Cat Power

With a hypnotic southern drawl, Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power, draws you into her ethereal and intoxicating world, bringing you her own music paired with unexpected interpretations, almost like translations, of some of our most beloved songs. She walks onto the stage and you can hear a pin drop. It’s as if we have stepped into a dream state, and like all dreams, it’s full of surprises. Marshall flows between discussions of capitalism, loneliness and love, and occasional pauses to laugh at herself. She admits she only knows one chord, and confesses that if she weren’t making music she’d probably spend all her time daydreaming about oceans, deserts, and screaming in the middle of the street. How lucky we are that boredom drove Marshall to pick up a $75 guitar and build an entire life around it. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Tania Ketenjian:
Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, is big. Her cross-country and global shows are often sold out, her audience reverential and committed. She sits on stage, often alone, sometimes with her bandmates, playing simple chords on her guitar and piano. Her lyrics have been called otherworldly and primal. She's been playing music for over 15 years, traveling for over 10. She rarely stays in one place, often on the road playing in small towns and big cities, driving across the straits and through other countries. In that time, she's formed a following that continues to grow. According to her bio, her giant fan base has tripled with each new record released. Slight and beautiful, with a soft southern drawl and a powerful dedication, Cat Power seems to exist in her own world while on stage. I met her at Irving Plaza in New York the evening before her show. I had seen her play two nights earlier at a smaller venue in the Lower East Side of Manhattan called Tonic. She played for about an hour and a half, and the entire room was silent as she sang these often heart-wrenching, beautiful songs about love, loss, and the internal quest that we all seem to take part in if we choose to. When I asked her if her songs answer her questions, Cat Power said, "There's only decisions, you know, in this life. There's no answers ever. So it's just like sort of an exercise to sort of figure out what the question is, or questioning the answer that you're getting." At shows, the audience calls out for certain songs like "Crossbone Style" or "Metal Heart." One of her most revered albums is the covers record, in which she covers songs by Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, and Velvet Underground. But you wouldn't necessarily be able to tell. "Satisfaction," originally by the Rolling Stones, becomes a rich tune through the husky, wistful, and mysterious voice Cat Power exudes. I imagine it was hard to recreate such a well-known song, but Cat Power did not plan on recreating it per se. With her, it becomes a whole new experience, an entirely different piece. Her most recent album is called "You Are Free." I spoke with Cat Power at Irving Plaza in New York. She talked about the way she fell into music. Like so much in life, it was by chance.


Chan Marshall:
I could never do what you're doing. It's like, well, neither could I. But, you know, my friend actually was selling his guitar when I was 18, and I always loved the guitar because there was this band from Chapel Hill that would play Atlanta, where I used to live, and they were called the Flat Duo Jets. And I loved his guitar. I thought it was the coolest guitar. And my friend had one. He was selling it for $75, and I was like, oh, I'll buy it, you know. And I saved my money and gave bought it and I put it in the corner and I just loved the guitar, you know, and then being bored or restless or, you know, thoughtful, introspective, or kind of like impatient or something, or just wanted to be distracted or didn't want to go to a movie, didn't want to go to a party, didn't want to go to a bar, didn't want to call a friend or something, I'd just pick up the guitar and like mess with it, you know. And if I never bought that guitar, if I had done like, maybe if he was, you know, selling a typewriter or if someone had given me a scholarship to a school or something like this, I probably would have, you know, I would have done something else and believed in it. Well, believe, you know, would have done something.

I mean, I think we all do something in our lives that, you know, comes from, you know, ourselves. I don't know what that is for everybody else, but for me, there's more things than just music, you know, friendships and like communicating with, you know, just there's so much in life that— but music was just always just something great, you know. Even like searching on the radio station, trying to find the dial, like hearing like REM, Radio Free Europe, like what is that, you know? Or Grandmaster Flash, like, you know, something like, oh, it sang something to me. But I think music's great because it's not tangible. It's not, um… It's something that never changes. It's always growing within people. Like a song from the 1920s, you know, you could play it now and it would still have the same— same thing as a painting or a book, literature, or, you know, love, like feelings, like feelings, they never die. And the human spirit never dies. Corporations keep getting stronger, more powerful, and governments keep trying to make corporations stronger and more powerful, but the human spirit isn't— is far from like being wiped out.


Chan Marshall:
Losing a star without a sky
Losing the reasons why
You're losing the calling that you've been faking
And I'm not kidding

It's damned if you don't, it's damned if you do
Be true, 'cause I'll lock you up in a sad, sad tomb
Oh, hidy-hidy-hiding, whatcha trying to prove?
By hidy-hidy-hiding, you're not worth a thing

Sew your fortunes on a string and hold them up to light.
Blue smoke will take a very violent flight
And you will be changed and everything
And you will be in a very sad, sad zoo.

I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see you
How selfish of you
to believe in the meaning of all the bad dreams.

Metalheart, you're not hiding
Metalheart, you're not worth a thing
Metalheart, you're not hiding
Metalheart, you're not worth a thing


Tania Ketenjian:
When you're writing your lyrics, or when you're feeling your lyrics more, I think it's more of a feeling that pours out of you rather than like a methodical sitting down and writing down.


