Azalia Snail | Interview | New Album, ‘Powerlover’
Azalia Snail, the trailblazing avant-garde musician renowned for her unique blend of experimental sounds and heartfelt emotion, returns with her new album, ‘Powerlover,’ out on Cloud Recordings.
This latest release marks her 15th solo outing, and it’s a compelling journey through instrumental soundscapes, rooted in the ambient tradition of Brian Eno while exploring new sonic territories.
Azalia’s career spans decades, with each album offering listeners a distinct auditory experience. Her work is often celebrated for its dreamy, ethereal qualities and her knack for creating emotional resonance without the use of words. Critics and peers alike commend her for pushing boundaries and inspiring a generation of musicians, including those from the influential Elephant 6 Recording Co. scene.
With ‘Powerlover’, Azalia Snail presents her musical response to a world navigating through uncertain times, offering melodies that promote kindness and redemption. The album incorporates a variety of instruments, including Omnichords, synths, and effects, with notable contributions from musicians like Alan Sparhawk of Low. It was composed and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, which deeply influenced its themes of hope and transformation.
“I believe I’ve created my own kind of sound”
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your upcoming album, ‘Powerlover’? What themes or concepts are central to this work?
Azalia Snail: As I was confronted and confounded by feelings of deep distress about the uneasy state of the world and the impending doom that comes with that, I wanted to make an album that evokes an urgent plea for humanity to be kinder. The pieces begin with simple yet determined riffs and build tension as they turn into layered, transcendent hymns, like kaleidoscopic psychedelic dreamscapes. It’s as if I’m curating a soundtrack for a fantastical kind of utopia that we can only imagine, if not for the negative and sometimes hateful aspects of humanity.
As a pioneer in lo-fi and DIY recording since the 1980s, how has your approach to creating music evolved over the years, and how does it manifest in this latest album?
It’s mostly technology that has changed, and my attempt to keep up with those changes has been pretty successful, given that I’ve become more technically proficient! I’m lucky to have wonderful collaborators with me on these discoveries.
For a while, I wasn’t crazy about the lo-fi tag, but in reality, it was a great way to keep a vision intact. Besides, I didn’t have much money for recording studios. Most of the small labels I was on gave me only a week or two in a studio and very little time to mix.
I was very lucky to meet Adam Lasus here in Los Angeles, who has a very similar vibe to mine. He’s an expert at getting excellent sound and is really easy and fun to work with at his Studio Red.
With ‘Powerlover’ being your 15th album, how do you ensure that each release maintains its uniqueness while still showcasing your signature style?
I’ve never had the desire to be a copycat artist, and I’ve had so many influences from every genre that I believe I’ve created my own kind of sound. I’ve been labeled everything from freak folk to avant rock to progressive punk to space pop to plain old indie rock. What’s that old comedy line? You can call me what you want, as long as you call me!
Your track ‘Zap You of That Hate’ features Alan Sparhawk of Low. Could you share a bit about the collaboration process and what it was like working with Alan Sparhawk? When did you originally meet?
What can I say about my dear friend, the deeply spiritual and incredibly kind human Mr. Sparhawk? Is there a more devoted practitioner of the art of spiritually sound and profound modern rock?
I met Low in the early 1990s at their first show outside their hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. It was at the old Knitting Factory on Houston Street in New York City. I had gone to see the experimental guitar player Alan Licht, and in fact, I was on my way out when I saw Kramer of Shimmy Disc walking up the stairs as I was walking down. We greeted each other, and he said, “You’re not leaving, are you? You must stay for the last band; they are recording in my studio right now, and they are the quietest band I have ever heard.” After the blistering sound that was still ringing in my ears, I thought it might be a nice, lullaby-like way to end the evening. I was transfixed, as were the other half-dozen or so people standing in the room, many of them in bands of their own.
I spoke to Alan afterward, and we immediately struck up a friendship that has continued for decades. I helped them with their first tour and offered some advice related to the life of a working musician on the road, and I passed through Duluth several times. We shared the stage in different towns for years. I think they were in between labels when I asked them to accompany me on a European tour around 1996. It was such a joy to watch audiences wholeheartedly engage with their soft, seductive music.
I was in love with their album ‘Say What’ on Sub Pop and asked if I could direct an avant-garde music video for their song ‘All Night.’ They said yes, and I had a lot of fun creating it. I knew that Mimi wasn’t feeling well, but I didn’t know the details or how serious her health concerns were. I think about her always—an eloquent angel in the sky.
As I was recording my new album, I thought of Alan’s exploratory and sonic guitar for this song in particular. Given his political beliefs, I knew he would resonate with the mantra of the song. He’s such a loving human, and I know he shares my sentiments: we need to celebrate peace and love, and do all we can to overcome evil.
Instrumental albums offer a different mode of expression compared to those with vocals. How do you approach composition and storytelling in an instrumental context, especially with this album?
As much as I love poetry and thoughtful lyrics, I really wanted to convey feelings of impending doom, isolation, and mostly hope, by NOT depending on those literary devices (and I’m quite proud of most of my lyric writing).
