Web Exclusive: A conversation with Chantal Claret of Morningwood

While it may seem like MORNINGWOOD have been pretty quiet lately, it’s actually that the members have been strategizing their next attack. Their sophomore full-length, Diamonds And Studs, dropped this week after a run through the major label ringer. Moving on from Capital Records, Morningwood are the first band signed by entertainment giant VH1, and that, along with vocalist CHANTAL CLARET’s marriage to Mindless Self Indulgence frontman Jimmy Urine provided the band with more than enough to say on the new album. And while you may remember reading Claret’s advice column (along with Thrice drummer Riley Breckenridge) in the pages of AP, this time, we’re asking her all the hard questions.



INTERVIEW: Lucy Albers



This will be your first full-length release in three years. Why such a long wait?

We were cryogenically frozen. [Laughs.] No, it was basically the usual label-drama shit. Everybody at Capitol got fired and then re-hired. To be honest, it was really no fault of our own. We had music ready to go for a long time and we just fell victim to the industry for a long time. We finally got out of our contract with them and got picked up by the lovely VH1 and started working with them. We’re actually the first band that they’ve ever partnered up with to release music and it’s amazing. They just began with us because we’re awesome.



Why did you go with VH1?

Going with a major label right now is pretty much like riding on the back of a dinosaur: you don’t really have anywhere to go. [VH1] is exciting and new and they’re really, really excited about the music and the record, and they really got us more than any other label. We could have done the whole bidding war crap, but this just seemed so much more current and it was this “new model” everyone kept talking about. It’s exciting to be the first of something. They’re giving us the royal treatment because, well, first and foremost, they love the record. They heard it and they were just like, “We want to help you expose this and release it.” Everybody’s wondering why this hasn’t been done before with VH1. They’re so branded with music; MTV and all of those stations, they’re music channels, so you’d think this is something they would have done before. It’s really exciting to be the first one that they’re taking a chance on. It’s really a huge compliment.



So did you spend a lot of that time away working on the album?

Yeah, we’ve been working for the past few years. Since Pedro [Yanowitz, bass] and I live on different sides of the country, it’s a little more difficult to just get together and throw shit together. But in the same regard, I enjoyed it because we were just so focused when we were together. We’d have a day or two here or a day or two there when we knew we had to write something and record something or we wouldn’t have a record. We probably wrote like two-and-a-half records’ worth of songs before we decided on these 13 songs. But, to be honest, the whole record probably actually took about three weeks to write.



Are there a lot of differences in this album compared to your self-titled debut?

Oh yeah, 100 percent. This one is just much more eclectic. We got a lot more of our influences out. Pedro and I have vastly different amounts of music in our lives, so we finally got to put that in this record. And this one is not just purely pop or rock or anything. I don’t feel like artists should have to do that. I feel like we finally got to infuse some of our other influences like hip-hop and opera and Japanese Taiko drums and stuff like that.



A lot of your music in the past has been used in advertisements. Think this album will have that same commercial appeal?

Hell yeah. I hope so. I love it when they use our stuff for commercials and stuff like that. There’s so much time and energy that goes into making something like that happen. To hear our music partnered up with it is a huge compliment.



Where did the title come from?

Well, I really knew what I wanted the artwork to look like: I wanted the whole thing to be studded. I’ve been totally obsessed with studs. I’ve never seen [cover art like that] before. And then I was looking at old movie titles and sent this huge list to Pedro and “diamonds” was one of the things listed. We were having a pow-wow and came up with Diamonds And Studs. It just feels like a perfect representation of us as a band; soft and hard and dirty and clean and girly and manly. We just feel like, on the record, some are diamonds and some are studs.



Do you have any favorite tracks?

I have a couple. Actually, I have 13 of them. I love “Cat In A Box.” It’s the last song and kind of the ballad. “Hot Tonight” is also one of my favorites. And “Addicted” is the one that makes my husband cry.



You and Jimmy Urine have been married for about two years now. How is married life?

It’s amazing. I get asked a lot about how my married has changed my music and I say it hasn’t. But in all honesty, it has–but in a great way. My husband’s music is so eclectic and diverse that it really gave me the courage to sort of expand. I was like, “Hey, I want to put all of my influences into a song, too!” He’s so supportive of everything and he’s so helpful. And he really helps us out with our electronics. He’s basically like our unpaid guitar tech and for-hire when we’re on tour.



