Questions from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trixtah:
1. What lead you into musical performance, and melodramatic electroclash [ETA: or whichever label actually suits!] in particular? Have you ever wanted to be a girl + guitar songwriter?
I don't think I ever had a choice. Music is inherent in my being, to wax pretentious for a moment. I couldn't not be musical - my grandmother had an old piano that fascinated me and we were allowed to take it home and get lessons for me. Now from piano we go naturally to synthesizers, since I am of course a massive geek and was fascinated by the technicalities of turning electrical impulses (in analog synths) or 1s and 0s (in digital synths and MIDI) into music. And from there, we get several years of me playing in dead-end bands, reliant on the usual bunch of flakes and druggies and plain wankers that you find in such bands, until a friend introduces me to Depeche Mode and I realise that - with a decent sequencing program and a few singing lessons - I can be a self-sufficient unit, no longer having to rely on a vocalist's ego or a bass player's ability to stay off the weed for ten minutes.
I find it difficult to imagine being girl + guitar because I find it difficult to imagine learning to play guitar to anywhere near the level of my keyboard playing. Girl + acoustic piano, certainly, perhaps even put out an album of that stuff, but (a) Tori Amos did it first and did it better; (b) pianos are heavy; (c) I like the flexibility of the electronic setup. As you'll find out when you buy Small Group Psychosis, I can go from Enya-like drones and tinkles to heavy-metal stomp to pseudo-orchestral grandeur. I am in control of my own little musical world, and it might not sound much like music sometimes, but at least it sounds like me.
2. You've been having a go at Gaelic football recently. Are you of Irish descent? What interests you about the game?
As mentioned in a previous post, the family tale is that my great-great-grandmother, Kathleen Lawless, was the same who was the last lady of the manor of Cloncurry in County Kildare, although if that's true then there seems to have been a massive scandal which we never talk about and that my great-grandmother was illegitimate and part Bengali. (So I like cricket and spicy food as well!) Truth be told, my favourite code of football is AFL (go the Hawks!), but there's not a women's league for that in Auckland, so Gaelic is the next best thing - plus, I can carry over a lot of my goalie skills from soccer. Also, Irish girls are teh hottz0rs.
3. How did you acquire your kitteh?
Four letters: SPCA. She stood up on her hind legs in her little enclosure to greet us as we came in, so she looked like she was saying "pick me! pick me!"
4. What's the best place(s) you've visited?
I love Melbourne to death, and I'll be there for WorldCon 2010, insha'allah. About the only reason I don't move there is that every Kiwi musician does that and I am loath to do anything popular or fashionable (plus, I like my current job). I do want to go back to Thailand at a stage where I'm not whacked out on painkillers and able to appreciate it properly - and also when it's not under military dictatorship. And I loved San Francisco, apart from the homeless people and the cops with guns.
5. What's a good place to eat out around Ponsonby/Grey Lynn/Westmere these days?
Geez, I dunno, I've only lived here for a week! A weird lady I met on a dating site took me to SPQR a few months ago and I was amazed at how gay the waiters were. The food was excellent, but I think (given my financial status) I will put off further gastronomic exploration until I've reached the limits of what cooking my own meals can do for me.
Meme participation, if desired:
• Leave me a comment saying "Free Helicopters On Demand"
• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions. (Or not, it's up to you)
trixtah:1. What lead you into musical performance, and melodramatic electroclash [ETA: or whichever label actually suits!] in particular? Have you ever wanted to be a girl + guitar songwriter?
I don't think I ever had a choice. Music is inherent in my being, to wax pretentious for a moment. I couldn't not be musical - my grandmother had an old piano that fascinated me and we were allowed to take it home and get lessons for me. Now from piano we go naturally to synthesizers, since I am of course a massive geek and was fascinated by the technicalities of turning electrical impulses (in analog synths) or 1s and 0s (in digital synths and MIDI) into music. And from there, we get several years of me playing in dead-end bands, reliant on the usual bunch of flakes and druggies and plain wankers that you find in such bands, until a friend introduces me to Depeche Mode and I realise that - with a decent sequencing program and a few singing lessons - I can be a self-sufficient unit, no longer having to rely on a vocalist's ego or a bass player's ability to stay off the weed for ten minutes.
I find it difficult to imagine being girl + guitar because I find it difficult to imagine learning to play guitar to anywhere near the level of my keyboard playing. Girl + acoustic piano, certainly, perhaps even put out an album of that stuff, but (a) Tori Amos did it first and did it better; (b) pianos are heavy; (c) I like the flexibility of the electronic setup. As you'll find out when you buy Small Group Psychosis, I can go from Enya-like drones and tinkles to heavy-metal stomp to pseudo-orchestral grandeur. I am in control of my own little musical world, and it might not sound much like music sometimes, but at least it sounds like me.
2. You've been having a go at Gaelic football recently. Are you of Irish descent? What interests you about the game?
As mentioned in a previous post, the family tale is that my great-great-grandmother, Kathleen Lawless, was the same who was the last lady of the manor of Cloncurry in County Kildare, although if that's true then there seems to have been a massive scandal which we never talk about and that my great-grandmother was illegitimate and part Bengali. (So I like cricket and spicy food as well!) Truth be told, my favourite code of football is AFL (go the Hawks!), but there's not a women's league for that in Auckland, so Gaelic is the next best thing - plus, I can carry over a lot of my goalie skills from soccer. Also, Irish girls are teh hottz0rs.
3. How did you acquire your kitteh?
Four letters: SPCA. She stood up on her hind legs in her little enclosure to greet us as we came in, so she looked like she was saying "pick me! pick me!"
4. What's the best place(s) you've visited?
I love Melbourne to death, and I'll be there for WorldCon 2010, insha'allah. About the only reason I don't move there is that every Kiwi musician does that and I am loath to do anything popular or fashionable (plus, I like my current job). I do want to go back to Thailand at a stage where I'm not whacked out on painkillers and able to appreciate it properly - and also when it's not under military dictatorship. And I loved San Francisco, apart from the homeless people and the cops with guns.
5. What's a good place to eat out around Ponsonby/Grey Lynn/Westmere these days?
Geez, I dunno, I've only lived here for a week! A weird lady I met on a dating site took me to SPQR a few months ago and I was amazed at how gay the waiters were. The food was excellent, but I think (given my financial status) I will put off further gastronomic exploration until I've reached the limits of what cooking my own meals can do for me.
Meme participation, if desired:
• Leave me a comment saying "Free Helicopters On Demand"
• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions. (Or not, it's up to you)