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**I caught up with Kathryn Calder from The New Pornographers to talk with her about her upcoming solo album releasing this summer, The New Pornographers newest album Together, life, and unusual percussion, in time for their show next Thursday, June 10th at The Garrick.  Make sure to check them out!**

Kathryn Calder on solo albums, The New Pornographers, life and Kleenex boxes….

ITM: I hear you’re putting out your first solo album, Are You My Mother, this summer. How does this feel?
KC: It feels nice!  It feels so great to feel creatively in control of something, you know?  It’s sort of one of those projects that you start, and then it’s really nice to have it finished.  I like it and it’s been 2 years since I finished it, so that’s always a good sign.

ITM:  Has it been a long time coming?
KC:  Yeah, well, I recorded it basically in 2008 and so it’s been done since December 2008.  2009 was a really terrible year for me so I put pretty much everything on hold.  My mom was really sick and she passed away and it was really awful.  So I finally - once I had gotten through all of that, come 2010 - I started looking around for a label and I figured it was probably time to get this record out there, that I was working on, and that’s pretty much the story behind that.

ITM:  Can you tell me how your solo music is different than the music you play with The New Pornographers or Immaculate Machine?
KC:  Well, it’s just more me! (laughs) I’m not sure how it’s different. Both of those bands are pretty upbeat rock bands and my tendencies are a little bit less upbeat rock. I tend to write slower songs although I do have songs on my upcoming record that aren’t slow. But that’s what I tend to lean towards. (laughs) Yeah, I dunno!  I’m not sure!

ITM:  Your experience recording Are You My Mother; it sounds as though you were able to create different soundscapes using Kleenex boxes and old trumpets. Did this help with the expression or vulnerability of the record?
KC:  Yeah, I hope so!  How the record was really made came from a lot of just winging it, you know?  There would be a lot of times it would be about one in the morning and I’d be downstairs and we’d try to think of something we could do that wasn’t that….(laughs) loud?  You know, practical concerns that come up when you play in a house that’s full of people who are living there. (laughs) So, one o’clock in the morning and you’re like, “Ok, what are we going to do NOW? There’s nothing that’s open”. Of course there are no stores, so we really just needed to look around the house to see what we could use to come up with sounds, so it was DONE.  You know, you get on a roll sometimes and you’re not ready to call it quits just because it’s late.  So that’s how a lot of it came about; was just these practical logistical issues of us just needing something.  I really enjoy doing that kind of thing; using a Kleenex box or turning a filing cabinet into a bass drum. (laughs) I just really like doing that kind of thing ‘cause I think it’s funny.  Sounds are just sounds.  (laughs) I really just like finding things that are percussive; that maybe aren’t the standard.

ITM:  On another note, how has the response been to The New Pornographers newest album, Together?
KC:  Oh!  I think it’s been really good!  From what I’ve heard, seeing the occasional thread, where it seems that people really like it.  So, that’s great!  It’s always nice; you put so much effort into these records that you make and even though Carl was really the one behind the record, we all contributed and put our hearts into it.  It’s nice to get positive feedback.  It could have just as easily not been, for whatever reason.

ITM:  It seems as though you’re touring a lot. Looking at your tour dates I can see that you’re touring fairly non-stop from June ‘til September. How do you find being on the road for that long?
KC:  You know, we’ve had some time off over the past year, working on the record, and had a lot of down time. So I think everyone is happy enough to be going on tour again.  It’s a different story if it’s 3-4 years down the road and you’re still touring constantly; you haven’t been home for a while and your whole perspective on life is completely uprooted. At this point, we really started getting ready for tour and leaving home around the 29th of April, so it’s been about a month.  I think we’re ok for another few months……until we all start having nervous breakdowns.  (laughs) I’m just kidding!

ITM: I also hear that you are already working on a follow-up to Are You My Mother. Is there a theme surrounding this follow-up record?
KC:  Hmm…..I’m not sure.  I have a hard time narrowing things down into one theme. Usually when I write songs, even the songs themselves aren’t necessarily always about one thing.  When I write songs they seem to be about multiple themes, kind of surrounding each other.  That seems to be the theme with this record.  It probably reflects, I would think, whether I want it to or not, whatever has happened to me in the past year and a half.  I’m sure there is a lot of that on the record that comes out without even trying.  (laughs) So, as for a theme; lots of…..life. Ha-ha!

ITM:  Do you feel that you understand who you are as a musician or do you feel that it’s always changing?
KC: I think I’m getting a better grasp on it, definitely.  Every time you make a record or you are on someone else’s record or you do anything that’s creative, you tend to learn a little bit more about what you like.  It often comes down to what your taste is because everyone has a different style that is inherently theirs and different tastes that they will gravitate towards and it’s almost impossible to differ from that because it goes against what you like.  So every record I do, yeah, I think I find out more about what I like, what I don’t like, what I’m going for. Of course your tastes change as you’re exposed to new things. As they do, then things change.

