• How did music come about for
you? Did you grow up singing and playing guitar, was it just a natural thing or
did it develop over time?
I was raised by a nurturing
mother. She bought me a guitar at a flea market after she noticed me
trying to play it while she shopped. My little 9 year old sausage fingers
nearly bled. She put me in lessons and I never put it down.
• What inspires your music? You
love the outdoors and being out west, does this influence your music?
Music is my mental release.
Making sounds out of an instrument instead of formulating words is such a
primal and satisfying action, and then I add words later. I
definitely use western landscapes as metaphors. I draw energy from the
mountains and from Wyoming because submerged within the wildness, I gain
perspective on life and death. I feel my own mortality pressing in as a
freshness to exist more intentionally.
• Who are your musical
influences? Can you remember the first album/Cd you bought? How did this album
influence you?
The first tape I got was Stone
Temple Pilots 'Purple.' I hid it under my pillow because my conservative
parents would've taken it away, so I don't remember it too well because I was
afraid to play it. Around that time I started making tons of mixed tapes of
classic rock hits off the radio. The first song I learned to play when I got my
guitar was The Animals' 'House of the Rising Sun.' I still hear it in my
writing. Main inspirations have been wide ranging from The Boss, The Talking
Heads, Whiskeytown and Bill Withers. I've loved J. Tillman's music for a
long time now too, and his new record 'Fear Fun' under the moniker Father John
Misty is my favorite record this year.
• I can’t stop listening to your
latest album This Mountain, how did this album develop? Does your personal life
impact your song writing?
This mountain developed over my
first few years of living in Nashville, TN. I had some intense things happen
that jarred my sense of reality- so that's definitely reflected. I recorded it
all over the city in different studios I could afford, and then landed in The
Smoakstack with Justin March as my engineer. He mixed the record as well.
• You’re not just a talented
singer/songwriter you are also a handbag designer. Tell me about how this
started?
In college I worked under my
friend friend Josh Helke of Organic Climbing. I watched his company grow and
learned far more from him than I did in my 4 years of trying not to flunk out
of college. I got an industrial machine in Nashville and started messing around
with leather because it was an easier material for me to work with than canvas.
After making some clutches for myself and friends, I realized I had a knack for
design and textures.
• What inspired this season’s
collection?
F/W 2012 was all original pieces
that I first made for myself. I just organized them and gave them their place
as the first collection. My platform as a designer is to make a product that a
woman will carry her whole life. I believe durability and simplicity equal
timelessness.
• How would you describe your
style? Does this influence your collection?
Because my husband and I move and
travel for climbing, my wardrobe is small. It's limited to items that can be
worn outside to hike/climb in but still look good to go to dinner straight off
the trail. My 'uniform' right now consists of black stretch Levis, vintage
waffle thermals and cowboy or duck boots. I'm hard on everything I own. One of
the only pairs of heels I have are Clarks that look great scuffed up, so it's
funny - my life style enhances the clothes I wear and vice versa. I guess as a
default, I use myself as my target market. I choose leather because the more
you beat it up, the better it looks, and then I keep the designs simple so the
bag is versatile.
• Who are your favourite
designers?
My favorite designer is hands
down Isabel Marant and I also enjoy the label Humanoid.
• If you could collaborate with
anyone musically who would that be?
Producer Nigel Godrich
• And who would you love to
collaborate with in the design world?
I'd love to collaborate with
Carhartt.
• Do you have a favourite café,
bookshop, gallery, shop, or website you gain inspiration from?
I would say the airport and gas
stations are my favorite places to gain inspiration and perspective. I'm also
mostly alone all week in my studio gaining inspiration and immersing myself in
podcasts and NPR. Lately I've been listening to Nocturnal Emotions with Har Mar
Superstar.
• Besides your own music what
artists are you listening to at the moment? Does music inspire your
collection?
Damien Jurado's Maraqopa &
Father John Misty's 'Fear Fun' are on repeat. I've also gotten into
Summer heart and Washed Out lately. I can't find a direct correlation yet
between my music preferences and design inspiration - but I'm sure there's a
connection lurking in the bigger picture.
• What’s next for you musically
and with your collection?
I have three music projects on my
table. My own, a duo band I formed with drummer and engineer Justin March
called 'Francis Gila', and then I'm dabbling a bit with the amazing JJ Clark on
some long distance electronic songs. The world won't hear these little fetuses
until the end of next year.
The next collection I'm working on
is F/W 2013, and it includes some collaborations with a designer named Han
Starnes. I'm branching out from leather into other natural textiles, so it's
getting wild over in my Nashville studio.
• Any advice you can give to new
designers, musicians, etc?
If you feel compelled to express
yourself, do so. If someone notices that expression and praises it, accept it,
but don't limit yourself to that praise. If no one notices your mode of
expression, keep it up. Hold fast to your convictions. Have a community of
truthful people that keep you in line.
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