even bother writing a set-list, and just waited for requests), but talking loudly throughout while hardly listening to a word Kimya sang was disrespectful to her and the rest of her audience.Anyway, rant over. Thankfully, despite the bigger venue and the speckling of morons, the show was as intimate as ever. Kimya had a couple of friends on stage with her who, through strings and xylophone, added depth to her simple thumb-strumming. While typically shy and amicable, she had a decidedly different tone to the hilarious between-song banter she offered last time I saw her in Sydney. "You know I love you Brighton. I'm just not feeling very chatty today," she told us. Soon, she explained why. The day before the show, a good friend had died. She had spent the previous two days at his bedside, singing songs to him. He was cremated in the t-shirt she had made him. All of a sudden, her sombre mood made sense, and songs like Underground and It's Been Raining took on a whole new perspective and had even greater weight than they already did.

That's not to say that the show was a miserable one. She laughed and joked with her backing band and told a weird tale about triplets conceived four months apart and about trampolining on Brighton Pier while needing a wee. There were songs from Alphabutt, her kids album, as well as old favourites like The Beer.

Typical of Kimya, she played until the venue basically kicked her off stage long after the curfew had passed. This is the seventh time I have seen her and, having been a fan since The Moldy Peaches days, it is hard to keep perspective on how good this show was, so will sum up with the words that Emma from Owl and the Grapes said to me at lights-up: "Kimya made me want to live more. Her songs made me happy and sad at the same time."

2008 end of year review

I’ve always loved a good list. Here is my best and worst of 2008 (please feel free to leave your own lists in the comments section):TOP 10 ALBUMS
1. The Felice Brothers THE FELICE BROTHERS (above)
2. Fantasy Black Channel LATE OF THE PIER
3. Alas, I Cannot Swim LAURA MARLING
4. Dog House Music SEASICK STEVE
5. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS
6. Twenty One MYSTERY JETS
7. Alphabutt KIMYA DAWSON
8. Sixes & Sevens ADAM GREEN
9. Only By The Night KINGS OF LEON
10. Sunday At Devil Dirt ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN

TOP 5 SINGLES
1. I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You BLACK KIDS
2. Sex On Fire KINGS OF LEON
3. Paris Is Burning LADYHAWKE
4. Young Love MYSTERY JETS
5. American Boy ESTELLE

TOP 5 ARTISTS
1. Kimya Dawson
2. Angus & Julia Stone (read my bio of them here)
3. Ladyhawke (above)
4. Laura Marling
5. Late Of The Pier

TOP 10 GIGS
1. Kimya Dawson, Manning Bar
2. Arcade Fire, Big Day Out
3. Angus & Julia Stone, Enmore Theatre
4. Adam Green, Oxford Art Factory
5. Bridezilla, Annandale Hotel
6. SoKo, Oxford Art Factory
7. Rage Against The Machine, Big Day Out (below)
8. Cassette Kids, Oxford Art Factory
9. Cat Power, Enmore Theatre
10. Kate Nash, Oxford Art Factory
TOP 3 RADIO SHOWS
1. Mark Kermode’s Film Reviews, BBC Radio Five Live
2. Ricky Gervais podcast
3. BBC Radio Five Live football podcast

TOP 5 ONLINE DESTINATIONS
1. Youtube
2. Surf The Channel
3. Owl and the Grapes
4. Facebook
5. Myspace

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES AWARD (MOST OVER-HYPED)
Australian TV show Underbelly about Melbourne gangsters. It was based on truth but played out like a high-school production of The Sopranos. Everyone went mad for it though. “OMG, have you seen Underbelly?” they would enthuse. “Yes,” I would respond. “But I wish I hadn’t because it’s shit.”

HIGHLIGHT(S) OF THE YEAR
Well, the sky-blue leather jacket (above) I picked up in Vinnies for $10 was a pretty seminal moment in my year but, in terms of worldwide ramifications, I suppose it comes a close second to Obama’s victory.

QUOTES OF THE YEAR
“Sorry.”
"I try really hard actually." Michael Cera speaks for all indie boys when Juno tells him he's cool without even having to try.

TOP FILMS
1. Juno
2. Young At Heart
3. No Country For Old Men
4. The Dark Knight

WHAT’S THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING SOMEONE WILL BLAME ON THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN DURING 2009?
The titanic flop that will be Jet’s third album.

PREDICTIONS FOR 2009
The Smiths to reform.

