Jersey Beat Music Fanzine
 


By Deborah J. Draisin

Ex-Morningwood frontlady Chantal Claret is a woman of many hats – literally (she seriously loves hats.) The once-AP columnist (“Battle of the Sexes,” with Thrice’s Riley Beckinridge,) and full-time musician has also branched out into screenwork. She has been filming a recurring segment on PBS’ punk-friendly digital children’s show, “Pancake Mountain.” The segment, entitled “Dancin’ With Chantie,” features the show’s littlest guest-stars teaching Chantal how to cut a rug featuring their own personally invented dance moves.
Chantal will also be appearing alongside husband James (aka Little Jimmy Urine, of Mindless Self Indulgence,) in Darren Bouseman's (of “Saw” and “Repo The Genetic Opera” fame) movie musical, “The Devil's Carnival: ALLELUIA,” which comes out on August 11th http://thedevilscarnival.com . She will also be featured on Judd Apatow's new show for Netflix, “Love.”
Chantal and James recently co-wrote and performed a children’s song for the upcoming Dave Yarovesky film “The Hive,” being released by Nerdist. Additionally, Chantal’s music was used for “Kingsmen: The Secret Service,” Lena Dunham's commercial for Rachel Antonoff. The song was written especially for Lena. She has contributed theme songs for various other television shows as well.
Chantal has released eight solo projects since 2009, including her latest effort, “Battles of a Heavy Heart,” released this past February.
I chatted with Chantal to discuss the album, the challenges of touring as a DIY artist, sizism aimed at within the music industry, and patience (we concluded that neither of us New York chicas have any.) She's easily one of the chillest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing, and I thank her most sincerely for her patience in having this interview go live.
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Q: Alright, so let’s talk a little bit about the recording process for “Battles of a Heavy Heart,” which came out in February.

Chantal: Yeah, on my birthday, I put it out.

Q: Oh, that’s so sweet, it’s like a double celebration! A birthday present to yourself. This is your third fully independent album now, correct?

Chantal: I guess…well, one was an EP. I mean, it’s the third release, but the second full-length.

Q: Gotcha – and what inspired the title?

Chantal: Well, these songs have been done for a long time.

Q: Oh, I know, I recognized some of them.

Chantal: The title took a year and a half for me to come up with. That, for me, is the hardest thing to come up with.

Q: The title?

Chantal: It really is. Naming, specifically, a record - it’s like your family name. It’s the name that represents all of the songs – that’s its first introduction to the world. It has to perfectly encapsulate everything that you’re feeling. It represents you as an artist, and all of the songs that you’re presenting, so that, to me, has to be perfect, you know? It’s my least favorite part of the process – the least!

Q: Ah, that’s hard.

Chantal: It is really hard, and something had just happened – I think Robin Williams had just died, and I went into deep mourning. I loved Robin Williams – I didn’t know him, I’m just a fan like everybody was, and I grew up with him. I’d been saying for years – ever since he had his heart problem – that if anything ever happened to Robin Williams, I was going to be so upset. I prefaced the world with that – all of my friends know that I have a severe affection for Robin Williams. Like, there’s a place in my heart that’s reserved for him.

Q: You know, I still cry over Freddie Mercury – I totally get it.

Chantal: Aw! But it’s been a while.

Q: Yeah. You put “Who Wants To Live Forever” on and I will sob.

Chantal: Aw. I mean, I loved him, but I don’t cry about him. What year did he die, ’88?

Q: No, I think it was early ‘90s, wasn’t it?

Chantal: Not a hundred percent sure. We were filming a movie at the time, so I was on the set when somebody told me, and I burst into tears. I was like “Oh my God!” They were like “I’m sorry, did you know him?” and I said “No, I’m sorry I didn’t.” Everyone was coming up to me and apologizing to me. I was like “Ah, I didn’t know who him, I’m just super into him!”

Q: That’s how I feel. Freddie died in ’91, by the way.

Chantal: Wait, really?

Q: Yeah.

Chantal: That’s crazy. Wow, it feels like he died way earlier than that.

Q: It does, it feels like I was younger when it happened.

Chantal: ’91 is late!

Q: I know.

Chantal: So, I was on the set and we had a day off the next day, and I spent like two days crying. Afterwards, when something like that happens, you have a really heavy heart – that’s the only way to describe it, and I was like “Oh, heavy heart, heavy heart. That’s it, that’s the feeling that all of these songs give me.” I had been going through a lot, just trying to figure out what the fuck to do with my life. But it’s not just sadness, it’s also fighting, you know what I mean – like battles? And I went “Oh, ‘Battles of a Heavy Heart!’ That’s it, I’ve been fighting the sadness this whole time, that’s what it is!”

Q: That’s freakin’ cool. I like the way you put that together.

Chantal: Yeah, but it took forever. It was like therapy for me, figuring out a way to encapsulate what the fuck I was going through.

Q: I know what you mean. Sometimes, every once in a while, you have like an epiphany, and you’re like “Why did it take me four years to come up with this one epiphany?”

Chantal: Oh my God, if you saw the list of fucking…

Q: …throwaway titles? Can you produce that?

Chantal: It’s nuts! I’m saving them, because I might end up using them for something.

Q: You might.

Chantal: There are some terrible ones in there - it’s like pages and pages and pages of things – just anything that popped into my head, but I never found, really, a good one.

Q: Like what? What’s the best one you threw away, can you share?

Chantal: Let me see, hold on, I should have the list. I e-mail them to people “What do you think of this?” (searches her e-mail.) Well, in the meantime…

Q: In the meantime, who produced the album?

