Consumable
Summer 1995

INTERVIEW: Rachael of The Blue Up?

I recently had the chance to speak with Rachael, the lead singer of an incredible, emerging Minneapolis band, The Blue Up?. The band recalls echos of Kate Bush, XTC, and Peter Gabriel, and younger music fans will find an immediate resemblence to Tori Amos. Recently, The Blue Up? were signed to Columbia with the help of their producer, Bobby Z. Fans of Prince will remember Bobby Z as the drummer in Prince's band, the Revolution. In fact, The Blue Up?'s new album, Spool Forka Dish, was recorded in Prince's Paisley Park studios.

However, unlike Prince protege bands such as Vanity 6, The Blue Up? is Rachael's own band and her music bears little resemblance to the Minneapolis funk sound. If there is any similarity, it is the connections with the Revolution's Wendy and Lisa. Fans of Wendy and Lisa will find that The Blue Up? is a must have album. Bobby Z also produced Wendy and Lisa's first album, and the mood and emotions are similar.

Spool Forka Dish is a bubbling concoction of raw emotions, simple playground tunes, and studio noodlings. Some songs are layered with criss-crossing words and melodies that weave themselves into an incredible sonic tapestry while other tracks are fast, guitar driven, pop tracks which cut through your ears like a freight train. And admist this array of stunning tunes are snippets of tiny melodies sung in a cute girlish voice. That voice is none other than the leader of The Blue Up?, Rachael.

Talking with Rachael was a great experience. Her view of the world is at a slightly different angle than the norm, and it was refreshing to speak with someone who wasn't locked into the everyday way of life. Her voice embodies the unholy marriage of a spiritual earth mother, a 4 year old, and a valley girl.

Consumable: What's it like being signed to Columbia?

Rachael: Being on a major label is so elusive and strange. I mean, there's just really no way you can describe it or anything. A million things might be going on, but you can't explain it to anybody cause you can't even explain it to yourself! It's kind of like The X Files or something. As soon as you join the FBI, you're on this secret mission. But you don't know what your mission is, and you don't know who your boss is, and you don't even know why you're doing it.

C: How much control did you have over your album cover?

Rachael: In the beginning, I had some control, and, after a while it just took so long. They took control to get it done. In the end, I really didn't have anything to do with it. But in the beginning, I had really a lot of control so it's like 70% me and maybe 30% them. I got to tell them how the photo cover should be. But I had nothing to do with the font or how they did it or that blue sort of weird thing that's on the cover. And I got my art in there. That was cool.

C: That center one with a spool, fork, and dish; is that where the album title (_Spool Forka Dish) came from, or did you draw that after you came up with the title.

Rachael: No, I drew that after I came up with the title. I'm more of a visual artist than anything. That's what comes natural to me. It's probably what I should be doing, because it's easy. But the reason I chose music is because it's hard, and I don't get it. It's a challenge to me - "What was I thinking!" But I just wanted to challenge myself in different areas. And I really hate math, and music is really mathematical. So it's really, really hard for me. I'm not very prolific; I really labor over songs because they are so hard.

C: How do you usually write a song? Do you have the words down first?

Rachael: No, I write the words last. I write all the music first.

C: That's interesting because it seems to me like your lyrics are so much a part of the song in terms of how they're overlapped with the melodies.

Rachael: Yeah, "It's a bitch." Yeah, [it's hard] just to make them all fit. And you're like, "Oh, god." It takes me, weeks sometimes to make the words go in. I usually just start with titles cause I don't really like sentences yet, but I've gotten to like words. I'm kind of working backwards. So, I usually just come up with a word and then I'll go "Oh, I like that word." And, I'll write that down. I have all these words written all over my house. And, usually, I don't ever go back and look at them. They just end up in little piles everywhere because I'll always have a new word that day. And then, I'll write like five songs just from a guitar... little songs, little humming things that came into my head. I'll be working on about five songs over a year or something. And each one has this really cool part, but each one has this part which sucks. So, they never get done, and then you go, "Eyew, what do I do? How do I fix it?" And then, after a year, it's like a stew. It's just been sitting there so long, and they all marinate together. And I'll just go, "Oh my god! All five songs fit together!" Kind of like, "You've got chocolate on my peanut butter." "No, you've got peanut butter on my chocolate." I don't know, and then they all smoosh together. And then, usually just one word that I've picked out sort of fits in somewhere.

C: How did you go from just being a struggling artist to having Bobby Z find you and getting in this whirlwind of being with a major label and everything?

Rachael: Well, I would definitely say I'm still a struggling artist. (laughs) But, he saw us play at First Avenue (in Minneapolis). It was the most amazing thing. Renee, my drummer, she wanted to play in this local band showcase night at First Avenue. And she went to Glam Slam, which was only two blocks away because she was supposed to see one of her friends there before we went on. Right when she walked out, she saw this postcard on the ground of just this angel playing this musical instrument. I mean, it was just sitting there for no reason. But she picked it up, and we all thought it was a superstitious omen thing, you know. She brought it back, and said "Oh, this means we're going to have a good show. It'll be ok" because we were all scared and everything. And then we were like, "Yeah, yeah, it'll be ok!" So we all kissed this postcard, and then [at the show] I saw this mysterious guy in the audience who I'd never seen before at First Avenue when I'd been in there. But, obviously, he's been in there because he made that movie [Purple Rain]. It was weird. I didn't hear anything about it for days and then he contacted our record company. And it at all happened from there. He just loved our music and decided to shop it and then produced our record. He liked it so much that he became our manager.