2008 IN REVIEW
It’s been an interesting year over here in Sydney. The world went into financial meltdown, Sydney brimmed with nuns for World Youth Day, everyone (deservedly) went crazy for a little film about a pregnant teenager, the NSW Government imploded and America surprisingly got it right with its Presidential election.
Musically, a look at my top ten suggests many of the big-hitters failed to perform this year, but, more positively, lots of up-and-coming Sydney acts – including Ghostwood, Mercy Arms and Angus & Julia Stone – have represented Australia well overseas. A big disappointment was the cancellation of The Great Escape Festival. This is a wonderful event, so if it returns next year, buy your tickets early to avoid the same thing happening.

Interviewing my old mate Kimya (above) was a lovely moment for me, as was interviewing another couple of heroes of mine, Adam Green and Albert Hammond, Jr. Seeing Kimya play twice in one day was great, and watching two of my dearest friends fill the Enmore two nights running made me brim with pride.

Anyway, Happy New Year. I hope the credit crunch doesn’t hit you too harshly in 2009. I doubt it will affect me, as I never had any money in the first place.

Adam Green interview

ADAM GREEN ENTERTAINS ROB TOWNSEND WITH TALES OF TRANSSEXUALS, SWEATY GROINS, VOMITING AND GHOSTBUSTERS

“I like it when my balls get all sweaty. I like it when it makes this special smell. I rub it on my neck like cologne. It’s quite attractive.”

Adam Green is not your everyday interviewee. Within 30 seconds of our conversation beginning, the American indie crooner has already gone off at the strangest tangent. “Something compelled me to think that if I put cologne on my neck before I went to bed I would have particularly good dreams. It worked for a while but the only problem is they were all about transsexuals giving me blowjobs,” the lynchpin of the New York scene tells me in answer to a question I think had something to do with his upcoming debut tour of Australia. He goes on, “Anyway, with the cologne being thrown in the garbage, those dreams have dissipated. Now I just like ball-sweat on my neck before I go to bed. I dream about hockey,” he says with such disappointment that I feel compelled to tell him there are certain places in Sydney he can go if he would like to meet some real-life transsexuals. “I don’t really want a transsexual hooker,” he interjects. “I just want to have a lovely transsexual that follows me everywhere and is really pretty and cuddles me at night.”

Wrestling the conversation back to Green’s first visit to this country, I discover that financial constraints mean he’ll be without his trusty backing musicians for the tour. “If I brought my band – like, five guys – it would cost a fucking fortune to do just one trip, not to mention the actual tour,” he frowns. While arriving alone is not ideal, Green has excitedly recruited a temporary band for his time here, and it might contain a few familiar faces. “I ended up hooking up with those guys from Operator Please. They helped me to put a band together that mostly just involves friends of theirs, and some people from Operator Please might also play. Maybe I’ll even do some stuff with strings with them.”

Though Green has never played here before, either as a solo artist or as part of legendary anti-folk band The Moldy Peaches, talk turns to the last time I saw him play in London a few years back. This sends the conversation hurtling in another random direction. “Oh yeah, that was a fun show but a crazy, horrible day for me because the night before I had gotten food-poisoning. I’d never had food-poisoning and always prided myself on having an iron stomach. All of a sudden… holy shit. I threw up 500 times. This shit wanted to leave my motherfucking body.” Barely stopping for breath, he regales me further, his chatter mirroring his lyrical style: funny, leftfield, snappy and littered with expletives. “I was watching that show Cribs. It was [American actor/comedian] Pauly Shore’s house. He is such a sleazeball, lowlife jerk-off. He was showing me his schmucky, stupid house. Then all of a sudden I threw the fuck up over everything.”

Considering how Green clearly enjoys veering away from the straightforward question slash answer dynamic of an interview, I ask just how bored he has gotten of being asked about Juno – the movie which ends with Michael Cera and Ellen Page singing Moldy Peaches’ song Anyone Else But You. “I don’t mind it,” he shrugs. “I’ve been a fan of Michael Cera and Ellen Page for a while and I am excited about the movie but, yeah, who wants to talk about Juno all the time? I like Ghostbusters too but I don’t talk about it every fucking day. The Ghostbusters song is probably twice as good as Anyone Else But You,” he laughs. Sardonically, he adds, “But, yes, Anyone Else But You is wonderful. Kimya [Dawson] and I wrote that shit together and it was impossible. You could never probably fucking do it. Never. Nobody. Just us. And we should be paid for it so handsomely.”

And with that tongue-in-cheek outburst, our time together comes to an end all too quickly. No time even to discuss his latest album, Sixes & Sevens, which is a delightful journey through folk, swing, indie, jazz, and honky-tonk. Before he bids me farewell though, he temporarily ditches his delicious irreverence in order to look forward – five albums into his solo career – to finally arriving in Australia. “I wish Moldy Peaches had come to Australia,” he laments. “It’s weird to me that this is the first time.” Though it’s taken him a while to get here, he promises fans heading to Oxford Art Factory that it will have been worth the wait. “I do believe in an old-style rock show. It’s really going to rock the house.”

