the nogoodforme.com interview: Shelley Short

It's tragically rare that we find someone to fill the aching void left by the breakup of our beloved Belly some ten years ago. But Shelley Short's sweet voice bears such an uncanny similarity to Tanya Donelly's, and the music's so dreamy and luminous like the spookiest songs on Star and King and all those bootlegs I've amassed over the years. Much of Shelley's Captain Wild Horse (Rides The Heart Of Tomorrow) has more of a folky/country feel, though, thanks in part to the lovely strings and ukulele and piano all throughout (check out three of the songs for yourself, here). So while it makes sense that the Chicago-to-L.A. transplant is crazy for Jimmie Rodgers and Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams, we were a little more surprised - in that delighted kind of way - to discover that Shelley's earliest musical influences were The Muppets and Dr. Demento. Before interviewing Shelley, I hadn't heard Barnes & Barnes' "Fish Heads" in a very long time, but now I've just bought it on iTunes and I'm playing it over and over and reminiscing about dancing around my dad's livingroom in 1983, and all of life is just so weird and fun.

What was your first experience in making music? It was singing along to The Muppet Show record and Dr. Demento records over and over again with my brother up in my bedroom. There was a record player at the foot of my bed and we would learn all the words to the songs, like Kermit the Frog singing "Lydia the Encyclopedia" and that Dr. Demento song called "Fish Heads." There was always music around while I was growing up. My parents and older brother were always listening to all kind of music and we had all kinds of instruments around, like a piano and a trombone, a bass and drums.

Who are your all-time favorite bands/musicians? Ron Davies, Ween, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Dylan, Melanie, Joanna Newsom, Joni Mitchell, Lester Young, Joseph Spence, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt, George Bresson, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Alexis Gideon, Cyndi Lauper, Jay-Z...Man, that's all I can think of right now!

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. Cyndi Lauper, She's So Unusual.

How did you go about discovering new music when you were younger? All I had to do was hang around or ask my family…They were always discovering new things but also had a really big record collection of all kinds of music. I got into Ween and Nirvana in high school, and at the same time I was listening to Jimmie Rodgers records over and over again for hours. There seemed to be a song that existed for every mood I was ever in at the time. And sometimes all I had to do was ask.

Where do you find inspiration for your music? I try to find it everywhere, or anywhere. When I'm working with kids, they inspire me a lot.

What are your favorite books and movies? Call It Sleep by Henry Roth and Ask The Dust by John Fante are books I've read recently that stick out. I was reading a lot of John Fante before I moved to L.A., to prepare for it. Muriel's Wedding is a great movie and I recently watched Happiness of the Katakuris, which is a really crazy-wonderful film.

Who are your style idols? Eleanor Roosevelt

Name one clothing/beauty item you always take on tour with you. Toothbrush and shoes

What's the craziest/weirdest/most memorable show you've ever played? I remember playing a show in Caspar, California, at a beautiful place called the Caspar Inn, right on the shore. It was a nice place to stay because you get your own room with a window overlooking the ocean. It was such a nice little spot to stop and play! I also had a great time opening up for M. Ward in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theatre - it was a few weeks before I moved to L.A. from Chicago, and a van full of my friends came out for the show and we all had so much fun, plus the Pabst Theatre was such a beautiful place to play.

If you could choose any locale in the universe to play a show, where would it be? Dublin, Ireland. Everything is such a special kind of green there.

Posted by Liz in Interviews
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