Chan Marshall:
Rather than words. Yeah, absolutely.


Tania Ketenjian:
It's, you know, it's something that's completely coming out of you inside.


Chan Marshall:
It's trying to describe— it's like you've you can't make sense of it, and it's happening to you, and there's no book to help you learn what this is you're feeling, and there's no, like, explanation. And you could talk to friends, and you could talk to, you know, people who've gone through it before, but nobody comes up with any answers. There's only decisions, you know, in this life. Like, there's no answers ever. So it's just like sort of an exercise to sort of figure out what the question is, like, or questioning the answer that you're getting in your own time. And yeah, it doesn't— it's definitely feelings, and the feelings range. It's weird.


Tania Ketenjian:
You know, I know that you think about capitalism, and I know that you think about those kind of social issues, and yet, you know, you have to make albums that people have to buy. Do you think about that, and what do you think about that?


Chan Marshall:
I feel guilty. I definitely feel guilty about that. And I have friends who say, "Chan, you know, you're not— you know, you have to accept that this is what you do," and things like this. People tell me things. I still don't know if I believe them. But, you know, it'd be great, like— I mean, everybody would like to buy their mom a house. You know, that's like the— you know, you hear about that a lot when they're like at the Grammys and they're like, you know, got my mom a house, and like to thank everybody for helping, you know, my family out and things like that. And, um, yeah, it's— I definitely feel guilty about that. But, um, my friends tell me that— hey! They tell me to shut up.


Tania Ketenjian:
Well, they probably tell you that it's your job.


Chan Marshall:
Yeah, that might be what my— Booking agent says. There's all these different kinds of people that come to shows sometimes, and the best part is like knowing that you can like try not to— just remember that like the universe is out there and it's just moving and the wind's blowing and there's like, you know, so much going on in the world that you have to like concentrate and do my job, which is my job, which is— I feel like it's my job because I feel like I have a responsibility because I know that I would be like— I know— I don't know what I'd be doing in my life right now if I wasn't like— hadn't been accepted in this way in society where I get to play shows and travel and see the world and go to all these places and meet all these great people. So I feel like I have to be true to what I'm doing. I have to feel like I have to be true to like when I'm up there, like I have to make sure You know, people are like, "Oh, you're a perfectionist. You shouldn't worry about it." It's like, no, but that's the important thing about it. There's never one way. There's never one formula. Like one show, for instance, or one painting can never be the same. Or one, you know, speech. You know, sure, if it's written by someone else, you know, and you're reading it, it'll be the same a thousand times.

But if there's one moment, you know, one moment is never— it can never be redone. Like, there's only that moment. If that moment wasn't perfect to social standards, you know, I can't worry about it or something. I don't know. But I do feel like I have a strong responsibility to make sure that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing right by God or by myself or by people who care about me or by people who, you know, say like, I really like your music or something that inspired me to like you know, write this book about whatever or something. It's like, wow, you know, I feel that, like, that encouragement in my soul. Like, I don't know, but I also don't take it very seriously as well in my own life because I don't want to be— I want people to know that it's within them too. You know, the reason why they're like, like Eminem, it's not because he's like fashionable or cool or attractive or famous. It's because he's saying something to young people like you know, say what you want to say. And I'm not, you know, I'm not the best person in the world. I'm a human being, and I'm just saying what I've— what I'm saying.


Radio Host:
Uh, where are we now? This is another one from Cat Power, and it's a tune which you'll probably recognize, I think.


Chan Marshall:
Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now, you should've somehow
Realised what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat, the word is on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Today was gonna be the day
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now, you should've somehow
Realised what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall


Radio Host:
Certainly like the song that way. That's Cat Power in session and a version of Wonderwall.


Tania Ketenjian:
What's important for you, like, on a daily basis? When you, when you think about what's important for you in your life, you know, whether it be to express love or, or, um, to work really hard, or—


Chan Marshall:
Yeah.


Tania Ketenjian:
I don't know, look at paintings. I don't know what's important for you.


Chan Marshall:
Rest. To take a bath. To try to be healthy. Try to be kind. Try to be patient. Um, um, I don't know.


Tania Ketenjian:
How about love? What do you think about love? What are your thoughts about love? If someone asked you what love is, if I asked you what love is, what would you say?


Chan Marshall:
I guess it's like affection of the heart and soul. And yeah, it's just like affection of the heart and soul, maybe.


Tania Ketenjian:
Love in a nutshell.


Chan Marshall:
Yeah, maybe. But I don't think, even though you want love and you need love and you have love, sometimes, all times, every time, between men and women, I don't think I don't think that love is ever easy. Friends and, you know, some, like, you know, art and stuff that helps you understand, you know, what love is or something, because sometimes it's so easy to feel like there is no love, I think for everybody, and then sometimes it's so easy to feel so much love. For everybody too. But—


Tania Ketenjian:
And your songs, when you write, or when you—


Chan Marshall:
When am I feeling love? Okay, I'm feeling love, definitely. I'm— yeah, definitely. It all comes down to that anyway, I think. Yeah, with everything. Wanting love, needing love, wanting to give love. Wanting to show love. It's very frustrating.