ITM:  What is your favorite New Pornographers album and why?
KC:  Hmm…..am I ALLOWED to say that?!  (laughs) I love them ALL for various reasons.  I’m not sure….each one of them has a real soft spot for me.  Mass Romantic, it being the first New Pornographers record, I remember hearing it about 9 years ago. I heard it for the first time and I remember being like, “WOW! This is an amazing record!”  I had NO idea it was going to be so good!  Same with Electric Version.  Twin Cinema was the first record that I was on so that has a special spot in my heart because of the experience.  And then Challengers, I felt a part of it a little bit more. Twin Cinema, I was more of a background singer and Challengers  I had a song I was singing vocal lead on.  The New record, I was around for quite a bit of it and I got to do things other than playing just keyboards and piano. I got to play other things. Like playing wine glasses on a song. (laughs) I definitely felt like I had a lot more creative confidence to say, “Hey, I think it’d be super cool if we did THIS”, instead of being like, “Hey, I’m the new girl. I’ll just hang out and do what I’m told!” So, in a long, drawn out story, I don’t really know what my favorite record is! I have a soft spot for Challengers because I think it’s a really excellent record. It’s full of some of the slower songs that I really love and Carl (Newman) writes really great melodies that tend to shine on some of the slower songs.

ITM:  You started your career really early in life, earlier than most get the opportunity.  What advice would you give someone who decides to step into music so young?
KC:  I guess I would say; if you’re young and starting out, just worry about what YOU want to do.  Make the music that you want to make.  Find people that you like to play with and don’t worry about the rest of it.  All of that will come later.  If you know already what you want and what you like, even thought that will change, than maybe you won’t be so under the influence of people that are older, who are trying to tug you in different directions.  I remember feeling that, at a young age, that I didn’t know what I wanted and people would come in and say, “you should do or try this”,  and they were things that I kind of felt not super comfortable with because they weren’t the things I wanted; not the kind of music I wanted to play. If you already know what you like or what you want, it’s easier to stick to your guns. And that’s important.

On Music, books and possessions

ITM:  Do you have any books you’re reading right now?
KC: I just finished reading a book called The Enchantress Of Florence (Salman Rushdie).  It’s kind of a fairy tale fable style.  He seems to write in that way.  It’s really hard to find books you really like. I’m always like, “Where am I going to find another one!”

ITM:  Who are your favorite songwriters?
KC:  Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, James Mercer from the Shins, St Vincent, Serge Gainsbourg, even though…..even though WHAT?!  Even though nothing.  He’s great.

ITM:  What are three artists or albums you’re loving right now?
KC: St. Vincent – Actor; Animal Collective; Jorge Ben – Brazilian singer. Great voice. I keep coming back to Brazilian music. It’s so interesting.

ITM:  What’s your most prized possession?
KC:  Aside from my…..boyfriend?  I know, he’s not really a possession!  Um…my brain?  Wear a helmet.  Don’t drink and drive.  I dunno!  I don’t know if I have a prized ‘thing’.  When I was in Mexico I bought this really beautiful blanket with multi-colored, embroidered animals on it.  I bought it and I love it.  But the problem is that I love it SO much that I don’t know what to do with it.  Currently, it’s folded up in a Tupperware container in my closet.  It’s sad.  It’s safe there.  It’s a funny thing of human nature; you love something so much that you don’t want to wreck it.  So, you just hide it!  Why wouldn’t I just USE it!  Use it and love it! 

ITM:  When’s the last time you felt the happiest?
KC: I usually feel pretty happy when I’m on stage.  The most recent one was at Sasquatch Music Festival.  And I’m always happy when I’m eating ice cream.  Although temporarily.  Unless you eat too much then you just feel awful. (laughs)

ITM:  Who is your hero?
KC:  Musically, David Bowie.  I think he re-invented himself a lot and is kind of a genius. 
Personally, my Mother.  She was a really tough lady; super kind and really wonderful.  When she was going through her illness, which is really one of the worst illnesses you can inflict on anybody - Have you heard of Lou Gehrig’s disease?  She died of that - it was really heartbreaking because she was such a great person.  No one deserves to die in that sort of a way but she handled it with a grace.  That’d be a hero to me.

ITM: If you could have any job other than performing, what would it be?
KC:  THAT…..I would LOVE to know!  (laughs) If I knew the answer to that question!  You never know with this business, how things are going to go!  In a lot of ways, other people have a leg up on me because they know what they want to do with their lives. THIS is what I want to do with my life.  But, I don’t have control over whether I get to do this for a living or not.  It’s out of my hands.  All I can do is make records and hope for the best.  If it doesn’t work, I have NO idea!

ITM:  What are the top 5 albums you’d choose if you could only listen to those 5 for the rest of your life?
KC: OH, MAN!  Time to get out the iTunes folder! (laughs) I would pick: The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow; Abba  - Greatest Hits (laughs). This is one of those things you have to be really…..this is my WHOLE LIFE we’re talking! (laughs) Arcade Fire – Funeral; The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds; David Bowie – Hunky Dory.

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
KATHRYN CALDER’S MYSPACE