C: I've always been a fan of stuff that Bobby Z has touched, like the first Wendy and Lisa album.

Rachael: Oh yeah, he loves that album. He's really proud of that.

C: I brought them up is because I can hear some harmonies like theirs in a couple of your songs. Was that from Bobby Z's help?

Rachael: No, I did everything. I did it all.

C: That's cool because, with artists like Vanity, you knew that those were just Prince groups. But, when I listen to yours, I didn't feel like Bobby Z did that much in terms of the sound He just let you do your own thing?

Rachael: Yeah, I pretty much did it all. He just let me have free reign and helped when I got caught on a glitch or something. He's very good for guidance - someone who just can hold your hand, who kind of knows the way, but you're the one that's walking - like learning how to ride a bike. You're riding the bike, but he's there in case you fall. He was just so kind, and he always knew when to push me and when not to.

C: So you guys recorded at the Paisley Park Studios, right? In the bio, it said that you were in the studio across from Prince.

Rachael: Yeah, he was rehearsing the whole time. He rehearsed like 6 or 7 hours a day. It was crazy. It's not like he was in there the whole time, but his band had to be. He has, all these tapes of his voice so he doesn't even have to be in the room while they're practicing. And, you would never really know if he's even in there or not cause you'd always hear... singing. But you'd always think, "Is he in there or is he not in there?". It was weird, but we were literally right next to it. He was in the other room rehearsing really loud. -bam bam bam bam kaboom kaboom kaboom- You know, you'd be recording "Capture This", and you'd hear "Mother fuckerrrrr!!!! One Two Three Four... and a One!" So it was really interesting for about the first month. Then after about the second month it was like, "Oh my god! Is he here again today!" But it was definitely a huge novelty. Most of the time, it was like, "Woooow!", and I was trying to see him. Actually, I was banned from looking at him because I looked at him too much. Prince banned me.

C: Tell me about "Beautiful Hysterical" - it sounds like it's just you and the guitar.

Rachael: Yeah, it is.

C: That one seems a lot like Tori Amos' music where it's just you and the instrument, but you get so much feeling and power out of it.

Rachael: Cool! Yeah, I wrote that in the midst of recording the album. I just had this urge. I needed to write something that was really brutal, brutally honest. Like when PJ Harvey has songs where her mouth is just right there. It's pure. I just wanted to do something really rough because everything else is so layered. I just wanted one song that's like "Here's me not layered at all." I'm proudest of that song, although no one really ever seems to mention it. I guess it's not a "happy peppy" number. (laughs) I mean, I'm always really happy when I write a song, but I'm never actually giddily pleased or anything like, "Oh my god!" But I really was pretty happy with it. It's like, "I DID IT!" And it's the longest song I ever wrote, because all my songs are like two and a half minutes long.

C: Why did you take the whole album and play it backwards on the last track?

Rachael: Cause I listen to albums backwards. I have a 4 track, and I can flip tapes over and just listen to them backwards. And I always just thought that was cool. Mostly, everyone doesn't like the backwards track. But I wanted to put it on anyway. I did it for those 3 people that would go "Yeah!"

C: Have you found any hidden messages in your music?

Rachael: Yeah, I did actually. "Spoons for Seven" backwards is funny because the song has such a calming effect. If you listen to it backwards carefully I definitely say, like, in this really funny voice, "I'm nerrrrvousssss!". And it's so true. It's really true because I am really nervous and stuff. And you're like, "Oh man, even when I'm trying to be calm and I'm writing a calm song, it still says, 'I'm nervous.'" The truth comes out!

C: "Spoons for Seven" is a neat little piece. Does it have a special meaning to it?

Rachael: No, it was mostly just kind of a vision. I was foggy dreaming of, like, how everything is equal in a way. Like, animals and organic objects as well as inanimate objects like hats were like equally as important and would get go to heaven and have dinner all together.

C: You have that spirituality going through a lot of your lyrics and your music. At the start of your bio, there is a quote from you that says, "I want to make people happy and bring them out of the state of being angry. I just want to be a part of people's happy memories." Is that a philosophy of your own? Or a religion?

Rachael: I don't know. That's kind of a goofy quote. (laughs) It changes from day to day. It's really hard to peg me down because, I could be completely different tomorrow. But, that doesn't mean that the part of me will go away. It resurfaces and kind of goes around. But, I definitely do though. I don't want to be the album that people put on when they're really in a bad mood, and they want to get in a worse mood. You know, when they're really in a bad mood, and they're like, "I'm going to put on Bauhaus and drrrrrink!" Although I love Bauhaus, they never put me in a bad mood. Now, Skinny Puppy, that can really put me in a bad mood. I'd just really rather be that kind of album that, when someone's in a really good mood, they go, "Oh, god, I really want to hear The Blue Up?" It's like, when you put on the B-52's or The La's, and the person's acting really funny and they wanna dust their house. I just really see my music as being "happy dusting your house music!"

Spool Forka Dish by The Blue Up? is currently available in any decent record store. The album is a powerful collection of songs that will really challenge your mind. Just like the best of Kate Bush's work, The Blue Up? combines exquisite, embracing songs with intriguing studio work. At times, Spool Forka Dish sounds almost as if The Art of Noise were playing only live instruments in their music. If Tori Amos is "a little too weird" for your tastes, then maybe you should stay away. But, if Amos only gets you hungry for more, then The Blue Up? should help feed the space between your ears.

- Jon Steltenpohl