Music: Amanda Palmer
The former Dresden Doll spoke with Jeff Hemmings
This New York born performer came to prominence as singer, pianist and lyricist with The Dresden Dolls, an interactive music/theatre duo (along with drummer Brian Viglione) who achieved cult status. Whilst still performing as The Dresden Dolls she continues to sparodically indulge in her passion of theatre, collaborated with Jason Webley as Evelyn Evelyn and started a ‘solo’ career, releasing Who Killed Amanda Palmer in 2008, the title being a play on an expression used by fans of the seminal TV series Twin Peaks, ‘Who killed Laura Palmer?’. She then recorded an album of Radiohead covers accompanied by her ukulele before launching into a Kickstarter campaign to raise finance to fund her current album Theatre Is Evil.
“My expectations were excited!” she says. “I assumed it would go really well because I know my fanbase, but I took a deliberate hit with it; I built it to break even… it isn’t necessarily a magic bullet for any musician. It’s a fantastic platform if you want to run your business yourself and you want to run it in a certain way. I don’t recommend it for younger bands who are just getting started. You need some crowd from which to fund. You need to bring your audience to kick-starter.”
At the time, the amount raised ($1.19m) was the most raised via a Kickstarter campaign, and with the proceeds she made Theatre Is Evil, a work she is very proud of. “Technically I did raise enough money, but the numbers are complicated. But I felt such a huge responsibility to the crowdfunding community and the overall history of the thing. I wanted to be such a good proof of content that I went out of my way to over-deliver on packages and was very happy to do so. There were thousands of fans who spent 25 dollars and I would spend 50 dollars getting them their packages. It was a choice I was happy to make.”
The title of the album obviously alludes to her first love, theatre. “The title was meant as a joke, but it’s a very true title. Theatre is evil, It’s just so bad! You can read it literally, but I’ve had a long love affair with theatre, so love it or hate it, it’s in my blood and part of my past. I manage to squeeze in a theatre project every two or three years. It’s always difficult because theatre pays so very little, so I have to feed my theatre habit with my touring life. But it’s always worked out because its a different kind of sustenance.
“Good theatre can heal the soul in a way that straight music can’t. With all of us getting lost in the internet, we crave an offline, authentic experience, and it can be hard to get that at a rock show because everyone is plugged in, self-conscious, still very self-aware. The theatre is one of these last safe havens you can absolutely commit to a complete communion with the room you’re in, and that is attractive.
Saturday 13 July, Concorde 2, 7pm, £17.50
Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez
