Ask me anything!
Recent Responses
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Yes! I saw it just a few days after it came out. I enjoyed the Avengers, but I was disappointed with the villains and the pacing. The aliens were sort of anonymous cannon fodder, and Loki was not very scary or interesting. But I loved the dialogue, the interactions between characters, and the smashing. I hope there will be another film with a much scarier villain situation.
Also, when does Black Widow get her own spinoff film? Because she was amazing. -
Oh, there are lots! They're listed farther down, and on my blog -- but here are a few more recent picks; The Ascetic Junkies, Kristina Morland, Lisa Hannigan, Anais Mitchell, April Smith, Abigail Washburne, Mirah & Thao, Joshua James.
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1) Become better people. I'm into very old-fashioned notions of self-improvement; improving temperament & empathetic skills as much as possible, and actually learning the social graces we don't naturally have. I sucked at small talk and smiling. I took a couple years and learned to do both passably. Best use of time ever. Coincidentally, I found better community once I was more confident and practiced at conversation.
2) Go somewhere else. If the people who suck are toxic and dragging you down, don't be afraid to cut off contact for a time. If you can't move, find a new social circle built on something healthy for you, full of the kind of people you want to be with and be like. Go to where you see people with positive energy and hang out with them and do what they're doing. Note that communities built around negative energy (being anti-something or scorning or mocking this and that) will ultimately feel shallow. Communities that are hopeful and action-oriented or fun-oriented will feel better in the long run.
3) Being in a community always always always means bearing with other people when they're getting on your nerves. Once you find a new community you like, over time those people will annoy you, and you will annoy them. Learn how to be gracious toward people (while having good boundaries). If you hop from community to community to community and find that people everywhere suck, 5 or 6 different groups of people, note that the common denominator there is you. (Coincidentally that's the only common denominator you can control and change.) -
You're welcome. Honest is the new black. More honesty and self-reflection would make the world so so so so so much better. Good luck with the treatment, keep your eyes wide to the world no matter what and look for beauty. It's everywhere.
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Hey for Christmas! I apologize, this year's Christmas show is already past, and we couldn't stream it. It has, however, become so popular that there is increasing noise from fans about doing some proper recordings of the songs people love most, provided I can get the rights all lined up.
You can find a terrific recording of that song (better than I have probably ever done live) on the album "Bright Day Star" by the Baltimore Consort, and I cannot recommend that record enough. -
Have you already bought the CD? If you have, let's presume that I've already made the maximum amount I can make from my interactions with you through those particular songs.
And even if you haven't, it doesn't much bother me when people just stream my music. If they're streaming it lots, I'd appreciate a tip or a purchase, but it makes no difference after you've paid once whether you listen to your own copies or the copies streaming online. -
I don't complain so much as boast of the cold! Yes, I do mention the temperatures, but usually I mean to have a tone of amazement rather than complaint. I love Anchorage winters. I prefer them to winter anywhere else I've ever been. Weather that makes me complain for real: 34 degrees and mushy. When the snow starts to melt, I get grouchy. But snow, ice, ice fog, hoarfrost, and subzero temperatures: bring it.
Oh -- I have complained of my house being cold. But that is my landlord's fault. -
What? This is an impossible question. Though if I take the phrase "of all time" to mean "throughout your entire existence," I'd have to say the original unaltered unadulterated Star Wars trilogy. I had all three films memorized by age 11 and loved them passionately. I disavow any knowledge of anything GL has done since then -- but damn, those are some fine films. And they made a sci-fi lover of me at an early age.
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An actual internet friend who generally goes by "Princess Cupcake!" We met back in the days of Myspace. And boy is she into pink fluffy things and cupcakes. For real. I wrote it for her birthday and played it at her house. We ate cupcakes of course. It was a happy day!
Like many songs though, this one is open to many interpretations, and sometimes I sing it about other things entirely. It can be a genuinely sweet and funny and fluffy song, or it can be quite dark -- all depends on the meaning you bring to it. And I like songs that allow that much room for interpretation. Because I don't always feel like singing it about my friend; sometimes I feel like singing it about a foe. And it works either way. -
YES. I interact a lot now, I just can't interact as much with everyone anymore. I won't say it saddens me, I just wish I had more hours or more of me to go around. I wish I had more personal contact. I feel like fans put a lot out there and I wish I could give everyone as much in return.
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Absolutely! It's a work of fiction, an adaptation based on the literary characters in "Pride and Prejudice." I'm a nut for Austen. Of course long after I wrote the song, it came true in my life, to the letter.