Did you first meet back when you toured together in 2006?

Yeah, when we opened up for Mindless Self Indulgence. That’s when we developed what we call a “tour crush.” It’s what we’ve been calling each other ever since, and what our fans have called us. It’s where we met and fell in love, and now we’re walking around in our living room of the house we own. I’m actually getting a tattoo of that next week on L.A. Ink. I think it’s airing some time in February. I was trying to figure out what to get and that’s the closest I would ever do to getting my husband’s name tattooed on me.



I heard once that you called yourself the “Mae West of Rock and Roll.”

I stand by that. I just think she’s really ballsy and brassy, and also very sexual in a strong way. I identify with that in many ways, and I love that and I love her.



Is that a persona you intentionally try to portray?

Not at all. I’m being myself; I’m not trying to be anything on stage besides me. If anything, it’s just a heightened version of me. It’s what I would be doing in my house if nobody was watching. Me on stage is like me in my house in my bedroom standing in front of a mirror. That’s it.



How does that add to Morningwood’s live performance?

We love showmanship and being entertainers. That’s part of the reason I fell in love with my husband, because we come from the same area. We love shows and entertainment and classic stuff, like Vaudeville and burlesque stuff. We just want to entertain instead of just standing there trying to make every note sound perfect. We’re there to put on a show. I’m not talking dancers, because I don’t have enough money for dancers. But believe me, if I did, I would have a ton of dancers behind me doing some crazy shit. [Laughs.] Right now it’s just little ol’ me up there, and I try to make as much movement as possible so the people get their money’s worth.



You get the crowd very involved while you play “Take Off Your Clothes.”

It’s our standard. It’s sort of our national anthem. People get really excited to take off their clothes, and I’m not going to stop them from getting psyched. I do warn them, however, not to get completely naked because the chances of them getting kicked out immediately afterwards are very high. It’s more of a burlesque thing to me. There’s a way to do it in a sort of classy way without pulling your dick out onstage. I think it’s great. It’s part of the show and I absolutely love it. I’ve had a ton of bad experiences with it. I feel the worst for people who come up and get buck-naked when I try to politely tell them not to. But they do, and then just get kicked out afterwards. We try to put it towards the end of the set so that if they do get kicked out, at least they’re not missing a lot of the show. To me, the worst is when people get onstage and then decide not to get naked. I’m like, “The song is called ‘Take Off Your Clothes.’ How much clearer can I get?” So when they get up and play coy, that infuriates me.



You used to write an advice column for us. Do you still do anything with that?

We do it on Stickam now. James and I will go there whenever it fits our fancy. We’ll just go on Twitter and say, “Oh, we’re going on in an hour” or whatever. It’s like technology finally caught up with what we do. We have a phone number you can call and ask your question and we’ll answer it live on our chat. And then there are other kids on the side watching and in the chat room. It’s pretty amazing. We get like 30,000 people every time we do it. I love it. I don’t know how I got the role of boys and girls coming up and feeling comfortable enough to ask me personal questions in the realm of their lives, but the fact that they do and trust me enough to want my opinion is wonderful. I’m totally flattered by that. I’ll give them the best opinion and I can as long as they want to know.



How do you use the knowledge you learned in film school in what you do now?

Well, when I write songs, I see everything visually. I picture the song, you know? I have video ideas for pretty much every single song we do. That would be my dream: to make videos for every single track on the record. Then, in terms of videos we make, I really get to work with the concept. We get to partner up on all the concepts. It really is our brainchild and it’s exciting to see those visual come to life. To me, it’s my favorite part of doing this besides performing live. It’s a combination of everything I love to do: be on a film set, look pretty, and perform. It’s a culmination of everything I love to do in art at one time.



Is there anything left that you still want to accomplish?

Oh man, there’s a ton of shit I want to do. I want to tour more or get on nice, big, fun tour. We’ve never played a stadium, so that would be cool–not headlining; I’m not some cocky asshole. But I’d love to open for somebody. I’d like to play on [The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien]; we haven’t done that yet. I want to have a radio show. I’m pretty much up for anything. I’m a pretty good sport. alt