Chantal: I work with whomever I am working on each individual song with. For this record, I produced some, Rob Kleiner produced others, and Mher Filian produced another. It’s always a mixed bag – I’m very picky. I have a strong vision, but I like the group of people I’ve put together to work with, and I like to work with them over and over.

Q: Don’t you have a home studio?

Chantal: No. James works at home, but I don’t like to, so whoever I’m writing with, I just work at their place.
Q: How come he likes to work from home and you don’t?

Chantal: Well, because he has his little studio setup, and I don’t. I don’t like our home studio, it scares me - it’s a bomb shelter (laughs.)

Q: No, I know, he’s like a mad scientist.

Chantal (laughing) Yeah, it’s his own thing. When we’re working together, I’ll record at home.

Q: Are you guys working on something together at the moment?

Chantal: No. At the moment, he’s doing his own thing, but we’re always doing stuff together, bits and bobs – we love it, when we have time. We’ve done some things.

Q: So, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there’s a giant debate going on about what size you are.
Chantal: With whom is this debate happening?

Q: I don’t know, fans? I just found it while I was researching for this interview, and people were complaining “Oh, Chantal’s too small now, she’s not representing the booty community any longer.”

Chantal: I don’t know whether people think I’m big or little, but I’ve got a lot of shit happening on the top and the bottom. If you ask my husband, he will gladly tell you that I am representing (both laugh.)
Q: This is an interesting problem to have though.

Chantal: I’m very fortunate that, whether I gain or lose weight, it’s distributed very well, I will acknowledge that. Like, I’ll gain or lose twenty pounds in a year, and people might not notice, but I’ll notice.

Q: Yeah, I notice too, of course, with myself.

Chantal: James doesn’t notice.

Q: No, he probably just goes “Oh, there’s her booty, it looks this way.”

Chantal: On the same day that I start to feel really horrible about myself, really fat, like “Oh my God, I’ve got to do something about this, I’ve got to fucking start working out.”

Q: And he’s like “You look hot.”

Chantal: He’s like “Wait, did you do something with your hair?” He totally starts wolf-whistling the exact same day.

Q: That’s what they’re good for.

Chantal: It’s fucking ridiculous, though, because I spent my entire life on the internet getting called fucking fat and ugly, from the first day.

Q: Aw, I know.

Chantal: I have developed such a tolerance to it – I just expect it – so for people to go “You’re so pretty” is so bizarre to me. But listen, it’s not a fucking pity party, it is what it is.

Q: People are just so mean, I don’t know why.

Chantal: Yeah, I don’t fucking know, but I mean now that the tides have turned, believe me, I’m very happy that people are like “Oh, she’s pretty” or whatever.

Q: Sure, there are worse problems.

Chantal: Too skinny is the least of my problems. I’ve lost so many jobs in the music industry being told that I was fat (laughs) you wouldn’t even believe it.

Q: I can believe it. I posted an interview once, and nobody cared what the person that I spoke to had to say or anything, they just wanted to inform me how disgusting I looked sitting on the couch – that was the entire comments section.

Chantal: Oh, that’s because it’s the internet! I mean, I’ve fired people because they told me I was too fat. You know Jessicka (Addams?)

Q: Oh yeah, I love Jessicka.

Chantal: She put out a zine on her Pledge campaign, and I wrote an article for it – I think the exact title is “I Didn’t Know I Was Fat Until I Joined A Band” (laughing.) https://www.pledgemusic.com/checkout/1255896

Q: Ugh, fair enough.

Chantal: Well, I didn’t think I was fat until I did the band! I never thought I was super overweight.

Q: You weren’t.

Chantal: I fucking always had a great time living life – it wasn’t until the internet saw me, and they were like “Whoa, Bitch, what are you doing, eating a donut?” Like, what, excuse me?

Q: Apparently, you can only be a size two or you cannot be seen in public, this is what I’ve realized.

Chantal: Well, then I never should have been, because I have never in my life been a size two, and I never will be.

Q: Me neither, and even if I was a size two, I would still have the same shape, so it wouldn’t do any good.

Chantal: There’s a certain weight which I’ve only gotten to once in my life, where I was like “Oh, that’s too much, I don’t like that.” I like yummy food, that’s the problem, so I go up and down, like every girl, you know? I have a good time, I eat everything that’s in front of my face, and then I’m like “Oh shit, I did too much” (laughs.)

Q: Yeah, I just started swimming so that I could get rid of that.

Chantal: Oh, swimming’s the best! I just love food, and I will never stop eating it, ever.

Q: I don’t know, my mother says “Everything in moderation,” but, you know, some days are better than others.

Chantal: That is what my grandfather, at 102, says! I do not understand what that word means, and how it works, but I agree with it.

Deb (laughing) In principle, it sounds good.

Chantal: I do believe that that is the answer, just to practice it is harder.

Q: It is, it’s so hard. I mean, if you put potato chips in front of me, I’m fucked. There’s no way I’m moderating that.

Chantal: French fries are mine. If you have french fries, I will eat your fingers, I don’t care.

Q: I love french fries.

 

Chantal: I don’t care what’s happening, I will eat those french fries. I don’t care if they’re old, I don’t care if they’re fucking stale.

Q: They’re better when they’re old!

Chantal: I don’t care if they’re disgusting, I will eat the shadiest fries, I just love them.

Q: Yeah, there are certain things that moderation is not possible for.

Chantal: And french fries are definitely at the top of that list.

Q: And chocolate kisses. Forget it, don’t even bother.

