ARTIST INTERVIEW: Blondshell
Blondshell
Sabrina Teitelbaum, known as Blondshell, is having quite the year. From releasing a debut record in April to embarking on a summertime headline tour, she shows no signs of slowing down. Blondshell’s songs are wildly confessional, laced with quick wit and charm. Pop culture references and self-deprecating jokes stand alongside raw divulgences. In her own words, she teaches listeners that “U can have the biggest feelings ever and they won’t kill u.”
Those lucky enough to catch her live show have witnessed true catharsis, which is all one could want from a performance. If you too are chasing that relief, Blondshell opens up for Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville 30th Anniversary Tour starting on November 7th. KXSC got the chance to chat with our beloved USC alumnus before the journey.
Your album begins with a song called “Veronica Mars.” What draws you to early 2000s teen shows? Is it escapism? Is it the drama?
Definitely both of those things. I think I was drawn to that stuff because it’s what I grew up around. I was a kid when it was really popular, so there's a lot of memory value for me.
When you're writing, are you processing things as you write, or do you tend to write about things that you already understand?
I learn a lot about my feelings by writing about them, because it's so stream of consciousness. So, I'm like, oh, I didn't know I felt that way about that person or that thing. I think it’s probably a little bit of both.
Lyrically, you're often so self-aware that it becomes funny. The “Sepsis” bridge is absolutely perfect. Is humor something you're consciously thinking about, or is it just a symptom of the honesty?
It’s just a symptom. I think if I were trying to be funny, it wouldn't be funny. You know? So, I think it's kind of like a coping mechanism. It lightens the weight of talking about these different subjects.
Does writing make you feel lighter? Does performing?
Yeah. In both those things, you're talking about stuff that's typically kind of shameful. So, if you're talking about it, either in a song or in a performance, it sort of takes the taboo element out of it. And that's a healing thing for me.
Your debut is often described as angry, which is widely considered a secondary emotion. Apparently we feel fear and sadness first, and then we shift to anger to regain control of a situation. Do you think that that's true?
I do. From my experience, that's been true. I've heard that anger's a masking emotion, and it's just masking sadness. You could probably say that about a lot of things. But I think I have respect for anger as its own emotion, even though it probably stems from sadness. I think there's just so much culturally wrapped up in being an angry girl and being talked about that way.
Do you mind being pigeonholed amongst all these great practitioners of female rage?
I prefer to not be pigeonholed, but I think it's just sort of how it is. People want to understand artists. As far as being pigeonholed goes, it's kind of nice to get those comparisons because I love those artists. So I'm okay with it.
Do you consider the album a coming-of-age record?
Yeah, I think so. It's a little past coming-of-age because I was like 24 when I made it. It's kind of like the Mitski album Puberty 2. There's this concept of having multiple puberties. This was an emotional puberty for me.
I know that the “Salad” video was inspired by Justine Kurland's Girl Pictures. Is there a specific medium other than music that influences you the most? Did you reference anything specific on this record?
I'm always influenced by movies and TV, and there are a lot of TV references. I don't watch as much TV and movies as I would like to, because it does too much. There's so many movies that I've seen where I just can't think about anything else for a week, and it's very disruptive to my life. So I don't watch that many movies. But when I do, I'm always really inspired by them. And then I want to write about it. I'm not a huge visual person, but I really connected to that Justine Kurland book in particular.
I’ve read that you love Mary Oliver. Do you have any desire to be a prolific artist?
Yeah, that would be nice. I would like to be as prolific as possible, but it's hard to make stuff happen and have it be something you're proud of. It's a balance. I don't want to push it and just make stuff to make stuff, but I'd like to be prolific. That would be nice.
Do you believe in art for art's sake? Are you making songs mainly for yourself, or do you need the world to hear them? Is that the end goal?
The end goal has always been to feel better. I think that's kinda why I make songs. It's like therapy. I think that's why there aren't that many happy songs on the record because... I'm sort of like, why would I want to write if I felt really great in a given moment? Relief is always the goal. But I do want people to hear them. I'd kind of be lying if I said I didn't want people to go to the shows or hear the records that I'm putting out. There's so much time and thought that goes into it that I definitely do care about it and want people to hear it. But it comes after wanting to talk about this stuff and wanting to sing.
You've covered “Deceptacon” by Le Tigre, “Disappointment” by The Cranberries, “Carry the Zero” by Built to Spill, and more. What draws you to your cover choices?
Different stuff. Sometimes it's songs that I love that maybe haven't gotten as much light, like “Disappointment.” I love that song and it meant a lot to me, but it's not one of the hits. I just wanted to share it with people. “Deceptacon” is so fun. It's such a fun song. And I wanted to have that moment in the show. If I’m opening and no one's ever heard of me, it's nice to have a song that they know.
What's your philosophy on covers? Do you feel a need to do something unique? Or do you want to simply pay respect to the artist?
It sort of depends on the song. I mean, I went to USC. When I was there, I was in the pop program, and so much of it was covering songs, but doing it exactly like they did it. Every single thing has to be the same. That was so useful for me because then you're learning the actual thing that they did. You're not just learning the feeling. It's nice to do that and pay respect to the artist that way. But it's also nice to be like, here's how I hear it. I try to do a mix of those things.
What were you listening to while you attended USC?
When I got to USC, it was horrifying for me to be across the country. I had never thought about it. I'm from New York. When I got to L.A., I hadn’t considered the fact that I would be across the country. I remember my sister dropped me off, and she closed the door, and I was like, oh my god, I can't believe that I am all the way over here. Then we started school, and I was completely immersed in the music. It was a really intense program, and we were studying Motown for the whole first year. It was just a lot of Motown, and I became so obsessed with that. That music was the thing that got me through the first year, where I was having that crisis.
What have you been listening to on the road?
I've been listening to a lot of Bonnie Raitt, because I only knew the hits. I've been diving deeper. Also, an album called Coral Fang by The Distillers. I've been listening to Pale Hound… and Hemlocke Springs! She just put out new music.
You have been influenced by a lot of feminist music and things with punk ethos. Are there any values from that scene that you've internalized?
Yeah, I think the general attitude towards what you have to do and what you're supposed to do, whether that's song structure, or how you act at your show, or how you take care of people at your show. That's something that's always been important to me - the attitude towards safety at shows, and taking care of people, and making sure that everyone's taking care of each other. With that scene in particular, there feels like a mix of fuck you attitude with kindness that I really love. That's really inspiring to me. I always think about that, and would like to bring that to my shows.
- Madeline Frino AKA DJ Peaches