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Revue Noir: An Interview with Nicki Jaine
by Nicolás Díaz González
How did you start in songwriting?
When I was very young, I started making up songs. I'd work on them in my head while I was playing, I'd sing them out loud & sometimes I'd write them down. At the time I didn't think of it as "songwriting", I was just making up music & I loved it.
What do you look for in a song? What's your main interest when composing a song?
I usually look for a certain feeling that it gives me more than a very tangible, observable element. When I compose a song, it's often a very Dr. Frankenstein-like process. I have many different ideas for lyrics, bridges, intros, verses& I put them together in different ways, until the pieces seem to be in the right places & then there's this "It's alive!" moment.
What albums changed your life?
Well, this isn't an album, but a song & video that really had an impact on me. When I was a kid, I remember watching Shakespeare's Sister video for their song, "Stay" on MTV. When the bridge to the song started & the second vocalist came in with her dark, haunting voice, I remember being completely in awe. I thought, "That's what I'm going to be when I grow up." Another thing that was very influential to me a few years later, was when my father gave me a copy of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung". I loved the album so much and it inspired me greatly.
Please, tell us about your previous projects, Torn Paper Dolls and your solo career.
In the summer of 2001, I began to perform regularly, form friendships with other artists and explore my own creativity more intensely. It was a really exciting time for me.
My interest in having a band began to grow, I met some very creative individuals and Torn Paper Dolls was born. The energy at the live performances was really amazing & we had a great artistic chemistry. Unfortunately, things weren't as wonderful offstage as they were onstage, which eventually led to the end of the band in 2003.
After the band broke up, I began performing solo again. The friends whose bands I opened for in the following months were one of the things that made the transition from being in a band, back to being a solo artist a wonderful time, when it could have been really difficult.
How did you get in touch with Sam Rosenthal?
I met Sam at the Middle Pillar Christmas party in December, 2003. A mutual friend introduced us and we quickly became friends. The following September, I went on tour with Black Tape for a Blue Girl and after the tour, Sam & I started Revue Noir.
Even when your work has roots in different types of music, you have been welcomed to the Goth scene. Does it help to show your music to the world, or just makes it harder, by labeling your style?
One of my first shows was at Club Nostradamus in Philadelphia, opening up for Carfax Abbey. I was a little bit nervous about this, because Carfax Abbey is a very talented & well established Goth band & there I was, a girl with an acoustic guitar! The guys in Carfax Abbey loved me, their friends loved me & their audience loved me, so that was the beginning of it all.
I feel very fortunate to have found such a wonderful niche. I've met some of the most amazingly creative, brilliant individuals and some of my dearest friends in the Goth scene. I've also met countless amazing & inspiring friends outside of the Goth scene.
Having a label of some sort put on you is almost inevitable. It can be helpful & it also has the potential to be limiting. I surround myself with creative & inspiring people of all sorts of different artistic inclinations and I try not to think too much about the labels.
What is "A Girl, A Smoke" about?
"A Girl, A Smoke" is about the end of a very meaningful friendship, meeting a charismatic individual who recommended that I read Charles Bukowski and being on tour with Black Tape. All of these things were happening at the same time & it's about how they all felt together. It was a very interesting combination of events, they weren't related exactly, but they fit together in a unique way.
Every review of your single includes the word "cabaret". What does this expression mean to you?
The first time I saw the word "cabaret" used to describe what I do was in a review that was written about three years ago. At shows, people started talking to me about Marlene Dietrich & Lotte Lenya and comparing me to them. So, I purchased some of their CDs, I rented "Morocco" and "The Blue Angel" and absolutely love what I heard & saw.
There are elements of what they Dietrich & Lenya did that I love so much & really feel a connection to. It's exciting for me to know that people hear part of that when I perform.
I'm not sure that I can wrap up what the word means to me in a neat definition, but there is definitely a particular type of spirit, of energy, that exists in it.
We saw the great success Ute Lemper had with the Kurt Weill songbook, as well as the interest people has in The Dresden Dolls and the last Lydia Lunch. Aesthetically, some recent movies are also devoted to that atmosphere. Why do you think this is happening? Why is people looking back at the cabaret?
I'm not sure why it is happening at this time, but I think it's wonderful.
I found a couple of quotes by Bataille in your profile, at myspace.com. What else do you read? Do your readings affect your work?
Sam put those quotes on the site, I'm really not familiar with Bataille. I do love to read. The things that I read have a strong impact on my life, which of course, does affect my work. In the past year, I've particularly enjoyed reading a biography of Albert Einstein, a biography of Marlene Dietrich and Catch 22. Among the many things I enjoy reading, I love dystopian novels and I love Kurt Vonnegut. The books that I've read really do mean a lot to me & play a huge role in who I am & how I see things.
The current line up of Revue Noir includes Meredith Yayanos, from The Vanity Set. How did you get that awesome violin? Do you know Jim Sclavunos?
Yes, Meredith is awesome! About two years ago I saw the Vanity Set perform & I was completely entranced the whole time. I thought Meredith was absolutely amazing. When Sam & I got back for the Halo Star tour last fall, we sent out e-mails to our friends, searching for members for Revue Noir. One of the friends I sent the e-mail to was Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls. She forwarded the e-mail to Meredith and Meredith contacted me. It all worked out beautifully.
I don't know Jim personally. Meredith introduced us after a Vanity Set show recently & I had a chance to say hello & let him know how much I love his band. It was nice to meet him and I'd love to talk to him a bit more some time.
What are your plans with Revue Noir for this year?
There are so many things! We're recording an EP, filming a video, writing new music, performing live shows, designing a website, it's a very exciting time.
Anything you would like to say to our readers in Latin America and Spain?
Do what you love and don't be afraid take risks. We only have so much time to enjoy the things & people we love, so we need to do it while we can. Do something daring, do something exciting, do something completely ridiculous just for the fun of it, enjoy being alive.
Thanks, really, for this interview. Good luck with Revue Noir and keep making great music.
Thank you!
read the original interview in Spanish
Sonitus Noctis
July 2005