Chantal (laughing): Luckily, I don’t have that problem, but I could see how someone would.

Q: They’re just so small, you’re like “Oh, I can have four more, right?” and then you’ve eaten half the bag.

Chantal: Yeah, small things don’t stand a chance. Get out of my face, I have to finish you all. Also, I’m from the Eastern European School of Thought, where you have to finish everything, you know what I mean? Where I literally pat myself on the back when I finish all of my food.

Q: Yeah, because your grandmother would make you feel guilty if you didn’t.

Chantal: And my mother, everybody, would be like “Finish everything on your plate.” Now I will clear my plate, and be like “Hey, look at this, Nobody! Well, good job!” and then James says “You know, you don’t have to eat everything.” and I go “What are you talking about? I do have to eat everything, that’s the rule.” He’s like “What fucking rule?”
Q: (both laugh.) Well, men don’t understand this stuff, they’re just like “Huh?”

Chantal: They don’t get it.

Q: The thing is that the dieticians have an answer for that: they’re just like “Get a smaller plate.”

Chantal: I do! Listen, I’ve been dieting since I was in the third grade.

Q: I’ve been dieting for…yeah, about that long.

Chantal: You know? And so, when I go, I go fucking hard, but that’s not healthy either. If moderation is what’s it about, then dieting in moderation, exercising in moderation. That’s why I like it when I’m in New York or England, because I’m just walking everywhere, so I can enjoy life without having to fucking stress. Here, they don’t do that. I don’t walk fucking ten miles a day, so I have to diet. It all goes hand-in-hand.

Q: It’s true. I’m about to hit Europe for the first time, and I can’t wait to walk everywhere!

Chantal: Ooh, where are you going?

Q: I’m going to Florence, Rome, Venice and Paris.

Chantal: Nice. Oh my God, you’re going to have the best time! I’ve been to all of those places. They are amazing. I love everything about being in France, except that they don’t let me speak French. I can speak French! I can hold a conversation – not the best conversation – but a fucking conversation.

Q: They should appreciate your effort.

Chantal: No, they hate it! They don’t ever want me to speak French (both laugh.) It’s so upsetting.

Q: Is it kinda like how Americans get when some poor person attempts to use the English that they learned, and we’re like “You suck at English! That’s not where that word goes!”

Chantal: I’ve never heard that before. I don’t hear people do that. That’s upsetting to hear.

Q: Well, mostly you see that on the Internet…or in Arizona.

Chantal: Oh God, I hate everything.

Q: Yeah, I hate everyone too (both laugh.) So, what are some of the pluses and minuses of DIYing it? Obviously, artistic control is the major plus, and budget is the major minus, but what else can you tell me about the process that folks might not know?

Chantal: Hm…I mean, I wake up and I do literally everything myself, and that’s really frustrating and heartbreaking. The hardest part, the thing that I really don’t like, is that I have to work alone.

Q: Lack of collaboration, yeah.

Chantal: Yeah, that’s my favorite thing to do, work with people, but I also love control, so it’s great that I’m my own boss, but I really miss working with people. It’s really hard, you know? You make your own hours, but I never stop - I have to force myself to. When you’re your own boss, it’s live or die – if I’m not doing something productive, I feel like an asshole. So I’m like “I’ve got to do this, but I’ve got to do this and this.” It burns you out really fucking fast, but it’s cool to do everything yourself. It’s cheaper, and it’s easier, and I don’t have to fucking wait. I’m really impatient - it’s not helping with my patience.

Q: Because it takes a longer time when you’re a one-woman show?

Chantal: No, it takes a longer time when you’re not, when you’re waiting for people to do things. I don’t think it’s healthy to not have patience, you know what I mean? And I’m not helping my patience by doing everything myself. As soon as I think of something, I fucking do it, and that’s like my mom. I don’t like that, when you become really impatient with people, so I’m going to try to work on that.

Q: Oh, so it makes you more impatient, because you see that you can get it done quicker?

Chantal: Yes. I go “Oh, well I’ll make my own tee-shirts, I’ll burn my own cds. I can do it all right now, I can send it out tomorrow. I can do everything.” All of this stuff is done because I am impatient, and I also have no money.

Q: No offense, you kinda sound like my boss (both laugh.) He’s like “I could’ve done that myself in a half hour!” I’m like “Sorry, Jesus!”

Chantal: See, that’s the thing: if I had somebody working for me, hopefully I’d be different. I don’t want to get to the point where that’s how I treat other people. You know, my mom used to be like that, and that’s very frustrating.

Q: My mom is a control freak.

Chantal: Yeah, it’s like a bad/good quality.

Q: Mm-hm, because she’s really great if you need practical advice, but she’s also really critical. So it is good and bad at the same time.

Chantal: I hear that. I’m a little harsh, I don’t know how to butter things up. I try to be nice, but I don’t always make it.

Q: That’s the New Yorker in you.

Chantal: It totally is! Somebody was like “Ugh, New Yorkers are so mean” and I said “New Yorkers aren’t mean, they’re just honest.” We’re just blunt – we say things faster so it takes less time. This L.A. shit, “Oh hi, oh my God!”

Q: Oh, is everybody really nice there? Because that happened to me down south, and I couldn’t handle it.

Chantal: Yeah, but I don’t trust it: it’s not real nice. If it was real nice, that would be a different scenario, but everybody’s fake nice. I’d rather have you be - not even an asshole –just short, or whatever. Let’s be real, you know what I mean? That’s the thing, just be real, I don’t give a shit. Yeah, I’m sensitive, but I’ll get over it. Don’t fucking pretend to be nice.

