Interview with Alela Diane: On Her New Album, the Northwest, and Nevada City

We posted about Alela Diane a few days ago, mentioning her appearance with her new band Wild Divine at the 2010 Seattle Folk Festival, Dec 12 at Town Hall Seattle. But that was just a teaser. Now we have an exclusive interview with her, and we took the opportunity to delve deep into the mystery of her music, especially her new album coming in early 2011, her new band and her roots in her hometown of Nevada City, CA and her adopted town of Portland, OR.

Here’s what we said about Alela in our last blog post: “We love Alela Diane not just for her dreamy voice and her lyrics, which are the audio equivalent of a long walk through dark woods, but for her connection to our hometown of Nevada City, CA, a beautiful town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada which has developed quite the indie-folk scene. The iconic singer Joanna Newsom hails from Nevada City, as does Alela’s musical friends Alina Hardin and Mariee Sioux, and a host of lesser-known indie folksters. It’s a magical place, where the deep, dark gold mines and the soft mysticism of the Yuba River have inspired many artists. And this magic shines through in Alela’s songs.”

Here’s our interview with Alela:

Alela Diane, Photo by Chloe Richard

Hearth Music: You’re now appearing as Alela Diane & Wild Divine. So who’s in Wild Divine? Is Wild Divine different from the backing band you had on To Be Still?

Alela Diane: Wild Divine is composed of my Dad, Tom Menig & my husband, Tom Bevitori, who have been touring with me from the beginning and a new rhythm section, Jonas Haskins & Jason Merculief of Seattle.

HM: What’s married life like? Your husband Tom plays in the band right? Are you surprised that your touring life is so connected to family, with your father and husband both in the band? Or is this just a natural extension of how you grew up with music in the family? Would you see your children one day joining in the band?

AD: Married life is really cute. We love it, and while at home it mostly involves sitting by the fire, making the house even lovelier and going out to breakfast. Pretty ideal, really.

Alela and Tom together onstage. A song off the new album?

Everyone is always amazed that I tour with not only my husband, but also the D.A.D. – and I guess it is crazy, but for us, it’s totally regular. We call them Big T and Little T, because they are both named ‘Tom.’

So far as our children joining in, I don’t foresee throwing tiny ‘Tom’ or ‘Pearl’ or whoever they may be called on the fiddle or kazoo unless it’s something they are truly passionate about. Kids have to do their own thing – and come to things naturally. My parents are very musical, but they never forced it on me – and it took me a while to realize it is something I love. If my mom had forced me to sing traditional Mexican folk songs with her (which is what she was doing while I was in high school) – things would be very different, and I might not be making music at all….

Alela and Tom Bevitori, photo by Chloe Richard

HM: How’s your connection to the indie music world worked for your career? It seems more and more young folk musicians are being embraced by the indie community, while being ignored by the folk music community. Do you feel like you fit in well with the indie music industry?

AD: I fit someplace in the mix – I’m not really sure. I’ve played some traditional style folk festivals, but I’ve mostly been on the circuit of dirty bars (in the US, that is). I think I just do what I do, and whoever wants to include me is welcome to… I haven’t chosen sides yet.

HM:
You’ve come a long way since your first CD, which I have a copy of, that you wrapped in grocery bag paper and sewed lace on to the side. Have you kept to your DIY roots? How has your fan base changed from your early work?

AD: I spent so many hours stitching those record sleeves together! These days, my crafty hands are busy doing other projects – like making house & altering clothes. I leave record manufacturing up to some other folks now, but from time to time, I do offer hand done AD shirts that I adorn with lace & gold buttons at shows, or via internet. I think the fans have perhaps changed but it’s really hard to say, some have probably grown with me along the way, while others, I’m sure, were more keen on my earlier, more raw, material.

HM: Tell me about the new album and the new songs. What are you excited about that’s new to the music? What are some of the songs about and what inspired them?