Kimya Dawson & Friends - Alphabutt

What was the first album you owned? I’m guessing it was something you don’t boast about too much nowadays (mine was Alchemy: Dire Straits Live). Well, American anti-folk legend Kimya Dawson has ensured that a future generation of adults can claim their first record to be something supercool, as she has released an album for kids.

The Moldy Peaches singer has always had a wonderful sense of community about her, and here recruits musical friends and their kids for an energetic, ramshackle acoustic romp complete with handclaps, foot-stomps and singalong choruses. Dawson combines hilarious lyrics about wee-wee, poop, robotic monkeys and growing hair “on your legs, your armpits and even down there,” with moral messages about the importance of sharing, loving and being kind.

Kids will go wild for Alphabutt. The songs are catchy and interactive, and, at 27-minutes long, the album is short enough to hold their attention. That’s not to say this is exclusively for children though. Fans of Dawson will be pleased to find the usual mix of humour and tenderness within her wordplay, and the simple structure and rawness of her previous recordings also remain. Indeed, there are a couple of songs of a more grown-up nature, like Happy Home (Keep on Writing), that could comfortably sit on any of her other solo albums.

Buying Alphabutt for your child would be giving them the perfect introduction to all that is good and honest about music and, similarly to something like Sesame Street, this is so witty, heart-warming and fun that it can be enjoyed by kids of absolutely all ages.

Kimya Dawson at Manning Bar

KIMYA DAWSON
ANGELO SPENCER
AND THEN TO BED
Manning Bar, Sydney
20/06/08

Female singer/songwriter And Then To Bed opened proceedings by prettily warbling her way though some acoustic tunes with the occasional accompaniment of the piano-accordion or tambourine.

Next, one-man show Angelo Spencer raised the tempo with a ramshackle but fun set. With a basic kick-drum/high-hat set-up and switching between a bass and electric guitar, the Frenchman belted out punchy tracks which he sometimes stopped midway through in order to regale the crowd with quirky, semi-incomprehensible stories.

In front of a sold-out room, Kimya Dawson sat in a chair, strummed gently at her acoustic guitar and sang super-softly with her eyes tightly closed. Opening with It’s Been Raining and continuing with similarly slow songs, she explained that her downbeat set-list did not represent her mood, but that a nasty case of tendonitis was preventing her from playing anything particularly up-tempo or complicated. The genial American was in fact in great spirits on her debut visit to Australia, and had the crowd in stitches with her hilarious between-song banter about everything from Malcolm In The Middle to chimpanzees eating their own shit.

Predictable requests for Moldy Peaches songs were, of course, declined by Dawson, who went to great lengths to explain that playing them without band-mate Adam Green would be as hollow an experience as “singing a John Mayer song at karaoke.” Instead she played tracks from her extensive solo back-catalogue, as well as offerings from Alphabutt, her upcoming album for kids. Encouraging audience participation, and with lyrics like: “G is for gorilla fart/H is for huge gorilla fart,” these cheeky ditties went down an absolute storm.

Dawson went on to raise the roof with an A Capella version of The Greatest Love Of All as well as a love song written by her brother about professional wrestler Randy Savage. However, as well as being witty, she is also known to wear her heart on her sleeve, and light-hearted moments like these were counterbalanced by sobering true tales of melancholy in what was an always engaging atmosphere, regardless of whether the tone was light-hearted or sombre.

By the time a singalong of Loose Lips ended the night, there surely wasn’t a person in the room that hadn’t been wooed by Dawson’s warm nature and wonderful ditties. Unpretentious, entertaining, funny, touching and impossibly intimate, this was an experience that will live long in the memory of everyone lucky enough to be there. Gig of the year so far, no question.

Kimya Dawson interview

ROB TOWNSEND TALKS TO KIMYA DAWSON AS SHE PREPARES TO VISIT AUSTRALIA FOR THE FIRST TIME

When I last saw Kimya Dawson a couple of years ago, she hugged me. Not just me though; upon finishing her show in a tiny English venue, she hugged pretty much everyone in the audience. This is a typical way for her end a gig, and sums up the strong bond between the American singer/songwriter and her loyal fan-base.