Q: I guess the honesty has something to be said for it, even if you’re kinda smarting from it.

Chantal: I think that’s a New York quality, being blunt. I love it - I’d never want to lose that.

Q: It is, and we expect it back. When we don’t get it, we’re really confused.

Chantal: Yeah, I don’t do well with fake niceties.

Q: Me either, I can’t do it. So, do you have anything that you’d like to add to the ongoing crowdfunding debate? How would you address some of the complaints about it?

Chantal: Well, I don’t know – what’s the current debate?

Q: A lot of the issues have been how the artists are utilizing the funds, whether they’re utilizing them correctly or overbudgeting for things that are unnecessary – if the budget is too bloated.

Chantal: I feel this way about crowdfunding: I think it’s fucked up, the way it’s been marketed. I think the premise is wrong - like Kickstarter should be separate. I look at what I did and what James did, and what most of my friends are doing, as pop-up shops, getting preorders, that’s how I look at crowdfunding Unfortunately, Kickstarter has that stupid stigma of being charity, and it’s not fucking charity. It’s also none of your business really what the band is using the money for. I don’t give a shit. As long as the band releases what they told me they were going to send me, I don’t care if they blow it all up their fucking nose. Go have a fucking party – I don’t know what it takes for somebody to have their creative process, or pay their rent.

Q: And let’s not act like they weren’t doing that thirty years ago, when everyone was on major labels.

Chantal: Yeah, who the fuck cares? I don’t care, as long as I get what I ordered and paid for, that’s great. If somebody donates money out of the goodness of their heart, and they’re like “Well, I hope you spend it on what you say you’re spending it on.” Yes, then maybe you have the right to be fucking upset, but in the meantime, it’s really none of your business. If a band chooses to disclose it, that’s at their own discretion. I don’t like this whole process of like “See, you get to be involved in everything.” I hate people being involved in my finances.

Q: I hear you.

Chantal: It’s really nobody’s fucking business what I make, who I make it from, how I make it, what I spend it on. It’s weird that it’s become this thing now of people being really righteous about it. People saying “Well, you shouldn’t spend it on this, you shouldn’t spend it on that.”

Q: It’s like everybody became a shareholder in your business.

Chantal: Ugh, it’s insane! I actually didn’t get any bad comments when I did mine at all. I was prepared for them, but thankfully, I didn’t. I think it’s because I cleared it in twenty-four hours.

Q: That didn’t hurt. What do you think of people who give away their music?

Chantal: If they can afford to do it, that’s awesome. I unfortunately can’t. Music is the only thing I make at the moment that has value, so that’ all I’ve got. So, I’m not in a position to agree with that for myself. If somebody else wants to do it and devalue their music, then that’s their fucking prerogative.

Q: Do you think that they’re devaluing their music?

Chantal: I think they’re devaluing other people’s music, because then it just sets a precedent.

Q: That the person who charges is a jerk?

Chantal: Yeah, because then it’s like “Well, this person gave it to me for free.” Listen, everybody can do whatever the fuck they want, I don’t give a shit. I’m a situation where I can charge old-school prices for my records, because I make them by hand, which is no fucking sweat off my back. It’s cheaper and faster for me to do, and I enjoy it more – and people enjoy it more - so that’s great. But, if you’re on a major label, you don’t get that luxury.

Q: Yeah, and that’s the trade-off. You don’t have the same level of input or artistic expression.

Chantal: That’s not always true though. I know a ton of people who are on major labels and have complete artistic control – more so than me. My one frustration, really, with doing everything DIY is that I don’t get to do all of what I think are awesome ideas. I don’t get to do videos - I just don’t have the flow to do that stuff.

Q: I was going to ask about a video.

Chantal: I have video ideas for fucking everything, but I just can’t justify the cost.

Q: Could you Kickstart that?

Chantal: I wouldn’t. That, I find a little weird, because it’s not a product, just a visual accompaniment.

Q: What about asking for fan participation, would that be something you would consider?

Chantal: No. Film is actually where I’m most controlling (laughs.) Videos are very important to me.

Q: You want it professional.

Chantal: Yes - and hey, I do DIY ones for myself all the time, just for fun little projects - but when I have a serious music video, I want it to look serious. I just have a vision for it.

Q: I totally understand.

Chantal: I would feel weird about crowdfunding a video, like, you shouldn’t have to pay for this. I feel like that’s the artist’s responsibility, and that’s the sucky part about DIYing: I have no press beyond you and somebody else – which I’m still very appreciative of – but literally nothing.

Q: I feel guilty every day that I’m unable to get my artists into AP or something.

Chantal: I mean, listen, I fucking had a three-year running column in AP, and I don’t get any press from them.

Q: That’s true, you did. Why aren’t they talking to you?

Chantal: Because I don’t put out fucking pop-punk music anymore? I don’t know.

Q: I thought once you get on their radar…but I don’t really understand how that works.
Chantal: Nope.

Q: I haven’t tried to work for a major magazine for a long time, so…

Chantal: The only time I ever get mentioned in there is if James forces them to mention my name in an article he’s doing.

Q: Which he’s good about, yeah.

Chantal: Of course – he’s my number one fan!

Q: I know, I’ve spoken to him twice, and he’s like “So, Chantal…”

Chantal: Yeah, him and Jessicka. My friends are the most supportive people in the entire world. All of the love that I get is from them – they believe in me.

Q: I believe in you.