I fell in love with Omnichords around the turn of the century. A relative of mine was using one to accompany himself during poetry readings, but it was hidden away in a closet. He brought it out one day and said, “Would you like to give it a go?” It had exactly the kind of sound I was looking for, with its spaciousness, texture, and in-house rhythm machine.
“I believe that taking mushrooms and a little bit of acid played a significant role in expanding my mind”
Your music has been described as having a dream-like quality. How do you cultivate this atmosphere in your compositions, and what role does it play in ‘Powerlover’?
I think that since reality can often be mundane, routine, and occasionally rather dreary, escaping into a dream is a very desirable exploration! I’m a huge fan of the French surrealists—André Breton, Max Ernst, René Magritte—and of the American painter Joan Mitchell, whose abstract paintings are a huge influence on my musical palette.
I believe that taking mushrooms and a little bit of acid played a significant role in expanding my mind. As Aldous Huxley would say, the doors of perception were opened very wide!
You’ve had the opportunity to perform with a diverse range of artists throughout your career. How have these collaborations influenced your musical journey and impacted the creation of ‘Powerlover’?
I’ve definitely been influenced by so many of my peers both past and present. Being so young in New York and getting to see some of the most incredible free jazz spirits and punk pioneers was a real coocoocoojoo as I like to say.
When I finally had the courage to tackle music on my own terms, there were so many fantastic like- minded souls to lead and to encourage the way. Sharing the stage with so many artists that I admire has been a dream come true. You can’t help but be influenced and inspired by these incredible artists!
Date: June 29, 1994
Scene: First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis (which Prince put on the map with his Purple Rain cinema bonanza.)
Me, a DIY NYC not quite riot gurrrl psychedelic punk, playing electric zither on stage with nouveau musical collage sensation Beck, who was at his first pinnacle of success with ‘Loser’ ~ an irresistible scratchy, catchy, smashy sweet tart of a song.
When I first caught sight of the lemon-haired tiger, it was on a poster with his name and photo at a record shop in the Village. I thought to myself, but there’s only one Beck and that’s Jeff Beck. But as soon as I heard that hit single, I was hooked, line and sinker.
About a month later, I met him at the original Knitting Factory on Houston Street in New York, and he was delightful, delicious and divine. I had a crush. As was my habit, I carried around a couple of my latest record on CD; this one was called ‘Fumarole Rising’ with a cover that saluted ‘Breakfast of Tiffanys’. I stuck around after his set, saw him hanging out by the back door, and approached him. I said: “Here’s an album I think you might dig” and he looked at the cover and said “I love her.” And I said: “That’s me.” (I had blond hair in real life, but on the album cover, I was a brunette.)
He then looked up with his big blue saucer eyes and said: “Oh yeah. Cool. I love your music.”
My head started spinning: “We could run off right now and be two little lo-fi gypsies and go round the globe making a cacophony of pop noise and live happily ever after.” Of course that was not said, but I went my way and he went his, and he sent me postcards from tour, which was thoughtful and adorable.
And now my good buddies Trumans Water were on tour with him and invited me to meet them in the midwest (well, maybe it was my idea, but they egged me on, which they were very fond of doing and I was very fond of them for doing so.)
‘Black Hole’ is a loosey, juicy humdinger of a song, and when Beck saw me jam with Trumans the night before in Milwaukee, and complimented me on my zither skillz, I figured I’d ask: “How about we jam tmrw nite in Mpls?” He lit up and agreed, and suggested ‘Black Hole’ would be the perfect song for that. Yippee! Oh, and I had given him one of my newly silkscreened t-shirts ‘Smoke Gets in Your Mind’ ~ the promo tag I made up for the ‘Fumarole’ campaign ~ and he disappeared as soon as I gave it to him, went into his dressing room, and came out wearing it as part of his stage get-up. I was impressed, and pretty damn stoked.
I was nervous and scared as I was about to prance up on the big First Avenue stage and plug in my zither and groove out with the boys in the band (Trumans were up there too, I think.) It’s such a blur now, as the harsh bright lights blocked out much of my vision, and I made as much noise as I could with that metal thing with strings. My heart was bursting with happiness and my ears were blasted out, blissed out, with thick fantastic, frenetic noise.
In your opinion, what sets ‘Powerlover’ apart from your previous albums?
I’ve dabbled with instrumentals before. One of my favorite projects of mine is the ‘Fiery Skies’ EP I recorded for dark beloved cloud Records. At that time, it was layers and layers of guitars and percussion. I’m a huge fan of Brian Eno’s early instrumental albums. ‘Apollo’ is like the Bible of ambient music, absolutely mesmerizing! I love Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Arvo Part, to name a few full tilt avant garde artistes.
Tell us about the audio gear you are currently using?
3-4 vintage omnichords
An assortment of percussion instruments I have collected on my tours and travels
You would be better to ask Adam Lasus where I recorded this latest album! I know he has quite a stellar collection of studio wizardry and outboard gear!
Would you like to share about your upbringing? Where did you all grow up? Tell us about daily life back in your teenage years.
