LOU TIDES - in conversation
Interview & foreword by Beau Croxton
Lou Tides by Suz Murray
I’ve been listening to Teeny Lieberson’s music since 2012 when I discovered her band TEEN and their great debut album In Limbo. I was lucky to meet Teeny among peers back then (in the good old days of Shea Stadium, Glasslands and 285 Kent). I have been catching her live shows ever since and I always thought of TEEN as one of the most impressive groups NYC had to offer.
Teeny has always been an artist with a capital A, but with her solo project Lou Tides, she brings her artistry and musical intensity to a new peak. On May 23rd, she will release her stunning debut full length LP Autostatic!. Teeny has also had a remarkable past few years, becoming a member of Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory and performing as a touring member with Sleater Kinney.
To kick off our in-depth interview series Occult: In Conversation, I caught up with Teeny to discuss everything Autostatic!, Lou Tides, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Sleater Kinney and much more.
BEAU: It’s so great to chat, it's been so amazing to see your musical evolution for the past 13 plus years. I would love to ask about the beginning of your solo work after TEEN. Once you started doing solo music as Lou Tides, how did your approach change and what different goals did you have?
TEENY: Well, you know TEEN was a band and primarily focused on being a band, there was not as much of a performance aspect to it. When I was a teenager I first started out in theater, so I think I started to feel like I wanted to approach what I did with more of a performative angle…. with movement, and not as focused on a band playing on stage. So I really started Lou Tides as a project where I was gonna practice the material live and see how I could build choreography, build movement and build performance. And then kinda revisit recordings to see how the two informed each other. So it's definitely informed by performance- much more than the band approach was. I just felt like I needed to perform more. I needed to let out a different kind of energy. You can't really do that when you're behind an instrument on stage.
BEAU: Let’s talk about your new album Autostatic! . It’s incredible, I’m a big fan of everything you’ve done but this one is truly up there. It’s super gnarly, it's got great jumpscares and it's really powerful.
TEENY: Thank you! Well, it started during the pandemic. I took a little retreat because I had to quarantine for two weeks while I was visiting my family in Canada. So I was like, “Well, I’ll use that time to write.” So, I basically wrote a record during that time. And then I wanted to flesh it out. So I took it to Bartees Strange as a producer and we co-produced the record. I knew I wanted to take it out of my “solo brain”. I like taking it to a producer who can help me sort of flesh out the sound. And Sarah Galdes, my drummer who I've been performing with for a long time…. who's just an unbelievable performer, an unbelievable improviser and player in general- I knew I wanted her input on the record. So we went down to D.C. and worked with Bartees and kinda knocked it out in about ten days…..And then I was psycho and fixated on it for about… (laughs)... two more years!
BEAU: Yup ! That's how it goes sometimes ! Tell me a little bit more about Bartees Strange producing this record, that's such a cool link up.
TEENY: So I worked with him on a record. My friend Xander has a project called Pegg and I made that record with him. We all went upstate and Bartees was producing our other friend, Blake, who plays in a project called Fusilier ...Shout out to Fusilier! Amazing project. So good. You should listen to it. So we were all upstate and we just got along and I was like- “Oh! this would be a cool person to kind of link up with to make some music with.”
BEAU: Well, you’ve got some great singles out. Let's talk about the “Autostatic!” single a little bit. I really love it. The warm synths and your vocal delivery reminds me of a lot of your earlier stuff, but it still has the new energy of your new record.
TEENY: That one just kind of happened really, really fast in the studio with Sarah and Bartees. I think that was one of the ones that Bartees heard and was like, “that's definitely a track that needs to go on the record.” And it's funny, people have been saying it reminds them of In Limbo- like really early TEEN. Which I kind of didn't put together because I think it has that sort of ……I don't know, it's a little bit post-punk, I guess? But you know that one….. it just came together really fast. And it was just one of those songs that was really easy, you know.
BEAU: Yeah, it sounds very quintessentially your sound. So I can imagine that it just kinda flew out. Sometimes the best ones just come to you quickly.
TEENY: Also, I didn't overthink that one. It's kind of straightforward. It's a little dumb, just like musically, you know, it's just like it's easy. There's not that many changes. There's a driving baseline the whole time. And sometimes it… just calls for it to be that simple.
BEAU: Totally - and I would say it's kind of sitting at a great spot on the record because the first two tracks are intense in a very, very awesome way. That might be one of my favorite parts about the record is the choice of the first and second song.
TEENY: Oh.
BEAU: Yeah- I really like how as soon as your finger comes off pressing play of the opening track….you know ? (gestures hands like an explosion) Right?!
TEENY: Yeah! (Laughs)
BEAU: I mean, after those its a great spot for “Autostatic!” to kind of coast.
TEENY: Right, Right. (Laughs) It wasn't there originally. Originally it was later in the record and then I moved it.
