Words with: Alison Mosshart

Around the time of Halloween and with the dark nights drawing in ever-chillier recently formed ‘super-group’ The Dead Weather have begun to make increasing sense. A thrilling headline show at London’s Brixton Academy crowned a sell out UK tour and the band also played a fancy dress show at a church in East London. Their vintage thrash blues, as documented on the debut album ‘Horehound’, feel warm and seductive. The blend of Alison Mosshart’s purr and Jack White’s Grr combining with the heavy lurch of Dean Furtita’s guitar to make something which, like all that White touches, feels both classic and modern at the same time. Speaking to Mosshart you soon learn what a powerful presence Jack White has on those around him.

“There was never an idea to form a band, the band just sort of formed itself. I’ve known Jack for probably seven years now and The Kills toured America with The Raconteurs last September and I just decided to jump on the tourbus at the end of the tour and go record something with Jack. He has a studio at his home. Jack was just setting up his label (Third Man Recordings) at this point and said “Why don’t we just go and record a single and put it out as a 7”. There was never any plans for it to become what it has at that point. We got to Detroit and in twenty four hours we’d written five songs though and there was just this incredible energy between us then I went back to Nashville to record some more then we had a record, then we did some gigs and it’s all gone from there.”

“He works really quickly, like astonishingly quickly and has tons of energy and enthusiasm so that is great to be around. I would go into the studio with him at any point in my career to record. I love for the record for what it is- an amazing three weeks of my life. I’m really proud of it and it just seems like it happened so fast. It happened really quickly but when you look at everything Jack has ever done it’s been in that amount of time. You just go in believing you can get something done and you make it happen. In a way has it been too fast? It hasn’t felt like I can’t handle it. Its felt really natural it’s just looking back it’s not how I’ve traditionally done things.”

Whilst ‘Horehound’ is a fine collection of songs they all seem to pack more of a punch and take on a new lease of life in the live arena, a statement Alison agrees with,

“I’ve lived in London for ten years and toured here a million times but I never know what to expect as UK audiences can be quite sleepy but Manchester were brilliant, they were really good. We’re used to playing the bigger venues now. When we did our first ever tour in America we tried to play little, tiny places but it got to the point where we were having to announce the shows that morning because it was getting too crazy y’know? We’re all very comfortable with it now. As for the gigs themselves? Alison describes the Dead Weather live experience, “There is definitely more of an aggression because of the audience there and they are feeding you this energy so it becomes a sort of circular thing were both sides react to each other. The show is different every night and so it should because you’re feeding off so many different factors.”

2010 is set to be a very busy year for Mosshart as she has two full albums in the pipeline. One with The Dead Weather and then back to her day job to release the fourth Kills album, the first since 2008’s ‘Midnight Boom’. First up how is The Dead Weathers second effort shaping up?

“I just want the next record to be absolutely brilliant. We’ve already started recording it and we’re playing songs from it out at shows- I can’t wait to go back and finish it off. We have fifteen new songs demos and about five or six have lyrics so far. We have three days to record some more coming up soon so after that we’ll know how the album is shaping up to sound. We want it to come out as soon as it’s done but it depends on people schedules as everyone is working on two hundred things at once right now, I mean I’m working on the next Kills record right now.”

What exactly is the current state of Kills album number four?

“It’s going great- I spent all of September in London writing it. It was so nice to get off tour and just relax into writing. Me and Jamie probably have about twelve or thirteen songs written now. The way we work is on acoustic guitars but the whole thing totally changes when we programme in the drums so whatever it sounds like now I know the end product will be nothing like it currently is. I’m hoping it will be out in early to middle of 2010 if we can get things sorted after Christmas.”

Having spent a ‘year off’ starting a band with one of the most prolific and talented men in modern music Alison has certainly been spreading her wings and showing the world what a true star she is. Having also appeared on Arctic Monkeys third album ‘Humbug’ (she sings backing vocals on ‘The Fire and The Thud’ we feel safe in saying she has the Midas touch and that with two LP’s worth of material in the 2010 pipeline you should get used to having her around- the weather forecast is good.

For Gigwise.com

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The Dead Weather @Brixton Academy

28/10/09

As Jack White, who only shot to fame at the start of this decade, stands behind his drum kit in front of 5,000 people hollering and whooping for his third band The Dead Weather it’s easy to understand why people continue to form ‘super-bands’ so prolifically.

