Elinor Blake has learned how to stand up to bullies

 

Name: Elinor Blake (April March)
Age: 45
Hometown: New Haven, CT
Job description: Indie pop vocalist, songwriter, former animator
Upcoming projects: Collaboration album with Aquaserge to be released in late 2010, guest vocals on Laetitia Sadier's solo debut (The Trip), soundtrack collaboration with Bertrand Burgalat for a film about Eva Ionesco ("I had to read the screenplay and write these lyrics for a young lord to sing to [Ionesco] as a little girl. And in that scene he's kind of pushing her to pose nude with him.")
Select links: MySpace, IMDb, YouTube

Describe your current state of mind. 

Like a pinball, which is kind of the way it normally is; I’m kind of all over the place.

You know what’s funny? I made a note a long time ago about how I would describe my current state of mind, except it wouldn’t be current though. I guess it doesn’t matter. 

What was your previous current state of mind? 

It was pretty dark. Have you ever seen The Tenant by Roman Polanski? Polanski plays the protagonist. It's about this guy who moves into an apartment building in Paris. The people in the building are kind of terrorizing him and trying to get him to [become] the person whose apartment he moved into. So Polanski goes down to get cigarettes on the corner and asks for whatever and the guy’s like, "Well, you smoke Gauloises." Like everything. This was awhile ago so I was going through a lot of stuff. But there’s a scene in the movie where he’s really gone mad and he throws himself out of his apartment building into the courtyard; it’s maybe four or five stories. And you’re like, Holy shit! The camera shows that he’s dressed up and kind of fucked up. He drags himself back up to the apartment and he throws himself out the window again.

So my answer then was super dark. I think pinball is a little nicer.

Luckily the sun came out. 

Exactly. 

That’s an interesting way to describe "dark" April March versus "sunny" April March. What’s your idea of happiness? 

A peace of mind. 

What’s the most difficult thing that you’ve ever had to do? 

Learning how to stand up to a bully. 

Does that span various ages or is that more of a childhood thing? 

I had trouble with it as a child. [And] I’m still trying to figure it out. I kind of put myself in that position sometimes. I’m better at it but it’s been a lifelong process. 

And how do you put yourself in that position? 

By not really being in touch with my own truth and power with someone who’s pushing me around. I kind of give them too much power and I put myself in a vulnerable position. It’s kind of hard to describe. But I don’t want to get too specific about it because I don’t want to piss people off. [laughs] 

What’s the most interesting thing that you’ve learned about Bertrand Burgalat? 

He's very adventurous but his style of adventure is the most interesting thing. He always has a vision and he’s such a high caliber musician and composer. He's extremely ambitious but it's what happens between his Point A and Point B. He really embraces clumsiness and shortcomings. Exhibit A is me. I’m not a super high-caliber singer. I have a lot of flaws and clumsiness in my delivery. [He has a] way of embracing that with all of this expertise, technique and his vast knowledge of music. He always has a lot of charm and a very real kind of humanity; it’s not cold.

On top of that he’s really kind of a shrewd character in the music business; he’s not small potatoes over there in France. He’s gotten himself to a pretty high position in that way. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m being very articulate. He’s just a very interesting mix of characteristics. And he’s taught me a lot.

I came from the garage scene when I met him. I was very rigid in the way things had to be recorded - using organic instruments and not synthesizers in the way things needed to be done just right. That was a very kind of immature approach that I had. He kind of threw all of that out the window. [But] not the provocation.

He definitely taught me to be more progressive and less conservative, and more playful [and] tolerant of everything. That anything can be an instrument - including synthesizers. I love Bertrand. I think he’s the greatest thing since popcorn. [laughs] 

What do you love most and least about Paris? 

I can really feel the presence of all the history when I go to Paris; I feel a lot of ghosts in the streets. It’s kind of a weird feeling.

The thing I like the least is the pace. It's too much like the pace of New York to me. If I’m going to go on a vacation I’d rather go out to rural France or something. 

What do you love most about your children? 

It always sounds trite but they do just live in the here and the now. If they want something and they can’t have it they’ll just use their imaginations. My seven-year-old [said] "I really need to make on a broomstick, Mommy. I really need to fly on a broomstick." He went into the bathroom and he found a Q-tip and pulled the cotton off of one end, messed up the cotton on one end and he’s like, "Look! I made a broomstick." [laughs] He was flying around on his broomstick. I like that. It makes me more aware of that process. 

And are there certain qualities of yourself that you notice in your children? 

