An interview by Michael McLeod that appeared in the Fall 1997 (#2) issue of Train Wreck, a zine out of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. I don’t know the exact date the issue came out.

Edith Frost: Authentic, heartsick, personal & poignant

From a cool and steel gray channel encompassing the horizon, a glimmer of hope emerges. Beauty and optimism slowly wrap around your being as you witness flower petals effortlessly dancing upon the water’s surface with candles calmly floating on leaves set adrift under the dwindling light. Edith Frost is the voice from which the glimmer, the beauty and the optimism spring forth in introspective gentleness.

Edith’s first full length album, Calling Over Time, was released on Drag City Records and contains songs that are all at once authentic, heartsick, personal and poignant yet she expresses her emotions with a lilting passion and not a distressed numbness.

Edith was kind enough to share her thoughts with Train Wreck via email, a medium she truly comprehends as she actively maintains a website dedicated to her music and her love for cowgirls. Edith on the web: edithfrost.com

TW: How do you compare the progression from your s/t debut EP to the full length, Calling Over Time, to the recently released Ancestors single, recorded with Kramer?

EF: Well, Ancestors and the other tracks on that 7" were recorded before the album, so you might say it’s a bit of a regression! I don’t know, they’re all a little different from each other. The EP I did at home with my 4-track, the 7" is me at Kramer’s studio (and everything that entails), and the album is a piece of work unto itself. I’m proud of everything I’ve done, but the album is the best so far, in my opinion — it’s got the best musicianship and just presents my music in a better way than anything else I’ve done before.

TW: Calling Over Time features the talents of Rian Murphy, Jim O’Rourke, David Grubbs, Rick Rizzo and Sean O’Hagan. Did playing and recording the album with such highly respected and musically accomplished individuals cause you to feel a need to raise your own capabilities?

EF: Yeah, sure. I wanted very much to do a good job at that session as the stakes were very high in my mind but it makes it so much easier to get the job done when you’re surrounded by a crew like that! All those guys are amazing musicians but they’re also really nice, funny people, so I couldn’t feel intimidated by them personally. Musically, I’m fairly comfortable with myself and whatever it is I do. I came prepared as I could and I really wanted to make a great record, that’s what we all wanted. It was an atmosphere of mutual respect and heavy group participation plus a healthy dose of silliness. Oh, it was an amazing week and a really special mind-blowing experience for me. I’ll never forget it and there’s no way it can ever happen in the same way again. I’m just hoping I can do something for the next record that’s equally great in a different way.

TW: The theme to the majority of the songs on the album is the breakdown of a relationship between two lovers. The lyrics seem personal in that you suffered through such a past pain. However, you present the songs in a manner devoid of numbness. Was it hard to record the songs appearing on the album due to their exposing nature?

EF: There is a good bit of personal experience woven into those lyrics but I try not to be too literal in my writing as I really shy away from that. The emotions are very real (and I describe them in great detail) but I don’t usually talk about real life situations, mostly just made up ones, fantasies. For the most part I just try to write something that evokes a mood but doesn’t talk about specific people and places so much. Maybe I’m just hedging ‘cuz I don’t want the people that I’m writing about to know I’m writing about ‘em! Anyway, I think I tend to write about myself more than other people. It’s not so much "who did it" but "how do I feel about it." The love interest characters in my songs are probably a pastiche of several different guys I’ve been involved with over the years. It’s not that I think that’s what makes a good song, it’s just the way I, myself, tend to work. I’m afraid I’ll get myself in trouble with somebody if I get too specific. What if I have a boyfriend or husband who I’m not really getting along too well with (this is just hypothetical of course) and, say, I write this slinky fantasy number while thinking about this guy at work that I have a stupid little crush on, well, what am I supposed to tell the boyfriend? What I’m saying is, it didn’t take me very long in this songwriting game to realize that I should avoid admitting to my true inspirations! Let everybody out there think that every song is about them, why not?

TW: As you detail the distressed relationships, lyrics such as "Now that you’re in Paradise" from Calling Over Time and "You might find some love in your heart for me" from Give Up Your Love seemingly avoid bitterness or anger. From where does this gentle understanding derive?

