My Interview with Australian Singer/Songwriter Jen Buxton, formerly of Like….Alaska

Australian singer-songwriter Jen Buxton, formerly of Like… Alaska, is easily one my new favorite artists. Her debut solo record Don’t Change Your Plans for Me deals honestly (often times brutally) with love, heartbreak, autonomy, and the hard and not-so-simple art of getting over someone. I was lucky enough to catch up with Jen to discuss (among other things) motherhood, the Boys’ Club that is the alt-country genre, and her new, optimistic outlook on love. I am absolutely intrigued by her and her music, and I think you will be too.

So, let’s talk about the Boys’ Club that is currently the alt-country genre. You did some guest spots with some of the best of those boys on the Australian leg of The Revival Tour, which had to feel pretty good. What was it like?

It is kind of a man’s game, huh! There are some women out there doing amazing things, especially over where you are—Jenny Owen Youngs, Audra Mae, Valerie June, Mamie Minch, the Anderson family girls—but yeah, it does seem to be mostly boys. I play a lot of shows where I am the only woman on stage for the whole bill, and I am kind of conscious of that I guess. Me and the girl workin’ the door are the only women involved in the whole operation, that kinda thing haha.

The voices I remember hearing growing up are all women’s voices: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Loretta Lynn, Emmylou, and all the rest, but maybe that’s atypical. Everyone involved with the Revival Tour are incredible musicians and people, and that’s got nothing to do with their gender. I had an amazing time and have had the opportunity since and prior to play with Chuck [Ragan], Tom Gabel, Frank Turner, Tim Barry, and Joey Cape,and none of them could be thought of in any way as sexist or anything like that. They’ve just put in the hard work and have the talent, and deserve to be where they are. Remembering too that Jill Ragan is the grease on the wheels of the whole thing, she is one incredible lady!

I guess I can’t explain the disparity; I’m probably just not looking in the right places. I think alt-country is just a microcosm of a lot of other music genres which tend to have a gender imbalance, and as a feminist that is kind of an issue for me, but I don’t really have the answers. Coming up through the punk and hardcore scene in my hometown I’ve always thought more girls should be picking up guitars. I look to some of my favourite artists like Ani Difranco, who has been touring and putting out albums for twenty years, Cat Power, Mirah, Kathleen Hannah—they are out there, and they are the people who drove me when I started. Hopefully, I will inspire a few ladies and show ‘em it’s not just boys’ fun; you can write songs about drinking and girls too! Hahaha.

Your debut solo album Don’t Change Your Plans was released on April 4th of this year by Poison City Records. One of my favorite songs is “You and I Are Past Our Dancing Phase.” Tons of people write about heartbreak, but very few write about how that heartbreak was a result of choosing autonomy over the mainstream romantic ideal. Do you get many people commenting on that, or thanking you for writing about it?

You’re actually the first person who has singled that one out! I’m glad you like it. I guess that song for me was written when I was fairly disenchanted with the ideology of love. I’d had my heart broke and was feelin’ pretty jaded, and I wasn’t really interested in the whole starry-eyed Hallmark thing. I don’t really buy into fetishised romance, losing your identity and direction totally; I got alotta shit to get done, you know? Haha. Things are how they are. Songwriting is highly self-indulgent for me, and that was sort of a period where I just wanted to go to a bar and have a good time and not feel like I was answerable to anybody anymore. I guess that’s not very ladylike, but oh well. I hope my mama doesn’t read this interview. All that being said, I gotta say here I have actually since met somebody pretty amazing, and it would be remiss of me not to mention that I may have slightly reconsidered my views on the matter.

Here’s an easy one: Who are you listening to these days? Any favorites? I always love knowing who inspires those who inspire me.

I’m a creature of habit when it comes to music. I tend to rely on a few trusty staples: Jawbreaker, Old 97s, Cory Branan, Bright Eyes, Cat Power. Bands like The Bronx and Modern Life is War. I still listen to the music I grew up with like Billie Holiday and Neil Young, and I definitely have a totally unironic Fleetwood Mac tattoo. I probably haven’t gone more than a few days in the last six years without listening to something by Lucero. There are some amazing Australian bands like Blueline Medic, Fear Like Us, and Tyre Swans that I kinda came of age with; pretty much anything Jamie Hay or Donnie Dureau touches turns to gold. Most of my passion for newer music comes from the people I meet playing shows: Isaac Graham and Wil Wagner & the Smith Street band are two of my absolute favourites at the moment.

You have an adorable new baby boy. I’m curious, how has becoming a mother affected your songwriting, if at all?

Oh god, what songwriting? Hahaha. Yeah, I am the full time mama of a nine-month old, I’m studying for my degree, play shows pretty much weekly, and somewhere in there I like to pretend I have a social life too. I gave up on eating and sleeping a long time ago. It’s hard to find the time to sit and be still and write, plus my boy hates when I play anything that isn’t Cory Branan. Don’t get me wrong, the kid has impeccable taste, but it makes writing your own material a little difficult!

My songwriting process is pretty intensive; I like my lyrics to be multi-layered, I’m a perfectionist, and I’m also way too long-winded. It took me three years to write the song about my dad on the record. I’m very jealous of people who can write quickly, since it has always been a very laborious cartharsis for me. I have a few projects coming up later this year that I am working on material for, and I still like to get to shows whenever I can, so there is a lot of inspiration around. I’ll have a bolt from the blue that comes to me when I’m out and about, and I’ll write a few lines and come back to them later, when I have a spare hour or two. Thank god for smartphones and beer coasters!

Last but not least, when do you think you’ll do your first U.S. tour? I, for one, am dying to see you live!

Thank you! Since the record came out, I have had a lot of wonderful support from people internationally. The internet has made making music a totally different ball game. I am still kind of in awe of the idea that there are folks over there who are listening to it and liking it; I still tell my ma whenever I see a copy in a local record store. I have been blessed to play some crazy-big amazing shows, but I still play a lot of very small pub gigs here where I live, so there is a kind of surreality about it. I like it; keeps you humble.

I’m hoping to come to the States sometime in 2013. There are a couple of people I’ve been lucky enough to play with who have drunkenly offered me a show or two over there, so I think it might be time to cash in some favours!

(See the original posting of this interview on The Vinyl District. You can see other interviews by me here as well.)