PandoMag Interview
Mary Timony, the former lead singer of Helium, has made a name for herself as a queen of indie rock with a keen eye for identifying the shackles of disempowerment and gender. With Helium, her lyrics came off a bit quirky, often just plain odd, but always straight up. (For instance, on their last album, The Magic City, she famously sang about making love to a unicorn.) She was the band's essence, but on her first solo album, Mountains, she produces some of her best work yet, playing guitar, piano and viola, and proving she doesn't need a moniker to back her up.The 15-song album reveals the full range of Timony's talents and emotions. "Dungeon Dance" is a characteristically simple yet powerful piano ballad on which Timony sings, "Open the window/I’m always looking for something outside/Will you dance with me?/The kind of dance in my iron shoes/Into the dungeon." "The Hour Glass" features her signature style of high-pitched vocals and stop-start guitar over a viola backdrop. Mountains confirms that Timony's taste for pop is more like a narcotic than a candy and that her punk is valid angst rather than energy-driven anxiety.
Mountains places Timony at the forefront of indie-rockish balladry and showcases why she’ll be a role model for many female musicians who’ve already established their style in a band but who will hopefully take their shows on the road individually.
How, when and why did you decide to record a solo album?
I recorded the record here in Boston for the most part, at my friend Christina Files’ loft. She recorded it and played drums on the record. We went to mix in Chicago at Electrical Audio. Christina’s friend John McEntire recorded and played vibes on the record at his house. This all took place over the summer. I decided to do a solo album because I felt like it.
What were your inspirations for writing Mountains?
I’m not a person who really has many conscious outside "inspirations." I’ve never understood musicians who consciously try to make their music "influenced" by other music. This doesn’t appeal to me at all. I can tell you about things I’ve liked recently: I saw Christian Marclay, the abstract DJ/noise artist perform the other day, and it was really interesting. I would say my real inspirations were just letting go, being free.
Do you plan to continue making solo albums?
Hmmm. I’m just not sure yet.
In your opinion, what are some of the themes that stand out on Mountains?
The characters in a lot of the songs go up into the sky or down under the ground. This happens in almost all of the songs I ever write, and it’s totally unintentional; it just happens. Also, there is a lot of honest self-loathing on the record but in a kind of constructive-feeling way.
What do you think are some of the significant differences between this album and Helium stuff?
Fewer instruments, more piano, a viola, not too much distortion.
How do you think your messages have changed from album to album (from Helium to other projects and now on Mountains)?
The only "message" I have ever been conscious of having is a feminist one. This may have been more apparent on earlier Helium records, but it’s still in the songs on this record -- just more subtle now.
Do you think the presence of women in music is improving? What do you foresee for the future of women in music?
This is such a broad question; it’s really hard for me to answer, let alone even really know, since "women" and "music" are such huge categories. In my world, I won’t be happy until I see women-headed record companies, and women producers and engineers, not just musicians. If Lilith Fair is supposed to be some kind of representation of the increasing presence of "women in music," I applaud them, and I throw up at the same time. Although it does make me psyched that so many girls go to the Lilith shows. I don’t think that women just being "in music" is a huge change; this has been true for a very long time. Women musicians have long been a commodity, and this is even more true now with Lilith.
I'm really interested in your opinions about feminist ideas. In a December 1995 interview in Bunnyhop fanzine, you said, "Women who act like men can get ahead in the real world. It's a weird, complicated web of not being allowed to act like yourself. As a woman, I feel like I'm always trying to fit into some kind of stereotype that I'm supposed to act a certain way, and if I can't fit into that role, it's really hard. It's like trying to become somebody that you aren't and that's where all the anger in the songs comes from. If I'm going to turn into the attractive, sexual object, on the inside I'm going to be a complete monster because I'm going to have to alter my personality, you know?" Do you still feel this way?
What I was talking about is that as a woman you are socialized to take on certain ways of acting toward others, to be a caretaker, helper, sex object, someone whose main quality is that they serve other people. Yes, I still feel this way.
You went to Boston University. What did you study?
English Lit.
What are some of the most important things you learned while in college, and what are some of the most important things you learned since you've graduated?
In college: If you don’t have a washcloth, you can use your toothbrush to scrub your face. After college: If you have mice in your house, catch them with chopsticks; if you have an opossum, call the police. Also, try to work at your temp job as little as possible; stay around interesting people; there are worms that live for 300 years under the ocean; you can’t buy everything at the $1 store; read a lot; let go; it’s very difficult to find comfortable women’s socks in a department store.
If there was something that you would want your fans to know about you but they wouldn't know unless you told them, what would it be?
I am a firefighter in my spare time.
Amy Schroeder is the editor of Venus, a newish print zine about women in muic. You can e-mail her at Venusmag@aol.com. Venus soon will have a site at shemadethis.com.