AD: The upcoming record is a bit of a jaunt down a new path. It’s the sound of me with a band – and is the first album I’ve made with the direction of a producer. We worked with a guy named Scott Litt, who is amazing to work with. He helped to facilitate the creation of something exciting and like nothing I’ve ever done. The songs on this record also feel different – many of them were co-written by my husband & I, which is something I had never done before. Having some one else come up with the chord changes provided me with the opportunity to create melodies that would not have arrived otherwise. Much of the lyrical content on the record was written while touring To Be Still, and as a result, there is a lot of road in there. I also tend to write about my mom relentlessly, or so she likes to point out – and there are two of those songs. Death is another topic that snuck on– but not without the light needed to balance it.

HM: What’s up with freak folk? Seems like everyone hated that label, and I haven’t heard it bandied around very much anymore. But you seem to have gotten your first break from that New York Times article on freak folk. What are your thoughts on the label? And do you feel an affinity for other freak folk artists like Devandra Bandhart, Iron & Wine (with whom you toured) and so on?

AD: I can’t explain the “freak folk’ label more than the next person – I think it’s just one of those terms invented by the press that everyone ran with. I don’t feel a connection to the term in the slightest – it kind of bums me out to be honest.

HM: Describe Nevada City, California to the readers. I grew up in Nevada City/Grass Valley myself, and I love the area, but I’d like to hear how you describe it. What makes that area so magical?

AD: It’s such a good place. Nevada City & Grass Valley are small towns with a 4 mile stretch of road between them. They were booming during the gold rush, and the downtown areas of both are very old fashioned, looking pretty much the same as they did in 1849. There is a beautiful river of emerald water that flows through the canyon outside of Nevada City, and I’ve yet to find a better swimming hole anywhere. Pine trees are scattered throughout & the dirt is the color of rust. The seasons’ changes are amazing – hot summers, an occasional scatter of snow that sticks around for a few days in winter, the brightest fall leaves deciduous trees can offer, and such lovely, hopeful blossoms come April. Aside from the beauty of the place itself, there is a wonderful community of people there – it’s close knit and intertwined – which can be wonderful or terribly small feeling, depending on who you run into.

A favorite Yuba River swimming hole

HM: Your music seems to be very rooted to your natural environment. I still love the verse, “when you laugh, all the star thistles tumble out”. Anyone growing up in Nevada City would remember those impossibly spiny little flowers growing everywhere. In fact, some of the best honey was always star thistle honey. How did your early music reflect your childhood and adolescence in Nevada City?

AD: The songs I’ve written, especially the earlier ones, are deeply influenced by my childhood, my family & where I grew up. If I’d had a different life – these songs would not exist at all – they are just little collages of home & what I’ve known.

HM: Is there a Nevada City sound, in your opinion? With artists like you, Joanna Newsom, Matt Bauer, Mariee Sioux, Benjamin Oak Goodman, Alina Hardin coming out of the region, it’s hard not to see a kind of lo-fi, organic folk movement brewing.

AD: We all mention the pines in one way or another, we all grew up in swimming in the river – to me it is those natural references that are the common thread. It’s not the sound, per say, but that when I hear the mention of our common home in song, I know exactly what is being said. I know the “rusty light on the pines tonight” from Joanna’s song [“Emily“], I know Mariee’s Faces in the Rocks and “Leaf and Branch in this here town” – – – those are the similarities I notice.

“BE YOURSELF” GRAHAM NASH 2010 TRIBUTE ADVANCE EPK #2 promo from (((folkYEAH!))) on Vimeo.

A Nevada City Sound? Grass Roots Record Co, lead Nevada City indie label, just released this all-star tribute to Graham Nash

HM: How has your music changed now that you live in Portland, Oregon? I find myself really tied to the natural environment around where I live, but I still haven’t gotten used to N. Oregon or Washington’s nature. I still don’t like the spindly trees, the marshy forests and everything being so overgrown and moldy. I miss the Ponderosa pines, Yuba river, forest trails carpeted with pine needles, the dry, red dirt of N. California. How have you adjusted to the Northwest’s environment?

