I really don’t know what to do when my life is not chaotic.
With so much of music blurring the lines between ersatz and authenticity, at least the ‘Rock Band’ game is a tribute to rock rather than an affront.
I went to a liberal arts college wherein grading was qualitative and we had to write our own evaluations.
I think I was so grateful, in the years after Sleater-Kinney broke up or went on hiatus or whatever you want to call it, to find ‘Portlandia’ and co-create ‘Portlandia’ with Fred Armisen, which allows for levity, allows for the same kind of kinetic energy, but channeled through absurdity and surrealism.
The value of kitsch exists in its novelty and in its connotations to more legitimate counterparts.
Not even the creators of ‘Rock Band’ could possibly believe that playing the game is tantamount to making your own music. There is, however, a sad similarity between ‘Rock Band’ and some actual bands, and that is the attempt at realness.
I feel like I live a pretty quiet life. I like to focus on work and friends, and I love being in nature.
My father was hard to know and gave little indication that there was much to know. He claimed he remembered almost nothing about his childhood.
For a while I had somebody that came to clean my house that turned out to be in a band that I really loved.
I’ll admit that I’m not quite certain how to sum up an entire year in music anymore; not when music has become so temporal, so specific and personal, as if we each have our own weather system and what we listen to is our individual forecast.
When the band first started, it was so much about carving out some space for myself and our audience and our songs.
I think that there is something about the ritual of making things more difficult that people find meaning in.
It was writing about music for NPR – connecting with music fans and experiencing a sense of community – that made me want to write songs again. I began to feel I was in my head too much about music, too analytical.
I’m pretty horrible at relationships and haven’t been in many long-term ones. Leaving and moving on – returning to a familiar sense of self-reliance and autonomy – is what I know; that feeling is as comfortable and comforting as it might be for a different kind of person to stay.
I have no desire to play music unless I need music.
To me, it’s exciting that women are dominating the pop charts.
Kissing is kind of scary.
I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR that I eventually realized my most fertile way of participating in music is to actually play it, at least in a way that made the most sense to me.
With Portlandia, I don’t think our intention is always to find something funny. Sometimes the humor comes from taking something really seriously. We’re okay with making somebody feel uncomfortable or uneasy.
One of my earliest childhood memories is my father taking me in the evening to Samena Swim & Recreation Club in Bellevue.
I willed myself into being.
Over the years, music put a weapon in my hand and words in my mouth, it backed me up and shielded me, it shook me and scared me and showed me the way; music opened me up to living and being and feeling.
Celebrity culture is… it’s not something that I’m attracted to. I guess I don’t think of myself in that way, but potentially other people do. I feel I’m at the far periphery of that.
I read a lot; fiction and non-fiction are the mediums I find most edifying and inspiring. I watch movies and listen to music and take lots and lots of walks. Nature is a nice reset button for me, it’s how I get a lot of thinking done.
Sometimes when you look at somebody else’s career or choices or family, there’s almost a comfort in knowing there’s another option.
With Sleater-Kinney, we have a lot of earnest fans, and we were an earnest band.
From dancing around to Michael Jackson and Madonna as a kid to having my mind blown by the first sounds of punk and indie rock, to getting to play my own songs and have people listen, music is what got me through.
I think alone time is good to know how to be alone with your own thoughts. I think it just helps you kind of be a better, more grounded person.
It turns out I’m not very good at working with a traditional boss.
Pages: 1 2