BEAU: Oh, nice.
TEENY: Moved to a good place!
BEAU: About “Map Maker”.... So I saw that you said that this song is about sobriety, which is amazing- I'm actually hitting nine years of sobriety in a week and a half.
TEENY: Wow! Congratulations! Amazing.
BEAU: Thank you! Sobriety in the music scene is really a tricky thing. I love “Map Maker” and the sobriety element adds a whole new layer. What can you tell me about this track?
TEENY: I added that one later actually. I felt like the record needed something else. I had written that in the studio by myself. Also, I think most of the rest of the record was written while I was still drinking. And I felt like I needed to tie it up a little bit. Like, “Oh, well, I don't do that anymore.” You know? “So what is my relationship to all of this other behavior on the rest of the record…. now?”
So I wanted to have a track in there that sort of tied up the rest of the behavior. Also, some of it I didn't relate to anymore, you know, it's like when you get sober and two years later, you're like “Oh my God, I don't recognize that person anymore.” So I felt like I needed to have a little bit of “current me” in the rest of the record because it was taking me a long time to finish it. I knew I needed something to relate to- currently.
BEAU: That makes perfect sense. So there are definitely a lot of different personal themes throughout the record. What could you tell me about the other themes outside of the sobriety theme in “Mapmaker”?
TEENY: It was written during the height of COVID. So there was a lot of ruminating on sort of like falling empire, failing state…… which we're REALLY experiencing now. I mean, it's been happening for a long time, but it's really fully crumbling right now.
BEAU: Yeah..
TEENY: And I also look at the songs as sort of like… ghost stories. Partially because I think I'm exiting my relationship with New York a little bit. I mean, I love the city, but I've gone through so much in this city. These are all little tales of “ghostly New York” to me. They are little hauntings. Being here during COVID was, it was hard for everybody everywhere in the world, but, you know, New York was rough, like sitting in your little apartment.
In order to feel, I have to see things sort of visually. I have to make stories or fantasy out of songs - it's a storytelling aid for me in order to be able to perform them…. Hence the “performance before the music” thing. By visualizing these as ghost stories, I can also let them be things of the past and not current hauntings, you know. Although, now the themes are like…..they're sort of warnings. That's what I think ghost stories are as they function.
Autostatic! Album Artwork. Art & Design by Vanessa Castro with Creative Direction & Photography by Suz Murray. Out May 23rd via Switch Hit Records.
BEAU: So I've noticed that you have such an awesome tendency to randomly jump to a really low vocal (naturally) and you also use a lot of the sub-octave vocals in your work with Lou Tides. I would love to know any more about when you see fit to do that- and what you're trying to convey when you use that. Because it feels like a deliberate choice in certain spots.
TEENY: Well- the altered vocals, like the pitch stuff, is definitely to point out it's a different character. So it's like in the story, this is a different character from this character. So I'm using it sort of as a storytelling mechanism. As far as writing or melody, it's literally something I don't think about. I think I just do it. I wonder if it has to do with vocalists that I've admired in the past. But Yeah, it's sort of subconscious. I've been told this from other people, like “you jump the octave a lot!” or “you do this very particular vocal thing.”…I'm like….. I don't even know what I'm doing.
BEAU: (Laughs) It's a really awesome characteristic- and it's really fun as a listener. But yeah, I'd love to know more about your background in singing as well.
TEENY: Well, I've been singing forever. My dad was a composer, my mom is a singer. So we were always just sitting around the piano and harmonizing with my sisters and singing with my mom. And I would often have song books where I would find songs, mostly jazz tunes, because my dad could play jazz also. We would sit down and play songs together late at night. He would play and I would learn these songs. And then I went on to sort of study… I was like a dorky musical theater kid after that. And then I was a bad kid. And then I went to college for jazz vocals. And I totally flunked out because I partied too hard.
BEAU: Yeah, I can relate. (laughs)
TEENY: Yeah, (laughs). And then I started playing in bands. And I was like, “ohhhh, I can do that.” And now I'm like, now I would love to go back to school and actually learn things.
BEAU: Isn't that funny how that works? It's quite an interesting time - the whole drinking age and when you ACTUALLY might want to study and get it together.
TEENY: Right. (laughs)
BEAU: So the visual world of Lou Tides is fantastic. The “Autostatic!” video is great. The choreography…The backlighting…everything was gorgeous.
TEENY: Thank you.
BEAU: With Lou Tides, you have always had a very creative and bold approach…..like the Infinity Loop visual short film, or the video for “Bad Decision”. Where does your inspiration, your intent and your drive come from with that? I can tell a bit with the performance aspect that you've mentioned before, but I'd love to know a little more.
