Interviews - Indiego Magazine

By Irina Atanasoski. Indiego Magazine, Austria.


What was your musical life like after the split up from the pimps?  Was it difficult for you to go on and get things going with your own music?


"I took some time to chill out and write some tunes, hang out with friends and generally watch the days roll into weeks, into months and years until somehow, one day, I had quite a few songs together and I knew it was time to make a record.
It wasn't too difficult because Derek from One Little Indian records offered me a deal about a year after the split and although it was sometimes difficult finding the right people to work with. I look back on that time as an essential period of rest and solitude that I greatly needed. I listened to a lot of beautiful music and read a lot of wonderful stories and kind of absorbed the world around me, it was quite a magical time.
I worked with Satoshi Tomiie on a couple of songs on his album in that time also, which was cool."



Before the Sneaker Pimps you had Rock´n´Roll- roots- with the The Lumieres. Why did you stay in the electronic field?


"I don't feel like I'm in any field really.I guess it's more apparent on my new album, Psychic Cat,that the old Rocker in me is alive and well!
For me music is a journey and I like to explore a whole lot of things, so where the album Tiger Mouth was very much about loops and scorchingly fresh, clean sounding  melodies, Psychic Cat is more tainted, a bit more psychadelic, a bit stoned I guess.I'm learning all the time and whenever I finish an album,  am thinking about the next one within weeks.
so just because I make one albumthat sounds one way, I don't see that as 'the field' that I work in.My field is music man, and it's no field either, more like a jungle : ) "



What is your main influence for your music? What do you write about? What inspires you most?


"There are so many influences. I write about all sorts of crazy shit ! Best if I give you examples I suppose.Like Tigermouth was about being totally and utterly desperate and alone and wanting to chew the world in two and  spit it out but also feeling the beauty and humour in it all.
On another level it was about telepathy and the idea of this one Tiger God who lives in a cave in the desert and  he can only ever mate once in his life and it has to be with a human, so this tiger finally falls in love with the beautiful soul of a girl and he hypnotises the girl to come to him. She does and and they make love in the cave, in a sacred blue fire and as they do so all the creatures in the land gather to the cave to watch them.That's how I write, as the song grows, it creates its own stories and in turn, those stories help shape the music and the lyrics."



You have a panther tattoo, your first album was called  Tigermouth, the new one will be called 'Psychic Cat'- you seem to fancy the 'cat-ish' a lot. Could you tell me more about the background?


"Yeah, I do love cats but I'm not obsessed or anything. It's more of a fluke really but they are everywhere in my life. I dream about talking cats a lot and I really love those dreams.  I also dream that I'm being eaten by a black panther and shit like that. So I guess there is something going on about me and cats. But Tiger Mouth is actually an energy point in your hand, when I heard the phrase 'Tiger Mouth' from my kung fu teacher, I just knew that it was the title for the album I was making at the time.It has so many great connotations.
Then while I was making Tigermouth in  California, I met this cool Psychic Cat on 3rd St.Promenade in Santa Monica, and he it made a real impression on me. I think about it often. Now you've pointed it out though, yeah it's  kind of freakish, maybe I should look into that and sort it out : 0  "



You worked with people and legends like Bootsy Collins or John Densmore from 'The Doors'. Can it really get any better than this? What are you looking forward to in the near future?


"Yeah, I've been very lucky to have worked with such cool people for sure. Bootsy is a diamond soul and such a great musician, that was a trip man.
I would love to work with God Speed You Black Emperor, Air,Vincent Gallo, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ennio Morricone, Bjork, just to mention a few. I have a huge list of people whom I would love to work with, that really turns me on, working with cool people. I have to admit though, I am most excited about making the next album with my band, they're super cool."



How did you come to work together with Marc Almond for 'Almost Diamonds' ?


"He just kind of got his manager to call up the record company and ask if I'd write some lyrics and sing on this backing track he'd got  together called Almost Diamonds. I heard it and instantly had this idea about gambling and casinos and fake expensive jewellery and stuff and thought it would be cool to write about a gay guy who has caught his boyfriend kissing a woman and that whole kind of glamorous tale of love and revenge turned on its head. Marc really liked it, so we made it a record."



