The bare necessities

DON T GO along to Kristin Hersh s solo acoustic gig tomorrow night (Friday 20th) at the Temple Bar Music Centre expecting anything other than an intimate, cosy and altogether low-key affair. For her current live show, the former Throwing Muses chanteuse has pared things down to the bare minimum; in other words, Pink Floyd at Pompeii it most definitely is not.
It s an anti-show if ever there ever was one, she reveals, on the blower from Hamburg in the midst of the current tour. I just sit on a chair with my guitar and a beer on the floor. It s like somebody has taken away my paint colours and given me a pencil instead. But playing these acoustic shows is very effective I don t have set lists, or musicians to cue, or equipment breaking down. The biggest problem I have is to get to the chair without knocking stuff over. I also find that my flimsy personality leaves the room when I start to play, which can be a blessing.
Her current minimalist approach perfectly compliments the prevalent mood on her brand new album Strange Angels the long awaited follow-up to 1994 s acclaimed Hips And Makers.
It came about in a very graceful way, she relates. The songs were written over a four-year period. It was more a whisper than a scream approach. The songs all seemed to fit together like sentences in the same paragraph.
For her last album Hersh called up the services of long-time friends such as Bob Mould and Michael Stipe, who added a particularly haunting counter-vocal on her best known solo song, Your Ghost . Yeah, I think I let my big producer head run away with itself with that one, she says. Then I realised that I had done way to much. Half of that album was made up of barely realised songs, the other half was me trying be a folk-chick, which I discovered I m not. It all depends what the song asks for. I didn t want ear candy this time around so I kept it simple. It would be like putting make-up on an OK face, when there s no need for it.
Strange Angels is also, significantly, her first release since the break-up of Throwing Muses, with whom she spent over ten years. Despite her solo success since then, the split has left a sour taste that refuses to go away.
It s not that I m bitter as such, she says. I m just sad and extremely disappointed. I should have seen it coming. It s not that we weren t trying to be successful but we weren t really trying that hard. We just weren t cut out for a business which is for people who want to be rich and famous. But on the plus side we made the records we wanted to make without worrying too much. The band was my home, my friends, my passion for such a long time. I lost a lot. My husband keeps saying, But it was your first band and bands always break up . But it s not much comfort.
With three kids (and a dog) on the road with her on this tour, domesticity would appear to be her main influence these days. I find that the kids a nice balancing influence. They keep me healthy besides I ve got to feel well for them. So the most drugs I take these days would be beer or coffee.
I like happiness a lot, she adds. It s an underrated quality. People have come around to thinking that happiness is dumb or simple but it s not like that. Being happy is quite complicated.
Finally, can she ever see herself fronting a full band line-up again?
I would absolutely love to be in a band again, though not necessarily fronting one, she answers. I miss the electric guitar so badly. n
Kristin Hersh plays the Music Centre, Temple Bar on Friday 20th March. Her new album Strange Angels is out on 4AD.