Feb 8, 2008

Rasputina broaches politics with charm

By Paul Freeman / Entertainment Writer

Rasputina, long one of indie rock's most original bands, recently returned from their first U.K. tour. The cello-fueled group, whose previous works swept listeners into the fantastical, brings their own unique vision of current events in their latest album "Oh Perilous World."

Melora Creager, creative force behind Rasputina, reports, "From the reviews of the record in the U.K., it seems like they really get it in a deeper way. It doesn't have to be explained."

Cult favorites in North America, the band had been relatively unknown across the pond until this release.

"We did one little show for intense fans and that was an affectionate kind of thing," Creager said. "But when we opened for Robyn Hitchcock, people who didn't know who we were, were extremely surprised.

"We've kind of had a curse on us and in all these years, we've never released anything before in Europe or England and never played over there. So the curse has finally been lifted."

Peers had frequently told Creager her music would go over well in Europe. But Columbia, Rasputina's label, never made releasing the band's music across the pond a priority. "I have found that anything I want to happen, I really need to do it by myself," she said.

"Oh Perilous World," released on Creager's own label, Filthy Bonnet Recording, is her most topical effort. "I've never been very politically aware and it seemed like I heard about a lot of horribly distressing things all at once," she said. "I felt desperate and didn't know what to do with these feelings. So I decided to make something and communicate with people in my way.

"On a lot of past albums, I would make a bunch of songs and then see how they might fit together thematically, for more of an aesthetic kind of thing. With this, it was very organized. I looked at how some books I liked a lot had come to be written, what had happened in those author's lives. I can't force myself to make great literature out of a rock album," Creager says with a little laugh. "But I wanted to see how they did it."

Scouring the Internet, she did a lot of cut-and-pasting with the news. "I looked at how they had to write the news, how you have to include the place, time and characters immediately. Similarly, in a rock song, you don't have much space for the lyrics and you have to get the information out quickly.

"I got the feeling that if I read enough news, I could solve the mystery, that it would all fit together. I know that's a feeling that's common in mental illness," she chuckles.

The album is far from a compendium of dry facts. Creager's wondrous imagination weaves together Bin Laden, African child soldiers, Mary Todd Lincoln and Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian's son.

"I wanted to talk about modern issues and certain problems, but turn it into fantasy fiction," she said. "This is my best attempt at communicating difficult subjects to people and making them appealing, not preachy. Because of the convoluted nature of (the album), I don't know how many people will get it. But when I listen to music, I like to be transported. Folk songs, protest songs might reflect relevant issues, but they don't touch me much.
Creager said creating the album was challenging. "But to me, a challenge is fun," she said. "It was a new way of working in a lot of ways. So that feels good and fresh. Writing music sends me places and I communicate to the listener, 'Come there with me.'"

Her immersion in world events has altered Creager's perspective. "There's now a lot of information that seems obvious to me and it surprises me that they're not widely held views, that these things are not common knowledge," she said. "A lot of it does go together. Pollution and corporate-controlled government goes together pretty well."

She studies the past to learn about the present and the future. "Human nature is the same over thousands of years. People have the same motivations and longings," she said. "That's what excites me so much about reading history - looking for what stays the same, while all the trappings are so different."

Creager might develop "Oh Perilous World" into a visual work. She would love to collaborate with Canadian film director Guy Maddin. "All the research work I did is much bigger than the album I wrote - fictitious news stories for all these characters and lots of prose connected to it."

She establishes a powerful connection with her audience. "Sometimes I get the feeling from that audience that they just want to talk for a little while. So I'll talk with them and they can ask me questions. I don't know how that started. I guess it's a phenomenon - not everyone does it. But it's really affectionate."

Creager's 8-year-old daughter Hollis is the primary recipient of her affection. "Having a child was really good for my mental health about a career, because it changes the importance of that. I was glad I was forced to become a lot less selfish," she said, with a laugh. "I focus on being a good mother, as well as on my music."

Creager, who's also a jewelry designer, is drawn to music purely as a creative and communicative outlet. She feels totally removed from the music industry. "Maybe it used to bother me that Rasputina might be unnoticed or culty. But I've come to be happy about that," she said.

The rest of Rasputina's lineup changes often, but the constant is Creager's plaintive voice, intricate compositions, intriguing lyrics and daring sonic explorations of the cello. Her work will undoubtedly continue to surprise listeners.

"Growth and learning are what I look for in a friend. In my work, that's an important quality, as well."