Under normal circumstances a band featuring the superb but commercial minnows The Kills Alison Mosshart and a squad member of Queens Of The Stone Age would not get the chance to play anywhere near the size of Brixton Academy but add the name Jack White to the fray and suddenly everyone wants to know. It’s an odd sense of loyalty that music fans have that they will follow one mans journey through the genres but such is the devotion to White and his past in The White Stripes that tonight’s venue is sold-out. Ditching the country blues of Brendan Benson and The Raconteurs in favour of the arched and sleek Mossheart with her vintage distortion in The Dead Weather is definitely a good look for White. Towards the end of their last tour some of The Raconteurs guitar solos went on for so long there are rumours you can still hear them going on if you stand in certain corners of the nations gig halls. The band had become flabby and middle aged, Jack White is neither of these things as his imposing black clad frame testifies tonight.

The first thing that strikes you about this group is just how incredibly loud they are. Guitarist Dean Fertita’s day job in QOTSA has certainly permeated through into the stage set-up as the next day’s ringing ears testify. Also refreshing and new is Mossheart’s demonic kidnapping. Away from the drum machine and stylish restrain of The Kills she shows herself to be an aggressive and engaging performer as she stalks the stage kicking and metaphorically spitting at the front rows before strutting to the front and assessing the baying mass before her. ‘Hang You From The Heavens’ is Mosshearts signature tune, the only time The Dead Weather feel like being exclusively her band. Pushing the trio supporting her into obscurity she purrs and whirrs through the dirty seduction as everyone in the building offers their own hair in sacrifice. It is Mossheart who impresses most tonight, from playing guitar on ‘New Pony’ to matching White pound for pound on charisma during their numerous duets. White on the other hand feels like he is on auto-pilot. People are accepting The Dead Weather as the methadone to their White Stripes addiction and whilst the return of the duo lies in Meg White’s anxious hands you get the feeling Jack White is as eager to get back as his fans are. He is a fine drummer and gives the crowd what they want as he emerges from behind his kit to sing and raise the decibel level even further by wailing on his guitar but you can’t help feeling the man is just coasting. The adrenaline and passion of his performance are nothing compared to his improvised set-lists and instrument flipping genius of The White Stripes.

The set ends on a high with the one-two uppercut of ‘Treat Me Like Your Mother’ and ‘I Cut Like A Buffalo’ but as the band take a bow the feeling is more a hankering to see The Kills/ White Stripes than it is to hear more from their current incarnation.

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Alison Mosshart: The Black Marks

The Quietus, when they're not running slightly nasty pieces on Florence and The Machine, is one of the best and cared for music sites around. In the run up to Halloween they have teamed up with the impeccable Domino Records to publish a series of short stories from the labels roster. The bands who have currently produced work include Wild Beasts, King Creosote and this from The Kills Alison Mossheart. Hopefully the nice chaps at TQ won't mind me posting this. You can see all the Halloween/ Domino content by clicking here.

Reading this has got me really excited to see The Dead Weather tonight.

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The Dead Weather- 'Horehound'

Jack White is one of the most prolific men in rock and here he returns with another side project. Joining forces with Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence the trio form a backdrop for The Kills Alison Mosshart to play out to. Written and recorded in Nashville, Tennessee ‘Horehound’ drips with a smokey authenticity and steel from Mosshart’s yearning and jagged vocals to the reliably vintage guitars that fuzz and distort throughout. Say what you will about Jack White being anachronistic he has a definitive sound and it works as a classy signature.

The furious and throbbing ‘Treat Me Like Your Mother’ is the first track that grabs attention, no surprise given that it switches tempo every thirty seconds and features huge synth riffs and a vocal tête-à-tête between White and Mosshart seeing the pair come together to chant “M-A-N-I-P-U-Late”. Glorious and angry ‘Treat Me Like Your Mother’ shines above all else on ‘Horehound’. Elsewhere ‘I Cut You Like A Buffalo’ recreated a similar foot tapping pace whilst ‘Hang You Up From The Heavens’ sees Mosshart contact her inner deviant to talk of wanting to “Grab your by the hair and drag you to the devil” over a grimy blues explosion- devastating stuff. Jack White appears like a flash of lightning amidst the storm on ‘Horehound’ emerging from the thunder and rumbles to illuminate and already impressive sound. With an unmistakable voice and hi-hat heavy drumming he provides the flourishes and twirls to the album however it is Mosshart who provides the spine and the brawn. Sounding sultry and confident throughout The Kill’s front woman transfers the skills learnt from working with Jamie Hince and puts them alongside the more impressive and authentic White, kind of like she’s having an affair with a richer and more powerful man. It should be said though that The Dead Weather have not created anything that matches a single Kills or White Stripes album to date.

