Rasputina

Thanks for the Ether (Capitol)
An interview with vocalist/cellist Melora Creager
by Clarendon Lavorich

Rasputina makes odd sounds for our fuzzed-out ears. Coiled cello lines braided with a sweetly sonorous voice make for a twisted sound that stands boldly up against all pretenders to the lingerie-draped throne of modern chamber rock.

You all used to be au pairs; and you all went to the same training school, although at different times. Is it by mere chance that three cello playing nannys – one Pole, one Canadian, and one Kansas-bred American – happened to meet and form an all-cello group?
Hmm. Well, I put an ad in the paper, looking for other cellists to play this kind of music, and just by circumstance it turned out that we had similar backgrounds. I guess when you have similar interests and tastes, certain things are going to be the same.

Since you’ve been playing for such a long time, do your tastes lean more toward classical or modern works? (Note: this is a fancy way of asking “what are your influences?”)
It takes a while to get rid of habits and preconceptions of rhythm and other things… I’m probably the least classical of the three of us. I listen to a lot of things. Soundtracks from the Fifties, Cab Calloway, things like that.

The sound of Thanks for the Ether doesn’t really have a Cab Calloway leaning, except for maybe “Why Don’t You Do Right.” Where do the ideas come from for what amounts to a three-cello invention?
I write everything down on staff paper, and then we… learn it. I’m pretty uptight in some ways, coming from classical music. Writing everything is kind of looked down on in the rock world. As far as where the sounds and ideas come from, you could study and play the Bach cello suites for ten lifetimes, and still never get it all, so we all work on those, and I also use my exercise books that I’ve played since I was a little kid, and those are just a million ways to break things down. Since they are cellos, we can’t play chords like a guitar, so we have to break it down.

In addition to the music, the lyrics add a unique sound, very stream on consciousness. How are they written?
I generally feel that I’ve given myself an assignment, so there is a character, a mood, and I just try to put down in the least amount of space what will give me the most images and feelings.

What about “Five Fleas?”
(Laughs). Those are my concerns with the music industry.

“Kate Moss?”
We see her in the Calvin Klein commercials, and she’s so moody and dark. You don’t really hear her speak much, but what if she were a very depressed, morose intellectual? That would be so great if it were true (laughs).

And do you feel strongly that the Pilgrims were cannibals?
Well, it’s so possible. I read books on disasters over and over, and I read this very dry book on the pilgrims, and all the circumstances were exactly the same as the Donner Party, and it was so long ago that there’re no records, so it could totally be true. I’ve got to get the word out.

Disaster books, huh?
Yeah. Do you know the book Alive? That one I’ve probably read about fifteen times. It’s a fascination with extreme circumstances. As I’m reading it, there’re no details, it’s not as gory as I’d… hoped. But then when you think back to what you’ve just read, all these appalling scenes of cannibalism, then, yeah, it is really bad. I should probably delve more into why I get into this stuff.

And now for the obvious question: Why Victorian-age lingerie?
I think that performance is performance. It’s not playing in my living room, it’s in public. We use as many elements as possible to make our aesthetic understood and to give something interesting to see. It’s potentially embarrassing, but it seems like you should do that to get people’s attention. Just to provide a spectacle of some sort. “Everyone must wear underwear! That’s what I think!” (laughs).

Your voice. Is that real vibrato?
The producer told me I could do it and believed that it would sound good, and so it came to pass. Although I have concerns that, even though I like the way it sounds, it has that “old lady” sound, you know, that very wide vibrato.

I don’t think anyone would take you for an old lady. Are you doing any tours?
We’re opening for Bob Mould this fall.

Bob Mould. (pause). Okay…
Anyone you pair us with will make an interesting combination. So many people ask “Who would work? What would the right match be?” I like to be as incongruous as possible. I don’t want to get lumped in with the 4AD crowd.

The title, Thanks for the Ether. Any explanations?
Ether was a blanket term used to describe nebulous gas, and it’s always nice to relate back to gas, when you can. People used to think ideas came from the ether, so the title is like, “thanks for the inspiration.”

“Thanks for the Gas?”
We call those “The Vapors.”