Miscellaneous - Interview with Linda Reid

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 15 / 1 / 2003

intro

Our Sister Vanilla interview of a few months ago proved so popular that we decided to run another one. Linda Reid chats to Anthony Strutt about her band's forthcoming debut album, 'Little Pop Rock' and life with her brothers, the JAMC's Jim and William

Linda Reid is the younger sister of the former Jesus and Mary Chain stars, Jim and William Reid. While Jim has a new band, Freeheat, and William now lives in in Los Angeles and has his own project, Lazycame, Linda also has her own group, Sister Vanilla, which she first formed in 1994. Linda sings on 'Moe Tucker', one of the songs on the final Jesus and Mary Chain album, 'Munki', and also toured with her brothers at the time. Sister Vanilla recently released a song 'Pastel Blue' on 'You Don't Need Darkness to Know What You Think is Right', a compilation on Pastel front man Stephen Pastel's Geographic label. She is also currently putting the final touches to Sister Vanilla's debut album, 'Little Pop Rock', which she has co-written with Jim and William, and which she hopes to release shortly. Pennyblackmusic spoke to Linda, who was back for a second interview with us, about 'Little Pop Rock' and her childhood with her famous brothers. PB : I first became aware of Sister Vanilla about three years ago when I interviewed William at the time he was launching his Lazycame project. When did Sister Vanilla first come about? LR : Jim was back in Scotland to see my parents and he said to me one night 'Do you want to sing on a B side?' It must have been about 1994, because at that time they were recording 'Stoned and Dethroned'. He hadn't even heard me sing then. I was really excited, and I told him that I would love to do it. Then ages and ages after that they were recording 'Munki' (the Jesus and Mary Chain's final album from 1997-Ed) and he said "Let's record that song then !". It was still going to be a B side, and we ended up recording 'Moe Tucker'. After that though they decided to put that song on 'Munki'. I thought that that was brilliant, really, really good, and then some time afterwards William was in London and he phoned me up. I was still in Glasgow at the time and he invited me down, and so I came down to London and he said "Do you want to do an LP with me and Jim?". I was like "Yes, brilliant." He said "It's going to be our songs but, if you want to contribute to it,that's fine", and so I told him that "Yes, of course, I would love to do that" He said "Let's not be precious about it, let's record it in about two weeks, get it out, just make it an LP, something that is fun, and that you are going to look back on in years to come." I recorded one song which was 'Kiss Around' with William and then I just stopped. We were still going to make an LP together, but then the Mary Chain broke up and things were awkward between Jim and William for a long time. I thought it wasn't going to happen anymore, but then Jim said he would record some songs with me and that William could record some other songs. William and Jim then got friendly again some time after that , which was really, really good, and then we decided to start up again and really get going with it. PB : Is 'Little Pop Rock' completely finished now? LR : No, it's always going to be almost finished (Laughs). PB : So It's going to be like a new Elastica album then? LR : We're recording it for fun ! We have always done it for the fun of it, sometimes at weekends, and sometimes after I have finished work I have gone over and recorded something. We are going to be doing a song tomorrow morning in fact. I'm doing a song with Jim and Ben (Lurie, one time bassist with the Jesus and Mary Chain and member of Freeheat-Ed) tomorrow. Stephen Pastel is also coming down again soon to redo the vocals he did for a song he has recorded for the album. When we did it last time over a year ago, he came down to London from Glasgow, but Jim and Ben, who were going to produce it, had been on tour with Freeheat and they had just got home just that same day and they were pissed out of their heads.I love the Pastels. They are my favourite band in the whole wide world. I got up really early that day just to make myself look really nice because Stephen Pastel was coming. When I phoned up Jim at about 3 'o' clock, and found that he and Ben were pissed, I was like "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck". Stephen was due to arrive at 4. I thought it was going to be a complete disaster. It turned out Stephen was late. Jim and I had a massive row. I stormed out of his house. He had to run after me. It was horrible, and then when Stephen did the vocals Jim and Ben were really, really drunk. They were passing a bottle of brandy around in front of Stephen. I was so embarrassed and the vocals weren't very good, and, so therefore, Stephen's agreed to come and do them again. PB: Is that for 'Pastel Blue'? LR: No, it's for 'The Two Of Us' which is a Freeheat song that Jim has agreed to give to me and Stephen. Freeheat, however, have recorded it as well PB: Have you written any of the songs for the album ? LR : Beforehand, it was just going to be William and Jim's songs and then when we were recording, I thought "Hey, I can do this. If it doesn't come out good then we won't use it." I wrote lyrics for 'Pastel Blue' and they turned out really, really good, so since then I have tried to write more songs. I think I have written about 6 songs for the album. The rest are by either William and Jim.I have written all my songs with William and Jim, because I'm not very good at melodies but I'm good with words. PB: As they are not working together, did you write with one then the other? LR: No, it was never ever together. They have always got songs kicking about. Whether they use them for what they are doing for themselves is a different matter though.One or the other of them would say "I have got a song. Do you want to use this ?" And I would then write some lyrics, I have always worked with them separately. PB: Is 'Pastel Blue' a tribute to Stephen Pastel? LR: No, it's not a tribute to Stephen. It's just a tribute to the Pastels because