Chantal: Thank you, I appreciate that. I work really fucking hard, and I’m a little burnt out right now.

Q: I know, I understand. Well, do you have a favorite track currently?

Chantal: Hm, I’m going to have to listen to my own fucking record, I think, indefinitely right now. I listened to a couple when I did a radio show the other day. They played like “Jailbait” or something like that.

Q: “Jailbait” is my favorite.

Chantal: Good. I was like “Ah, Man, I love this song – it’s kind of better than the original.” And I love Andre Williams with a passion - he’s one of the best artists in the entire world. I saw him play when I was sixteen, when I worked at…do you remember Coney Island High?

Q: Of course.

Chantal: I interned there when I was fifteen.

Q: You did not! That’s so fucking cool.

Chantal: Yep. I got a fake i.d. saying that I was twenty-four, and I would go there every day after school and hang posters, deposit money. They entrusted me with, like, a ton of money to bring to the bank, and I was so nervous about bringing it every day.

Q: That’s badass.

Chantal: Yeah, I was working there, and I’d come home for a few hours, then come back late at night and drink and do my homework there. And I stumbled upon Andre Williams playing a show in the tiny upstairs part of the venue, and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I mean, it was orgasmic – I can’t even put into words how incredible it was, and I fell in love with him as an artist. So, I was like “Oh, I want to cover one of his songs one day,” and I finally got to.

Q: Wow, I was going to ask for an anecdote, but that was a perfect one.

Chantal: Right? It was a good time – and he plays still. He had to be in his seventies then, so he’s got to be in his eighties or nineties now, but he’s still touring.

Q: Yeah, Fats Domino still plays - I think he’s ninety also. I was really excited when I found that out.

Chantal: Andre came out in a zoot suit - he looked like a fucking wax caricature – and he does costume changes. It taught me the art - before I was even a musician - of tension and release. The way that he held his words was mind-blowing; it built to this insane tension and frustration that, when released, I realized that my knuckles were fucking white – it was incredible. “White Knuckle Rock N’ Roll,” maybe that’s what we’ll call it.

Q: Hell yeah. So was that the moment when you realized that you wanted to play, or not yet?

Chantal: Oh no, I still haven’t realized (both laugh.) I don’t know, there was no one specific moment. I’ve always loved singing and performing. I’d never really entertained being in a band, being a musician, while growing up, because I was always told that girls who look like me can’t do that sort of thing.

Q: Wow.

Chantal: The whole time that I was in Morningwood, and getting signed, I couldn’t believe it. I thought either people were pulling a joke on me, or I was pulling a joke on other people. They were letting me do all of these things, and then, suddenly I’d be like “Oh, haha, I got everyone to spend millions of dollars on us, and I fooled them!” Or it would turn out to be a prank on me, like “Haha, fuck you!” So, it’s interesting.

Q: It’s still sinking in.

Chantal: It’s fun though – when I get up onstage, I am me, you know? That is who I am, one hundred percent. I like to yell and scream and dance around – it’s cheaper than therapy, I always say.

Q: I can see where it would be a release, yeah.

Chantal: It is. I would say that I spent years learning how to yell by yelling at my mother (both laugh.) It’s really cathartic, being onstage, it really is.

Q: Yeah, I wanted to be a performer once, but I can’t keep my head up onstage.

Chantal: What do you mean?

Q: I stare at the floor.

Chantal: Oh no! I stare at people in the eye, like “I’m going to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Q: Yeah, I can’t be that confrontational onstage, it’s a problem.

Chantal: For me, it’s the only time I really can be.

Q: Interesting.

Chantal: Yeah, I’m not a very confrontational person.

Q: You know, I hear from a lot of really intense performers that, when they’re person-to-person with somebody, it’s more intimidating.

Chantal: Oh, a hundred million percent, yeah. I could do well in front of ten thousand people, but put me in a room with one to two people, and, if I had to perform in front of them, I’d shit my fucking pants. I hate it.

Q: It’s kind of like how I’m great in interviews, but then if I have to talk to you just regular, I can’t do that. I’ll wind up being like “Uh, I think it’s raining again” (both laugh.) I guess it’s just a different platform.

Chantal: Interesting.

Q: Yeah, I don’t know why. So, could we get a quick backstory on “Tiny Violin?” I really like that one.

Chantal: Oh, well “Tiny Violin” is just my impression of the music industry.

Q: Ahh.

Chantal: I’ve realized that if my songs are not written for somebody else, I’m usually just singing to myself.

Q: You’re talking to yourself in the song?

Chantal: Yeah. In a lot of songs, I’m talking to myself.

Q: Like a diary.

Chantal: It is, and that’s why it’s cathartic when I sing these songs. Like with “Pleasure
Seeker,” I hadn’t realized when I wrote that song that it would be so fucking therapeutic.

Q: That’s the one about your dad, right?

Chantal: Yeah, and I had no idea until a year or two into the process of performing it, I was like “Oh man, this actually makes me feel better.” It was an epiphany. I actually was going to change “Tiny Violin.” It’s all about “Oh, I must be rich, I must be famous,” but I recorded it as is. I think if I ever performed it live, I would change it.

Q: You could now make it a new version of the song.

Chantal: Yeah. That one, I’m singing to myself, but a lot of people in the music industry identify with it.

Q: Oh yes.

Chantal: It’s a common thing, you know? So much of this is to show other people, and to prove yourself to people who told you that you fucking couldn’t do shit. That’s where a lot of my drive comes from.

Q: Well, you know, art isn’t highly encouraged by most people. They don’t think you’re going to make a living at it.

