lifeblood: listlogs: 2010v12n002-news

ig-news-digest        friday, february 19 2010        volume 12 : number 002

today's subjects:
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  [ig-news] amy interview from the gainesville sun  [sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pi]

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date: fri, 19 feb 2010 10:14:38 +1100
from: sherlyn koo <sherlyn@pixelopolis.com>
subject: [ig-news] amy interview from the gainesville sun

hey folks,

here's an amy interview from the gainesville sun.  you can read it online
at
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100218/columnists/2181002/1027/entertainment?title=amy-ray-talks-business-shows-and-career

- -sherlyn

- ---begin forwarded article---
amy ray talks about her record label, performances and solo career
by dante lima

published: thursday, february 18, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.

amy ray is the kind of girl who still writes songs in people's basements
and garages. she's the kind of girl who doesn't care what you think, and
still plays music for fun. she's the kind of girl who started a non-profit
record label called daemon records to give an outlet to musicians who might
have never made it in a major-label world.

ray has been in the music industry for more than 20 years as half of the
marvelous duo the indigo girls with fellow songwriter emily sailers. for
the last decade ray has flopped back and fourth, often between tours, from
the indigo girls to a solo side-project that's spawned three excellently
crafted albums, "stag," "prom" and 2008's "didn't it feel kinder."

now she's back on tour and recording for a new album, and will perform at
common grounds at 8 p.m. saturday (after making a 3 p.m. appearance at wild
iris book store) to test her mettle, chat with some fans and rock the
house. i spoke with her about her performances, record label and about the
growth of her solo career.

q: you're doing a small acoustic performance at wild iris before the full
band joins you at common grounds, how did that come about?

a: that kind of came out of the blue and we were checking out some book
stores to put posters up and stuff and get some promotion. they suggested i
come by and do something. i agreed because these things are usually fun.
there's a certain amount of intimacy. you feel like you're just friends.
having a dialogue with people, it feeds back to me. i love book stores and
record stores that are still hanging on and trying to make it.

q: that's kind of the idea behind your record label, can you talk a little
bit about why you started it?

a: when i got signed with the indigo girls to a major label, i wanted to
focus on putting other people's music out. we started out doing more punky
kind of stuff. it was either punk or folk. then it became anything, rock,
singer/songwriters. we've done benefit records and activist based community
stuff. then i started releasing my solo stuff.

q: did you find it hard to break away from emily when your solo career
started?

a: the good thing is that emily and i had always written separately anyway.
the process of collaborative arrangement was like starting over again and
feeling my way through it. i worked with some southern punk bands that i
was familiar with. i sort of made "stag" one step at a time collaborating
with different people. i was doing it for fun, to challenge myself and get
better at what i do so i could bring that back to the indigo girls.

q: what's it like jumping between bands?

a: it's like starting over. we tour in a van and do everything for
ourselves, i tour manage. sometimes we play to really small crowds but it's
hard because i can only do this between the indigo girls. what i'm trying
to do now is be more consistent with my solo stuff. not to make it so it's
really big or anything but if there's consistency i don't lose the thread
of how to do it.

q: do they help each other? i guess they inform each other a little bit.
sometimes i write a song that doesn't really fit anywhere. if i write a
song that i feel is an indigo girls song, then i know it right away. emily
knows what i'm doing with my solo stuff and she's really supportive and
comes to shows.

q: what about "driver education" on "prom?"

a: that song eventually made it to "poseidon and the bitter bug." "driver
education" was a rarity. i sent our producer "prom" and he left me a
message about "driver education." it is a song when i wrote it that i
couldn't figure out where i wanted it to be. i wanted to do it with emily
but i had a really specific drummer in mind. i wanted to hear it with
emily's harmony on the chorus.

q: your songs always have been unabashedly expressive both socially and
politically. is the expression personal or for persuasion?

a: it's more for personal reasons that can be political. i have an urge to
say something on a personal level. i don't expect it to change the world or
reach everybody. sometimes it's on behalf of a group of people that's moved
me, or a story from my neighborhood. is that going to make people think, or
feel engaged in a process of thought? maybe. but i want the songs to feel
relevant. when i write i try to just be a songwriter. write the best
melody, have it tell a story and make sense in some way. then sing it
because it's fun.

contact dante lima at lima.dante@gmail.com.

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end of ig-news-digest v12 #2
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