Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy: "There’s a lot of people out in the world who deserve an apology from me"

Fronted by the brilliant firebrand Meredith Graves they’ve already produced two records that might well be talked about for years to come: the intense, confrontational I have lost all desire for feeling EP and the equally intense and confrontational debut album, the excellent Say Yes to Love. This is punk rock at its finest, taking no prisoners but all the time delivering hook upon hook and layers of melody alongside the noise, distortion and Graves’ stunning screamed vocals.

While you can’t always work out what Graves is singing about, she has described her songs as “happy revelations about incendiary incidents” – a positive addressing of difficult situations in her life such as what’s detailed on track “I” from the band’s debut EP: “My best friend is back in town/ There’s a bad taste in my mouth / Her eyes fell low and heavy with shame and cum/ She must have been desperate; she acted so lonely.” It’s a refreshingly honest approach to song writing and avoids being shocking for the sake of it, while marking Graves out as a musician you can truly believe in.

So when we got the chance to put some questions to Meredith Graves, we thought it would be too good an opportunity to waste on the usual album promo questions; we decided to give Graves free reign to talk about the things she loves. We expected honesty, but perhaps not quite this much…

I don’t want to go down the “tell us about the album” route of but are you happy with how Say Yes to Love has been received?

Of course! I’m thrilled the record got made, proud as hell of the guys, happy we’re a band at all. The fact that people seem to like the record is just another confusing and amazing thing.

Okay, so if you’re willing to indulge me and go down this route, I’d almost like to pass the interview over to you and let you talk about things that you love….would that be okay?

Absolutely. I like that.

I know Barthes’ work was an influence on the album…can you tell me about a book or a writer you love?

I’ve gotten a Kindle since our last tour, I bought it with my little tax return from my old job, so I’ve read a ton on this trip. I’ve finished Kerouac’s On The Road, and F Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise, which scared the shit out of me, and Alain Badiou‘s In Praise Of Love, which became one of my new favourites… I’m working on a few others, I had to put [Henry David Thoreau’s] Walden down because it wasn’t really appealing. I started Lierre Keith and Derek Jensen’s Deep Green Resistance, despite not liking either of those authors and knowing how horrifically problematic their theories can be, because I wanted to read something densely factual.

I have [Whitman’s] Leaves of Grass to start, and yesterday when I finished Fitzgerald I started on Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle. I laughed the whole way to Winnipeg because the first twenty statements are basically Debord in 1967 writing about Tumblr and Pinterest. It’s fucking great.

If you could take one record with you to a desert island, what would it be and why?

I probably wouldn’t. I’d go nuts.

I think you have a brilliant sense of - and for - fashion.

Thank you! I like clothes a lot. I couldn’t live without a lot of really good coats, I have so many being from a totally freezing hellhole. I also have lots of boots. My fashion inspiration comes mostly from movies. I wake up most days and ask myself what part I feel like playing. I like fashion blogs, too - don’t tell Guy Debord.

Who should we be listening to?

Green Dreams, the greatest rock and roll band you’ve never heard. Their new 7” is crushing. The singer is the light of my heart.

There’s a lot been said about Syracuse and the music scene there when your music and record has been written about.

I love Syracuse, I grew up there and it’s the only place that’s ever felt like home despite my extreme distaste for how apolitical and embarrassing the hardcore scene is. I love the nature in the northeast, I love three restaurants and five people. The downtown library can’t be beat.

A food (or drink!) you can’t live without on tour?

Seltzer water! I love Texas because I can get Topo Chico everywhere. I want to be buried with a case of it.

Do you have a favourite artist, and if so what’s your favourite piece/painting/installation by them?

Lots I guess. Caravaggio’s The Musicians is my devout favourite painting, I go to visit the boys at the Met.

It seems a paradox that lyrically you’re talking about personal and important things in Perfect Pussy lyrics, yet it’s sometimes hard to decipher what it is you’re singing….how important are lyrics to you, and then to the rest of the band and how Perfect Pussy operates?

Lyrics are my job so they’re important to me. The guys don’t know the words at all, but I always remind people I can’t sit down and play Garrett or Shaun’s part, so why should they know mine?

Okay, finally…over to you. If you’re willing, here’s a chance to talk about anything you like for a couple of hundred words….is there something you’re passionate about right now? Something you need to get off your chest – it can really be anything at all!

Ok, here’s something - it was recently brought to my attention that I’m a huge asshole. I got a wake-up call when I almost lost one of my best friends for acting like a shithead and holding a grudge. This is the first time that my friends have totally intervened and been like, hey, what’s wrong because you are acting really awful. Apparently when I try to defend myself in situations where I feel I’m being picked on, I get really mean when I think I’m just being critical. I have zero ability to laugh at myself and flip out if I think people are making fun of me. I act totally irrational and paranoid and I assume everyone hates me until proven otherwise. I routinely (often unintentionally, but that’s even worse!) shirk basic responsibilities like helping with menial tasks and chores because I think whatever’s directly in front of me is the most important thing in the universe and I am helpless at divesting my focus.

I’m trying to quit smoking after twelve years because it’s a disgusting habit backed by evil, vicious people and it’s going to kill me and a lot of people I love, but it’s also making me way flighty and agitated. I’ve been going about my business all these years fancying myself some sort of Edie Sedgwick type, easily forgiven because I’m not that important in the grand scheme of things. I come across as helpless, charmingly obnoxious at best and totally intolerable at worst. I have gone around for a long time believing things are a certain way and I see now that I’ve basically only played by the rules I’ve invented. The most important thing in my life right now, more important than this band, than any art project or anything else I’ve used as a barrier between myself and my giant ego, is being accountable for my shitty personality quirks and making steps to fix them so I stop pissing off my friends. There’s a lot of people out in the world who deserve an apology from me.

Say Yes To Love is out now on Captured Tracks. Perfect Pussy play London’s Visions Festival this weekend - tickets available here.