Chantal: Rightfully so: it is hard to make a living at it. I don’t recommend this life for everybody at all.

Q: Everybody says that: “Don’t do what I’m doing!”

Chantal: I mean, when it’s fun, it’s really fun, it’s great, but when it’s not, it really fucking sucks, and it’s heartbreaking. Everybody I know, from the top to the bottom, agree that it’s a really hard thing to do.

Q: Because it’s so raw. You’re really putting yourself out there in front of a lot of people, and the rejection can be a million times worse.

Chantal: I totally agree: your job is to be an emotional creature, unless you were writing…I don’t even know.

Q: Yeah, I don’t know what you’d be writing where you wouldn’t be being emotional – maybe techno?

Chantal: I love techno! I love most pop music. Yeah, but it’s a hard job, it’s not easy. I don’t envy anybody – I only envy people that have real estate.

Q: And lots of it, in really great places.

Chantal: Right. I don’t envy people who are fucking prettier, or whatever, just people who have houses all over the world and can afford to get to them.

Q: I envy people who can just afford to do whatever they want, and help everybody that they want to help, and don’t have anything holding them back.

Chantal: Yeah…and, oh! The other thing that sucks about being DIY is that I can’t afford to tour, so that sucks.

Q: That does suck.

Chantal: I can only play shows in L.A., and that’s the worst part, I guess, is that I haven’t gotten to tour as a solo artist, ever.

Q: Couldn’t a street team help with something like that though?

Chantal: I don’t know – I don’t really have a street team anymore; I don’t know what happened to the girl who ran it (both laugh.)

Q: Maybe we should look her up.

Chantal: I just can’t physically afford to get to a place – a street team couldn’t help with that. It costs a lot of money to do that shit yourself, like it’s crazy – and then you’re like “For what?” I have no fucking press, no PR, or anything. I’m going to, what, show up, play to ten fucking people, and spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars? Especially when you’re in a band – you have to pay the people in your band just to show up. It’s a lot of fucking money.

Q: I “know, it is really hard, and I think a lot of fans of music forget that part, when they’re like “Why don’t you ever play here?”

Chantal: The worst is when you announce “I’m coming to New York,” and they’re like “Why couldn’t you play this town outside of New York?” “Yes, you’re right, that makes total sense. Why don’t I pick up my whole fucking entourage of people and come to play in your shitbag of a town, rather than you getting off your fucking ass and traveling ten minutes to come to the show?”

Q: You’re right, you have a better shot at getting exposure where there are things going on at least. I don’t know how you do it now, though – do you hop onto a showcase, like a CMJ thing, or maybe Warped Tour?

Chantal: Usually, one should, if everything’s working, but the ideal would be to get onto a bill with a bigger artist, make some of their fans, and do that a bunch of times with different artists, and then go out on your own and play a show. If little pockets of fans from all of those bigger artists show up, then you’ve got your own crowd.

Q: I was speaking to a band once, who actually wasn’t unheard of, but they were in the opening slot, and they were telling me that they had to get off the tour – they couldn’t afford to continue.

Chantal: Oh, that’s sad.

Q: Yeah, I felt really bad.

Chantal: Aw, that sucks. Unfortunately, a lot of headlining bands don’t pay, just because the money for them has gone down too – everything’s gone down.

Q: They don’t have it.

Chantal: Opening bands don’t earn anything now, so it’s all out of pocket. Sometimes, headliners have bands pay them.

Q: What, you’re paying to play for the headliner?

Chantal: Yeah, and listen, if you’re buying somebody’s fans, then you’re buying somebody’s fans, you know? I get that as well. I get all sides of it, I’m very logical. It doesn’t mean that that it’s good, (laughs) but I understand it.

Q: I don’t know - I don’t want to judge anybody for their business practices, but I feel like that’s kind of douche-y, to look at a younger band and be like “Eh, pay me.”

Chantal: But the cost of putting on a headlining show, in addition to paying a band who’s going to bring zero people, and are just going to walk away with your fucking fans, when you could just do “An Evening With?” I totally understand that – in fact, I actually encourage that, I think it’s fucking smart as shit. As a person who’s opening, of course I wouldn’t want that, but I can’t fault anybody for adding to their pocket and downsizing their cost. The cost of touring is…

Q: Astronomical, I know.

Chantal: It’s insanity – to break even is lucky.

Q: I guess the best way to go about it is to be that guy with the acoustic guitar in the coffee house.

Chantal: That, or be a fucking dj, like Skrillex.

Q: Oh God, do they make money, Jesus Christ! Wow, I had no idea.

Chantal: Yeah, that’s the trick – get a fucking iPod and plug it in.

Q: It’s lucrative as shit, I’m just learning that.

Chantal: I’ve now brought my band down from an eight-person band to as small as I could get it: three people.

Q: Yeah, because you’ve got to pay people, and that’s not an easy thing to do. I think everybody forgets how costly it is.

Chantal: They really do. Listen, I would love to come play a show, I just fucking can’t, it doesn’t make sense. When it’s all coming out of your pocket, and you’re like “Hm, should I pay my rent or should I go on tour and make zero fans? Um, I think I’ll just stay home and pay my rent.” I think, this whole time, I’ve been thinking of myself as a musician, and if my music doesn’t do amazingly well, then I’m a failure. But, I always forget that the people I look up to are weird-ass fucking people who run around and do all sorts of things, like movies.

Q: Comics.

Chantal: Radio. All over entertainment, doing whatever the fuck is interesting, you know? Those are the people I love and want to be like, that’s cool.