Ultimately the success of The Dead Weather and ‘Horehound’ hinges on your tolerance for Jack White. With his various projects appearing at a rate of knots unrivalled by his peers it’s only a matter of time before another band emerge and you can hazard a guess at what they’ll sound like too. Had ‘Horehound’ come before The Raconteurs then maybe it would be greeted differently. However in 2009 an album featuring Jack White feels expected rather than treasured. He’s spreading himself a bit too thin and The Dead Weather could well be the switch off point.

7/10

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April: Blog Highlights

So what happened in April? Well...

Trent Reznor kicked things off by being very funny indeed

The Horrors and Dananana made amazing albums for me to review.

I met up with Orlando from The Maccabees for a chat.

Then went to Manchester to see Karen O tear it up.

Alison Mosshart proved she was once human and not a robotic cool machine.

and Jamie T returned with new music from his Sticks N Stones EP.

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Oh Alison...

We all know Alison Mosshart as the lead singer of The Kills. Strutting amidst the smoke and bluesy feedback of her band she strikes an achingly cool figure. As if that wasn't enough she also formed The Dead Weather with Jack White and has been hard at work producing the bands debut album 'Horehound' due for release in July. This is her-

So the tale of The Kills goes that Alison was 16 and Jamie Hince met her and decided to form a band there and then, flying her to London from California. What is carefully left out of the tale is Alison's old band Discount, who look a bit like this.


Oh dear. Listen to Discount on Last.fm here.

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New video round up

\\\ LA ROUX /// IN FOR THE KILL

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Andersen Ben-Hilliers

I won't be posting anything much til' Monday as I'm going to a gig and *hopefully* doing an interview. To bide you over let me introduce you to my favourite blog on the internet. Andersen Ben-Hillier has been around a while but has recently started gaining some notoriety with a mention in The Guardian the other day.

Andersen is a Danish paprazzo who takes photo's of the best bands in the world. His work is outstanding and I have no reason to doubt his credibility. Just look at his work in action below or check his full portfolio here-

The Kills-

Young Knives
Arcade Fire
Kate Nash

The White Stripes
Henry Rollins
White Lies
These New Puritans
Queens Of Noize

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Album Of The Year #7- The Kills: Midnight Boom

It's an injustice that in the year The Kills released their best album to date the main reason people know of them is through the rock stars mattress Kate Moss. Look past the tabloid fame and rumoured band tension however and 'Midnight Boom' is an album that fizzes and spits with anger and cool. Working with Spank Rock co-hort Armani XXXchange introuduced a solid cohesion to the bands sound that had previously being lacking. 'U.R.A Fever' bristles restlessnessley alongside stand out tracks like 'Cheap and Cheerful', 'Black Balloon' and 'Tape Song. Their headline set at Leeds Festival was a highlight of the weekend for me thanks mainly to the songs from this album. A superb effort from a band who are so much more substance than style

'U.R.A Fever'

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Singles of 2008- (#50-25)

25. Mumford & Sons- Love Your Ground EP- REVIEW
26. Au Revoir Simone- Paris (Friendly Fires cover)
27. Ladyhawke- Paris Is Burning
28. Lykke Li- Little Bit
29. Kanye West-Love Lockdown- ALBUM REVIEW

Lykke Li- 'Little Bit'

30. Friendly Fires- Jump In The Pool
31. Black Kids- I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance
32. The Kills- Cheap and Cheerful
33. Johnny Foreigner- Salt, Pepa & Spinderella
34. We Are Scientists- After Hours- REVIEW
35. Tilly & The Wall- Beat Control
36. Last Shadow Puppets- Age Of The Understatement
37. Yeasayer- 2080
38. Port O'Brien- Close The Lid
39. Esser- Headlock

We Are Scientists- 'After Hours'

40.Portishead- Machine Gun
41.Hot Club De Paris- Hey! Housebrick
42.Chairlift- Bruises
43.Ox. Eagle Lion Man- The Drowned & The Saved EP- FEATURE
44.The Black Ghosts- Repetition Kills You
45.Cut Off Your Hands- Oh Girl
46.Lightspeed Champion- Tell Me What It's Worth
47.Pete & The Pirates- Mr Understanding
48.White Lies- Death (Crystal Castles Remix)
49.TV On The Radio- Golden Age
50.Hercules & Love Affair- Blind

Pete & The Pirates- 'Mr Understanding'

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