Oh definitely. I don't know what this quality is but my youngest will look at something and see something else. And he’ll really believe in it. I have this quality too. There’s a crack in our bathroom ceiling and he was staring at it one day; he was standing there for a long time. [I said] "What are you standing there for?" He says, "I’m just waiting for the chickens to come out." [laughs] It doesn’t really matter that it’s a ceiling. It might as well be an egg. 

Is he still obsessed with ceiling fans? 

Yeah. I don't know if it's his age but he's becoming aware that maybe kids in his class are making fun of him. Once in a while he’ll say, "Oh, you know, ceiling fans are dumb. I don’t need to do that anymore." But then he’ll go back to being into it. He’s five. 

What’s your fondest memory from touring? 

I have plenty of moments [that I'm fond of]. There was a tour I brought Lucien to when he was six months-old. I was breast-feeding so I was wearing a strapless jumpsuit and bra. I was always looking down to see if there were milk stains. [laughs] Because you know if I ended up going on stage really late, and Lucien was in the hotel with the babysitter, sometimes [leakage] can happen. When you have a baby you’ll see that when you start making milk. I remember the funniest things. [laughs] It’s kind of a weird memory.

Can you hear this ice cream truck outside of my house? 

Yes, I can. 

It’s going, bling! Can you hear that? 

It sounds like a video game. What’s the greatest lesson that you’ve ever learned? 

That I just have to be honest no matter what. And tactful. 

Does that come naturally? 

Yeah. I think I’m pretty tactful. I have a lot of empathy. I think where I struggle with it most is just being honest with myself. I tend to romanticize things and if I’m in a situation that I think I want to be in, but I know it’s not quite right, I can have a hard time being honest with myself about that. But it’s easy for me to be honest with other people. Unless it’s complicated and I haven’t been honest with myself and stuff. 

What’s the most common question that surfaces for you in interviews? 

"What are your top five favorite albums?" That always surfaces. 

I'm glad I didn't ask you that. Do you have an opinion on the direction of the music industry these days? 

You know I can’t really follow it because it seems like it’s going around in circles every time I think it's evolving. I don’t really have an opinion. It’s not something that I’m that interested in following. And not for lack of interest. There’s already so much that I have in my brain to swallow. It's not a priority for me, at least. 

And do you have any advice for aspiring musicians? 

I think the most important thing is to stick with your vision and truth, and not be influenced by other people’s opinions.

One thing that I’ve struggled with for years - and I still do a little bit - are periods when I don’t feel inspired. When I’m feeling like I’m not being creative I've learned that it’s really important to just live and not push it. Put it on hold and go and do things - read things, talk to people, look at things. You know, live. And then [ideas] kind of surface again.

I went to CalArts for a year. I did the Disney animation program and while I was there Werner Herzog came to speak to the film school. [Another student asked him,] "Do you have any advice? You know, I want to be a director and I’m taking this class and this class." And he just paused for a really long time and everybody’s waiting: What’s Werner Herzog’s advice for a young artist?

And he said, "I think you need to take off your shoes right now, walk out the door and just walk to Mexico. Just keep walking and you’ll be ready to make a movie after." And I always think about that. But if you can’t really think of an idea, go walk out the door. That’s what I think. 

What's your fondest childhood memory? 

There was something that my Mom and Dad would do mostly during the summer. They would wake me and my sister up in the middle of the night and take us out into the backyard to look at the stars. I loved that. So magical. You know the whole thing about being a child is that bedtime is such a drag. So I started doing that with my kids. 

You once told me that you grew up in a very academic family. Was your family conservative as well? 

No. They’re very academic but not conservative. 

What do you wish you had more time for? 

Traveling and actually doing nothing, being able to just go out and not have a schedule or anything. 

I remember you telling me how you would play shows and crash for 12 hours at a time during your earlier days. 

You mean when I was working in animation and in a band?

You would do animation and then play shows.

I never slept. I would go to work at like 9 and then work at the studio 'til 10. I would go to rehearsal. Then I was up awhile after rehearsal. I went from being out to work. And I kept that up. On Sunday and Monday I just crashed.

How would you like to be remembered?

As is, however I am. That’s pretty abstract. I don’t really know how to answer that question.

I’m doing pretty well. [laughs] I always try to take a look at people and figure out what kind of animal they are. For me I think I’m a combination between a cat and a mouse. And part of my cat quality is I tend to land on my feet.  

Thank you for sharing. 

I hope I wasn’t too spazzy. But whatever that’s me. [laughs]