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On Thursday, August 22nd, catch Scout Niblett at Barboza (8 p.m., $10, 21+).
That list of strong, independent, self-thinking ladies on guitars keeps getting longer. Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Waxahatchee, and Scout Niblett (aka Emma Niblett) are just a few that I’ve had the chance to speak with or see live. There’s a growing diversity in the music industry, and women are making some of the most adventurous music out there. Emma is no exception.
It helps that she has been around the block — her first album came out in 2001. Emma speaks slowly and carefully. You can tell she wants to be in control of every word, both in interviews and on her latest, It’s Up to Emma. She doesn’t look too far ahead or too far back, choosing to focus on what’s right in front of her. Her album hits her emotions head on, capturing the rawness of her feelings before they go astray.
I spoke with Emma over the phone before her upcoming performance at Barboza about astrology (one of her favorite things), Snow White, and not being as dark or as cynical as people make her out to be.
I saw that you’re currently in Norway. How has your international tour been?
It’s good! I’m actually not on tour right now — the tour ended about two weeks ago — so I’m just on holiday. I was headlining, but there were three people in the band: a drummer, a second guitarist and me.
I know you’re from the UK…but currently you live in Portland, OR. How did you end up in PDX? Do you enjoy living there as musician?
I’ve been in the states for about ten years, and I moved around a lot initially — almost once a year for the first few years. In 2005, I was living in Oakland and I wanted to try and find somewhere on the West Coast that was cheaper. I had a couple of friends in Portland and I decided to move up there. Being a musician is really easy there. It’s really great.
Tell me more about your relationship with To Kill A Mocking Bird. Do you relate to the character Scout? Are you a tomboy?
I definitely did relate with her. I’ve always felt like a tomboy. I’ve always felt there has been a pretty strong masculine side to my personality. I’m quite feisty underneath I think. (Laughs) I liked that in her because I don’t think you see that in female characters that often. I really appreciated that in a novel when I read it. I was like, “Oh wow! This girl can be aggressive.”
In your music and in her character too it seems your faith in the goodness of people and relationships has been tested. Do you feel that way?
I’ve definitely been tested, but I think everyone has. That’s what life is about really. But I’m not cynical at all — underneath I’m not.
Well, you read some reviews and people describe your music as dark and cynical. And I’m like, “I think she looks like a fun person in her videos!”
Yeah, I’m actually a pretty optimistic person in general. I just feel things quite intensely, so when things go wrong I feel pretty devastated. But I always get over it and I always end up okay! I’m never engulfed in negativity or anything.
Some people consider Scout to be a feminist character and your cover of “No Scrubs” is a pretty feminist song too. Do you relate to that ideology or movement?
To be honest, I don’t know. I think I don’t. I don’t really respond to gender issues. I respond more to human emotion. I think a guy could sing that song the other way around and it would be still as relevant. To me, I’m more in touch with things that affect people on a humanistic level rather than a gender level.
Are there any other songs you’d like to cover?
There’s always stuff in the works, but it’s more about figuring out what’s going to the best fit with the emotional “thing” I’m going to be in next. It has to fit in with how I’m feeling at the moment.
It’s Up To Emma is your seventh album — how is this different than the other 6?
It’s the most direct emotionally. Technically it’s also different. I produced it, and I didn’t really do that on the previous ones. I didn’t take full control on producing the other ones. This is the first album I’ve been finishing myself, rather than having others do it for me.
You rarely have EPs, most of your albums are full length. Do you have a lot of stories you like to share? Are you constantly writing?
I’m always getting ideas musically and lyrically, but I don’t necesarrily turn them into songs for a long period of time. It’s a pretty sporadic period. I’ll record riffs I come up with or I’ll write down lyrics now and again, but they don’t really turn into songs for quite a while. There’s always a period when enough life situations happen and build up and then I go into this incubation period where I’m just focused on turning that life experience into music. It doesn’t happen that often, actually.
What is recording process like for you then? Is it therapeutic?
In the past, I would get together with the drummer that played with me at the time and we would rehearse and rehearse and rehearse and then maybe go on tour for a bit with some of the songs. So by the time we were in the studio we knew exactly what was going to happen on the record. And the record would be us basically playing live in a studio. But this last record was completely different. It was very different process. It was really drawn out — over seven months going in the studio four, five, six times a week and doing overdubs. The songs evolved every time I went in the studio.
Do you have a preference on which process you like better?
They’re very different. I like the simplicity of a live recording, but I also really felt that I got to another place in terms of the songs by spending more time with them in the studio. I’d probably like to explore that a bit more next time .
I wanted to ask you about the video for “Gun” in which you wear a Snow White costume. What was the message there?
I woke up one morning and had a vision of me being Snow White. And I was like, “Ok. I need to order this costume today.” I got it on Amazon for $35 and it came in like two days. The original video was going to be me walking down the street and people were going to give me each part of the costume to wear and I was going to put it directly on. We tried doing that and realized it didn’t work because I can’t act. The fact that people were around me and it was all set up…I felt really awkward.
I decided to scratch that so I got dressed up at home and filmed myself doing that part. Then I got a friend in Portland to film me walking around the city. The idea was that it was going to be completely random — just me crossing streets and going into stores. I wanted to get people’s natural reactions captured on film to seeing Snow White. But when we went downtown, there was a Cinco de Mayo festival going on with a fair. So we just went with it and went into the fairgrounds. All these kids wanted their picture with me, so we filmed that too. It was completely accidental.
I know you’re into astrology, so the last question I wanted to ask you was what do you think of Geminis?
Geminis? Wow.
Yeah, I’m a Gemini and people are either intrigued or scared by it!
Well, Geminis are a dual sign — the twins. That’s why you’ll get two completely different opinions about Geminis. I’m neutral towards all the signs because I can see what they are. I don’t have negative or positive opinions about any of them, I just see them. The whole thing about Geminis for me is that its all about communication and mental energy. The need to pass on and receive information constantly.
What’s your sign?
I’m a Libra.
Do you feel it represents you?
It does in some ways. I could say I’m a Libra and you’re a Gemini, but we are also way more than that. You have all the signs in your chart, you just know where the sun was when you were born. There are like eight other planets in different signs when you were born and they mean something else. It’s really complex. I’m more of a Scorpio than a Libra.
Well I’m excited to see you in Seattle in a few weeks!
Yeah, you should come up to me and say hi! Bring your birth stuff. I’ll do your chart for you. I’ll bring my computer and we can look at your chart!