Tania Ketenjian:
You said this quote in 1998, and I wanted to see what you thought of it now. "Good is the word. The word is the song. The song is the work. The work is the word. The word is the good. The good is the world."


Chan Marshall:
Really? That's funny. I probably was just saying that just— I think I was like rapping to somebody, just like making something up to like— yeah.


Tania Ketenjian:
Does it say something to you now?


Chan Marshall:
I think so, yeah. It's just human spirit. I think that's probably what that means. And if I'm referring to the Bible, And like the work, I don't mean like going to your job. I mean like, you know, personal struggle, like getting through things, you know, holding your— you know what we all do. We all have things we go through. Everybody does. And that's, you know, that's like work. And knowing that at the end of that, you're still going to be there, you know. So just finding hope in something that feels feels like completely disparaging or something.


Tania Ketenjian:
Inevitably, even though one would listen to your albums and think, God, this is about love and it's about pain and it's about desire and, you know, all those things, it— you could also say that it's also about, you know, social climate.


Chan Marshall:
Of course. Yeah, but, you know, I would, you know, I'm totally, probably, in the same way I'm shunned by the jazz world or whatever because I don't know how to play my instrument, or I'm not trained or anything. I don't know all the keys and everything at all, or the notes. I know an E minor chord. That's the only chord that I know. I'm shunned by that. And it's like I'd be shunned by the political world because I don't specifically articulate factually information. You know, but like, sorry, but I'm doing what I'm doing. Like, you know, this is what I'm doing.


Tania Ketenjian:
But the personal and political, you think they're probably interchangeable, Yeah.


Chan Marshall:
I think they're the same thing. Because it wasn't like one person that said, I want to vote. Okay. It was like, you know, hundreds of thousands of people who stood in line to vote on that day because because so many people lost their lives and worked really hard to like, when I say work, I mean went through a lot of shit and, you know, whatever, you know, to have that social allowance to be able to talk about what they feel.


Tania Ketenjian:
And free the album.


Chan Marshall:
Yeah.


Tania Ketenjian:
It talks about that, I guess.


Chan Marshall:
Sure, absolutely. It's all the same thing.


Tania Ketenjian:
Earlier in the interview with me here, You said if you weren't making music, you don't know what you would do. And I think someone asked you the same thing, and what would you do if you weren't making music? And you said daydream.


Chan Marshall:
Yeah, unfortunately.


Tania Ketenjian:
Well, what do you dream about? What are your dreams?


Chan Marshall:
Ocean and desert and dinner parties at night with friends. Animal, like— Spinning around, spinning around, screaming at the top of my lungs in the middle of the street, you know. She's crazy. No, I'm not.


Tania Ketenjian:
Well, my last question, I guess. Are you, are you really excited that you came out with this album? Do you— what's your vision for it, I suppose? Do you have a vision for it?


Chan Marshall:
I don't have a vision. I'm just glad that I was responsible enough to hand it in. And, you know, there were like— I've met a few people, like some shows, whatever, because I've been touring for so long, ever since before Covers record came out. So I'd meet people who'd be like, when's your next record coming out? And I feel like, you know, I never listened to them and I was always like, "Oh, I don't know." You know, and after so many times I start realizing, well, you know, it's for like those people. Like, I feel like, you know, yeah, I did my best. And I'm not saying it's their thing. Like, I like— I feel good and bad about it equally. I feel like it's half good and half bad. I feel like it's half awful and half okay. Like, I feel like I did my best, and that's all that there is, and that's what it is, and I don't expect anything from it, and I don't feel like it's anything to be— I think it's so normal. I think we all could do better than this.


Tania Ketenjian:
Well, it's an inspiration then. You'll constantly try and do better.


Chan Marshall:
I know, it sucks.


Tania Ketenjian:
Or it's great. It's both.


Chan Marshall:
It's great the day that I probably won't be doing it anymore.


Tania Ketenjian:
Really?


Chan Marshall:
Probably. Once you reach that thing— I mean, I'm guessing. Like, if you're like, you know, been making pies for like 20 years, and then there's like, you're just like, weren't even thinking, you know, you just made like, to yourself, it was like the best pie, you know? And you like, just eat the whole pie yourself.


Chan Marshall:
I'm driving in my car
And a man come on the radio
He's tellin' me more and more
'Bout some useless information
Tryin' to mess my 'magination

When I'm watchin' my TV
And a man come on to tell me
How white my shirts can be
But he can't be a man
'Cause he doesn't smoke the same cigarettes as me

When I'm riding around the globe
And I'm doin' this and I'm signin' that
And I'm tryin' to make some boy
Baby, baby, baby, come back
Can't y'see?
I'm on a losing streak

When I'm riding around the globe
And I'm doin' this and I'm signin' that
And I'm tryin'
And I'm tryin'


Tania Ketenjian:
You were just listening to the music and words of Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power. Her most recent album is called You Are Free. She's known for other albums as well. To find out more information about her, visit matadorrecords.com. That is her label, and you will find out her whole record list from that website.