I VACATION IN YOUR HELL EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: XIU XIU

I fucking love Xiu Xiu, he really gets in there and jacks you the fuck up inside. I feel like he must be in constant pain to say some of the awesome shit that comes through in his lyrics. I am in constant pain, so I have to listen to music like his to focus long enough to even type for you. He’s a genius, he’s someone who’s clearly not seeking press, and still puts out amazing records on a regular basis to less fanfare then he deserves. He has a catalog of music that no matter what I hold it up against, or compare it to, it not only stands up, but it gut-punches you and rips your face off. Not to forget Jamie Stewart’s voice in combination with his lyrics are a dark transcendence that compares to no other artist out there today. Depending on who you are you either love or hate the word goth, and what it means to your personally. I’m not trying to limit him with the term goth, in my book he’s on our team, I’m sure a lot of his fans don’t perceive his music as goth, as I’m sure neither does he, but to me his voice is the ultimate tool for expressing every color in the dark/romantic and emotional palette, both larger than life and extremely fragile. This interview has been sitting in my inbox for a few weeks now, I was too dumb to realize that Jamie answers in colors, here’s my interview with him:

What inspired this new record Always, can you tell me a little bit about writing this album?

Is there such thing as pushing it too far in a Xiu Xiu video, have there been any ideas that you’ve wanted to do but felt it was to much for a video?

I love your Rihanna cover, how do you approach a song like this for a cover, are you frustrated by it and want to deconstruct it into something beautiful and more interesting, or is it a celebration of some facet of the song most people are overlooking?

Does it take a toll to write these kinds of songs, and sustain the intensity of emotion that you’ve been pouring out for years, or are the albums the release of this pain?