It feels like we’ve interviewed Rasputina so many times that there couldn’t possibly be anything left to ask them. But now that they have put out a live CD, “A Radical Recital,” a few more questions came to mind. Melora was gracious enough to answer them by email.
What made you decide to do a live CD at this point in time?
Melora: “Mr. Small’s in Pittsburgh has a great set-up for live recording, so we wanted to take advantage of that. We wanted to make a recording for fans without going through the whole PR rigamarole. I want to take my time writing this next album, so we put something out for people to listen to in the meantime.”
When you did that Halloween performance, was a definite CD release of it planned? (Or did you record several shows/pick the best one to release, or did you simply decide to release it because a good recording was made?)
Melora: “It was a plan to record & release the one show. Our show the next night at B.B. King’s in NYC was, perhaps, better, but it didn’t have the big pro-recording set-up. Too bad!”
Last time I saw you play (at Maxwell’s) you asked the audience to sit down on the floor. It reminded me of being at a school assembly in the gym! Is this a common occurrence at Rasputina shows? Do you feel at all bad for the audience, that sitting on the floor with no room to re-position their legs is somewhat torturous?
Melora: “It’s more tortuous if hardly anyone can see! It’s a common problem with us, because we’re sitting. So you should have to sit too!”
When can we look forward to a CD of new Rasputina material?
Melora: “I believe we’re going to do a wider release of this Radical Recital through Ryko in September. We’re aiming to record the new album in November, then it’s hard to say when it will come out. Depends on who puts it out!”
You have some interesting merchandise for sale on your site. Is there anything that you think would like to offer, that is perhaps not feasible? In other words, if the price of materials/price you’d need to charge for it were not a concern, what would be the ULTIMATE piece of Rasputina memorabilia?
Melora: “Probably a clothing line based on our costumes. It’s not that unrealistic really, but would be quite an undertaking, business-wise.”
