Chastity Belt on Tourcations, Lucinda Williams & House Parties : A Handstamp Interview

From Handstamp, an interview with Julia Shapiro of the band Chastity Belt on the music of her youth and adulthood, band chemistry, memorable shows and tourcations.

This interview originally appeared on Handstamp

Flags everywhere. The shopfronts of my hometown, on seemingly every bridge of the M1 and if you believe my social media timeline, on the mini roundabouts of every estate across the nation. This week, they’ll be draped around the streets of London, punctuating some thoroughly researched opinions, I’d bet.

If you happen to be in the Venn diagram of keen American noise-pop, indie rock fans and casual English nationalists reading this, do me a favour and don’t subscribe.

Distractions are never more welcome than during weeks like these. So, I’m pretty grateful I get to release new music and speak to artists about shows in my spare time. I caught up with Julia Shapiro of tremendous Washington band Chastity Belt on the brink of a uniquely exotic European tour. She talked to me about her surprisingly gig-less upbringing.

Julia Shapiro: “I grew up in Palo Alto, California. There wasn’t much of a scene there, so if I wanted to see live music, I’d go to San Francisco, which is about 45 minutes north.”

I didn’t go to many live shows as a teenager, that didn’t happen until college really. I went to college in Walla Walla, Washington. There also is not much of a music scene there, so we’d have to drive to Seattle, Portland or Spokane.”

But yeah, it was kind of interesting getting into playing live shows with very little experience attending live shows.”

Handstamp: “Strangely, you’re not the first person I’ve spoken to recently with that perspective. It feels as though growing up seeing shows would sort of train you in the dynamics of putting on a show, or at least teach you what an audience wants. Did you have much music playing around the house?”

Julia Shapiro: “Not necessarily from my family, but I definitely was really into music. I would spend a lot of time on indie blogs, finding new music. I started playing guitar when I was 12, because I was really into Blink 182 and Third Eye Blind. I went to a Blink 182 concert when I was 13, but I’d already decided they weren’t cool anymore. They played with No Doubt, but I was over it.”

Handstamp: “Was that your first show?”

JS: “No, my dad dragged me to a Jimmy Buffett concert, that’s my first memory of live music. But then in high school, I went to San Francisco for a Devendra Banhart show and then the first festival I went to was called Download Festival. The line-up was Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Beck and way more. That was at a place called Shoreline Ampitheatre and it was pretty cool.”

Handstamp: “Unlike the Buffett show, it feels like the festival would have made an impact on you, as a future performer?”

JS: “Yeah, totally. At the time, I could have never imagined myself on stage. But it definitely was inspiring. I remember at the time, Beck had puppets imitating the band behind them, which was pretty memorable.”

Handstamp: “Performing didn’t feel like an option for you back then?”

JS: “At that point, I had never played music with other people, it didn’t seem possible, it felt so far away. But once I got to college and was going to friends’ shows, shitty house shows, it started to feel possible.”

We got our start at those shows and it felt natural because our band started as a joke, so we just took over other people’s shows when they’d finish, grabbing their instruments and messing around.”

But yeah, the audience would be drunk college kids at a shitty house party. Nothing serious, didn’t have the limits of a ‘real’ show.”

Handstamp: “When did they start to feel real?”

JS: “When we played in Seattle. We played a couple of shows there in our senior year. We played The Josephine and The Rendezvous. At the time, they were our ‘big city’ shows and looking back now, they’re tiny. Felt huge at the time.”

Handstamp: “By the time you were playing regularly, had you already built a big of a scene at college and that carried over?”

JS: “Kind of, yeah. All of our friends from school who were in bands moved to Seattle a couple of years ahead of us, which is how we got shows in Seattle after that. Then once we graduated, we quickly tapped into a scene that already existed.”

I can’t really speak for the music scene now, but at the time it was super tight-knit, everybody was supportive and we seamlessly integrated right out of college.”

Handstamp: “Most people I speak to have a wealth of experience consuming live music before they start playing, then when they become touring musicians, their relationship with going to shows changes. Your journey is obviously a bit different, as you didn’t experience that sea change, how do you feel watching shows from the audience now?”

JS: “I think that still happened to me. I enjoyed live music a lot more before I started touring myself, but that’s probably mainly due to oversaturation. I used to look up to the performers I was watching, as it felt so big to me. Now, I know what’s going on, so it’s different.”

Even listening to music is different now. Just from mixing and recording, the way I listen to music has gone from feeling magical, to more of an analysis kind of thing. It used to be more of a feeling than a thought.”

Handstamp: “It’s like being in The Magic Circle.”

JS: “Honestly, I wish I could go back to listening to music that way. I want to hear music the way I did in high school.”

Handstamp: “Almost all artists think about shows differently when it becomes their job. Some think about the gear, some about the production quality, some about the business decisions that have been made to put the show on.”

JS: “I find myself paying attention to the band members’ dynamics with each other. I can tune into whether they are friends, if they get along and it makes a huge difference for me. When a band is laughing and having a good time, not taking it too seriously, that’s when I enjoy a show the most.”

Handstamp: “Do you have a recent example of that?”

JS: “The last show I saw like that was Pavement. They played Bumbershoot Festival last year and we were watching from side of stage. They were a little drunk, having a good time and the vibes were good. You could tell that they weren’t going through the motions, which you see regularly.”

Handstamp: “Yeah, you can sense when bands are sick of being in a van together for so long. In that respect, do you feel your show benefits from the fact you started the band as long-term friends?”

JS: “Yeah, I would say so. We have the most fun touring with bands where everybody is friendly. That is important to me, because it’s what makes music personal and real, not a sort of forced, professional pursuit. Half of what keeps the band going is our friendship.”

Handstamp: “If you were to recommend one place in the world to experience live music, where would you choose?”

JS: “We’ve always had so much fun in Manchester. The crowds are so lively. There’s such a specific energy to Manchester shows, so we always try to hit it when we’re in the U.K.”

Handstamp: “Can you name some of the shows that had the biggest impact on you?”

JS: “Recently, that Pavement show was the first show I had seen in a while that reminded me what music really is.”

I saw Jonathan Richman in LA a few years ago, which was really cool. He has such a fun live energy, it feels off-the-cuff and natural. I also saw John Prine a couple years before he passed away, here in Seattle and that was pretty special. Also, Fiona Apple at The Paramount back in 2013, or 2014. I loved her in high school, so it felt really nostalgic to me.”

Oh, Lucinda Williams too. So genuine, will talk and tell stories between songs. I saw her at the zoo here once and it was so fun to witness. It seems like she was a little bit drunk and would talk for 15 minutes between songs. She would tell super long stories about dating guys and what went wrong.”

Handstamp: “I love the idea of her playing like four songs and the rest of it being tipsy shit-talking.”

JS: “[laughs] She was RAMBLING.”

Handstamp: “I definitely regret not seeing Prine live.”

JS: “He was so sweet and that really came through in the show. He was such a teddy bear.”

Handstamp: “What’s next for Chastity Belt?”

JS: “We just reunited for our first rehearsal since last September. We are going on tour in a couple of weeks, playing festivals in the UK and Europe. We are also recording for a few days on an island in Greece called Hydra. We’re treating it like a tourcation, because we only have eight shows.”

Handstamp: “That sounds like the absolute dream.”

JS: “It’s definitely the most extravagant thing we’ve ever done.”

Chastity Belt released their last studio album Live Laugh Love last year.

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