FLAGPOLE 12/17/2003
Hope is the thing with feathers/
That perches in the soul,/ And sings the tune without the words,/ And never
stops at all.
- Emily Dickinson
I remember walking
through the doors at Tasty World a couple years back, the room bathed in pink
and the crowd much larger than any I'd come to know before 9 p.m. downtown.
Having been in Athens a few months, I realized the social agenda started later
than the places I'd come from.
The most curious thing - even more
peculiar than the pink room and the packed house - was the unmistakable pin-drop
hush.
The ignore-the-band bar chatter typical of larger venues had been
replaced by attentive folk. The Lone Star I desired prior to arrival became the
house red as the air of sophistication lent itself to bottled wine rather than
domestic beer. The silence was sliced by a sharp and soulful voice that was
altogether angelic and out of this world. Between songs I checked out the
scrawled marquee at the front door. The event was BreastFest and the band was
the now-defunct Claire & Bain's Maple Yum-Yum. And thus began my admiration
and borderline-unhealthy obsession with all things Claire Campbell (AKA Claire
Kettlebelle), one of the greatest people I barely know.
Arrangements
were made to sit down with the local artist, activist, philanthropist and
satisfactual songstress of Hope For Agoldensummer. My Thanksgiving day-after
would not be spent with leftovers and the fam, but instead in the home Campbell
grew up in with three fifths of the group: Will Taylor (the closet-dwelling
cello fellow with a river of good fortune on the horizon); guitarist Page-o
Campbell (Claire's kid sis who's two parts punk rock, one part giddy schoolgirl
and a dash of starving artist); and Campbell herself, the fragile yet
wrought-iron-resilient matriarch of the musical group, who contributes vocals,
singing saw, clarinet, slide and bowed guitar, kazoo, tambourine, accordion...
you get the point. Deb Davis (guitar, xylophone, accordion and Jamie Shepard
(drums, percussion), however, had other holiday business. The following is an
abridged transcript of what Flagpole learned about the lady and the band,
and what it means to spend time with Hope.
FP: What was it like growing up in the Campbell household?
Page-O Campbell: Our parents have grown more eccentric through the
years. When I was in elementary school, I would have to ask my Dad and his friends
to quiet down during their late-night music parties. They would jam until sun-up.
Sometimes he would wake us up for school by standing in the doorway singing and
playing Chuck Berry's "Up In The Morning and Out To School" on guitar. It was
kinda annoying. Now when we stay over he wakes us up with a didgeridoo. Claire
and I lived in the attic together. Just one big room. I pissed her off until we
got older and had things in common.
FP: Claire, how did you convince Page to relocate to Athens?
Claire Campbell: There wasn't a lot of convincing really. Her school
in Chicago laid off a bunch of teachers and she stayed in Athens this summer...
Will Taylor: Death threats and kidnapping.
FP: What's the holdup on the eagerly anticipated Hope For Agoldensummer
full-length record?
WT:We're lazy slackers.
CC: We lack organizational skills and money, but we've
raised enough to record and it will be released on February 20.
FP: What's it called?
CC: I Bought A Heart Made Of Art In The Deep, Deep South.
WT: It's not Cat Butt?
CC & PC: [In unison] Ass Cracks to Infinity!
FP:Your music seems to have become progressively
more melancholy, as if there's an insatiable sadness in your belly. As an artist
is it easier to create when inspired by joy or pain?
CC: Generally when I am happy, I am so busy I don't have time to write.
Sadness slows me down. I don't relish in sadness, but I do pull from it. Also,
I'm inspired by other people's histories.
FP: It seems as if your songs are cryptically personal and enigmatically
autobiographical. It's like you're simultaneously sharing and hiding - but your
treatise is a butt-naked personal manifesto. What inspired you to share so much
with the world?
CC: It was cathartic for me and it's been therapeutic for others too.
I feel like I've had experiences that others have not had or will have, or they're
in the middle of right now - and if they read about someone being severely depressed
and getting through it - that is reassuring. Several people have written me about
their own experiences. I plan to compile them all one day in book form for public
distribution.
FP: You've thrown subtle jabs at the local ACC government on occasion
- at the recent WUOG 90.5 FM Johnny Cash tribute, and at this year's Human Rights
Festival. To the casual listener like me, none of your music sounds too political
in nature, but your merchandise briefcase at shows is filled with informative
propaganda. You've divided and blended artist and activist so well.
CC: My songs are not blatantly political. Page's are. It is difficult
to sing my beliefs. Instead I work out barters with DIY distros. I just hooked
up with Bandit Queen in Pensacola, FL, and they distribute plastic speculums.
I'm hoping to get a grant from a pro-woman organization in Asheville so I can
develop affordable packets for women that provide info on everything from how
to use a speculum to herbal abortions to how one can align their menstrual cycle
with the moon.
FP: It can be argued that to be commercially viable in the music business
- especially for women - that you sell sex, and your art is secondary. What are
your thoughts?
CC: Very true if you want instant success. However, Bonnie Raitt is
a good example of someone who made it because of hard work and integrity and a
lot of time. On the other end, Jewel just sold out very explicitly. She realized
that she could make a bunch of money if she went totally pop, so she did.
WT:
Everything is sold with some form of pornography - not art.
FP: Would you be comfortable or horrified at the prospect of being a
sex symbol?
CC: [Cautiously] I would be comfortable.
WT: I hope for it!
FP: When are you happiest?
CC: When I'm surrounded by family and friends and I know that everyone
in the room is right where they want to be. And anybody in the room would take
a bullet for anybody else in the room.
FP: How much do you hate the Maple Yum-Yum questions?
CC: I don't hate them.
FP: In the era of rock and roll reunions, will it ever happen again?
CC: I don't see it happening... we get up on stage at each others
shows sometimes, but...
FP: What question are you hoping I ask- because you want the world to
know your answer, or because you have prepared something that's undeniably eloquent,
witty or charming?
CC: My address is P.O. Box 971, Athens, GA 30603, if you'd like to
send some money.
David Eduardo
WHO: Hope For
Agoldensummer, Leslie Helpert
WHERE: Flicker Theatre & Bar
WHEN: Thursday, December 18, 8:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: Call