INTERVIEW WITH VERUCA SALT FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES
Louise Post has come a long way- from growing up in the mid-west.
DM) You sound tired.
LP) I'm actually not tired, it's just that my voice is a LITTLE shot. (laughs).
DM) Well, that's what happens when you decide to go touring all the time.
LP) And when you write songs that are part singing and part screaming. When you play in a club that has really shitty monitors which forced me to really push my voice last night.
DM) So how is this tour going?
LP) It's going very well. We just got back on tour with Filter for three weeks, and then we went home for about four days, which was not really time off... I was doing a lot of press and stuff, and then we've been on tour again for the past six days. It's a lot of fun and a lot of hard work.
DM) Do you prefer the recording side of the musician's life or the touring side?
LP) I have to say that I really love touring, but definitely the recording side wins. Touring kind of makes it all make sense, because we come in contact with fans, and I love performing.
DM) So I understand you originally grew up in the mid-west and went to school in NYC?
LP) Yep, I decided to go to Manhattan because of a high school report I did in history class. Somehow I got permission to do a report on the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed and I just began reading about New York. Then my sister went to school there. So I went from this mid-west co-ed situation to this all women's college.
DM) That must have been a bit of a change going from the mid-west to NYC.
LP) Believe me, I had the culture shock of my life. I had strawberry blond hair with bangs and all.
DM) So you decided to follow the good girl image by starting a band. And not just your average "girlie" band, but you went right for the jugular. (Both laugh)
LP) Exactly! I started writing poetry in college and I even won an award. At the same time I started taking guitar and a little piano. Soon after, I decided to make music the focus.
DM) So what did Mom and Pop think of their good mid-western girl's career choice?
LP) I think Pop read a piece on Veruca Salt in the New York Times, and that was the seal of approval. He could rest easy that something legitimate was going on with his daughter. They're both musicians, and they both met in the choir actually, so I always sang harmony with them. My dad sails and we often go out on Lake Michigan in his sailboat and sing for hours. My mom and I even used to sing at family parties together at holidays.
DM) Really? That sounds nice.
LP) Yeah, it was one of the greatest joys in my life.
DM) With both of them being musicians and having met and sung in the choir, did they have any questions about the songs you sing being "un-choirly" and more "rock-star like"?
LP) Well, I think it's not a style that they're accustomed too and my dad has grown a lot since then. When we were growing up he used to ground my brother for putting on his hockey uniform, skipping out on practice and going to see The Who. He was a really big classical buff and was really into musicals. He's very respectful and he acknowledges that it's not a style he understands but he always gives me constructive advice. He's always very curious and he wants to be supportive. My mom is very funny because she's like. "What did you say there?" (imitating the situation) I just said, "Stay straight for me", and she goes, "What does that mean?" She'd drive me crazy having me rewind the song so I can explain the lyrics to her. She's getting better at that too. I can now just put it on play and she'll listen the whole way without pausing. She likes the slow songs on our latest album Revolver, so she can, "hear the lyrics".
DM) Have they seen you perform lately?
LP) Oh yeah. They come out en'masse when I play. My dad brings all his friends and my mom has a stack of all the press in the kitchen... pictures of me playing guitar when I was young. And when I go to New York, all of my cousins come. Touring, if anything, is a great way to stay in touch with my family. Otherwise it would be one reunion here and there. This way I get to see people all over. I get to see cousins that I would have lost track of.
DM) So are you really just a good family girl at heart and not the wild rock star?
LP) I have my moments.
DM) What's one of those moments?
LP) Actually, on tour I'm basically as un-rock star like that you can be. I'm trying to get as much sleep as I can, doing press to promote the record. We perform show after show, with sometimes six days of shows straight and one day off. I've never had such a hard tour. And now that I'm fronting the band fully I have a lot more responsibility. It's the first time I had such an enormous level of responsibility. I made the record on my own, with Bradley the producer and the other musicians in the band, but it's my project now. It's my band and so I'm taking on a lot more then I've ever taken on before. I relish it, and at the same time, I find it taxing sometimes. Basically not being able to take a day off if I need to and have somebody else take up part of the slack.
DM) Well, now you're the star of the show.
LP) I'm also growing into my own shoes and being the centerpiece of the show. And carrying the torch which is a big responsibility and one which I embrace whole-heartedly. I'm really growing into myself as being the front person of this band. There always used to be a balance... and now it's been two years in the making. So now I'm on a journey of self-discovery, but I'm sure the journey is never ending.