Screaming Females will roar into Ottawa’s House of Targ on Thursday, April 9th. I had the opportunity to chat with Marissa Paternoster (guitar/vocal) and Jarrett Dougherty (drums) in anticipation of their show.
Apt613: I was really excited to see your band perform in Montreal last year, when you opened for The Julie Ruin on your last tour. How have things unfolded differently so far on this tour, compared with the last one?
Jarrett: We’ve done a whole bunch of shows since the ones with The Julie Ruin a year ago. Our current tour is the first since the release of our latest album Rose Mountain. The shows have been consistently good and we have been very lucky to be able to bring great bands such as Downtown Boys, Shellshag, and Mitski with us. Tours right after an album release are usually some of the best headlining shows. Mike Watt always said that albums are just show flyers.
Apt613: Rose Mountain is full of lyrical themes that are common to the fantasy genre. Some of the songs allude to religion, ancient myth and speak of legacy. I recall an image of horses being set loose and galloping towards a precipice (as in the song “Ripe”). Elsewhere, you sing about martyrdom, about blood, about being slayed…you even sing about your own “tombstone on a grassy hill” (as in the song “Wishing Well”).
Marissa: I was chronically ill with mono while writing the bulk of the lyrics for Rose Mountain. I was very much in my own head at the time and we were all unsure if we would be able to go on tour ever again. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to play music again at all, and while I was of course concerned with my health I also spent a great deal of time grieving my life as a musician. I suppose that a great deal of the lyrics have to do with those concerns: being forgotten, accepting defeat, etc. I don’t know much about ancient mythology nor am I well versed in the fantasy genre but I can see where you’re coming from!
Apt613: Listening to these songs has got me feeling what I would describe as TRIUMPHANT. What’s got you feeling most triumphant these days?
Jarrett: Triumphant is not a feeling I would say I feel very often. Watching Downtown Boys is probably as close as it gets. They make the revolution seem real and exciting and like a badass party.
Apt613: What were you questing for when you were working on your last album.
Jarrett: We work really hard to make sure that we are never repeating ourselves. We consider this song to song and record to record. The best way to do that is to work outside of your comfort zone. That has always been our “quest” and it continues through Rose Mountain.
Apt613: You recently told Papermag that “an amazing band is like a four-headed monster”. I think it’s possible that a great three-piece is like a Chimera: fire-breathing hybrid creature made up of three animals. If Screaming Females was a three-headed monster, what three heads would it have, and which band member would each animal represent?
Marissa: I think I would be a house cat, just like, a typical domestic shorthair because I sleep a lot. Jarrett would be some sort of really classy ungulate, like an ibex or antelope because he’s a bit shy but very graceful and lithe. Mike is sort of like a male lion because he has a fantastic bushy mane, he’s regal as hell and has a heart of gold.
Apt613: Is there anything from the fantasy genre where you find inspiration (literature, film, television, gaming)?
Jarrett: I’m not sure how much effect it has in Screaming Females but I’m a huge fan of Star Trek: TNG. Also on our current tour I’ve picked up Samuel Delany’s Dhalgren and the fourth book in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series.
Apt613: What bands or albums do you feel were particularly influential to the making of your latest album?
Marissa: I think our peers have the biggest influence on us as a band. Downtown Boys, Shellshag, Tenement, Priests, and Vacation – just to name a few.
Apt613: Rose Mountain was produced by Matt Bayles, who has worked with many notable metal bands (e.g. Mastodon, Isis, The Sword). Can you talk about how you came to work with Matt Bayles, and whether you think he influenced the way your songs came out on the album?
Jarrett: One of the ways in which we decided to challenge ourselves and go out of our comfort zone was to work with a producer for the first time. After making the decision it took quite a while to choose a producer. A lot of our favorite producers were either out of our range or known for doing indie rock albums. We wanted someone who we felt we could trust to capture a big guitar sound while also having a polished clarity. This is something that popular metal bands, such as Mastodon, are good at. This led us to Matt Bayles. Matt definitely had a big influence on the sound of the record in that way. It has some of our most powerful, in-your-face guitar moments but also represents Marissa’s voice in a way that we haven’t captured before.
Apt613: Your upcoming show in Ottawa is at at House of Targ, which is a basement venue full of classic pinball and arcade games. They also hand-make their own perogies. If you could have a perogi with anything in it, what would it contain?
Marissa: I like the potato and onion ones.
Apt613: Are you into arcade or pinball games?
Mike: Yes. One of my favorite places to go in NJ is the Silverball Museum, which is a pinball museum/arcade. I hold a high score on Space Lab.
Apt613: I hear that Screaming Females made their start in basements in your hometown. Would you like to share some of your favourite memories of basement shows?
Jarrett: We just saw one of our oldest friends, Cheeseman, for the first time in years. Cheeseman was one of the first people who truly loved Screaming Females. The album art from our first record Baby Teeth is tattooed on his arm right next to The Exploited’s logo. One time some kids asked us to play their parents’ suburban basement in NJ. We listed the show as we would any other and a bunch of our punk friends from New Brunswick, including Cheeseman, showed up. When we started playing the suburban kids started moshing a little suddenly Cheeseman was moshing the crap out of these kids. They were having the time of their lives until people started flying into the finished basement walls and drop ceiling. Some stuff definitely got busted. In my old age I realize we should have done a better job respecting the space but at the time I thought it was hilarious.
What walls or ceilings will fall when Screaming Females make noise in the Targ basement? They’re known for the raw power of their live shows. See and hear for yourself!
Screaming Females play House of Targ (1077 Bank Street) on Thursday April 9, 2015. Mitski and Decathlete open the show. Doors at 9pm. Tickets are $10 in advance and are available at Vertigo Records and Spectrasonic.
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