Interview from Blender March 05
Chloë Sevigny, star of Woody Allen’s upcoming Melinda and Melinda, reveals why it’s a good thing her drum kit was lost in a fire, which pop star she’s stalking and what’s behind her beef with Jay-Z
By Lauren Sandler
Blender, March 2005
THE ALBUM THAT SET ME APART IN HIGH SCHOOL
The Smiths, The Smiths
Sire, 1984
“In high school I idolized this girl who went out with my brother. She was the most influential person in my life as a teenager. I went to her room and she had a Smiths record — that was it for me. Where I grew up, there weren’t many kids into that kind of music, so I thought it was, like, my thing. My boyfriend at the time listened to hardcore and hip-hop, so I always had to defend them. And I still have to.”
THE ALBUM THAT MADE ME A STALKER
Morrissey, Bona Drag
Sire, 1990
“It went way beyond the Smiths for me. Like, I’m a stalker. Not really! But I did drive past Morrissey’s house and I followed him on tour for 10 shows. I don’t want to meet him, though. I’d be too nervous. I’d make a fool of myself. His manager saw me on the tour in Boston and told me, ‘I said to Morrissey, “That girl Chloé is there.” Morrissey said, “You mean the model?”’ And I wanted to *********** that he thinks I’m a model, not an actress. God. That’s disappointing.”
THE ALBUM THAT OPENED MY EYES TO POLITICS
Bad Brains, I Against I
SST, 1986
“When I was a freshman in high school this was my soundtrack. I was starting to get political — you know, being a freshman — and it’s such influential music. That whole thing that surrounded Bad Brains and D.C. hardcore was such an eye-opener to me. I went to see [former lead singer] H.R. twice and both times he didn’t show, which was a bummer. He was famous for that, for being crazy. So it was a crazy person who started me thinking about the world as a wider place.”
THE ALBUM THAT I WAS TOO COOL FOR, FOR TOO LONG
Kate Bush, The Whole Story
EMI America, 1986
“Kate Bush never clicked for me until a few years ago. I thought I was just too cool for it. And then one day I was in a bar in Oslo and the song ‘Wuthering Heights’ came on. I loved the idea of singing a song from the point of view of a literary heroine. I thought, ‘It’s time to buy a Kate Bush album.’ And then I went out and I bought them all. She’s become a mysterious, beautiful figure to me. She’s a perfect female pop star.”
THE ALBUM THAT REMINDS ME OF MY FIRST MOVIE
Slint, Spiderland
Touch and Go, 1991
“There was a Slint song on the Kids soundtrack, so it reminds me of my first film. Slint was the seminal indie-rock band. Their sound was what everyone copied. They start small and build to this big orgasm. If they hadn’t been around, there wouldn’t be hundreds of these horrible bands trying to imitate them today. It has cursed them, having bad imitations. But I still listen to this record all the time.”
THE ALBUM THAT MADE ME REALIZE I SUCK AT DRUMS
Can, Ege Bamyasi
Mute, 1972
“I was taking drum lessons and the guy teaching me said, ‘Bring in an example of how you want to play. And I brought him this record and he just laughed at me and said, ‘You’ll never be able to play the drums like this!’ I wanted to play like Maureen Tucker, you know, standing up. I had this stand-up cocktail drum kit, but it burned in a fire. And that was the end of that, which was sad, but I sucked anyway.”
THE ALBUM THAT WAS MY PARTY SOUNDTRACK
Brian Eno, Here Come the Warm Jets
EG, 1972
“One Fourth of July, maybe six years ago, all my friends came out to my mom’s house — she was out of town — and we had this big party. And we listened to this record over and over again. It’s a very strange and difficult album, but it was a very special time: the right group of people and the right weather and mood and somehow the right album. It was the perfect weekend.”
THE ALBUM THAT MADE WE WANT TO WEAR RAGS
Annie, The Original Broadway Cast
Columbia, 1977
“This was my first favorite record. There’s something about an orphan girl. I wanted to dress in tattered rags. ‘Hard Knock Life’ was my favorite song. It was my first angst song. And when Jay-Z came out with his sampling of it, I was like, ‘They stole Annie. No!’ That song meant so much to me. I have it on vinyl and CD. You can’t beat a rags-to-riches story.”
THE ALBUM THAT KEEPS ME OFF THE NEEDLE
Nico, The Marble Index
Elektra, 1969
“When I was 21, I used to go into Kim’s [record store in New York] and ask the boys there to help me pick out records. They gave me The Marble Index. And you just don’t hear music like that. I have a real Nico fascination, but I don’t want to play her. I try to stay away from the junkie thing; films always glorify junkies. They always make me want to be a drug addict. But look at Nico! Terrible. Still, I cut my bangs like her after I got this record.”
THE ALBUM THAT I CAN’T STAND
The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Capitol, 1967
“I’m not a Beatles lover. I’m kind of a Beatles hater, actually. And I know people will hate me for saying I hate Sgt. Pepper’s, right? But the greatest rock & roll record of all time? To me, rock & roll is more Rolling Stones, sexy and dirty. They’re clever. But there’s nothing raw about the Beatles. There’s no dirty sex with them. And that’s not rock & roll.”