DOING LAUNDRY WITH DERADOORIAN A/K/A ANGEL FROM DIRTY PROJECTORS
Michael D. Ayers
Village Voice
May 5 2009
Kids in elementary school would call me ‘DeraDorito.’"
When you’re in a critically acclaimed band like the Dirty Projectors,
finding time to do those mundane things like laundry or talk to
writers becomes a bit precarious. Such rings true for bassist Angel
Deradoorian, who has more than a few things on her plate: the Dirty
Projectors’ upcoming, coast-to-coast tour with TV on the Radio;
the release of their highly anticipated Domino debut (and fifth
full-length) Bitte Orca this June; plus her first solo EP, Mind
Raft, is due this week from Lovepump United and now streaming in its
entirety on Muxtape. A noticeable departure from the arty, angular
textures of the Dirty Projectors, Mind Raft draws on darker, more
rhythmic arrangements during songs like "Weed Jam" and "High Road,"
but showcases her brooding voice during the somber, folksy sounds of
"You Carry The Deed" and "Moon." Though just over 22 minutes, the five
tracks hint that she’s primed for a solo career, should she want one.
I caught up with Angel last Friday morning before her 14-hour practice
day: she was busy prepping her solo shows, the Dirty Projectors’
forthcoming tour and a collaborative effort with Bjork at Housing
Works this Friday.
I’ve never seen a last name like that. What’s the proper pronunciation?
It’s Armenian. The American pronunciation is Derra-door-ian.
That’s how I’ve been saying it.
Well then good. Most people don’t get it. I think the Armenia
translation of that name means "Son of the Priest" which is kind
of intense.
I’m going to go over to the laundry-mat real quick and change over
my laundry.
Oh, okay.
Well, anyways, it’s a good last name and translates into a good band
name. Did it yield any childhood nicknames?
Oh, yeah. I’d say most of them were in a less positive light. It
was funny: kids in elementary school would call me "DeraDorito" or
something like that. Many incarnations– same with my Dad when he
was in college. His friends used to write his name on the blackboard
every day in a different way.
Thinking about growing up, when did you start getting into playing
instruments?
When I was around five. I went to a private school that taught violin
to the younger children, so I started very terribly playing violin. No
five year old sounds good on that. So I gave up and started playing
piano when I was seven–about 16 or 17 years ago.
Were your early musical influences more oddball stuff?
I started listening to Radiohead and Elliott Smith–that’s kind of
where I was at when I was 17. I wasn’t too knowledgeable in any lesser
known, great bands from any era. I grew up in a city [near Sacramento]
that for access to that, you’d have to dig deep to find it. That’s
when I’d start to drive to Berkeley and go to Amoeba Records and start
fishing for stuff. So, right around that time, was the beginning of
learning about stuff that wasn’t so mainstream.
Did you ever find yourself lost in Amoeba Records?
[laughs]. Yeah, I probably get lost in all of them. But the Berkeley
one is the smallest. I definitely couldn’t find certain sections. I
wanted to find the tape section but I had no idea.
You were still buying tapes?
I was buying tapes for my car.
I’ve read that you left school to pursue music when you were 16. Was
there initial feelings of anxiety around this musician as a career
decision?
No. Not really. When I decided I wanted to do this, I was definitely
ready to. You know, deal with all the shitty shows and all the shitty
tours and just get that experience under my belt. I was just ready
for it. It’s scarier now sometimes.
In what way?
There’s more expectations now. We’re not booking our own tours,
there’s agents to do that stuff. Bigger shows, more publicity, and
all those things that come along with it. Which is cool, but it can
be a little overwhelming.
Yeah, that’s kind of the trade-off. Before, you sleep on random floors
and people throw up next to you, and now people just stare at you.
[laughs] The odd disconnects that happen and the new connections that
happen. Good balance happening, but it’s constantly changing.
With the release of Mind Raft EP this week–do you have plans to do
a full record?
I do, eventually. It takes me a really long time to write
music. I’d like to, but I have a lot of touring this year with Dirty
Projectors. When I have a free moment, I’d like to start making
a full-length.
Is it going to be difficult juggling between Dirty Projector duties
and your own stuff this year?
It’s a little difficult right now, because I have some shows coming up,
but ultimately, I don’t think it’ll be too difficult. We worked how to
do both, but I’m just planning on being in Dirty Projectors this year.
You just said that it takes a while to finish songs. What makes these
ready versus ones that aren’t?
I needed to do something. If I just sat around and [waited for them to
be right]…I could just never put anything out, basically. These are
some of the newer things I’ve written. I was able to find my style
and my voice. It’s definitely still a new process and I probably
won’t find these as the best batch of songs I’ve ever made, but it’s
my first attempt and it needed to happen.
I’m throwing my laundry in the dryer by the way. I’m almost done. There
we go.
How much for a dry? Dollar and a quarter?
Its 25 cents for 10 minutes. So I’m going to dry a bunch of
stuff. Almost outta here. Okay. I’m good.
Multi-tasking.
I have three rehearsals today, back-to-back. I think I have 14 hours
of practicing today and I only have a little bit of time to run these
errands in the morning.
People are fascinated with composition of Dirty Projectors’ tunes–does
the experience with them affect the way you think about your own
material?
Yeah, I think so. The music of Dirty Projectors’ has definitely been
incorporated into my musical world and a lot of how I hear music
now. It’s opened up a lot of doors in understanding how to compose
and look at music. But I try to not sound like Dirty Projectors.
Where and when do you compose songs? Do you work at home?
I work at home. I work in my apartment. I would like to not do
that. But it’s the only place I can really write. But I haven’t been
writing lately.
Do you have stuff that flutters around in your head that will stay
up there for months?
No [laughs]. I am one of those people that can make something up and
be like "That’s really cool" then forget it ten minutes later.
So in an ideal world, who’s on your ultimate Deradoorian bill?
Wow, I’ve never really thought about that. Well, I guess I have–for
my CD release show, I invited three girls who I think would compliment
well [including Drawlings and the Holy Experiment]. But as far as
ultimate? That’s kind of a tough one to answer. Maybe Fiona Apple–I
like her. She’s really good at reinventing herself in really creative
ways.