Q: I’m excited for you.

Chantal: Yes, there is a ton of great stuff happening! Unfortunately, you got me at kind of a low point.

Q: No worries, Dude, I rant at my friends all the time.

Chantal: I love my record, and I’m so proud of it.

Q: It’s an amazing record – you did an awesome job. I love it too.

Chantal: Thank you! I just would love for people to hear it, but I’m resigned that they may not. The thing with this record - and the last one – is that I don’t consider them failures. If they came out on a major label, had a million dollars behind them, and nobody fucking bought them, that’s a failure. But, if I’m burning cds in my living room or whatever, it’s more like a secret, because nobody knows about it.

Q: That’s a good way to look at it.

Chantal: It could always find a life somewhere else, or something could happen that could blow it up - I always have hope. They always make me money in little ways.

Q: As long as you’re eating.

Chantal: Yeah, I’m fine, trust me. Don’t worry about me.

Q: Doesn’t this feel like one of those conversations you have with your family members who only catch up with you once every three months, and you’re like “This happened, and then that happened, and this person fucking sucks…but no, I’m fine, don’t worry! Don’t fly down here, Aunt Sally, I’m fine” (both laugh.) Hey, you know what, I know it’s out, but it’s early.

Chantal: It’s a little baby secret, and I don’t mind any of it. I love being able to do what I do, but it just gets frustrating.

Q: I know.

Chantal: I cry, I’m going to say, realistically, once every two days.

Q: Aw.

Chantal: I’m a sensitive person to begin with, but I’m also tough.

Q: Me too – I think that’s why we’re tough, to hide the sensitivity.

Chantal: I’m shitting on it right now, but I love the process. It’s just the actuality when it comes out, like “Well…”

Q: No, you know, you’ve shed some cool light on some things that maybe people needed to understand a little bit better, so hopefully they will.

Chantal: (laughing) I sound like Larry David.

Q: (laughing too) You kind of are. Hey, you know what? It worked for him.

Chantal: But all it takes is one good thing happening, and I’m the happiest person ever. I just like it when things are moving.

Q: Yeah, I know, it sucks to be stagnant.

Chantal: It doesn’t take a lot for me to happy, and it doesn’t take a lot for me to be upset, but as long as things are just working, I’m happy, that’s it. I like to be working, and I like it when things I’ve done are working for me.

Q: Well, hopefully, this mysterious thing which just showed up will do that for you.

Chantal: Fingers crossed! I’m literally knocking on wood.

Q: I’m crossing them.

Chantal: Life could potentially get really fucking interesting right now – we will see what happens.

Q: That is a great way to end an interview.

Chantal: The music is just a part of it, you know what I mean? But I didn’t realize that before. It took this record, of me being so upset, to realize that I don’t have to look at it that way. And it’s all me, like how I think about myself. Maybe I’m not just a musician. Maybe that’s just a part of it, and something I do - and do fucking amazingly - (laughs) but maybe there’s more to my life and career, and that’s opened up the world to me.

Q: To not leave yourself in a box.

Chantal: Yeah, because I have, this whole time. I considered myself a failure because I’m not a fucking super-successful musician. But I’m not a failure, I just have to allow myself to do other things.

Q: You’re not a failure. I mean, I know we tell ourselves that stuff, but…

Chantal: I’m very harsh with myself.

Q: No, I know, we all do that to ourselves, but you’re not, you know? It’s not like you’re still stuck in your bedroom alone.

Chantal: And if I put it into real perspective, if I think about all of the people who don’t get to fucking do this, who don’t get to make music…I mean, think about every song that’s ever been written, every fucking day, week and year by people who have a voice, and talent that never gets heard by anybody. I am so fortunate that any people – from a hundred to a thousand – like what I do. I’m super psyched about that, and I’m happy that anybody wants to come and see me play anywhere in the fucking world. I will never stop being in awe of that, you know? But, you have expectations for yourself.

Q: Sure.

Chantal: That’s what disappoints me, is my own expectations. I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to manage those – it’s what I’ve been focusing on for the past year.

Q: I guess the ability to morph your creativity into other directions, and get yourself out from being pigeonholed, is the point.

Chantal: Yeah. When I thought about quitting music, up until recently, I’d be like “Ugh, that means I have to go get a job” - which I don’t get, by the way, when I apply to it.

Q: You’re probably overqualified.

Chantal: I have never gotten a call back…I don’t even know what they’re calling for, when they call back? An interview?

Q: A second interview?

Chantal: I never have gotten an interview when I’ve sent out my resume, so, as opposed to thinking “Oh, if I’m not making music, I have to go work at Target” – which, by the way, is an awesome job, and I’m not putting it down – but…

Q: But that’s it, if music doesn’t work out, because that’s all you can do forever.

Chantal: In my mind, that’s what I picture, but I recently have realized that there are other things that other people see me doing. That’s the thing: the reason that I got into music was that way too - I’d never allowed myself to think about it before. When I first met Pedro, he said “You should be in a band with me,” and I was like “What? I can be in a band? Fuck yeah, I’ll be in a band!” and I gave it my everything, you know? A hundred and fifty million percent. That’s when you get heartbroken – when you put everything into something, and it doesn’t work out the way you want.

Q: I know. I think all artists feel that way.

Chantal: Of course, yeah. That’s why managing your expectations is so fucking hard, and that’s what I’m trying to do.

Q: That is a friggin’ great life hack. We all get stuck that way; we all get disappointed because the one thing that we banked on didn’t go where it was supposed to go, and now everything’s over. We have to learn how to revamp those thoughts, it’s important.