EF: Bitterness and anger are bad for your health. It’s something I’ve always tried to work on in my own mind, so I guess it’s coming out in my lyrics. Maybe it’s just in my nature that I try not to fight things, I’m a fairly accepting and open-minded person. It would be wonderful if everyone could love and understand and respect everyone else they came in contact with, that’s the ideal. There’s very little I can do about other people’s feelings or actions but I try to keep a positive attitude myself. I don’t want to hold any grudges against anybody, I just want everybody to get along and appreciate each other as much as possible, as trite as all that sounds! I guess it’s the difficulties of that kind of idealism that I tend to think and write about all the time. Why can’t we all get along? What are we arguing about, it’s so stupid! My brain just seeks out the emotional hotspots and wants to wallow in all of that shit. I guess it’s a good thing I write these songs because it’s not something I generally talk about in "real life" though I stew about it a lot in my mind. If it weren’t for the songs I might not be letting this stuff out at all.

TW: Did the songs on the album provide a redeeming quality when they were written in that somehow they provided an inner cleansing for your soul?

EF: Oh sure, it’s an amazing feeling when I’ve written a song that expresses something I might not be able to articulate otherwise. A great song can take on a whole life of its own… it’s as if taking a photograph of a particular moment that didn’t necessarily exist in real time. I just love music!!! I don’t know where it comes from or why we do it but it’s really great for the soul. I can’t imagine not playing music. Actually, it’s hard not to be an elitist sometimes and think that people who don’t play music or do some sort of creativity are weird and freaky. I have to remind myself that there was a point when I was "just a fan" too, and there’s no shame in that.

TW: Lines like "I look for a love that lasts" from Temporary Loan and "I don’t want to be too happy, just enough to keep me going" from Too Happy appear to be optimistic. How important is it to retain faith when the world seems not to link together?

EF: The world does link together even when we don’t see it that way. We don’t have any choice but to keep trudging along as best we can in life. There are problems and unpleasant circumstances to be dealt with but there is also an amazing amount of joy and love and wonderbread to be found in this world if you keep yourself open to it. I have so many great friends whom I love so much and there’s so much music on this earth, what have I got to complain about really? I’ve been very lucky and whatever hardships I’ve had to go through are much easier to accept when I think about all the great things that have happened. I realize that not everybody has had the good luck that I have but I’m pretty sure that everybody has at lease something to be thankful for, something to hang onto when you really need to keep the faith. I’ve had a couple of friends who committed suicide and others who’ve lived their whole lives complaining about their situations, and I dunno, I just hate to see people hurting and dwelling on bad things, being self destructive… of course depression is something I fight myself a little bit so I understand the tendency to wallow. However, I don’t remember ever feeling suicidal except for maybe ten minutes in high school. I’ve always had a really strong desire to stay more or less happy in life even if that seems like an impossible task. Staying positive just seems like a better way to live, mentally, even if it means you’re sort of putting yourself in denial about some things.

TW: On your s/t debut EP, released on Drag City, you recorded an absolutely gorgeous song entitled My God Insane. Having read about your living in Mexico for approximately six years, which is a devout religious culture, I was curious if religion has an important role in your life? Do you find any influence of the Mexican culture in your life and/or music?

EF: There’s been a little religion in my family but nothing too freaky. Growing up we went to church on occasion but it was more of a social experience than a spiritual one. I still don’t know what God means. To me the best thing on earth is love so that’s what I suppose God must be, pure love and pure energy. I don’t think I have to go into a church to get closer to that. I mean I will walk into a church if I have to go to a wedding or funeral but in general I have a bit of a bad attitude towards organized religion. I think about the spiritual types of things all the time but you will not catch me committing to any one dogma, except perhaps to that of the Church of the Subgenius. I used to be a card-carrying member until I lost the card. Actually when I wrote "My God Insane" I was reading a bunch of Philip K. Dick books one after the other. I think I was trying to write a Philip K. Dick song, basically, if there could be such a thing. So I have to credit him for all the lyrics.

Living in Mexico was a trip upon my young mind. I don’t even know where to begin with that one but it was very strange and mostly cool. I got into music a lot, of course, (and even more so now that I’m grown up) and the imagery. I think most of the decor in my apartment is either cowgirl oriented or some kind of Mexican theme. Serapes, painted clay dishes, etc. I even catch myself watching bad Mexican TV sometimes. It’s cool to know about another culture and learn the language. I wish I’d lived in even more places in my life.

TW: Did the songs from Calling Over Time take on a different life/feeling on the recent tour as opposed to the studio? Was this the result of playing with a different set of musicians than those who appeared on the album?