they are my favourite band ever. PB: Did you get on well with him? LR: Yeah, but I was really shy because it was the first time I had been introduced to him. He is a really nice person though and he is passionate about what he does. PB: He hasn't put anything out for a long time? LR: He likes what he does. He works for Domino records and also has Geographic and he gets involved in other people's music. The Pastels are working though on a new record now. PB: Were you ever influenced by the music that you heard by your brothers making when they were still living at home? LR: They were always writing music. We had a kind of portastudio thing. Me Dad got made redundant and he brought them this portastudio, which cost about £ 200 and they just started making demos on that. I was only a kid at the time, so it didn't mean much to me at the time, but the music they were making was always good. When they started the band, I could tell there was something special about them even though I was so young. It wasn't just because they were my brothers. I always knew there was something special about them. Things started to happen for them after that PB: When did they start to get the band together? LR : It started off as Jim's band, Jim and Douglas Hart (the Jesus and Mary Chain's first bassist-Ed) then… PB: I get the impression that William is a bit older? LR: Yeah, William is three years older then Jim. Yeah, it was Jim and Douglas first. William was always a good guitar player and they asked William and it happened from there. PB: What year was this? LR: I think it was about 1984. PB: Was it hard to record with your brothers and even harder when they weren't getting on ? LR: No, I would rather record separately, because, to be honest, I have been in the studio with them together. They were still in the band at the time and I didn't like it. I prefer it seperately. Anyway it is better fo me. Now they get on better again things are really good between them, thankfully, thank God, but a while back it was horrible. PB: Is it just the three of you and your Mum and Dad? LR: Yeah. PB: Are you all Catholics? LR: No. PB: Did the name the Jesus and Mary Chain cause a problem in the family with its religious overtones? LR: No, people just laughed at it (laughs.) PB: Why did it take you so long before you started to sing? LR : Because I had no intention to sing. It was just at first a fun thing and now that it has happened, it is still a fun thing, I don't want to be famous. I don't want money because I have a job. I have a life. I don't want to make a career out of it. I don't want that at all, but to work with Jim and William is good. It's nice. PB: I believe that you named 'Munki'. What was it named after? Was it a pet? LR: I was seeing someone. It is really stupid. Everything to do with this person that I was seeing kept having associations with the word monkey and I thought "Monkey' ? Does it mean something ?" I remember saying to William "We have got to call the album Monkey" and he was like "Oh, no, that means nothing. But then I convinced him. Munki, munki, everyday, something to do with monkeys. He was like "Maybe this does mean something". They then called the album 'Munki' and then it went down the pan and it didn't mean anything. PB: I thought it was the best album. LR: It was the best album , but it didn't sell and I was to blame for that. PB: You toured with the Mary Chain on the 'Munki' tour. Did you do a lot of dates with them ?I have been told you can't wait to get on stage, whereas Jim and William have to get absolutely pissed? LR: (laughs) Yeah, they get really nervous. They always been really nervous going on stage, so they have to get really drunk. I don't feel nervous at all. I usually don't drink at all. I'm the black sheep of the family because I don't drink. PB : When you were still at school and the Mary Chain first started to take off did you have street cred because your brothers were in the Mary Chain? LR: Yes, I did. PB: But was there any backlash because of that? LR : No, because the friends that I had at school were friends that I had since I was tiny. PB: On the whole did Scotland embrace the Mary Chain ? I have interviewed quite a few bands from Scotland, and no oone seems to have liked them up there. LR: No, Scotland was never proud of them at all. They were an embarrassment. I don't know why. I think it was because they were really shy and they didn't know how to handle what they did and they made a lot of mistakes. They admit that now. PB: With all the media attention that was brought to the band from the start, do you think they deserved the backlash and all the riots? Do you think the band caused that? LR: Yeah, I think a part of it was to do with them, but I don't think it was intentional. They didn't know how to handle being in a band, and people liking them. I think it was a surprise that other people liked them. While they thought they were good, they are really shy people. You wouldn't know that. but I think they caused a lot of that without meaning to. PB: When 'Little Pop Rock' comes out? Will it have your real names on it? LR : Yes. PB: What is your view on the American JAMC BRMC? LR: I think they are good at what they do and I think they are what they are and if they like the JAMC and if they admit it, then it's brilliant, but if they don't admit it then down on you. I know William and Jim like them. PB: It was Jim that nicknamed them the American JAMC. LR : I didn't know that. PB: Were your friends with the extended Creation family (The Jesus and Mary Chain's first label, before they moved to Blanco y Negro-Ed)? LR: I know them but I was too young to know them. I saw Bobby Gillespie a few months ago. I saw Alan McGee last year as well. They are still mates with Jim and William. PB: I know Poptones isn't cool anymore but if McGee offered you a deal would you consider it? LR: Yes, definitely. I wouldn't turn anyone down. Like I said this is for fun. PB: Bobby did a duet on 'Evil Heat'. Would you like to do a duet with him? LR : Don't be silly ! Yes. PB: Anything else you would like to add? LR: No. Yes, I love you. PB: I love you too. Thanks for your time.

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