Doing a 15 minute interview or writing a two paragraph introduction to Janet Weiss is almost impossible. Over the last two decades Janet has drummed her way through Sleater-Kinney, Quasi and now Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks (with whom she is playing to support Real Emotional Trash their terrific new album out on Matador, tonight at 930 club) as well as shared the stage with Eliott Smith, All Smiles, Bright Eyes and a gaggle of pre-teen girls in San Francisco.

I mean, just google the woman.
Really.

And after you’ve done that read up:

BYT: Hi, Janet, this is Rachel from Brightest Young Things.
JW: Hi.

BYT: I want to start off by saying that the first concert I ever saw at the Black Cat was Quasi, and it was awesome.
JW: That’s cool. What year was it?

BYT: It was probably around 1999.
JW: Wow, you’re young.
BYT: Yeah, I’m 25.
JW: You’re a kid! That’s cool though, awesome.

BYT: Yeah, i really enjoyed it, it was a great show, and it really turned me to on Quasi in general. I later became a fan of Elliott Smith, Heatmiser, and Sleater-Kinney, it was really interesting to hear the different results of the many ensembles that you and Sam were a part of through your careers.
JW: Great.

BYT: The first thing I want to ask you about is if you could tell me about your work with Steven Malkmus and the Jicks in terms of the writing and collaborative process on the new album.
JW: Steve pretty much shows up with the basic song, sometimes it can be a completed piece, sometimes it’s in bits and pieces or one part of the song, and sometimes we hash it out in the practice space. We each add our touches and for the most part make up our parts and add vocals. It depends on how much he has initially, because of the fact we’ve jammed quite abit, alot of those passages end up making it into the songs and sort of become parts of the compositions. But he usually shows up with the primary song completed and we kinda hash it out.

BYT: So you’re able to personally contribute to it organically, even though the framework is there already.
JW: That’s usually the way it is when you play with a singer-songwriter. They write the lyrics, they write most of the music, but mostly what the guitar is doing, they don’t always write what the other instruments are doing. There are quite a few improvisational bits to this record, certain songs like Real Emotional Trash has a whole middle section that we made up by improvising. Baltimore, the whole ending, and Alabama, the last bit of it, there are whole 3 or 4 minute long passages where we’re making it up as we go along. Then it gets committed to tape, and it becomes the song. So that’s a very exciting way to work.

BYT: How long have you been touring with them so far?
JW: A little over a week.

BYT: How has the tour been?
JW: It’s been great. It’s been really fun. I think we’re settling in nicely, and getting used to each other, we haven’t done that much touring as this line up so there’s communication that has to be established. We’re just getting tighter and better able to anticipate what each other is going to play alot more. That’s when it really gets good, when you can feel what’s going to happen before it happens.

BYT: It becomes more intuitive I’d imagine.
JW: For sure.

BYT: One question that some of us at BYT were wondering if Quasi was going to do any touring soon?
JW: We have a couple shows in May in the Portland area. Pretty much all of our time is going to be spent with the Jicks for a while, and then Quasi is going back into the studio in the fall. It’s still happening, we have lots of good new songs for Quasi.

BYT: Do you have any interesting stories from your years of experience on the road?
JW: Probably not. You should just ask me other questions. I’ve toured a million tours, and there’s a million stories. It’s not like any one of them just jumps out that I have to tell. I pretty much keep them all in, unless someone asks me about something specifically. There’s just not one that I would think of right off the bat.

BYT: Ok. Moving to a different question. What has been your involvement with the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls?
JW: I taught a workshop a couple years ago, I haven’t been back there for a few years, some new people started running it who I didn’t know, but it’s going strong, I know that. I taught a drum workshop that was really fun. My former bandmate Carrie actually did alot more, she taught more classes, and was much more involved.

BYT: What were the ages of the girl that you worked with?
JW: From about 8 - 16.

BYT: I think that the camp sounds like a great idea to encourage girls to participate in a more usually male dominated genre of music.
JW: I think that it gives the girls confidence. I think that it’s really half the battle, getting the confidence to make alot of noise, and not feel embarrassed about it. Alot of these girls, when they make noise, and they’re just not used to it. It’s not something that’s taught to little girls usually. So they have to find their voice and not be afraid of it. That’s what the school does, and helps with.

BYT: Were there any experiences that you had when you were younger that really encouraged you to get into the type of music that you play now?
JW: I was a pretty independent, confident kid. I didn’t even start playing the drums till I was 22, so I was already fully formed as a person. And the moment that made me think I could do it, was the moment that I just did it. I got an opportunity to play in a band, and I didn’t know how to play at all, so it involved a certain amount of gumption and self confidence to go on stage when I was really not that good at what I was doing. I just figured that I would get better pretty quickly. Alot of it was that I had the predisposition to be this type of musician, to take on a role that’s not very traditional for women. But once you start doing it, you don’t think about this aspect all the time, you just think about doing it. I’m not exactly the most girly girl in the world, it’s not like I’m up there in heels trying to play, I pretty much fit in with being dirty and carrying stuff. I’m kind of a tough girl. I just wanted to get better at playing my instrument, I wanted to be as good or better as any of the guys were, and I didn’t think there was any reason why I couldn’t be, and I think that’s true for all women in most fields. I had that in me. I just really thought that in my heart. No one really taught me that. I’ve found that with younger girls, that’s something you can teach them. Then they have a real advantage when they have strong female role models when they’re young. I didn’t really have that, I just had to learn myself, feel it in myself.

BYT: Do you feel that it’s gotten easier for women to feel comfortable playing music in spheres that have been more male dominated? What about female icons in music such as Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears?
JW: That’s pop culture. You can’t expect pop culture to provide anything edgy, scary or alternative. Pop culture is pop culture. The mainstream is the mainstream. All my roll models in the past and now have been entirely outside of that. There are lots of roll models for girls outside of that mainstream. From Karen O to Kim Gordon, there’s a gamut of strong women writing music, dressing differently and behaving in a non-traditional way. I think if people want to look at the mainstream, then that’s what they’re going to get and I would never expect the mainstream to be inspirational to people. It’s meant to be middle of the road. If you want to be a serious musician, you best look somewhere else for your inspiration.

BYT: Thanks so much for your time. Good luck with your tour!

JW: Thanks! Nice talking to you.

WANT MORE?
read up
and catch Janet at 930 club tonight

 Send to a Friend