EF: Yes, there’s no way I can ever recapture the exact sound of the record. I’ve even tried playing with the same folks that appear on the album but things are always different. Songs speed up or slow down or people play their parts differently. Every performance is unique even if you’re working with the same people. I really enjoy that, it helps keep me on my toes, so I won’t become bored with playing the same songs over and over.

TW: Did the recent tour satisfy any desires you wanted to get out of music but had yet to achieve in the studio?

EF: For me being in the studio doesn’t feel a whole lot different from being at home working with my own gear. The equipment doesn’t intimidate me and I feel pretty comfortable in the studio whereas I don’t ever feel 100% comfortable in a live performance situation. However, there is so much to be gained from playing live that you can’t ever get at home or in a studio. You get these amazing moments but you can’t ever predict when they’ll occur. You’re in the middle of a song and you can’t really stop to think about it but you look around at your bandmates and in the back of your mind you realize this kicks ass! And if the audience is with you, if they’re immersed in the moment right along with you, it’s that much more amazing.

Another great thing about touring, obviously, is getting to meet so many different people, seeing the country, etc. You get to meet other bands, you meet fans you never knew you had. It’s a real adventure, a little crazy and scary and expensive but what a rush!!!

TW: When you enter a crowded room for a performance, how do you feel?

EF: Like a deer in the headlights! Sometimes it’s really bad, like I’ll start hyperventilating and feel like I’m getting a mini heart attack because the adrenaline’s pumping so hard. I go into a form of shock and I have to turn off all those people in my head, try to ignore them and go into a little trance or whatever you want to call it, to get up there and play. It’s really hard sometimes to get comfortable with a crowd. You don’t want to completely ignore them. You want to relate to them however you can but on the other hand you have to tune them out to a certain extent to be able to do your shit. The more I think about it the worse it gets, the nervousness I mean, so I try not to think about it too hard. It helps to have a little smoke before the show, whatever it takes to get myself calm and into the right headspace.

TW: When you enter a crowded room for a performance, how does the crowd feel?

EF: Oh my God, I have no idea! According to my inner child they’re all completely focused on me and my every move. They are very critical, they’ve read some things or heard the music already and they’re real skeptical about whether this chick can really play. Maybe they’re only there to talk to their friends and I’m just a sonic intruder. Of course the reality must lie somewhere in between the two. They’re not really obsessed with me nor are they ignoring me completely. Who knows, I just play and feel lucky if some of those people actually like it.

TW: Did you encounter any soundman problems during the tour seeking to control how they thought the band should sound?

EF: There was one show where the soundman kept disappearing to the bathroom, like three or four times during our set. Guess he had the trots or maybe he was using the bathroom for other purposes! Meanwhile my guitar is feeding back and nothing is coming out of the monitor. I guess that falls more under the category of ’soundman neglect’ rather than a control thing. However, it was the first time I can remember actually being angry at a soundperson and feeling as if they did not do their job.

TW: If you could play a show with any band/artist living or past onto the giant jamboree in the sky, whom would you choose and why?

EF: I think the most fun gigs on earth are the ones you play with your friends. I would love to have a giant party with all my pals’ bands. I would invite three celebrity guests: Lida Husik, Elliott Smith and the Danielson Family. I have been freaking out over these people lately, obsessing over their records. My answer will probably change in a couple of months but that’s how it stands right now.

TW: You have labeled yourself a "HTML geek" as you actively maintain your own website, previously had one dedicated to Palace and work in the field of designing sites. Where do you find the balance between this technologically advanced world and the world of cowgirls/country music you so adore?

EF: To me the technology is only a means to an end. The web is nothing without content. I do get a certain left-brain satisfaction out of having mastered a few tricks of the trade but the fact remains that these days almost anybody can put up a website. The technology of the ‘net has made it so much easier for folks to communicate with each other. I’ve met so many people online that I never would have bumped into in real life. I pretty much take the technology for granted as you would with a car. I don’t need to know how it works as long as it gets me where I want to be.

TW: What is the lowest form of artistic expression?

EF: The hardest question of all, that one. What is bad art anyway? One man’s inspiration is another man’s atrocity. I can’t make judgments on art because it’s completely personal. It seems like I either like it or I don’t and it is hard to explain why. I could never be a music critic, I’m much too forgiving! Whatever blows your skirt up. If somebody gets a kick out of gluing little jewels and appliqués on their toilet paper warmers then more power to them. If you enjoy something and it brings something positive to your life such as helping you express yourself then it’s a beautiful thing whether or not it’s attractive to someone else.