Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino: The New Gay Interview

Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino reclines between band mates Simone and Amadeo Pace, whom I can't tell apart because they're twins.

Blonde Redhead play tonight at the 9:30 Club. Doors open at 7:30.

This is usually the part of an interview post where I include a little preamble about the band I've talked to, but the following email from my sister Molly describes Blonde Redhead better than I could ever hope to. I know that they've been New York indie mainstays for over a decade and that their last two records have seen a switch, both from Sonic Youth-esque rock to a more melodic dream-rock sound, and that they've also switched record labels from Touch and Go to the storied 4AD, but Molly knows so much more:

"i just saw them perform at the Guggenheim a few weeks ago. they are HOT HOT HOT. see them around the neighborhood all the time. anyway, thats my two cents. twin brothers with grey hair, cool Japanese chick in Jane Mayle dress. sexy anachronistic look and tunes. been around forever. tell the hot european looking grey haired brother i was the blonde in the flower dress making googlies and that i live on second ave. domino mag did a spread on them a few months back. japanese chick and grey haired guy married, did erotic dance together on stage. hope the interview went well. xx"

Thanks, sis!

More about the band and full interview text below the fold:

I've done a fair number of music interviews now, but I have to say that talking to Blonde Redhead's vocalist Kazu Makino was one of my more awkward TNG experiences. This was partly because the combination of my motor-mouth and her accent made communication between us exceedingly difficult, and party because my research had yielded up some apparently false information about the band, leaving me asking some moot questions. I knew that BR consists of Makino and twin brother's Simone and Amedeo Pace, but some widely printed facts like their residence in Brooklyn and Kazu and Amedeo's marriage (Molly wasn't the only one who thought this) turned out to be false. Oh well. Kazu was a good sport about it anyway and she's left me pretty excited to see her play.

TNG Zack: Hi Kazu. Where are you right now?

Kazu Makino: In the house.

TNG: No, uh, I meant where's the house?

KM: Oh, in upstate New York.

TNG: OK, cool. Your 9:30 show will be your second time in D.C. in about a year. Does it get boring to keep returning to all these places?

KM: D.C. is one of my favorite places, I have many friends there. Its kind of weird, I suppose, it seems more rundown then it should be.

TNG: You've based in New York for a long time, but now its pretty standard for indie bands like TV On The Radio or Grizzly Bear to be from Brooklyn. What sets you apart from all these other NYC bands?

KM: I don't really differentiate myself from anybody. The more, the merrier I suppose. These bands are really good too so it's really flattering to me.

TNG: But do you mind there being so many of them?

KM: You mean do I feel like I've been pushed off the cliff? Not really, because you're not doing it for anybody else, ultimately, but yourself. So either other people are doing it or not doing it, it doesn't really make a difference.

TNG: So your band is two twins and a married couple, you and Amedeo…

KM: We're not married.

TNG: Sorry then, dating...

KM: We're not dating, I wouldn't even use that kind of term. I'd rather not talk about any private stuff.

TNG: OK, sorry. Then I guess what I should ask is do you ever feel like you're on the outside of the twin's dynamic?

KM: No, they're quite different, so that helps. It is complicated too, but I think my bond [with them,] that's been around for a long time, has kind of an intense give and take relationship. I think everyone suffers from being in the band, I don't think anyone is like "We love one another, we never fight."

TNG: Do you ever get in the middle of crazy twin fights?

KM: I never have, they do fight quite a bit, but I don't listen. I walk away from it. It's actually quite interesting, every possible combination we fight in, it's not just the two of them that I fight with, I fight with different ones on different occasions. It's very diplomatic.

TNG: Does being twins affect their songwriting? Do they have any kind of twin bond?

KM: They're amazingly off the track of one another. Sometimes one's playing one song and one will play a different song, so I don't believe in that [twin bond] any more.

TNG: So how often do reporters ask you annoying questions about the twins?

KM: Often, I'm sick of answering them. "Where's the rest of the band?" "Where's the other twin?" Its like, excuse me...

TNG: Then I should probably start asking about your music now. Your last two albums, "23" and "Misery is a Butterfly," are radically different sounding from the ones that came before them. What brought the change in your sound about?

KM: I'm not aware of the changes that take place because I live with it every day, I suppose. The change happens so gradually for me, I can't really put my finger on it and explain to you "This is what we went through," because it happened way too gradually for me to have a clear awareness of the changes. I think maybe if I spent few more years and looked back I could say something about it, but then I would probably have forgotten how I wrote them.

TNG: Where is your sound heading now?

KM: I can't say, but it did feel different on the last album. I did feel like we were on to something quite different than before. I was relieved, it's like "Wow, we found a new path that we can explore." These things are also hard for me to explain.
TNG: Why'd you switch your record label to 4AD?

KM: I dunnow, maybe that's why 4AD was attracted to us, if we weren't changing maybe Touch and Go would have kept their interest in us...I don't think that [4AD] are there to preserve that sound, I don't think it's their mission or their priority, I think there just as adventurous as any creative label should be.

TNG: Is it intimidating to be in the shadows of other 4 AD bands like The Pixies?

KM: I don't get fazed by that too much.

TNG: Your new sound won over a lot of new fans - do you mind that a lot of people are newer Blonde Redhead converts?

KM: I do sometimes think about that, but these next shows that we have we're going to try to play some old songs. I wonder if people will be like, "Ohh..." Maybe a lot of people won't recognize them, they might even think we've lost our minds. I dunnow, to me they're all connected, its just the way we play the songs are quite different. They all have a certain element that we carry through all the records, so I hope people recognize those elements and are able to enjoy them.

TNG: Do your shows usually mix old songs and new ones?

KM: We don't usually. We're still kind of fascinated by the record we just worked on, so the shows are mainly new songs. You should really play all the work you have created, so we're going to try to do that [in the current tour.] I don't know if we can manage, we might try playing something like two song off of each album.

TNG: As your music's changing, are you and your band mates changing as well?

KM: Of course we change. As long as there's a chemistry between us, a musical chemistry between us, there's something to be explored. If that suddenly goes out the window then I suppose we will have to stop.

TNG: What's in your future?

KM: I would love to come out with a song and say, "My god, that's a good song." We're not recording any time soon, but have started working on writing new material. I just wanna sit down and look around, I really haven't had time to look around, we need time to reflect.

TNG: Will your next album also be produced by Alan Moulder, the producer whose worked with you, Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine?

KM: [Laughing,] I hope he thinks it is a good idea, I'd like that.

TNG: How was working with him?

KM: Amazing, he was so fascinating.

TNG: How so?

KM: He just is, he's an artist, he's very, very unpredictable. It's just amazing.

TNG: Finally, D.C. and New York both have smoking bans in their bars and clubs. How do you feel about these? Are you for them?

KM: I like to watch people smoke, but when you play night after night after night, sometimes the concert hall is so tightly closed because of the noise issue and the air can be so bad, like in Europe. I do appreciate the non-smoking. TNG