Le Butcherettes Q&A
We caught up with Le Butcherettes for an exclusive Q&A following from the release of their 4th studio album ‘A Raw Youth’. Also catch Le Butcherettes’s brilliant new music video for ‘My Mallely’ below!
Hey Teri, how are you? Can you start off by telling your English fans what ‘Le Butcherettes’ means literally and what it represents?
I’m very jet lagged but in life I am great. Thank you for asking.
Le Butcherettes means The Butcher Women… women with power…hence the “ettes”. It could represent many things but in my head the band name has been a sort of inner mantra to get me through rough patches…
Having control within your hands, having the power and the strength to be able to cut the scum up, butcher it up, motivated by love, of course, by resilient untouched love.
Your 4th studio album ‘A Raw Youth’ came out in May earlier this year, whats your favourite track off the album?
I love all of the album. You can’t just listen to one track without wanting to listen to the whole album………
Said not a voice inside of me ever. Hahaha! Nah… I really don’t know which one is a favorite because they all cause me a certain distress because they were inspired by pretty gruesome human-world experiences. Even the poppiest and sweetest child like sounding one is about a very dark issue. (Sold Less Than Gold).
What was the thought process behind the new record?
You know it’s funny that you ask because sometimes you never really are 100 percent aware of what your actual thought process is. Sometimes my thought process would be completely contaminated by self doubt, and in bringing out old songs that I had written years before, (two to be particular “They Fuck You Over” and “Reason To Die Young”) would reawaken old memories of situations I was going through when having the songs re-played, re-worked for the record. The feelings that would get invoked (which felt like reopening old wounds instead of old songs) were feeling of burning youth, of what it first felt like to feel passion over any matter that life has to offer you…
My process was all too fleeting…went by too fast. Actually wish I could be back in there, recording A Raw Youth, go back to the past, because that is the one true moment were you feel like you are in the womb, and it’s okay to feel that disconnection from the world. Because you need that focus to connect the dots in the process of writing and recording.
I like to linger towards one general concept for a record. A knot that will hold the world that you want to build with music as a tool. It’s all about finding that focal point for me, like photography or like with cinema.
Overall I think my process in general is essentially a very solitary one. Sometimes I just can’t let my band mates go in with me, it’s a very vulnerable place but then you come off like an asshole…
It’s clear that Iggy Pop has been a massive influence on your music and you did a collaboration with him on your new album! What’s it like to work with someone who’s such an iconic name in music?
It’s so fantastic that it’s normal for me… I say that at the fear of sounding arrogant, but it’s about the spiritual fact that is just makes perfect sense. It didn’t feel forced. The situation led to this miracle,
It just feels like this encounter was just supposed to be…
There are very limited number of true artists in this industry,
it’s only natural that we gravitate towards one another. So it feels like I’m at one with myself when I work with people that know what they are doing and that at the same time treat me with respect and acknowledge a good song when it’s a good song.
You’re coming to the UK in October, is there a certain date you’re especially looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to Cardiff., Wales. I’ve never been there before and it’s history fascinates me. Have always wanted to go and visit when I was little, wanted to drink the salts of the ocean there once when I was twelve, because of my obsession with Roald Dahl’s books.
You’ve played countless gigs across America and the whole world since forming 9 years ago, but what the best concert you’ve ever played?
Recently we played a show in Las Vegas and it was one of the most emotionally giving crowds I have ever witnessed.
I’ve been warned by friends that play in bands that Nevada is a hard place, because either people don’t show up to shows or because people are too drunk… Luckily for me, my experiences with the state of Nevada have been very, very good ones.
Tokyo was also a great city to play…I don’t know. So many great places… some very low key places like Syracuse was a great and magical place to play in (with The Melvins) from Guadalajara to Toronto are also very lively, people that go to a show to see us are very passionate art lovers, so our fans are very creative and loyal. They have helped keep this band rolling on it’s feet.
In between gigs and when you’re on the road, what’s your favourite pass time?
I love to sleep and to be able to dream. The mind is a slobbery little animal, it likes to roam around the four corners of the world… at the end of day, inspiring me to write more.
We’ve already established what influence Iggy Pop has had on you, but what other bands have influenced you on a personal level as well as musically?
The Melvins, Bratmobile, Otis Redding, Spice Girls, Violeta Parra, Selda Bagçan, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, The Beatles and over-all the hysteria that is exploding from the the jar we like to call life.
Have you seen any bands recently that have really impressed you on stage?
Kim & The Created, L.A Witch and Deap Vally. Word of mouth has flown into my ear making me hear really great things about the European band The Picturebooks’ live show. They will be our special guests for the upcoming month long A Raw Youth Tour.
And finally, after travelling the world and meeting so many people, what’s the most important thing you learned and what messages would you give to your fans?
Always be nice to people. The least thing you can do is is give 5 minutes of your time to people who go see your show. But I get it, not many people can do it… lots of artists are introverts…etc but I feel that at the end of the day introvert or not it’s important to be kind, not just to the people that go to your shows and support your dream but also to every person that crosses your path. Believe me, I’m an introvert and that doesn’t get in the way of shaking somebody’s hand.
Could you please choose 10 songs for our Spotify playlist?
Vanessa- (Album: Darkbloom-EP) Grimes
Impossible Tracks – (Album: Ash & Ice) – The Kills
Love & Anger- (Album: The Sensual World)- Kate Bush
Scream Feat. Aristophanes (Album: Art Angels) Grimes
< span style=”font-family: “arial” , “helvetica” , sans-serif;”>Zapatos Viejos (Album: Mis Favoritas: Gloria Trevi) Gloria Trevi
Honey Bucket (Album: Houdini) The Melvins
Goldmine (Album: The Golden Echo)- Kimbra
Vowels= Space and Times (Album: Visions) Grimes
Dear Nora Feat. Meshell Ndegeocello (Albums: Language Barrier)- Shirlette Ammons
El Cristal (Album: Mon Laferte Vol. 1) – Mon Laferte
My brother got me into Grimes recently.
The video for ‘My Mallely’