Pepi Ginsberg is opening for Thao tonight at the Cat Mainstage.
She is a teeny girl from Brooklyn (via CT & PA) and whose voice and spirit could, quite possibly, move mountains.
She was kind enough to sit for a quick, Q&A and listen with us before the show to talk Allen, DC bands, working with Dr. Dog and her new, much lauded album “Red”.
Prepare to be charmed.
Hi Pepi! Thank you for doing this. So, first up for our readers that don’t know pepi, tell us something about yourself.
A life story in 5 sentences or less.
My name is Pepi Ginsberg and I play with a band recently dubbed SuperVision, so it’s Pepi Ginsberg with SuperVision. I live in Brooklyn but used to live in Philadelphia where I went to school and studied art and writing. I came from CT, moved to Philly and started to grow up, though I think I really started to grow up at a young age, maybe seven. My songs are lyrically dense and I love to draw. I bought a polaroid SX-70 for four bucks at a tag sale - it takes a special lens to work but the pictures can be magical.
Any relation to Allen? Real or fictional?
In heart and mind I am related to Allen Ginsberg. Allen was my friend and poet Tom Devaney’s teacher. His birthday is two days before mine, June 3 - so we’re both Geminis. We’re related in the way I relate to people I love.
Red is your third album. How is it better or worse or different than the other 2?
The first two albums were experiments. Red was an experiment as well. I started making albums pretty much as soon as I started writing songs - just to see what would happen - I learn best by doing. I thought when writing the first and second album I was doing what actually came out on Red, on Red I thought I was doing what Im actually doing with my new songs for the next record. I guess I’m catching up with myself. Yes I think it gets better each time - but there is something valid in the searching and some songs do hit the mark, no matter what you think you’re doing.
Why call it Red?
I like albums with short names and Red is pretty short! Also it’s my favorite color and somehow it is also a nickname of my friend but I didn’t know that at the time I named it - which was before I ever new how it would get made.
“Waterline” is the song that is getting all the buzz, what with you and Scott (of Dr. Dog) working on it together….how did that come about?
Scott and I made the whole record together. Waterline was the second song we did. He had contacted me to come down to make a song and I had a record’s worth of material so I ended up moving into the studio and making an entire album. It was one of the biggest surprises I’ve ever had. It was an amazing time in my life.
Any other songs that deserve as much love as “Waterline” but have not received it yet? Pick and tell us about it
I also think In My Bones deserves a listen. It was a song about life that became my life and now I’m not sure where I sit in relation to it - I still believe it as a story as much as I believe anything. Yes it was a magical song. My friends played horn and violin for a beautiful part that Scott arranged. The song is special to me, and my friend Galen is making a video for it so perhaps more people will have access to it soon.
I read that you are a visual, not just a sonic artist. Do you do all your own artwork?
Oh yes I draw and make all the art for everything music-related that I do. Lookie:
You played DC not so long a go, how was it?
Oh! DC was cool - I read an amazing book of short stories called Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones that takes place in DC, mostly in the 50’s and 60s, so walking and driving around really helped bring the book to life.
Pick a photo from the tour and tell us about it.
This is a picture of us on Kevin Hambrick’s couch in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Amnon has a crazy picture of Mellisa Ethridge on his computer, all leather pants and embroidered jean shirt - then he picked up the guitar and we sang that ‘I said hey’ song which is actually a four non blondes song- it was ridiculous but we are ridiculous. Another weird fact of that trip is that my friend stayed there with his band last year and apparently they have film footage of him talking to me on the phone - I remember that conversation and him describing the street - the whole thing was pretty weird.
What are some of the favorite places on earth to you?
I love New York and I love Montauk. I loved the sky driving in Indiana two days ago - we saw two Rainbows - amazing, truly. I love west Philly in the late summer, biking by where the old gypsum factory used to be. I love New Mexico. I love the idea of Pateron and the poets who lived there. Oh and I love California, Big Sur and the highway there. And New Orleans.
I would live in Big Sur in a heartbeat…..and people?
People!? Oh man - all my family, my mom, my stepdad are amazing - whooewf - and Jon and Amnon and Matt and Pete who are my band mates and dear dear friends - and my friends near and far- oh man Shawna and Tracy and Sarah and Audrey, Matt, I love Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg and I love the guy who built the Brooklyn bridge. MMcMcmcikens and Joan Didion and damn, man I could go on but . . .
You are touring with Thao and then doing some dates with Jukebox the Ghost, both of which are from DC originally. What is it with you and the DC musicians? How do you all find each other?
Hmm - I have to be honest I didn’t know that about those bands - that’s neat - I don’t know how we found each other but I’m glad we did.
Recommendation time: what would you want BYT readers to listen to? read? see? sing?
Oh. I think BYT readers should sing whatever there heart beats at them - I’ll tell ya that in the van very late at night when we’ve been driving too long and feel silly we sing out loud, and very loud, and we sing like Joanna Newsom and Dave Longstreth from Dirty Projectors - those two are absolutely amazing! And sometime we talk in Bob Dylan accents. The last neat thing I saw was the Patti Smith movie Dream of Life, but one of my favorite films is Killer of Sheep. I’m half way through Louise Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows which has an original score by Miles Davis. Joan Didion is one of my favorites, The White Album, After Henry and The Year of Magical thinking are all great - I certainly recommend her. And what else? See? See a rainbow, or your best friend’s reflection or a Philip Gutson painting in real life or a Diane Arbus photo or the East River at dusk.
What is next for you?
Next up - I head out on a solo tour that takes me from Chicago to California with first with Ra Ra Riot, and later Jukebox the Ghost and Say Hi, then to Cali on my own for some more fun and playing. I’ll be back in Oct to continue working on the next record. Also, my friends the Spinto band are working with us on a cover of the song ‘Oh La’ from Ra Ra’s new record so that should be floating around by early September. As a band we’ll be heading to and from Texas for the Fun Fun Fun fest in Nov. New art is finished for new shirts and I need to find a new book to read. New is Next!
And finally, why should they skip dessert and run out to see you early on Thursday?
I’m really excited about playing our new songs - it’s way different from the record and live is the only place to see it right now. It’s something to catch for sure and my bandmates can play the heck out of their instruments, and I sing as deep into my gut as I can go - it’s story hour that makes you want to dance. It’s our sweet thing.
want more:
myspace right here
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catch her at the Cat tonight.