TEENY: I think it started to become clear that it was gonna be an important aspect of this project just because I think I do make really intense music. I think when you add a visual element, it can be a little bit of a translation tool. Also, I'm a big fan of cinema. So I think a lot of what I get inspired by often isn't musical, it's often films. Like lately I watched Kwaidon, which is this Japanese horror film (from the 50’s? I think). The scenes and the width of what you're able to express visually by using space, by using costume and by using color…I think helps a lot with the translation of the music. I do a lot of flips and I do a lot of character changes. So I think it's helpful to have visual tools. I've been told as an audience member that sometimes when they see the performance, they understand the music more. And I think that's really cool. I think it just sort of happened naturally because it's natural to me. I work with this person, my collaborator, Suz Murray is an incredible director and also Nina Corelli - who's within prosthetics. We all are kind of this little collective now. And Lena Engelstein, who was the choreographer - they really understand what I'm trying to go for and they have been like incredible collaborators. There's also that- because I think they're helping translate what I'm trying to do also. And it's successful. So for me, I also love fantasy play and I love Jim Henson. And I think those sort of theatrical aspects are part of the music as well.
Lou Tides by Suz Murray.
BEAU: Not everybody is really tapped into visuals like you are, it's incredible. So is there any gear you want to shout out from this record? Because there is some really great synth sounds.
TEENY: Matriarch…. Moog Matriarch. I've been using that thing for a couple of years now. And it's just…..man. I love that instrument. I use it all over the Sharon Van Etten record too- That thing is like gold. What else did I use on that? Oh! You know what I used a lot on this record was a Korg… I think it's a Korg MS2000.
My partner has one, yeah, Korg MS2000. It's a more digital synth. I love that thing. I was surprised by it. It's not usually the kind of synth I would go for, but- Korgs are really toothy. So they can add a really nice edge in comparison to a really lush Moog. It's like a really nice combination, those two against each other.
BEAU: So you mentioned Sharon Van Etten. You've had a really exciting past couple of years- linking up with Sharon, becoming a member and having input in that band, and touring with Sleater Keeney and performing on Fallon. It's been so exciting to see it all happen. How has life kind of changed for you as a musician ….you know… -in or out of Lou Tides- since you became a member of The Attachment Theory band? And how has it been working with the new band members in that group and collaborating with them?
TEENY: I mean, it's been a huge influence on my writing and my musicianship. Sharon's an incredible songwriter, obviously. We all know this. I've learned a lot from her. She's a master of her craft. So it's been really enlightening to work with her and also see somebody at her level of professionalism and her level of success too- like how she needs to get things done. That's been also very informative as far as not overthinking things. She is willing to kind of put things out there and let them be. And I really appreciate that as an artist. Playing with Devra Hoff, who's become one of my closest friends….she's just a brilliant bassist and musician overall. What a mind…And Jorge as well…. I love them deeply as friends and deeply as musicians. So I think it's been a really great learning experience as far as also approaching your own music.
When you work with people at that caliber of songwriting and arrangement, then you start to think about, well, “How can I not throw everything at the wall… and sort of be a little bit more intentional?” Because Jorge and Devra are extremely intentional in their approach to music. So I think that that's been really informative and helpful. And then Snake, our new member, Snakeskin. Man, she's amazing. Touring with everybody too, it's just like it's electric on stage. So that's also been really, really exciting. And touring with Sleater Kinney was just like, you know….
BEAU: Yep! that was my next question, How's that been?
TEENY: Well, it was only last year. So I don't know if I will be touring with them again, but I hope to play with them again. They are…you know.. They are such legends. I think that one of the biggest things I took away from working with them was their sort of “system of care”, how they care about each other, how they care about people they work with. They're really intentional about what they do and what they wanna say. They're also both highly intelligent. So, I just feel like being around the two of them was an honor. I think taking away that sort of “system of care” and how you can apply that to your own projects and your own little circles of friends and colleagues, you know, and like how you can approach your touring life too. I think that they were very intentional about that as well. And Carrie is obviously one of the funniest people I've ever met. So that was fun, because I'm a goofball.
BEAU: Absolutely- and I'm sure that makes being on the road that much smoother.
TEENY: Oh yeah, yeah. You have to be funny…. I can't.
BEAU: (Laughs) Well! What is next for Lou Tides and the release of “Autostatic!” and beyond? Any shows? Any other exciting stuff?
TEENY: Yeah, I'm planning a record release show…. And then hopefully more shows. Honestly, I'm really busy with Sharon. So we'll see. I would like to play some more release shows and maybe do a little touring and following the record after the record comes out.
BEAU: Well, I will be there. I will absolutely be there! Thanks so much Teeny!
TEENY: Thank you!
Autostatic! Is out on May 23rd via Switch Hit Records.
You can watch the music video for “Autostatic!” here
And watch the music video for “Map Maker” here
You can pre order the record on bandcamp here
You can pre add the album on streaming services here
You can also catch Teeny on tour with Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory and the dates are here.