Piney Gir, nee Angela Penhaligon, grew up in Kansas City. She decided to pack her bags and head out to London some time back, and seems to have found a nice little niche in the UK indie scene. She and I have become kinda sorta pals over the past few months and, though we were unable to work together this month as a result of some horrible volcanic ash, she was kind enough to answer a few questions for my really, really, really small potatoes blog. This was quite a thrill for me, seeing as I've been championing her music for the past four years. I was introduced to her via an MC Lars song titled “Internet Relationships,” a song about how you shouldn't meet people online. Good advice – just ask my wife.
I feel that it ought to be noted that I emailed my questions to Piney, and when they came back the questions were purple and her responses were pink. This may have happened accidentally, but I prefer to imagine that everything that passes through Piney's hands turns from “normal” to “delightful.” On with the interview!
Tinnitus Project: Your themes seem to vary greatly from song to song. Seeing as you seem to be a rather chipper person, where do you draw from for your darker lyrics - songs like "Weeping Machine" and "There was a Drunk?"
Piney Gir: Ummm... well nobody can be chipper 100% of the time, can they? I draw inspiration from the sad stuff as well as the happy stuff, I think a lot of creative people do. I almost feel like a reporter/songwriter and it would be unfair to present only one side of the story. I think people connect to the spectrum of emotions because everyone has different feelings from day to day. Some days are good, some days are bad; I write about both.
TP: I know you've got a day job. How much of the stuff you do - recording, videos, touring, et cetera - is self-funded?
PG: Everything I do is self-funded. I sometimes make a little money playing a big festival or getting a lot of radio play for a single and that money goes towards touring, making a video, recording an album, etc. I try to do things on the cheap and I'm lucky to have some really great people who want to collaborate with me so yeah, I am a DIY kind of girl with some lovely friends who help me! I'd love to do music full-time, I'd love to get a little help sometimes financially of course... and I think if I carry on plugging away at it that will one day happen, meanwhile I love what I do.
TP: One of the things you do fairly often is rearrange and re-release your own songs - five of the songs on "Peakahokahoo" were countrified and re-recorded for "Hold Yer Horses," and a new, faster version of "I Don't Know Why I feel Like Crying But I Do" is going to be on your next album, "Jesus Wept." Is this something you do to accommodate various lineups for your band, or is it just to keep things interesting for yourself?
PG: That's a good question! The Piney Gir Country Roadshow (who I made the album "Hold Yer Horses" with) sort of started by accident. You see "Peakahokahoo" (my first album) was really electronic and the live show was borderline 'electro' and I was asked to support this awful British-Americana band (there is a whole scene out here in the UK with people singing in fake American accents it's so weird!).
Anyway, I didn't think my electro set-up would compliment the evening... we were playing in a working men's club in Westminster, it was cool, but not suitable for an electro-chanteuse like me. So I got some friends together to do country covers of my first album. We never set out to be a band but people loved the gig so much we got booked to play show after show, we did like 20 festivals that summer, had loads of BBC sessions, it was amazing!
So we recorded "Hold Yer Horses" which included some of the country covers from my first album and a few new songs. We started doing that song "I Don't Know Why I Feel Like Cryin' But I Do" live and it was fun to rock it up really wild and upbeat so that's where that new version came from. Is that a long story?
TP: You've mentioned in other interviews that due to your parents' anti-secular music stance, you're just now getting around to listening to many modern-day legends like Bowie and Dylan and the like. Seeing as the goal of this site is to expand my personal horizons, is there anything you'd like to suggest?
PG: I've recently discovered The Four Lads. Have you heard of them? [Editor's note: Yes, but only because They Might Be Giants do a cover of “Istanbul”] They are so wholesome that I probably would have been allowed to listen to them, but I have only just found them. I love the song Skokkian. I've got really into the Kinks lately too (which I certainly wouldn't have been allowed to listen to).
TP: Finally, and I feel most importantly, you seem to have a fascination with bees - specifically adorable bees. As a fan of all adorable creatures, I can certainly understand. Why bees, though? I mean, bees are kinda scary, you know?
PG: I think it is precisely their scariness that I like. I mean, they are cute and stripy, they like flowers and make honey (yumm). How twee is that? But they work work work until they can't work anymore, they will die for their queen, they can sting you if they want to and that hurts - it can even kill you. I guess bees are kind of like people.
Piney Gir's first three albums - “Peakahokahoo,” “Hold Yer Horses,” and “The Yearling” can all be purchased on iTunes. Her fourth album, “Jesus Wept” is scheduled to be released in the UK this August, and will likely be available on iTunes as well. It's really, really good.
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