Spinnerette: Seeing The Devil

Brody Dalle is famous for many things, including her awesome mohawk, fronting The Distillers (one of the coolest punk bands to emerge in the last 10 years) and marrying Rancid's Tim Armstrong when she was just 18. But that's all far behind her.

The 30-year-old singer/guitarist has a slick new look, a new beau (husband Josh Homme from Queens Of The Stone Age), a new baby (daughter Camille, born in 2006) and, most importantly for fans of feisty hard rock and dance-punk, a new band: Spinnerette.

Their debut four-song EP, Ghetto Love, was independently released online in December to much whooping. A full-length, self-titled album is coming soon via Anthem Records — home to Rush!

While Spinnerette have a not-too-shabby supporting cast in guitarist Tony Bevilacqua (ex-Distillers), bassist/producer Alain Johannes (Queens Of The Stone Age) and drummer Jack Irons (ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers), it's the ever-alluring Dalle who makes this act one to watch in '09.

The Australian-born, Los Angeles-based Dalle sat with CHARTattack on a promotional visit to Toronto to talk about motherhood, Marilyn Monroe and how to beat the devil.

CHARTattack: After The Distillers break-up, what were you looking for most — a new identity?
Brody Dalle: Absolutely.

After I had my daughter, I think I had post-natal depression a little bit. I put on a lot of weight when I was pregnant and it took a long time for me to figure out what I was doing and who the hell I was. Like, now that I am a mother, how do I fit everything else into that?

My daughter comes first, so after living the selfish, freewheelin' life that we used to, it was a real shock for both of us. And then we settled in, and when she was born she was the most incredible thing you've ever seen in your life. So, you fall in love, but you struggle with where do you go from there, you know?

Many artists have babies, then make baby music, but you didn't. Why not?
The energy that I had inside me never went anywhere. I just had to subdue it, to keep it in check. So after my daughter was born, I poured it into my music. That's probably why it's aggressive in a different way from The Distillers.

I wrote before I was pregnant, then I got pregnant and couldn't write. There was just nothing coming out. I would sing to Camille, though. She probably knows most Johnny Cash like the back of her hand. I wasn't obsessed with him before, but when I was pregnant it was all I could listen to.

How did you know the right direction to go in?
I didn't. I went and demoed with Alain because there wasn't really anyone else and it was just kismet, magic. The first song we did was "Ghetto Love." So you can imagine — both of us were like, "OK! Holy shit!" It seriously took three hours.

There's a backwards vocal bit on the track "Distorting A Code." What are you saying, and is it Satanic?
I cannot tell you. I have met the devil, but that's not really so much to do with the devil... It's talking about who you are, trying to find out. If you want to get morbid, it's about trying to find faith. How do you get to the higher self, the higher power?

What do you mean you met the devil? And what did you do about that?
I've seen the devil in many forms. You just reach for the light. 'Cause it can be warm in the devil's arms for a bit, and then there's nothing. It's pretty scary.

It's all behind me now. That all changed when I held my child in my arms. Now I've got something to live for.

On your EP, you namedrop both Joan Of Arc and Marilyn Monroe. Which one do you most relate to?
I relate to both, but I love Marilyn Monroe — have since I was a kid. I dressed up as her for Halloween when I was five.

She had the most tragic life. Really, ultimately it was to do with how she was raised, so abused and abandoned and she was trying to fill that huge, massive void and getting famous couldn't really sustain her. It's not the right substance.

That's what this record is about: filling yourself with the right thing. And that's love. That's what happened to me since I had a child, I've become a total sap.

How did you get into Marilyn Monroe movies at such a young age?
My nana used to play old movies. I was only allowed to watch two channels growing up in Australia — SPS, which is political programming, or Channel 2, which has no advertising. So I was raised in a very politically and socially motivated family. I was head of the debating team at school. When I moved to America, I became much dumber.

You also became part of a power rock couple, which Americans love to talk about.
What do you think our couple name should be? Josh-er-dy? Broshua? Brosh? That sounds too much like Bros — the blonde twins from England. They were huge in Australia, but it was terrible music.

What new bands are you excited about?
Rumspringa! It's two guys from L.A. The singer is like an Asian Elvis Presley, plus he's a hot-shit guitar player. I haven't been that impressed by a band in a long time.

You've talked about the struggles to put out this record — finding new management and a label and the money to release it. Some people might think you and Josh are rich and famous, so what's the problem?
Like mom says, it doesn't grow on trees. You've got to keep working. We don't live in an outlandish way. We're comfortable, but we're very careful. I believe in what I do, but I'm not prepared to spend a bunch of money willy nilly to put my music out there, you know?

What's the biggest misconception about you?
I couldn't tell you. I know that I am a far step away from how I used to feel. Everyone has to grow up. We have to evolve and I think if you understand that and carry that maturity, you'll be OK.

How is Spinnerette different from anything you've done before?
In terms of music, I used to stunt myself. I could have written this record back then, but I would have been a little more embarrassed or uneasy about it. I was better at writing narratives about other people's experiences.

But because I've been so consumed with my life and my child and my family and my husband, all of the music I put out now has been more about stuff that I've internalized. I don't have the time to think about what other people are thinking or doing. I have the capacity to do that, but being a mother is consuming.