Photo: Hyunhye Seo
A few weeks ago one of the many bosses I toil for at Out summoned me to his office (Ed. note: cubicle). I figured he wanted me to give him a(nother) pedicure or pick the Brazil nuts out of the can of mixed nuts on his desk, but instead -- to my shock and delight -- he wanted me to interview Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu.
I first heard Xiu Xiu on a mix made by my friend Kate -- a girl with the kind of killer taste that makes you hope if you were a girl you'd be exactly her. The song was "Fabulous Muscles" and I was immediately taken by the sound of Stewart's voice delicately but dangerously bzzzzing like a lovesick hornet trapped in an empty two-liter cola bottle as he sang "cremate me after you cum on my lips / honey boy place my ashes in a vase beneath your workout bench" over a few plaintive notes on a guitar.
Xiu Xiu's music isn't easy -- to describe, to explain, sometimes to even listen to. There's an honesty, not a pure, virgins-in-white-speedos kind of Truth, but rather a never-ending desperate need to express an emotion -- no matter how messy or uncivilized -- that migrates from the lyrics to the music and leaves you feeling simultaneously high and hung over. Trust me -- it'll all make sense once you hear a few tracks.
Based on the band's output alone, you'd expect Stewart to be aloof, depressive, or at least mildly tormented, but I found him to be exactly the opposite. When I tried to ask him about groupies he replied:
"I'm very shy about that kind of stuff. I certainly appreciate it. People are so unbelievably nice to us -- we're really fortunate. But it just makes me feel a little silly."
Charming, funny, modest -- I'd probably even say sexy if that word wasn't already tainted by cheese ball images of whatever hunk du jour is being drooled over in
the checkout line mags. And when it comes right down to it -- I'll happily take a little tortured over those guys any day.
Read the full interview with Jamie Stewart here.
-- NOAH MICHELSON
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