Grimes Blames Drugs and Animal Collective for 'Permanent Hearing Loss' -- NXNE

Courtesy of Grimes

Grimes mastermind Claire Boucher is gradually becoming one of Montreal's most exciting up-and-coming artists. From releasing a split EP with Halifax's D'Eon to scoring an opening slot for Swedish songstress Lykke Li, this year has proven as busy as it is successful. Spinner talks to Boucher about being called "cute," why she's had it with painting and how Animal Collective (and some drugs) caused her permanent hearing damage.

You're an artist outside of being a musician but you quit painting recently. Why?

Because I felt like I hit a wall. I'm trying to do stuff with film now; I've directed music videos for other people as well as for myself. It's still visual but it's not as technical as painting. It just started becoming muscle memory and it stopped being creative because I've been doing it for such a long time. Music seemed more of an open art; I just felt like there were endless possibilities whereas painting, I don't care anymore.

Do you ever feel like you'll hit a wall with music?

Maybe in ten years, but at the moment, I feel like there are so many ideas I've yet to write about or flesh out. But it's also something that always has constant technological advancements. There are not a lot of technological advancements in painting. I just see music as something that's much more open, artistically.

You're also into dance, how has that played into your career?

I have a long history in ballet so I've had a really long exposure to music but I never really tried to do anything with that until I was in university.

You cite Panda Bear as a big influence, how so?

I'd say he was really seminal for me because I was listening to 'Person Pitch' and it dawned on me that it was all just loops and I was like, "Oh, I don't need to know how to play a song front to back on a guitar, I just need to make a three-second loop and repeat it." So I started working with loops and the early stuff was really rudimentary but structurally taken off of Panda Bear. He made me realize that it can be about production and not about technical skill.

Have you ever seen him live?

I've seen Animal Collective live and I suffered permanent hearing loss from that show! I was high on drugs and pressed my ears on the speakers and so the next day I couldn't hear for nearly two days, and I get really sharp pain in my ears now.

Watch Grimes' Video for 'Vanessa'
You recently released a split EP with D'Eon, but are we going to see another full-length from Grimes soon?

I'm working on finishing a full-length which will be the first real thing I do, in my opinion, because everything I've done thus far is good but it's me figuring out music. Now, instead of guessing or doing stuff by accident, I can think about what I want and actualize that. I feel like with my older records, I can hear so much naivety in them. I don't regret them, though, I like them. But I didn't even know what a BPM was half the time when I was making 'Geidi Primes,' so songs were out of time -- I think there's a charm to it. Everyone always says, "She's so cute" and I don't want to be cute.

Why do you think people refer to you as cute?

I have a really high-pitched voice and a lot of people say that, and I can see why, but I think it's a lot more than that. It's innovative and charged -- at least with the new stuff.

Grimes play the Annex Theater Saturday, June 18.

Follow @Spinner on Twitter | Like Spinner on Facebook

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Spinner/~3/JCtbWkI96X8/

thunderbirds temple grandin tumblr themes google doodle online guitar tuner travelodge america s got talent