Wisdom teeth in exchange for a dried up chicken’s leg – Ein Interview mit Nicole Dollanganger (Ngf002)

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Die Wege des Internets sind doch immer wieder unergründlich und haben oftmals so manche Überraschung parat. Da schaut man mal wieder den kultigen Gruselschinken Es von Stephen King und denkt sich zum wiederholten Male: „Man müsste doch eigentlich eine Band mit dem Namen Beverly Marsh gründen“, hackt bei google fix die Begriffe Beverly Marsh + Band in die Tastatur – um sich zu vergewissern, ob denn nicht schon jemand anderes auf diese glorreiche Idee gekommen sei – und stößt dabei auf eine 22-jährige Kanadierin, die einen gleichnamigen Song bei bandcamp online gestellt hat:

Obwohl es nur ein kleiner Soundschnippsel von ca. 1,5 Minuten ist, hat mich der Song dank der kindlichen Stimme von Nicole Dollanganger (benannt nach den Kindern aus Flowers in the Attic) und der folkigen Attitüde in Kombination mit der geschätzten Thematik sofort gepackt. Da alle Releases der in einer Kleinstadt in Ontario aufgewachsenen und lebenden Dame kostenlos verfügbar sind, hab ich mir daraufhin gleich mal den kompletten Katalog zugelegt und eine Welt von selten gehörter Friedlichkeit entdeckt. Selbst gemessen an der sowieso schon soften Singer/Songwriter-Schiene wird hier durch die sehr verhaltene Instrumentierung und massivem Einsatz von Hall-Effekten nochmal eine ordentliche Schippe Ruhe draufgelegt. Artwork und die leicht morbiden Texte stehen dazu im krassen Gegensatz und erinnern eher an Künstler aus dem Gothic-Bereich (Ich denk da vor allem oft an die Mädels von Switchblade Symphony). Grund genug, dem Mädel mit der schon beachtlichen Gefolgschaft mal auf den sprichwörtlichen Zahn zu fühlen. Im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes.
Geschehen über den allersweetesten Email-Kontakt, den man sich wünschen kann. Selbstverständlich ab jetzt auf Englisch. Enjoy:

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tumblr_m9ef07ueh71r4ht6ho1_1280Nicole, what do you do in your daily live (work/college…)?
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I dropped out of film school this year and have since been making a living off of music/merch sales and working part-time.

Have there been any previous musical projects that you were involved in?
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No. I never thought music was a viable option for me due to my inexperience with instruments and songwriting in general.

Judging from your superb Manson Coversongs, your gothic-like art and lyrics as well as the look of your friends on those tumblr photos, I presume that you’ve been into a lot more heavier stuff in the past. Do you still like that kind of music/scene and why is it that your own music is so soft then?
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The stuff I make does not reflect the music I like and listen to whatsoever, partially because I just don’t have the ability or skill to create anything even remotely similar.  For the most part I just try to do what I can and worry as little as possible about what kind of music that will be or what genre it subsequently will fall into. When I try to make something sound LIKE anything else, it usually turns to shit.

I like the combination of your soft music and the sometimes cruel lyrics. What keeps you going to write about those topics?
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I really don’t know

You seem to be obsessed with teeth. You even collect them, right? How come? Reminds me a little of that blair-witch package
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Nicoles Zahnsammlung

I have a lot of obsessions but I’m not sure teeth are one of them. I do collect teeth though. I guess I initially picked up the habit from all of those old victorian mourning lockets. Preserving someone’s hair as a way of immortalizing them resonated with me I guess. I feel the same about the hair I collect as I do with the teeth I collect. The other day I was hanging out with a cute boy and he gave me some of his wisdom teeth in exchange for a dried up chicken’s leg.

 

You don’t seem to play live in front of a crowd very often, am I right? Why is that? Any plans to go on the road and do a little tour?
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I experience horrible stage fright, but beyond that, the shows my friends play and the shows I’ve been going for years do not cater towards the kind of music I play. So it was partially an opportunity thing as well. I recently played a show in Toronto though, and I’m hoping to start playing as many as I can from this point forward.

When you do live shows, is it just you or do you bring friends of yours on stage as well? Ever thought of a „live-band“ situation?
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For my previous show, one of my best friends and most admired musicians Brad Garcia came on stage with me and played the guitar. I was so nervous that he ended up doing what little talking their was. I think he was the one who introduced me, too. I didn’t say a word outside of singing. And yes, I’ve started writing songs with a few friends who accompany me and I’m trying to convince them to start playing shows with me.

I also dig your artworks! Some of them remind me of the Stuff that Jessicka Adams from Jack of Jill is doing. Are you familiar with the Cotton Candy Machine?
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I am not familiar with the Cotton Candy Machine, but I am definitely familiar with Jessicka. I grew up listening to Jack Off Jill and Scarling.

There were some handmade CDs of Observatory Mansions. Any plans to offer physical copies of your other releases as well? Are you a fan of vinyl, tapes, CDs etc. or do you think that’s pointless nowadays?
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I’m a fan of anything physical when it comes to music. It’s special to hold something in your hands, as opposed to just having the mp3s. I had a limited number of cassettes made of Observatory Mansions, Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs and Curdled Milk made – and will be selling them soon.

As I mentioned previously I discovered your music through your song Beverly Marsh. That song’s featured on the Baby Land EP.  According to your bandcamp page the guitars were played by a guy named Brad Garcia (which you also mentioned previously in this interview). How are you two connected? Is he doing any music projects on his own? Are there any other local artists that you can recommend?
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Brad is one of my oldest and absolute best friends. He has several musical projects going on. He’s in Safe to Say, Iris, UFO  & he also creates stunning songs under his own name and likely has more hidden projects nobody knows about yet. I would recommend all of his music first. But there are a ton of other local musicians and good friends I would recommend, such as: Burnt Out, Exalt, Nihil, Daspatch, Altona  & Danielle Clark’s solo work.
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84861439This may be a stupid question… but what made you shave your head? (Which suits you well by the way…) Hard decision? Did you keep your hair? Any regrets or Britney Spears comparisons you had to deal with? Are you going to keep this look for a while?

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My friends shaved my head for me because I was sick and my hair was falling out. So that made it a pretty easy and enjoyable decision. But I liked it so much I had pals keep shaving it for me for upwards to a year after. My hair is now just beyond my neck and I’m going to keep growing it back out to the length it was before, which was relatively long.

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You have gathered a lot of followers. Did you expect such a great reaction?
Any bad experiences as well? I mean, the Internet can be very cruel from time to time…

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I absolutely did not, but tumblr has consistently been introducing me to cool and wonderful friends and I’m really grateful for the platform it has provided music wise. I haven’t experienced much cruelty, but definitely some unpleasant weirdness here and there. I also have a hot temper so I’ve been trying to ease up a little with answering questions I find invasive or inappropriate. I can only think of one really bad interaction I’ve had (knock on wood) and it was a situation that got sorted out very quickly.

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Das aktuelle Album Observatory Mansions
Which of your songs means the most to you? Any favorites or are all of them equally important to you?
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I think my first few albums are pretty much right offs, but the songs on Observatory Mansions are generally very important to me.
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There’s this great photo you posted on your FB page.
This place seems to spread a magic vibe! What can you tell about this spot?
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I’ve had the same best friend since Grade 1 (his name is Kevin), and this is the cemetery directly between both our houses, so it has always been the place where he and I meet up. We’ve spent a lot of time there collectively over the years. This is actually where we spent this past Christmas eve together. It’s the only cemetery our town has and a lot of the graves date back beyond the 1900s. But kids we went to high school with are buried there. A little girl I knew who was killed by a dog is buried there. So it’s as sad as place as it is peaceful.

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What are your future plans with this particular project? Sky’s the limit or do you want to keep it small and underground? Any new releases in the making?
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I’m currently working on a new album that will be very, very different from my previous stuff. I’m also going to be working on some projects with a small record label named Yellow K records!

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You asked me some really wonderful and amazing questions. Hope my answers were adequate.Thank you again for interviewing me & giving me your time with this.

Well, thank you, too and you’re very welcome Nicole! Take care!

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Interview vom 24.05.2014
Photos aus dem Archiv von Nicole Dollanganger
Nicole Dollanganger Webpräsenz

 

Kommentare

3 Antworten zu „Wisdom teeth in exchange for a dried up chicken’s leg – Ein Interview mit Nicole Dollanganger (Ngf002)“

  1. Avatar von Schwägerin
    Schwägerin

    Hast du super gemacht! Liest sich wunderbar 🙂

  2. […] sich noch wer an das Interview, das ich mal mit einer jungen Kanadierin namens Nicole Dollanganger geführt habe? Well… der […]

  3. […] Crystal Math/Eerie Organization und nur falls es jemand noch nicht wusste: Ich hab die Kanadierin schon 2014 interviewt… vor dem fame… just […]

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