Louise Distras - "No More Leather Jackets"

Introduction

Six months on from my first interview with Louise, she has released a few singles and has been performing around the UK.. She asked me to send her some more interview questions, and after her brilliant response to the initial interview (check it at the end of this one) I jumped at the chance.

Interview II

The new album comes almost ten years after your debut, although I know I lot of why that is could you tell us a little about the journey from “Dreams From The Factory Floor” to “Beauty After Bruises”?

When I wrote 'Dreams from the Factory Floor' I felt at that time in my life like I was looking outwards, and saying, "Here's what's wrong with me, here's what's wrong with the world. And it's the world's fault. It's the world that's doing it to me," because I ran away from home when I was 16 and had a massive chip on my shoulder. I had no money and no place to go, just the blind belief that whenever I got to wherever I was going, I'd eventually be taken care of. Along the way, I met many gurus, philosophers, preachers, everything and everyone imaginable on every street corner. This opened up the possibilities for me to find myself in a lot of dangerous situations with dangerous people who ultimately took advantage of me.

When I was writing 'Beauty After Bruises', I was starting to look inwards and peel back the layers of the onion. I found it was a case of "Well, the way I see the world is actually because of the way that I see myself" and if I carried those bricks from my past any longer, I would've ended up building the same house. I'm a big believer in serendipity and by the whims of the great magnet I had an opportunity to go to San Francisco to make this record.

San Francisco is a place of great significance for me as an ex teenage runaway and it was the west coast stomping ground for the writers of the beat generation like Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. I finished the album with Stephen Street at Damon Albarn's studio in London and then it all went downhill when the pandemic hit.

One thing I've learned through the journey of this album is that we can make all the plans we want but life will just do whatever the fuck it wants and there's nothing we can do about it. It was hard for me to understand at the time, but I always had faith in destiny and that the universe always has it's way of providing something good when I'm not even looking for it. I've been through a lot to make this album but it's these experiences which have shaped me and taught me a lot about myself.

Listening to both albums I would say that “Black Skies” is the main musical connection between the two. The power of the new album is there but more refined (I have lost count of the number of times I have played it) how do you think the two albums compare?

Before I made 'Dreams from the Factory Floor' I remember thinking that the punks were all so rebellious and anti-establishment. Then when the album came out I briefly passed through the scene and realised very quickly that it's full of monotheistic boneheads who are actually OK with the boot as long as they're the ones wearing it. In my opinion, a lot of them pretend to be musicians but act like bureaucrats and propagandists who contribute nothing to the arts except the highest form of misogyny I've ever personally encountered. So I've drawn a line under that era and I'm only interested in what's happening now. I've changed my mind about many things I've said in the past.

Bottom line, it's never mattered to me where I sing my songs, or even who hears me, as long as the people are welcome. From the start that’s always been my philosophy and one of the good things about my childhood is that I got a really good musical education being brought up on groups like the Bee Gees, Queen, ABBA and ELO. I just wanna try to write good songs that come from my heart and the kinda songs that I wanna hear, so I'm really happy with how 'Beauty After Bruises' turned out in the end. I think it's a solid guitar pop album and doing the mixes with Stephen Street really put the icing on the cake.

The first single from the album was “Black Skies” , which especially with Steve Ignorant’s intro channels a lot of aggressive feelings, and is reminiscent of your debut album. I know we had words when I used the “P” word but the structure of the main song split between an almost reggae off-beat and thrash metal seems to be a statement of being yourself and not being put in a box. Almost there is no good side to be on, so be yourself. “Punk Don’t work/ People Aren't Free/There Is No Democracy”

'Black Skies' was very symbolic for me, because I was setting fire to the room before I walked out. Yes I got singed along the way, but it was part of the process. I’m just a product of my own environment. That soul sucking emptiness, lawlessness, trauma, violence and dread. All of my life’s funny tragedies and inertia of hopelessness. Not trading in my reality for a role, not giving up on my ability to feel, the freedom to be what I really am. It’s the centuries old traditions and rituals of vandalism and arson that’s in my DNA, I like to call it artistic terrorism! Or if you wanna get all Jungian about it, only that which can destroy itself is truly alive. Black Skies is about the human condition, my adult human female condition.

Since we reconnected I have loved seeing your social media posts and performances. In the run-up to the release of “Beauty After Bruises” what have been your favourite moments and why?

To be honest I've waited so long to release this album that I'm kinda sick of hearing it to be honest. I'm just really getting a kick out of the way other people are discovering my music for the first time. Now these songs are out there, they don't belong to me any more. So now I can finally move on with my life and put all my energy into what's happening now.

I have loved reviewing the singles and the album and got positive responses to all of them. This is an unfair question (because I seldom answer this about any of my work) but do you have any songs that are your own favourites from “Beauty After Bruises” that you also want to play at every gig?

I gotta say the "Oh My Catness" track with Carole Baskin is one of my favourite things I've ever done although it's a bit avant garde, so it went over most people's heads and that's fine, I don't expect everyone to get it...but the basic premise is that it's about being a woman and how women are objects of hate in a world where people don't know what a woman is any more. For every woman, LGB and de-transitioner who is "cancelled" for sharing their own views about their own lives and work, a hundred others will self censor for fear of financial and emotional ruin in a cost of living crisis nobody can escape from. That's on top of the harassment, stalking, rape threats, death threats and now prison if you live in Ireland. Nobody seems to want to talk about it!

“Girl In The Mirror” was the second single and almost shocked me after “Black Skies”. You sound like you are observing from the outside but this also feels introspective as well. "Your pain is never beautiful/Scarlet blade says you want more/Reflections of the chains oh/Reflections of the pain" are powerful words nailed home by a gorgeous chorus. Who is the Girl In The Mirror?

