Interview: Weyes Blood on her latest record, horror films, and her noise rock past

Weyes Blood’s fourth album, Titanic Rising, met with universal acclaim when it dropped in April on legendary US label Sub Pop. In addition to the rave critical notices, the record also broke the US Top 40. Even with such impressive achievements, though, Weyes Blood – aka Natalie Mering – isn’t letting the success go to her head.

“I’ve been thrilled with the response,” she acknowledges. “It was very nice that people appreciated the album or benefitted from it somehow. But I don’t like to let anything get to me, so I’m not going to give myself pats on the back.”

Titanic Rising is filled with weighty themes, something further emphasised by the title.

“It means a bunch of different things,” notes Mering. “Mostly, I was trying to comment on the idea of the Titanic being this very historical example of the hubris of man, and our lack of dominion over nature. And how something like that could be such a huge blockbuster film, but still couldn’t drill home the message that there are things we don’t understand.

“A lot of the issues that we’re dealing with now – climate change, things of that nature – also reflect that. I guess you could look at it like the Titanic crashed into an iceberg and sank, while we’re melting the polar icecaps instead.”

In her career to date, Mering has shown extraordinary range. Certainly, Weyes Blood’s chamber-pop style contrasts sharply with noise-rock experimentalists Jackie-O Motherfucker, for whom she once played bass.

“I was with Jackie O for one tour when I was 19,” she laughs. “They met me when I was in Portland going to school. They knew that I was pretty musical and really liked improvising. They were like, ‘Come on the road with us.’ I was full of beans. I really thought that I was going to take over the world as a noise artist. I was extremely naive but also very happy.”
Although her father, Sumner Mering, was a rocker in the late ’70s, one wonders what Weyes Blood’s born again Pentecostal family thought of her touring with a band called Jackie-O Motherfucker.

“I didn’t tell my parents stuff like that,” the singer laughs. “Yeah, I mean they knew I was touring. I just didn’t say the name of the band, I wouldn’t give them details. I made sure they knew it was music they would not like, all that stuff.”

Why did Mering choose to move away from noise-rock?

“That kind of music imploded on itself,” she suggests. “It became really over-saturated with poor quality – people who thought, ‘Anybody could do that. I’m going to put out a CD-R and book a tour’. At a certain point, it was no longer a vibrant musical experience for me.

“I got more into things that were harder to do, like writing songs and putting on a consistent show every night. I saw that as a fresh challenge and the improvising and noise as kind of tired. I still have a great appreciation for it. But after journeying to the outskirts of extreme music culture, it was nice to journey back to the centre and make songs. It was a very natural transition.”

Weyes Blood is not just a skilled musician and singer. She’s also a talented director, shooting flashy promos for the singles ‘Movies’ and ‘Everyday’, with the latter an impressive slasher movie homage.

“I’m a big fan of horror films,” enthuses Mering. “Especially the more campy ones. It felt right to make a video comparing modern-day internet dating to slasher films – that’s the parable of that video. The death isn’t really that dramatic, it’s something that happens inevitably. Everybody gets it at the end. I wanted to play with that structure in a way that was funny.”

“I really love Ireland so much,” she says. “The show is a stripped-down version of the record, but just as dramatic and vulnerable. It will be a very emotional experience.”

Check out Hot Press' review of her stunning live performance from this past month!