“No One Was Gonna Fucking Put Me In That Situation Again”: A Candid Chat With Cat Power

It’s ten to seven in the morning and Chan Marshall, AKA Cat Power, is listing off the best homeopathic remedies to help me get over my cold.

Oregano oil, lots of warm water, and NO orange juice. Her warm Southern accent makes the concept of “oh-regg-uh-no oil” in warm water sound somewhat more appealing than it actually is.

It should come as no surprise that even with just 20 minutes to discuss and promote her new album Wanderer, Marshall still takes some of that time to offer advice and help someone on the other side of the world; her music as Cat Power has always showcased her empathic and caring side.

After the release of her ninth album Sun in 2012, Marshall toured extensively, had her first child, and changed labels after disputes over the direction of Wanderer. But even after a busy and challenging few years, Marshall has returned with energy and a newfound confidence.

Marshall opened up to Music Junkee about her split from Matador Records, working with Lana Del Rey, and how becoming a parent has changed her approach to creating music.

---

Your last album before Wanderer — Sun — was a big change in sound for you. How would you say you’ve developed your sound coming into Wanderer?

Well, with Sun, my ex-record label told me I needed to do a hit record for the first time. I worked so hard, and did what I imagined a hit record of Cat Power would be like at that time in my life. That’s what I created.

This time, I didn’t want an ounce of pressure on me over commercial success. I just wanted the songs to deliver themselves as they are, as they should be, as I felt.

Looking back on Sun now, how do you feel about the music you put out and what you released?

Oh, I love it! I love what I’ve created and I’m proud of it. I challenged myself and I’m really proud of what I produced.

I produced that record myself and my ex-record label printed an error in the bio so it told all the journalists — without me knowing — that I had not produced Sun. It didn’t feel good at all.

For this record, I wanted to record in privacy — especially because I was pregnant when I began to build my studio for it.

Has becoming a parent changed how you approached the process of writing, releasing, and touring an album?

Well, I was in the studio at home, pregnant, setting it up, and then I began recording when my son was three months old — he’s three and half years old now. Being pregnant and being a mum didn’t change me artistically whatsoever.

But after what I told you I went through with Sun, the pressure, the stress, the lack of respect and protection from my ex-label, like dismissing my production of that record in general, the invalidation, the suppression, I got totally sick.

There was no way in hell anyone was gonna fucking put me in that position again. I had a huge imaginary, protective wall.

Because I was pregnant there was no way in hell anyone was gonna fucking put me in that position again. I had a huge imaginary, protective wall. The choices that I began making were for myself as a pregnant mother. I chose to only go on my gut instincts, only with those who I knew were actually credible family and friends.

When I went to the studio to finish Wanderer I was still in that label cycle, I still had to give them my album. They were calling that studio and my engineer Rob Schnap, asking for hits at the very end.

Being a parent has not changed me artistically but it has definitely reinforced my sense of protection for myself. That has trickled into my business, manifested within my protection of business. In that way, I am very thankful that I have my son because his name actually means protection.

After releasing music through your ex-label for 22 years, Wanderer is coming out through Domino Records. You’ve spoken candidly now and in previous interviews about your split with the ex-label, Matador. How quickly after that did you sign with Domino?

It was just under a year. It was a year of not knowing, it was a year of accepting the situation, of acknowledging, you know it’s a real process. When Matador rejected the record and said it was no good, there were a lot of things that went on in my mind and my thinking process about the corporation in general.

I’d been told I was family for so long. Quote un-quote family. It’s in that whole process that I had my son so I was able to focus my emotions in a real positive way. I didn’t have to look back to painfully on the loss of the relationships.

“I was questioning, maybe I’m not a martyr, maybe I’m no good, maybe I’ll go live in Australia like I’ve always threatened to do.”

It felt like I was alone on some sort of landscape. I didn’t know where I was and that’s when Lana Del Rey reached out to me. Personally, she helped me understand, she gave me a road in a way symbolically, helping me see that I am part of the musical landscape. I was questioning, maybe I’m not a martyr, maybe I’m no good, maybe I’ll go live in Australia like I’ve always threatened to do, maybe I’ll no longer write these songs that I’ve been so chastised over.