Radio said it was a good song that reminded them of Stevie Nicks but they wouldn't touch it because apparently the title “Girl in the Mirror” is offensive, so now I think that radio doesn't give a shit about artistic intent and only about being PC and seen to be doing the “right thing”.

I feel like I can't breathe nowadays without offending someone and I need to have the freedom to speak about being an ordinary everyday woman who has no financial or political power. Throughout my entire career I've always been very vocal about free speech, because everything that's happening in the world affects all of us, so we should all be able to speak without being policed and told what we can and can't say about our own lives.

Radio not playing 'Girl in the Mirror' was a real watershed moment for me and I have a lot of questions, especially surrounding Ireland's new hate speech laws which I think are totally nebulous, completely subjective and wide open to exploitation. It's proper Lord of the Flies shit, and totally paradoxical, especially in an industry which is built on freedom of speech and artistic expression.

You are planning a major tour. Is this UK, Europe or Worldwide? Do you have any favourite venues that you always want to play?

There are loads of places that I love playing but I don't know if they exist any more, and whatever is left of the scene is kicking itself to death with purity politics. Lucky for me I don't care if I lose fans because there's plenty of cool people out there who are happy to listen to my music and come to my gigs wherever I play. More and more people are discovering my music, so let's see who has the balls to book me at their venue so all my new “fans” can come to see me play!

But it concerns me that my live gigs may no longer be a safe space for me or my “fans”. On more than one occasion I've been assaulted at gigs as both a punter and a performer and it's become blatantly obvious that the music industry says it's here for women's rights, but it's gatekeepers can't define WOMAN or RIGHTS. It's having a massive negative impact on women, LGB and de-transitioning artists and music fans at live gigs and as usual nobody wants to talk about it!

The current music industry policies on equality and the safeguarding of women music fans and artists at live events are built on a framework of legal fiction instead of the legal framework of women's sex based rights and protections. The music industry is censoring artists who speak about this, including myself, and there's nothing in place to safeguard artists who are being cancelled for sharing their views and are now being harassed and threatened in the run up to their live gigs. So I've been asking a lot of questions on twitter but nobody will answer them.

Maybe you and your readers can give me some answers?

In “Broken Mondays” you state “There Is No God” and mention the “Cross Of Lies”. It starts with a tolling bell and then sounds quite hopeful then “Unhand Me She Prays To The Lord, Forget Me”, seems like a commentary on the general continual failure of religion to care for people which has been going on for thousands of years. Again the musical format of this impresses me where you demonstrate you are not afraid to break up the flow of the song and use it to emphasize your statements. I see this as another statement against forces that try to control us, but I know I often get things wrong. What is your stance on this?

Broken Mondays is about the current climate of purity politics which is totally monotheistic and authoritarian. For me, it feels like I'm in this constant battle with negative man made frequencies that are designed to keep me within a certain bandwidth, living in fear and confusion.

I think a lot of it's to do with these so called "progressives" who are now running every institution, media outlet, political party and industry from the top down and judging my from my own experience I think some of them are using women and minorities as cannon fodder in the culture wars to stay relevant and provide a shield from criticism and being "cancelled" themselves.

No amount of rainbows and "kindness" can hide the authoritarianism and misogyny and homophobia that's on display here, especially in the the arts. For every woman, LGB and de-transitioner who is "cancelled" for sharing their own views about their own lives and work a hundred others will self censor for fear of financial and emotional ruin in a cost of living crisis nobody can escape from. That's on top of the harassment, stalking, rape threats, death threats and now prison if you live in Ireland. Every single person I have had a conversation with about this agrees that this "woke" crap has gone too far. If we all think alike then nobody is thinking at all.

We need a proper counter culture in the arts and we need it NOW.

What does an average day for you look like? Or is there no such thing as an average day?

I don't think there's such a thing as an average day any more since lockdown, so like everyone else I'm just trying to get by while still being an artist. The cost of living crisis and Brexit has put a real spanner in the works so the opportunities to tour as much as I used to have shrivelled up, and that's before I even opened my “big mouth” and got in trouble, ha! At first I hated being at home, but I've built a nice life for myself and I'm much happier now. When I'm not writing songs my favourite thing to do is spend time with dogs and horses and collect far too many plants, rock and roll!

Todd Rundgren said for your debut album you have eighteen to twenty years of experience to draw on but for the follow up you have six months to draw on. “Beauty After Bruises” seemed to take a different path although some of the songs were written in the ten years between the albums. I am impressed with the new album but do you feel this will be a benefit for the next album when it comes?

Yeah that sounds about right, Mike! 'Dreams from the Factory Floor' is a myriad of my experiences that took part before the album was even created. When it came out I spent so much time away from home that my life no longer had any substance or new experiences, and I ended up completely broke because I never got paid a penny for sales of the album. I was so isolated that it took me a while to realise that the environment I was in was actually very bad for me. So when lockdown hit, it gave me the time and space I needed to get better and make some changes. One of the things I discovered is the more life I live, the more music I write. The third album's pretty much demo'd so I wanna record it and put it out as soon as I get the opportunity.

Finally when you are away from your home on tour is there anything you always take with you for comfort or inspiration?

Teabags! I don't go anywhere without my own bloody teabags...but at this exact moment in time, whether I play live really depends on who has the balls to book me, so watch this space. But the music industry gatekeepers need to remember that we don't work for them, they work for us!

Concluding This Excellent Interview

Thank you for your answers Louise, I appreciate your answers and the time you have taken to put this together. I wanted to ask more questions based on Louise's replies but that may be another interview.

They have given me a lot to think about and I hope people will comment on this and give their views and check out Louise's music.

The new album is here and the first interview is here too, for those that want to find out more.