I’ve actually been working on my memoir now and going through all of that for the last few years. In a nutshell, I grew up on the East Coast… left the DC area to move to NYC at 17, immersed myself thoroughly in the grit and the grime of that city in its last few bohemian decades, moved to Los Angeles at the turn of the century, met the love of my life, Dan West, and have been happily collaborating with him since. We both take pauses and go back and do our solo work, but we really love working together as well in our band LoveyDove.
There’s a fun little cassette tape that Jeff Fucillo from Union Pole put out called ‘The Teenage Bedroom Tapes’ which sums up that period of my life ~ searching, seeking, making innocent noise and yearning to be heard.
Was there a certain scene you were part of, maybe you had some favourite hangout places? Did you attend a lot of gigs back then?
Tons of gigs! I used to keep a running list of all the bands that I saw in NYC, sometimes as many as a dozen a night, flocking from club to club, with a restless sense of excitement and endless energy.
There were so many incredible clubs: CBGBs of course, Brownie’s on Avenue A, The Cooler in the West Village, Wetlands and Roulette in Tribeca, The Knitting Factory on Houston St.
If we would step into your teenage room, what kind of records, fanzines, posters et cetera would we find there?
Creem, Hit Parader, New York Rocker, Trouser Press, Sounds, Melody Maker… I may be dating myself, but ever since I was a little kiddie, those magazines were everything to me!
On the wall: Marc Bolan, The Beatles, The Buzzcocks, X-Ray Spex… not on the wall but I loved: Melanie, Gordon Lightfoot, The Troggs, Mott the Hoople, Johnny Thunders, Richard Hell, Suicide, The Only Ones… too many to mention. I was hooked on RnR, glitter rock, unsung heroes of folk, free jazz, space rock (Gong) and one hit wonders that penetrated my soul (Mouth & MacNeil).
Can you reflect on your journey from the early 1990s when you first started making music? Could you share some memorable experiences or challenges you faced during the recording of your debut album, ‘Snailbait’?
I really didn’t know what I was doing at all when it came time to make my first album.
I had the sounds in my head and some songs that I had been performing live, but I really didn’t know how to capture that, and I desperately needed a producer. But there was none available, and the small label that signed me wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway!
I would have given anything for a Tony Visconti or a George Martin, or even a like-minded female artist who knew her way around a studio.
“I think I’ve grown accustomed to the idea of minimalism”
Reflecting on your early albums like ‘Snailbait,’ ‘Burnt Sienna,’ and ‘Fumarole Rising,’ how do you perceive the evolution of your sound from those releases to your current work on ‘Powerlover’?
Technically, the recordings are much better, thanks to Adam and Dan West, who produced my previous album ‘Neon Resistance’ (Silber Records). They’ve both perfected the art of recording.
I think I’ve grown accustomed to the idea of minimalism. I think when you’re young, you’re sometimes tempted to worship a wall of sound, and the layers can create a bit too much cacophony. I’m realizing that a softer and more efficient approach can express what I want to convey just as well. Who was it that said that sometimes the silence between the notes is just as important as the notes themselves?
I also have to give credit again to Dan for his superlative bass parts on ‘Powerlover’. It adds so much to the pulse and drive of these pieces.
What are some future plans for you now?
I’m enjoying making both quick and full length videos for all the songs. I’ve always loved creating visuals, which of course I used to do with super 8 and now it’s all digital, but that works out as one can be even more expansive and productive with all the computer technology!
I’m gearing up for a follow up album as I have another dozen or so tunes in a similar trajectory as ‘Powerlover’. Excited to get back in the studio with Adam and Dan, and speaking of once more, Dan is getting ready to release his next excellent platter as d’Animal, ‘Hedonistic Pillow’ which I play percussion and some guitar on. It’s a doozy!
We’ll definitely be recording another Snail Meets West (our free jazz duo with Dan on piano and me on drums) album as well. Both our albums are available on Spotify and through the Union Pole Bandcamp site.
I’m also planning on doing whatever I can do to make sure this country maintains its democracy. Sure it isn’t perfect and never was and never will be, but we need to make sure our most vulnerable citizens are protected. We need to make sure all people are ensured equal rights and control of their own bodies.
Nobody is ever going to be exactly what you want them to be, and that includes our political representatives. However, just like in any relationship, you have to accept decency, honor, and trust above any other trait.
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
English Teacher from Leeds, UK are one of my favorite new bands.
Alan Sparhawk’s new solo work carries on the tradition of Low’s gorgeous sonic bliss.
My friends and stars of the Elephant 6 collective (and wonderful documentary!) John Kiran Fernandez, Robert Schneider, Hilarie Bratset (The High Water Marks) and Heather McIntosh continue to create spectacular freeform and melodious sounds.
Dan and I have our Instant Joy! playlists (which can be found on (gasp!) Spotify.
I find it nearly impossible to keep up with the insurmountable amount of nouveau music being released, but always open to discovering sonic delights with creative concoctions most certainly.
Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.
I sincerely appreciate this inquisitive questionnaire with such provocative and alluring questions! I’m definitely a psychedelic soul and it’s an honor to be included in your magazine!
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Azalia Snail | San Francisco rooftop (1998)
Azalia Snail Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
Cloud Recordings Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Dan West | d’Animal | Interview | New Album, ‘Hedonistic Pillow’
