Renowned Boston singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler releases her fourth solo album “Little Hells” today on Kemado Records. Check her sweet playlist and her interview.

Hi Marissa, how are you doing?

Good.

What’s goin’ on in Marissa Nadler’s world right now?

I am up at three in the morning in a hotel room in Berlin waiting to go to Paris. That is what is happening RIGHT now. But, I am gearing up for the release of the record, Little Hells, and a lot of touring to come with it. Other than that, I am attempting to work on being healthy and mentally strong.

Please could you introduce the people you are working with on this project?

Myles Baer: he joins me here, back again, for my fourth studio album (he created with me my first record, Ballads of Living and Dying). He plays a lot of the prepared guitar, Ebow, bass, electric guitar, some acoustic guitar, wurlitzer.

Simone Pace: He plays drums in the band Blonde Redhead, and plays drums and percussion on this record.

Dave Scher: he plays lapsteel in a lot of bands (I think most frequently Jenny Lewis’ touring band). He is kind of known as the lapsteel kind. I wanted lapsteel to give the record a tinge of Americana. He plays organ on this record.
Chris Coady: He is the producer and did some programming work.

I wrote every song, as I usually do, and do all the vocals and harmony vocals, play acoustic and electric guitar on the record, and wurlitzer.

What are you currently listening to?

Lately I have been really into Alela Diana and Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love.

5 albums/books/films you can’t live without?

Joni Mitchell/Blue, Vladamir Nabokav/Ada or Ardor, Days of Heaven, Annie Hall, Manhattan (those are just the first things that come to my head).

How is the scene in Boston at the moment?

It’s ok. I am really pretty much keeping to myself. My friend Carter Tanton is in a cool band called Tulsa. There is a band called Drug Rug making waves in the indie circuit. I honestly don’t go to too many shows, but it feels like there might be a resurgence in Boston. I am closer in the heart to the music scene in Providence, Rhode Island, actually, because I spent a long time living there. There are many great bands there that deserve more attention.

We are still in the wishes times: what are your Top 3 wishes for 2009?

To fall in love again, that my loved one’s stay healthy and happy, and…well, I hope the entire world gets better.

You are just releasing your new album in a difficult time for the music industry: how do you see the future for it?

I think it is going to be very internet based. It’s good for emerging artists because it is easier to get noticed, even if you live in the middle of nowhere. It is a shame though, because illegal downloading really hurts the livelihood of artists that are small time and are trying to make a living. It means the difference between being able to make it a career or make it a hobby. Also, the quality of mp3s is so horrible compared to the real thing. It’s a shame that is how people will listen to most music from now on. Everything sounds condensed and small, tiny even.

Will you take your album on the road? And if yes, how and when?

Yes. I will tour this record completely. It is the only way to get it out there, really. I have a love/hate relationship with touring because for many years I toured alone and did some really grueling tours. I had some hard times but I feel that those are paying off now. I feel like I paid my dues, you know? So, I play on touring the US in late March and April, and a full European tour in May. And then perhaps some other places as well if there is a demand, like Japan, Australia, etc. I’m excited that I won’t have to tour completely by myself hopefully ever again. Maybe even someday I will have my own sound woman.

How important is the internet for you as an artist?

It is very important. It is how I started my career I have to say. Without it someone as socially phobic as me would never have gotten anywhere. I like to be able to directly contact people in the strangest of places. It makes the world seem so small. It must have been the second review EVER written about my work, written by Gerald Van Waes, who runs this amazingly thorough psychedelic music site. It was that review alone, from Belgium, which at the time seemed SO far away from me, that wowed me into believing in myself enough to pursue music over fine art. It was so positive, I thought it was a joke. I read it online while taking a Flash animation/ web design class while getting my masters degree at the Rhode Island School of Design in art education (around 2003), and I was completely shocked. I grew up while the internet was still developing, so its pretty magical to me still. I am still young, but old enough to remember a time with really big computers and no internet. I remember this computer teacher at my high school, who was teaching us what a search engine was in ninth grade. I thought he was such an idiot. (turns out i was) I remember his having to teach us how to use “ask jeeves” and “altavista” and I am not sure if there was google yet- but it wasn’t the monopoly that it is now. The concept of actually having a class to teach someone how to use google seems funny to me now. Its like kids these days- they are born with a computer keyboard glued to their hands.

So, I thought, Belgium? This is crazy. ( i grew up in a small town) That is how the internet makes me feel. I suppose now I am slightly immune, but every now and again I will get an email from someone in China, or India, or Brazil, and wonder how on Earth they discovered my music. The internet really does connect souls. It helps and hurts the music industry, what can I say?

Where do you see this whole internet thing going?

I think that the government is going to do some crazy regulation but right now we are living in a lawless land- a new fronteir. I know places like China they have censorship on the internet. I feel that might be coming to other places. Honestly, I am excited to see what new technological inventions take place. It is actually interesting but I wrote my college entry essay about how computers would ruin the art world. It was an anarchistic moment. I wrote that when I was 18, and now I completely depend on them and they actually help my art. So- I went from a technophobe to a technophile.

Anything to add?
Thanks for the interview.

TRACKLISTING WITH COMMENTS

Throwing Muses – Vicky’s Box (off of “In a Doghouse” version) – I truly love this song. The first four songs off of “In a Doghouse” just completely knock me out. It was between this and “Hate my Way.” That kind of emotional singing just seeps right into your bones. Vicky’s box is such a surreal song to me.

Kristen Hersh – The Letter (off of “Hips and Makers”) -This is my favorite song off of a truly beautiful record.

Joni Mitchell – Rainy Night House (off of “Ladies of the Canyon”)- I could pick a million Joni Songs I love. The way she paints the scene in this song is really evocative. It is one of my favorite Joni Mitchell Songs.

Kate Bush – Mother Stands for Comfort (off of “hounds of love” – I am currently obsessed with the album Hounds of Love. It is funny but I didn’t discover Kate Bush until Very recently.

Sammi Smith’s version of “Sunday Morning Coming Down – There are a million versions of this song. I love her version the best for some reason. I made a cover of it for one of my best friends for his birthday.

Tammy Wynette- “Stand by your Man” – I have recently discovered her and she truly does have a “tear drop in every note”. How could I not love that?

Belly – Untogether – (off of “Star”) – Belly Star is one of my favorite records. I am a sucker for this kind of music.

Hole- Pretty on the Inside (off of “Pretty on the Inside”) – I threw this in there because I went though a serious grunge phase in high school. My mother was so sick of listening to Nirvana and Hole, etc etc. that she went out and bought me Joni Mitchell, Blue, which changed my life. But, I really liked Hole’s first record. It was full of some great angst. I actually discovered Leonard Cohen by obsessively listening to the Nirvana song “pennyroyal tea.” I went out and bought all of his cassette tapes, and was forever changed.

Gillian Welch – Elvis Presley Blues – I am a huge fan of hers and love the vocal melody on the chorus. It kills me every time.

Leonard Cohen – Seems so long ago, Nancy – Its no secret I am a complete LC devotee. This may be my favorite of his songs. I even went to the Island of Hydra off the coast of Athens, Greece. He lived there for a while.

Neil Young- Cortez the Killer – I recently saw Neil in concert play a 13 minute version of this song. I am a huge Neil Young Fan.

Bruce Springsteen – The River – I don’t love everything Bruce ever did but you know, this song is amazing.

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