Chantal: Yeah, it takes a long time to teach yourself how to do that.

Q: Psh, I’m still learning.

Chantal: I really don’t know how to even do it properly, but I’m trying.

Q: You know that’s what you’re supposed to do, but some days are better than others.

Chantal: I’ve got a very optimistic, excited imagination, so when I hear about things, I’m like “Ah, yeah, and then this, and this, and that,” and then it’s nothing.

Q: Oh yeah, you get gung-ho, then you wake up in the morning like “Fuck this.”

Chantal: “Fuck all of those plans, I was going to be president! Ah, forget it.”

Q: That’s true. We start out with the typical fairytale dreams that all little kids have, but then, even as adults, we can get caught up in the path that we’ve set.

Chantal: As an artist, you’re taught to encourage your fantasies – that’s where all of your work comes from. So then, when you create these fantasies for yourself, it’s hard not to bring them into your practical life. I have a very overactive imagination, in both good and bad ways. There’s the horrible nightmare way and the “I’m going to be a superstar!” way, you know?

Q: I do know.

Chantal: You have to teach yourself, as an artist, to only allow yourself to have that in your work, and not in your life.

Q: I don’t know if I can separate them, myself.

Chantal: No, I don’t know if anybody can.

Q: It’s a good idea, but I think it bleeds. I think the way that we think is the reason that we’re artists.

Chantal: Of course.

Q: Well, Mamasita, we’ve pondered just about everything there is to be pondered, and now we have a crappy phone connection, so it’s probably about that time.

Chantal: Aw! Well, it was lovely to talk to you! I hope I didn’t sound like such a crybaby (laughs.)

Q: No, not at all! I can totally relate, don’t even worry. You’re real, and I appreciate that. A lot of artists try to put on like a persona, and it’s silly.

Chantal: I am too lazy to lie, I always say.

Q: That’s what I say, too. I’m myself, and that’s it – I couldn’t keep up with that persona.

Chantal: Yeah, I do not have enough energy to be anybody else.

Q: You’re going to fuck it up anyway, eventually. You’re going to forget something.

Chantal: And, anyway, A) I hate people that lie, and I’m a horrible liar, but B) Just, why? People that lie about ridiculous things, make up things about their lives – it makes no sense to me.

Q: Yeah, I know. I mean, I get the persona thing, I get that you’re hiding behind it, being mysterious, but it’s silly, because art is supposed to be about reality, in some way.

Chantal: It’s not, anymore.

Q: Nope.

Chantal: I think it’s taken a turn for the worse.

Q: Well, let’s not call anybody out, but…the whole persona thing?

Chantal: I don’t understand it, it’s, like, offensive to me, but I’m also envious of people who can keep that up. Literally, I can’t do that.

Q: I don’t know how they do it, either – I would be confused.

Chantal: It’s so time-consuming to do it, too, it seems really hard – or maybe it’s easier, I don’t fucking know. Hats off to you, if you can wake up every morning, and walk around pretending to be somebody all fucking day, you are living it – you are living that character.

Q: You’re like an actor all the time, or something.

Chantal: All the time, and that’s crazy! Like, more fucking power to you, but…

Q: I can’t do it, either, I’ll crack within the hour.

Chantal: I’m too fucking lazy, I wouldn’t have the energy.

Q: Me either, it’s too hard. Even when I meet people important, I’m like “Look, this is what it is, I’m sorry, I can’t do much better for you.”

Chantal: And I think a lot of times, it gets to that point too, you know?

Q: It does. You have to accept your shortcomings.

Chantal: When we got signed to Capitol, the president of the label at the time, Andy Slater, said something to me that has stuck with me. We had played a showcase, and I was like “Eh, we’re not going to get signed, whatever,” because there was just a whole lot of drama behind it. I said “Fuck it, fuck these guys. They had us play a showcase with The fucking Bravery, in a garage.

Q: The Bravery? Okay…

Chantal: Yeah, it was their showcase that we got added onto. I was like “Fuck this place” They had us playing in the worst place. It was like they were winning, setting us up to fail. I said “We’re going to make their ears bleed. Fuck these people, fuck everybody.” The next day, we got called in as we were on our way to the airport – I thought we were in trouble for something – but instead, he said “I want to sign you guys.”

Q: That’s awesome!

Chantal: I was like “What?” He said to me “I believe you.”

Q: That was the reason he gave you? That’s friggin’ cool.

Chantal: Yeah, and I didn’t understand at the time, but I said “Okay.” Now, I fucking get it. Having been in the industry since 2006 – if we can call that the official start time – I totally get it, because I don’t believe 99.9% of the things I see, and when I do, it makes all the difference.

Q: It really does, and I’ve found myself doing that over the course of time with the artists that I’m trying to represent, like I’ve got to feel you, or it doesn’t work.

Chantal: Yep, “I believe you” means the most.

Q: I’m going to take that with me when I attempt to write something of worth (both laugh.)

Chantal: Believe me! Have a wonderful evening, and thank you for getting in touch with me.

Q: Thank you for your time.


Read up, listen up:
http://www.chantalclaret.com/
https://soundcloud.com/chantalclaret

Watch a vid:

https://www.youtube.com/user/talkoffyourclothes

Buy some shit:

http://chantalclaret.bigcartel.com/

Give Chantal a shout:

https://twitter.com/chantalclaret
https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsChantalClaret
http://chantalclaretnews.tumblr.com/
https://instagram.com/chantalclaret/



 

 


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