My ex-record label made me feel bad about my songs. It was depressing, that energy is so negative and I was alone with it for almost a year, then Lana popped into my life and was like, “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re fucking dope, you’re my sister, chin up let’s do this, come on.” Then I wasn’t crying.

There are several other musicians that have been allies in this process, that have reminded me I’m not alone. They helped me move forward and that reminded me of the ’90s, of this thing that I thought Matador Records stood for — which was indie rock with a sense of community. I thought it was gone, but it’s not gone.

I’m so thankful to have this record coming out in general because I didn’t think it was. I feel lucky and blessed and I’m ready to go. I have so much love in my heart to continue trying to serve.

The only change from the album you took to Matador and the album you are releasing through Domino is the inclusion of ‘Woman’ which features Lana Del Rey. You played the song in an early form as far back as 2011, what made you decide to put it on the album now?

My ex-label immediately didn’t like Wanderer, but Domino absolutely loved it. ‘Woman’ was the first song I recorded for the record, but the last song that I finished because it was never attached to the album that I gave either record label.

It was through going on tour with Lana after I signed with Domino — we were mastering the album and they already had the cover art, then I pushed the brakes on the mastering of the record because Lana had asked me to go on tour. I wasn’t ready to do the master, I wanted to do this tour and when we were done with the tour that’s when I said, “Lana, will you sing on this song for me?”

I wasn’t prepared to release this song for some strange reason, and I realised through this camaraderie, through sharing as girlfriends, the experiences of our fathers, of all the abusive men we’ve dealt with….with Lana, I realised, it’s not sad anymore. It became multi-dimensional.

There’s more kids on the block that are talking about the same bullshit. It became more empowering to me to not be alone in the middle of the street holding my street sign. Lana gracefully lent her divinely feminine elegant feminine voice to a song that needed that.

On the record, you also covered ‘Stay’ by Rihanna. Looking at that, it’s probably the most commercially successful and definitely the most pop song you’ve covered amongst the many covers.

That’s not true, I’ve covered so many great hits that aren’t current, but ‘Satisfaction’ [by The Rolling Stones] is one of the biggest songs in the history of music.

But in terms of the fact that it’s a very “pop” song, it’s different to a lot of the other cover work you’ve done before. What drew you to that song?

It’s the deliverance, some artists can deliver. Like in the old days, you had Ella [Fitzgerald], Billie [Holiday], everybody’s singing a standard. But when Billie Holiday delivers standard I can’t move. When Aretha Franklin delivers I can’t breathe.

Rihanna, when I heard her sing this song, it’s not her song. When I heard her singing it, she gave me something. I don’t know what it is and that’s why we love music. It pieces us together sometimes when we need it. Her tremolos, her vibrations…she reminds me of Aretha in that way, her voice vibrates at such a high-frequency. It’s like she’s been there, she’s done that and she’s a champion.

Every time I’ve ever covered a song, it’s never “Oh, I want to cover this song.” It’s because I’m in the studio, or at home, or backstage, or at a hotel, or wherever I’m at, and I just want to hear this song. That song, when I went to the studio to make the record, Rob [Schnapf] asked me what I wanted to start with. I sat down at the piano to warm up that section.

“When Billie Holiday delivers standard I can’t move. When Aretha Franklin delivers I can’t breathe.”

That’s what I do when I record, I always prep sections before I begin so while I’m working if I need to run into the room and work, it’s already set up. I said, “I want to start … give me two condenser mics on the piano, two room mics, two vocal mics, and just let me warm up this piano with vocal.” Two days later, he played it for me.

I didn’t ask him to record that, the song that’s on the album was Rob just letting the tape roll. Really, what made me want to cover this popular tune is the fact it was just playing in a cab a week earlier before I went to finish my record.

It resonated with me for the first time I heard it on the radio. I never know why sometimes we never know why we do what we do. I love that damn song and I love her so much.

—

Patrick Campbell is a writer, DJ, and event promoter based in Sydney. His goal for the end of 2018 is to go to IKEA and leave with what he went for in the first place. Follow him on Twitter.

—

The tenth album from Cat Power, Wanderer, is out this Friday. The singer has just announced a 2019 Australian tour, check out all the dates here.

—

Photo Credit: Eliot Lee Hazel