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As soon as I have a lot more fans there! So tell other Australians! I definitely want to come play for you. The money thing just needs to work out.
My favorite dinosaur is the friendly omnivorous Australian G'Dayosaurus.
Also velociraptors. But the little real-life velociraptors, not the giant fake Hollywood kind. -
I write them songs like "Free Bird!"
This is tricky for all artists who sell work directly to fans. You want to please them, but you also want to honor your own voice, including ways your voice may change. I find my fans are the awesomest kind -- I haven't had a lot of trouble with this yet. But occasionally people do get possessive or protective.
The most common manifestation is that people think they know me better than they do, both because I share so much online and because my music is really vulnerable. It's a little weird to be treated like a very close friend by someone I barely know, and weirder to have them sometimes speak for me. But generally I'm OK at confronting the problem, privately, if it ever becomes an issue. I've sent five or six firm e-mails to folks who have transgressed boundaries, imagined our relationship to be a lot closer than it is. I try to be kind but have boundaries.
I guess the other problem I encounter would be folks who want to badger me into performing or collaborating with them, generally with the reasoning, "But you played with band X or did music for film Y, and you say you want to be community-minded and collaborate -- why won't you do it for me? Hypocrite/meanie/[insult]." Leaving aside the fact that there are limitations on how busy and/or tired I can make myself, I find it really presumptuous and problematic that folks would feel entitled to my time instead of asking and understanding if I have to say no. Or if I say yes at one time, then no at another time. Or if I just don't want to work with someone who would push me or behave in a super-needy fashion -- that seldom ends well. But I'm getting better at spotting in advance and avoiding these situations. -
I like both! Heaven knows I'm wordy enough even with yes/no questions. I just like questions in general.
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The typewriter you hear on "Vanilla" is actually electric -- it's my brother's, which I borrowed. I have trouble imagining purchasing or recording another electric typewriter -- they're distasteful to me -- but I wouldn't stick up my nose at borrowing one if that worked out best.
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Are you speaking of the album or life in general? Because, regarding life in general: 1) the 50 state tour; 2) Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with Bacon, 3) my own tendency to take on too much and hope I'll be lucky enough to survive what I pile on myself.
But with regard to the record -- oh boy, that would be hard to answer without taking it moment by moment. Not many things turned out worse than I hoped, because if they turned out worse than I hoped I either edited around them or re-recorded them or cut them from the project altogether. There were definitely times when I thought, "Ooh, this instrument would be so cool right here!" and spent a good deal of time recording that -- and then in post I realized that actually it sounded awful, so I cut it. But I never let things "turn out" that way. Not to my ear at least.
The Mix & Master process definitely turned out better than I hoped. I got someone really good, I took a long time over it, and I was pretty picky about some things. The end result feels good to me, and I feel lucky to have worked with someone who is generally on much more important projects than mine.
The photos turned out better than I hoped, thanks to Brian Adams. The sound he recorded for me, the sound of his Hasselblad firing, turned out to be one of my Most Useful Sounds on the project, and I wound up involving it in a lot of songs. That was a pleasant surprise.
The vocals turned out as I hoped. They're terribly honest and I've left some off notes in the final cut because I feel like it's a little more real that way. No autotune for me. -
Well, finishing it is sort of hell, because there are 72 different times when you think "I'M DONE!" only to realize you're really not done yet. So I expect starting it is more exciting. It's nice to have a goal, a path, and I really enjoy the tasks at the beginning (organizational, planning, writing) more than the tasks at the end (editing, mixing & mastering, promotion promotion promotion).
I'm definitely one who decides in advance about things like this. I seldom have projects sneak up on me. I seldom have songs write themselves (though it does happen). I usually choose in advance what I mean to do next, and trust that my inspiration will bloom within that framework. -
Hmm. It has its nice aspects -- I actually don't care much about the breezy part or the freedom of movement part the way some other girls (and guys) I know care about it. I tend to think more that I feel pretty in a dress and that feels nice. But it also takes more prep work to put it together -- less comfortable shoes (generally), sometimes tights or nylons, shaving, all that business.
I do like wearing them though and I want to wear them more. They feel nice less in the physical sense and more in the self-esteem sense. -
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Marian Call’s Bio
Anchorage, AK or on the road
An Alaskan musician with a linguistic bone to pick. Sounds like the love child of Joni Mitchell/Jason Mraz who was raised by TMBG and wolves.
