Interview with Eleanor Balson by Vittorio Carli

by Vittorio Carli

I first saw Eleanor Balson perform with the audacious and energetic noise band; Lovely Little Girls at the 2005 Select Media Festival in Pilsen (see selectmediafestival.org). I also ran into her at other various Lumpen/Select Media/Version related events. Then there was the great show at Hotti Biscotti with her solo project Soft Serve talent packed bill which featured Carpet of Sexy, Insect Deli and Right Eye Rita. In spring, she graciously agreed to sit and do an interview with me for an article I was doing for Chicago Artists News on performance art. We spoke across from Maria’s, Ed Mar’s mom’s tavern. The content of the interview didn’t quite fit the article, since it deals more with music than performance art, so I did not end up profiling Eleanor as I originally intended. But the interview was too good to waste, so here it is. See myspace for more info on Soft Serve, Lovely Little Girls and some of the other bands I mentioned.

Vito-Can you tell me about your background?

Eleanor-I’ve been playing drums since I was 19. I played in a punk band when I was 20 called Sidney Stulfus and it was named after the 16 year old metal guitar virtuoso. I was in Sorry (the precursor to My Name is Rar Rar) and I was also in Strawberry In addition, I was in Abort Protocol with Dave Kozin, and I played lot with Tear Accident I had a radio art show at WZRD called Frump, Strumpet, and Strife . I was doing a solo project Soft Serve, but I am talking a break from it to do more collaborative stuff with Butt Fuck Pussy.

Vito-What was Soft Serve?

Eleanor-It was an outlet for musical ideas that weren’t welcome in groups of people I was working with. Women make music different then men, and many times women’s musical ideas aren’t welcome in male dominated bands (for the most part I’ve always played in male dominated bands). I toured Europe and many parts of the Midwest with Soft Serve. For the project I do personal songs that I make with electronics and lots of beats that I make with my computer.

Vito What about your other projects?

Eleanor-Butt Fuck Pussy is a musically transmitted disease. People can contract it and can go out and play with anyone they want making dance music with noise. It’s an improve project in which noise musicians try to make dance music. I am also involved in the Chicago Tapes Project. It involved planting mix tapes in hidden crevices throughout the city. You hide a tape you made or found with information on the project. I’m taking that to Europe.

Vito- Where are you going in Europe?

Eleanor-I’m starting in Vienna and then I’m going to a bunch of places in Germany and Holland.

Vito-Do you think your music is received differently in Europe?

Eleanor-I think all music is received differently there. They appreciate artists on a different level and I don’t know if it’s because their economy is better. It’s because culture is valued more highly in Europe. They haven’t had to build their culture from scratch they’ve always built upon their own culture and they developed it. They’re always eager to hear things from different places. The government is certainly more supportive of artists and creativity.

Vito-Well the US is defined by the Protestant work ethic and pull yourself up by the bootstraps didn’t allow as much room for art. We deemphasize creativity.

Vito-Are you interested at all in spoken word or poetry?

Eleanor-I don’t like spoken word. I feel like humans have a natural capacity for rhythm and life without rhythm is a sick life. People need to find their rhythm. I like spoken word with a rhythm to it but then you might as well converge that art form with rap or hip-hop because that’s where the energy is. Many exciting things are happening in hip-hop not spoken word.

Vito-Do you paint?

Eleanor-I like to draw and sew.

Vito-Can you tell me about your yoga teaching?

Eleanor-Right now I’m teaching for the Cook County Department of Corrections to the top 10% best behaved women in prison. It’s really a fun loving bunch. Since they’re criminally minded they’re always looking for a way to make a joke or a way to get in trouble. They’re also always trying to control they’re urges. So I like them and relate to them. Many of them are recovering crack addicts and they like to have a good time.

Vito-What kind of things do you teach them?

Eleanor-Well I teach them how important breathing is, and I that breathing can separate them from negative energy that might be breathing down their neck. It can separate them when they feel crowded and keep them from fighting by giving them a buffer. If they step back and think about their breathing it helps them to think about what decisions they can make while they’re trying to raise money for crack.

Vito-Are you going to keep your nomadic lifestyle and will you keep traveling?

Eleanor-The nomadic lifestyle is starting to wear on me. I wish I was going to chill out, but I booked this tour in Europe in advance, and I’m going right to Mexico from there. After that I want to be somewhere for at least six months. I’ll eventually try to find a place to settle which will probably be Chicago (laughing)

Vito-You’ve been involved in many noise bands. What is it about that kind of music that attracts you?

Eleanor-I fell into playing noise music by accident simply because I have so many electronic instruments and I don’t rehearse enough so I often try to pull off some idea I came up with at the last minute. While I’ve been doing that I have gotten to see many performers in a new light. I didn’t really understand good noise music before like Panicsville where he focuses on some different themes and he’s creating textures he’s enjoying and he’s trying to express something unique that comes from himself. He’s a mentor and someone I admire.

Vito-Have you done any collaborations with other kinds of artists or mixing art forms?

Eleanor-I think there’s something to be said for artists focusing on what they do best and doing it the best they can do. But I always try to bring a whole lot of things into the performances because I’m distracted in my own work. Leslie Keffer is another noise musician from the south and she also brings in way too many things and then she’ll just use a recorder and mic or something equally simple. That’s because she is worried about not doing a good show. Less can be so much more rather than trying to be an entire circus. You can do more with one horse than a whole zoo of creatures.

Vito-Can you tell me about your association with the Version Festival

Eleanor-The first time I did anything for Version was Karaoke Against Racism, an off kilter empire. Before Bush was reelected, it was a collective in which we rewrote pop songs and made Karaoke videos for 21 songs. People also performed them at version and other places. But once Bush got reelected, the project died because we had worked really hard. The project prevented us for making other art, and we were tired of out art being so political without any positive result. Brian Klein, Rotten Milk, Eric Graff, Ed Mar, and Shannon Morrow, the drummer of Bride of No No were also involved in the project. There was also Mark Messing. We would pick people out at events and we would have them sing rewritten pop songs about current events like the War in Iraq, Dick Cheney and Enron. It all culminated before the election. Mark Messing was donating his TV/DVD player bike that he welded and we would go off on streets all dressed up with our performance permits. We would stop people, give them lyric sheets and try to get them to sing. The closer we got the election the less people gave a shit so we gave up. The art students wouldn’t even break their pace to watch the video. In one song we changed the "Fame" lyrics so that it was about Mumia. The lyrics were about how many people

Vito-What kind of music do you like to listen to?

Eleanor-I was attending an international balloon artist convention and I was MP3Jing for some French balloon masters and all they wanted to hear was stuff like Perez Prado and Yma Sumac, and they didn’t even like stuff like the Beach Boys. What they said was that what they didn’t like about the Beach Boys was that "Some music says look at me look at me" but great music says “look at this look at this." This made me obsessed with bands that say "look at this." like Mucca Pazzo. I would say stuff like Mahjonng is also look at this. I love it when someone takes a style of music universally loved like afro pop or New Orleans style (music that makes you feel good) and they try to evolve it.

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