What else inspires you apart from music? Who is Kelli Ali beside the singer?


"Many things inspire me, dreams, beautiful stories that people tell me. I love films and I love reading.I like drinking red wine in the afternoon and smoking American Spirits. I love travelling and laughing. Hate war and the damage greed does to us all  but I also appreciate how strange life would be without demons. I like eating magic mushrooms in the summer and riding on my bike with my companion at night,even though I only recently learned how to stay on a bike! I love life and sometimes the whole bizarre fact that we know nothing about the world or ourselves or the universe makes me laugh and sometimes it makes me cry."



Beside the recordings for you new album, do you have any other projects going on at the moment? What are your plans for 2004?


"We are playing a few gigs in and around London this month and I really hope that we can play some festivals this year.I want to focus on playing live this year, I miss it so much, It's kind of the reason I became a musician."



What¹s the most important thing for you to do, do you have/what are your goals, hopes, or dreams?


"The most important thing kind of changes from day to day with me.I just want to make good music, the best that I can."


 
What can we expect from the new album Psychic Cat'?


"Pure unadulterated  madness in a controlled environment!"



The Tigermouth album and Kelli related CDs were hard to get even in the UK. Why?


"It's a long story, record company stuff that I don't fully understand myself. I just make the songs you know."



You have the tattoo Vive la Rock´n´Roll on your left arm, What influence does Rock´n´Roll have in your life? What´s the story behind that tattoo?


"I promised myself when I was about 16,that if I ever made it to America on a tour bus with a band, I would get 'Vive La Rock 'n' Roll tattooed on my arm. I was in San Francisco with Sneaker Pimps and it was a beautiful day and I decided to honour my promise to myself!
Rock 'n' Roll has got me in and out of lots of trouble but I guess,freedom is the real deal behind rock 'n' roll.I love freedom and I respect  people who fight for it.I love music and I love the way that a beautiful song can bring two strangers or a whole room full of people together,in a way that nothing else can. To me it's like magic."



How long have you been practising Kung Fu?


"Wow, man I haven't practiced for years, I gave up when my teacher went back to China.I tried studying other teachers but i haven't found one yet with the same fire that so inspired me to study."



Which artists have influenced you most? Which person has influenced you privatly most in your life?


"Jimi Hendrix,Sonic Youth, Prince, Ennio Morricone, Air, Roxy Music, Suicide, The Pixies, Joan Baez, The Doors, David Bowie, Goldfrapp, many many more, I think my mom has had the greatest influence over me in the sense that I respect her
so much that I will stop and listen if she tries to tell me I'm being an ass and I need to slow down or what I'm doing is cool and she's happy for me.It really means a lot to me that she thinks I'm a decnt person,so I guess she has the biggest influence on me."



What´s your definition of feminism?


"I don't have one."



Tough girls are in 'fashion' at the moment. Do you see yourself as a tough girl? What´s your opinion about the riot girl movement?


"That's funny.I think I'm pretty tough when I'm pissed! In general,I believe that all of us are weak and strong and it's impossible just to be tough forever,without losing a very beautiful part of ourselves.If you always have to be tough then that's sad I think.I don't have an opinion about the riot girl thingy, fashion is for the masses, I have no desire to belong to any movement it's not my cup of tea."



Do you have a motto in your life? What would you like to look back to in the moment of your death?


"Wow, lighten up sister! : ) Okay, my mottos -Vive La Rock 'n ' Roll !!! and 'Give peace a chance Mothafucka'
At the moment of my death what would I like to look back on?Jesus showing me his middle finger and eating a hamburger."



Are you planning a tour soon? Can Vienna look forward to seeing you live?


"I wish man!!! We're on a small indie label so we really need to be needed before we can start touring, I guess it will come some time, i hope so man because we would love to come play with you kids!"



(Warm thanks to Kelli & Irina for sending me the full length text of this interview. And a big thanks to ToM (aka ToMthePsychicCat :) for the setting up the original contact with Irina)