AD: I have truly fallen for the Northwest. I love the greenery – the forever lushness of the land here. It’s much drier in California, smoke usually fills the skies down there in the late summer because the tawny hills catch fire so easily. I don’t miss that. I’ve really acclimated to the climate here with the presence & strength of the tall trees, and the overgrowth. It seems sleepy somehow, and more mystical – I like that. Of course my heart adores everything I’ve come from down south – but I don’t really compare the two places. I love both, and they are very different. In every move I’ve made and all the roads I’ve traveled – the songs have illustrated the path along the way. I sing about what is current, and also tend to throw in what is nostalgic, and forever in my core.

Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, OR
HM: Has Portland’s music scene been supportive of your work? There are so many amazing artists in Portland, and that must lend a great energy to everything, but it seems like competition for press and venues can be pretty hardcore.

AD: Portland took me in with a true warmth when I first started playing out in 2005. She’s always been kind – people here are good. Lately, I haven’t performed much around town, so for that reason, I’m a little out of touch with what is currently going on music-wise. But I’ve the feeling that when ever I decide to leave my house & sing out, Portland will greet me with open arms once again, that’s the hope at least..

HM: What are some of your favorite bands in Portland’s music scene? I’d love to know what bands you’re inspired by that are your contemporaries.

AD: Husband Tom and some of his friends are in a charming and sometimes whiskey laden country band called ‘DENVER.’ I like what they do! Also, my dear friend Alina Hardin, has started playing solo shows around town as well. I love all the Blitzen Trapper boys, we’ve had some great times touring with them & always have a great time at their local gigs.

Alela Diane guesting with Blitzen Trapper on their new music video

HM: Give us a quick tour of some of your favorite Portland haunts. Where do you like to go for great food, or coffee, or books?

AD: I love Stumptown Coffee – but prefer to make it at home, or get it at Albina Press on upper Hawthorne. We have a very favorite Sunday brunch spot, but I have to keep it a secret because it’s SO GOOD, and there is NEVER a line – It would disrupt our sneaky routine and nosh were I to reveal it’s identity, but I promise, it’s awesome. Also, my lovely friend Margaux Rust, has a very cute vintage boutique called the “Clawhammer and Clothespin” which is on SE Division, and is wonderful.

HM: Tell me about your album with Alina Hardin. That is a beautiful album, and it’s so nice to hear you covering traditional material. What inspired you to make the album? Did you release a physical record, or is it just digital?

AD: Alina & I had been touring together for quite some time prior to recording Alela & Alina. The songs on the record were one’s we’d work on in windowless rooms in the depths of venues all over the place. Rough Trade wanted an ep – so we pulled it together in a few days between tours – singing songs we knew, and loved. It’s available on 10” vinyl and also as a digital download – It’s not available on CD.

HM: What’s your connection to traditional music? I know your dad’s tied into Nevada City’s folk scene, so you probably were around the music when you were young, but do you listen to traditional folk songs now? Do you draw inspiration from them?

AD: My parents are the reason I have a connection to traditional music. They’d sit around the kitchen table when I was a girl & sing all those old songs. Many of the songs I know were ingrained in my head before the age of 3. I know all the words to some that I’ve no conscious memory of ever hearing. It’s mostly music from my past – I don’t have any great collection of records that I draw from currently…. But wow – I do love the old songs.

Thanks to Alela Diane for the interview! You can catch her and her new band Wild Divine on Sunday, Dec 12 at Town Hall Seattle for the first-ever Seattle Folk Festival. www.seattlefolkfestival.com

PS: Word is that Alela Diane & Wild Divine will be touring in 2011 to support the new album, and touring with labelmate Dylan Leblanc. Check out their beautiful cover of Dylan’s song “If the Creek Don’t Rise”: