q&a: kim boekbinder
With many in the music industry lamenting the digitalisation of music and the death of conventional distribution, Melbourne-based New Yorker, Kim Boekbinder, has got her eyes looking firmly forward. Embracing the Internet’s ability to share her music and creative process with fans, she has launched a subscription service allowing her followers to join her on the journey to making her second album.
She took some time out to have a chat to Lip about the project, Melbourne, sexism, and space!
Describe your sound in five words or less.
Amazing Space Pop.
Was there a particular moment or artist that made you want to pursue music when you were growing up? Who were your early influences?
Music was always a part of my life but I didn’t know I wanted to be a professional musician until my first gig with my band Vermillion Lies in 2006. I was so nervous I was sick for days before the show. And then I was floating on a cloud for days after. I got hooked.
Why are you The Impossible Girl?
I woke up with the song ‘Impossible Girl #1’ in my head one day in Berlin. In the dream I had been clapping this really intense two part rhythm and singing at the same time.
On stage I get the audience to clap one part of the rhythm while I clap the other one. We all sing together.
Dream songs are rare and precious things. And they always feel just RIGHT.
Why have you decided to write your new album in Melbourne? Is there something about the city that you find particularly inspiring?
I’m in love with a lovely young film maker, Jim Batt, who lives here. That is my first inspiration for being here. But since coming here over the last two years I have fallen in love with the city as well. There is such a great energy of creativity here. The art, music, fashion, film, theater scenes all bleed into each other in an intoxicating way. I’m constantly inspired here.
Plus the Australians I have had the pleasure of encountering are intelligent, creative, stylish, HOT!, generous, and easy to get along with. Heavenly, basically.
The changing face of the music industry has seen a lot of musicians, such as yourself, have to get creative with how they fund and promote themselves; can you tell our readers a little about your own such pursuits?
My current support platform is called MISSION CONTROL. Fans subscribe for $10 – $200 a month to gain access to a private website where I am posting new songs, thoughts, research, videos, and ephemera as I write my next album.
Previous to this I was the first person to pre-sell shows using Kickstarter. And before that I raised $20,000 to record my first solo album, back when hardly anyone knew about crowd funding.
MISSION CONTROL sounds like such an exciting project – where did this idea come from? How are fans responding to it? What do you think is the fascination with observing others’ creative processes, and is this what subscribers will get from signing up to MISSION CONTROL?
I knew that I needed time and space to develop my next album. Time not touring, not promoting. So I launched MISSION CONTROL and it is amazing. Literally saving my creative life right now. Taking time to write the best material I can, to try new things, to experiment with new instruments, genres, and ideas; it’s a dream come true.
Following an artist’s journey from concept to fully realized project is very interesting. This is all rough stuff at this point. No super glossy “Making Of” video with quippy outtakes and celebrity interviews. Just the creative free flow that happens at the beginning of a project. The supporters here in these early stages will get to see my next album emerge from the primordial soup and evolve into a F*&KING SPACE DRAGON!!! … or whatever else it turns into.
And I know there are people supporting me right now who understand how important development is and they are in a position to give me a bit of money every month to make that happen. It’s very powerful, for me and for them. They get to see me make art and I get… well, it’s life changing.
Who do you most admire?
Anyone who can get through a day without killing themselves or anyone else. Life is hard and confusing. This isn’t a complaint, my life is very lovely. I’ve just been thinking this morning that there are so many people struggling and trying so hard just to survive.
A song I wish I wrote/played is…
‘Tears of a Clown’ by Smokey Robinson. Holy hell do I love that song. The calliope!
I couldn’t live without…
Love. For it all. When that is broken, when I cannot feel love for life, for others, for myself, for life, that’s the darkest, the scariest, the emptiest, the worst.
The best advice I ever received was…
Never eat a muffin the size of your head.
Do you think the music industry treats female musicians differently to male musicians? Do you think it’s more difficult for women to establish themselves?
Ahahahahahahahahahaha! I’m not sure I can unpack all my feelings about this subject without writing a massive essay here. Sexism is huge. HUGE. In every aspect of life. And of course in the music industry. I am afforded privileges based on my gender just as I am afforded scorn.
But I’ve never let anything stop me. And honestly, it’s a great time for female musicians. So many amazing, kick-ass ladies dominating the scene.
Humans can be amazing, you know? If we let adversity stop us, women, the poor, and people of color would still be slaves.
What do you have in store for fans, new and old, at your residency at the Evelyn Hotel?
My next album! Most likely space themed. Hence MISSION CONTROL. New instruments. Music you can move to. A reinvigorated live show. New interpretations of old songs. A great backing band here in Melbourne. And surprise collaborations.
Is there anything you’ve always wanted to be asked?
Why yes, I would love to go to space!
Kim’s residency at the Evelyn Hotel in Melbourne begins next week, on April 11th, and continues through the month of April. For more information on Kim’s MISSION CONTROL venture, click here!
(Photo credit: Aurdey Penven.)
