Date:    Sun, 28 Jun 1998 06:50:40 EDT
From:    Freak4ad@AOL.COM
Subject: What the Tarnation!
 
Jeff Keibel a while back stated that Tarnation had parted ways with 4AD. =
 Some=0Aothers stated that was wrong.  Well, here is a recent interview d=
one with=0APaula from a San Francisco Magazine.
<<As lead singer of Tarnation Paula Frazier has shown that a beautiful vo=
ice=0Acan take you places, wherever you may be coming from. With a rich l=
onesome=0Aquality to her singing she has the ability to bring on a sense =
of melancholy=0Athat's almost delicious. Not that Frazier has anything to=
 feel sad about=0Apersonally. As she's quick to tell you, her years of ra=
ttling around the=0Acountry with various band mates have been a gas and a=
ll that hard work has=0Apaid off in some pretty unexpected ways. Her rece=
nt guest appearance with the=0ABombay British outfit Cornershop has earne=
d her new admirers for a singing=0Astyle that recalls a country home you =
never knew you had.--Ken A. Miller
 
<Picture>
 
CitySearch: What are the origins of Tarnation?
 
Paula Frazier: Well, It started five or six years ago, I guess. I was pla=
ying=0Ain an artsy noise band called Cloiter and I was also playing in a =
band called=0AVirginia Dare. These songs I was writing didn't belong in e=
ither one of those=0A[bands]. Virginia Dare was someone else's band and I=
 was just playing bass and=0Abackup [vocals]. Cloiter was noise and I had=
 these songs that I wanted to do=0Akind of differently.
 
The name Tarnation came about as a joke before I was even playing with an=
ybody=0Aor had done any shows or anything. My mother used to always say "=
What in=0Atarnation?" because she was a preacher's wife and it was improp=
er for her to=0Aswear. She said a lot of weird stuff, like instead of "I =
swear" she'd say "I=0Aswan." Stuff like that.
 
CitySearch: Have you had any vocal training? Did you do any singing prior=
 to=0Athese bands, like as a kid?
 
Paula Frazier: I grew up singing in the church choir. I never had voice=
=0Alessons or anything, but I sang in a few different choirs. I sang in a=
=0ABulgarian women's choir. Eastern European, actually, but we did some B=
ulgarian=0Amusic. That was a major lesson for me. I learned a lot. I did =
that for about=0Atwo years over in Berkeley. I just really learned a lot =
about my voice and=0Awhat I wanted to do. I learned a lot about my range-=
 that was the major thing=0Afor me.
 
A lot of people will assume I sing the way I do because I'm from Arkansas=
,=0Awhich really doesn't have anything to do with it. I started singing t=
his way=0Abecause of the women's choir. It was the first style I learned =
to sing in.
 
CitySearch: Was country music something you always had an interest in gro=
wing=0Aup or was that an acquired taste?
 
Paula Frazier: Well, I'm not a country fan! I like some of the stuff from=
 the=0A'50s a lot. I love Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline. That's as far as i=
t goes, to=0Atell you the truth. Most of my influences--though I don't kn=
ow if they really=0Ashow up--are Karen Carpenter, Billy Holiday, and Pats=
y Cline. Then Ennio=0AMorricone, Scott Walker, and Nick Cave. We got to g=
o on tour with [Nick Cave]=0Ain Europe last spring and summer.
 
Those are the people who I've been [listening to] since I was a teenager,=
=0Aexcept Scott Walker who I've been into for about a year. I liked Burt=
=0ABacharach for a lot of the stuff he did when I was a kid, but I've als=
o been=0Alearning more about him recently. Everybody else I mentioned I b=
asically grew=0Aup with. I was really into the Birthday Party when I was =
18 or 19.
 
CitySearch: Is Yma Sumac an influence? I'm thinking of the opening of Mir=
ador.
 
Paula Frazier: Oh, definitely. I mean there's so many influences. Stuff f=
rom=0Athat era. I'm really into loungey, kitschy '50s stuff.
 
CitySearch: Did you meet Cornershop by touring with Nick Cave or was that=
 a=0Aseparate thing?
 
Paula Frazier: A separate thing. Our record came out on 4AD in Europe.=0A=
Cornershop is on Beggar's Banquet, which is 4AD's sister company--they sh=
are=0Athe same office and everything. In the beginning, talking to Corner=
shop, they=0Awanted to get Nancy Sinatra to do [a song]. They wanted to d=
o a Nancy Sinatra-=0ALee Hazelwood type thing. That music's another influ=
ence of mine, so I was=0Alike, "Oh yeah, that would be really cool!" I di=
dn't really know that much=0Aabout Cornershop then. I'd heard some stuff,=
 but their older stuff is more=0Apunk rock--kind of noisey.
 
I said "Yeah that's cool" and they had me try [singing] because they coul=
dn't=0Aget Nancy Sinatra to do it. In the end it turned out that Nancy Si=
natra could=0Ahave done it after all and it was all some misunderstanding=
. Anyway, they had=0Aa bunch of different women sing on it, three women I=
 don't know, including me.=0AIn the end they chose mine. They're really n=
ice guys and they're doing really=0Awell. In Europe the album is Number 1=
, apparently. The past five weeks in=0ALondon or something, which is such=
 a trip. It's great in many ways for me=0Abecause I really like those guy=
s' stuff and it's great publicity! [laughs]
 
It was fun and it was easy. Right place, right time--all those things=0Ah=
appened.
 
CitySearch: What is it you're about to record now?
 
Paula Frazier: A demo for a new album. New stuff with the new guys. A lot=
 of=0Astuff I'm writing=85well, it's not more upbeat, but it's more '60s.=
 Kind of like=0Athe Mamas and the Papas, kind of like Karen Carpenter.
 
I'm not with 4AD anymore, so I'm looking for a new label. It's kind of to=
o bad=0Abecause a lot of good things happened to us with them--we got to =
tour Europe a=0Alot, which was great. It's so weird how things can be so =
easy over there and=0Aso hard over here. Or, like some bands that are hug=
e there aren't popular over=0Ahere. I guess it goes the opposite way, too=
. Like Jewel's not that popular=0Aover there.
 
CitySearch: You could make that a goal--to outsell Jewel.
 
Paula Frazier: Oh I don't know about that!>>
 
Does anyone know what the 4AD/Tarnation split was about?