Since forming anti-folk band The Moldy Peaches, Kimya has released five acclaimed solo albums, and through this year’s hit movie, Juno, has permeated the consciousness of mainstream music audiences. Her songs soundtrack many moments in the film and Ellen Page and Michael Cera sing the Moldy Peaches track, Anyone Else But You, in the closing scene. “I was on the set when they filmed that. Those kids were just super sweet. I know they were nervous I was there.”

The overwhelming impact of Juno means Kimya is hot property. While she is happy plying her trade in her own wonderfully understated and DIY way, record companies have been unsuccessfully dangling carrots in front of her in an attempt to cash in on the film’s success. “One of the super-huge ones offered me tons of money to do a publishing/album deal,” she sighs. “I told them: ‘No. I’m not going to make any albums you like and you’re going to pressure me into doing advertisements and projects that I’ll refuse to do.’ I don’t what to have the stress of dealing with somebody trying to convince me that something is a good idea.” She also recently turned down a request from McDonalds to use her music in their commercials.
 

Kimya has never been interested in fame or wealth, and although her raised profile finds her playing to bigger crowds, she tries to retain the intimacy her performances are renowned for. With just an acoustic guitar accompanying her delicate vocal and deeply personal lyrics, her gigs are captivating experiences. “I still do some small shows and house shows and I’ve always pushed for all-ages shows. I’ve been finding bigger spaces that still feel total comfortable, like old abandoned renovated churches that can hold a shitload of people, so that they can still be big but have a really good energy and vibe and not just be like, you know, a dude bar vibe, but to have an artistic feel.” She is always happy to deviate from her set-list too, although an injury is restricting her from being able to play her entire repertoire. “I think I’m getting tendonitis. My hand has just been fucked and my finger is hurting me so I’ve just been modifying the songs. I’ve just been playing them with my thumb which is how they were written. There are a couple of songs that I’m struggling to be able to play. I haven’t been able to play The Beer for a few weeks.”

However, happy as she is to take requests, don’t expect to hear any Moldy Peaches tracks. “Some people feel cheated that they don’t find out until they’ve bought a ticket that I’m not going to [play Moldy Peaches songs], but I’m like: ‘Wouldn’t you feel more cheated hearing a half-assed version?’”

While Kimya’s most-recent album, Remember That I Love You is new to people who have only recently chanced upon her because of Juno, it is actually over two years old. Excitingly, a new album has been recorded, and is due this year. She is just hoping to find a window in her hectic schedule to complete the artwork; if only there were more hours in the day. “It’s funny because I also had to do the artwork before we left on our last tour and I didn’t manage to do it then. Every day that I don’t get it done is just pushing the album release back a little bit.”

Arriving in Australia on the back of American and UK tours, Kimya admits she never thought life would turn out this way. “Becoming a professional musician wasn’t my dream growing up. We [The Moldy Peaches] just made up some songs, played them a couple of times, knew some dudes [The Strokes] that were getting big and who asked us to tour with them. We were like: ‘Weird. Okay.’ It was all pretty accidental. I went from being like: ‘I make expresso,’ to being like: ‘Wait a minute, I’m in Japan!’ It wasn’t like I set that as a goal and then worked at it for years. It just kinda happened. It is pretty surreal but I think I would have always ended up travelling anyway, so I feel super lucky.”

Her Sydney dates will be family affairs, with support coming from husband Angelo Spencer (above). Their 23-month old daughter, Panda (also above), will also be travelling with them. The combination of being a doting Mum and playing in larger venues gives touring a slightly different dynamic for Kimya and means, understandably, that she isn’t always able to hang out with all of her fans after shows. “A girl in Nebraska got really mad at me because I needed to get out of the venue and run back to the hotel to check on Panda. She said: ‘You loved having your picture taken with people before Panda was born.’ I was like: ‘Are you serious? You really want me to neglect my child so you can have a picture to show your friends?’”

While the affection between Kimya and her devotees makes such an encounter anomalous, her nature is such that she still wishes she could oblige every single request. “If I could be in ten places at once I would totally give them everything they need. I really try to give a lot of myself but sometimes people are like: ‘No, I need more. I can’t just have a hug. I need a hug, a picture, an autograph and I want you to call my friend on my cell phone,’” she laughs. Generally though, she loves engaging with fans; a fact that is illustrated by how pleased she is to receive my phone-call: “I’ve really been looking forward to this interview, because I know you’ve been following along for a while,” she excitedly tells me. During our conversation, the amity with which she chats to a long-term fan like me perfectly illustrates just how much she cares about the people who listen to her music. As Australia is set to find out, although fame and fortune have come a-knocking, Kimya Dawson remains quite the most sincere, grounded and kind-hearted person one could hope to encounter.

Interview by Rob Townsend