Amy Ray, known around the world as one half of the Indigo Girls, and also for her activism and her independent record label Daemon Records, called me up recently. I was in New York City and had just seen her do an IG show at Town Hall, a great venue near Times Square. I’ve traveled all over to see her perform and have been a fan for years, so I was excited, to say the least. Once I composed myself, we talked about the independent music scene, going head-to-head with Mother Nature, and what she thinks about our current administration.
SR: Hello?
AR: Sarah?
SR: Yes!
AR: This is Amy Ray.
SR: Hello, Amy Ray!
AR: Hi.
SR: Hi, how are you?
AR: I’m fine.
SR: First off, I have to say thank you for giving me a little bit of your time. I’ve been a fan of yours for as long as I can remember so I’m just going to dork out for a minute and just say this is sort of surreal for me.
AR: That’s great!
SR: My girlfriend actually saw you play at Fulton Chapel on the Ole Miss Campus during the Spitfire Tour, I think it was ’02. Had you played Oxford before that?
AR: Yeah. I think we had but I can’t remember, but I’m sure we were there. A lot of those dates we played on campus would have been a long time ago. It would have been, like, in the early nineties.
SR: Do you remember much about the town?
AR: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I love Ole Miss, I’ve been to Oxford before, just for fun. Yeah, there is definitely a thriving independent community there, we were impressed.
SR: Yeah, there definitely is. That’s why I was just going to have you give a brief overview of Daemon, because I’m sure a lot of people would be really interested to hear about that. Kind of how it got started and how long you guys have been around.
AR: Well, I started Daemon in 1989, after the Indigo Girls got signed. We were signed to Epic and we had been independent before that and I really like that community a lot, so I started the Daemon label just to keep my heart in that community. The first band I worked with was a band called Ellen James Society. I really liked what they did, so when I started the label I started out with them because they were part of the community. I wanted to just pour money into music and the arts and shrink into underground music. Because at that point it was a lot more expensive to make your own record, a lot of people just didn’t have the money to do it, they just didn’t have a chance. It was just a way to give people a chance. Then I went and did some folk records after that then back and forth sort of between punk and folk. Then I eventually hired somebody, a crew, over the years to help and we’ve been up and down as far as how many releases we’ve put out and how well we’re doing. It just waxes and wanes, but we just keep going. And our activist voices, the political side of Daemon. I let it sort of go through cycles because I’m sort of always learning what’s best, how to approach it, what artists really need, it really just changes drastically through the times. Because a lot of artists, they don’t even really need a label, they need booking, you know? [laughs] So we are always trying to figure out what would be best for them. We are very digital, too, and we’re looking at that, trying to keep up with that. You’ve got to be a digital artist. Most of the artists I know right now, they are just doing so well on their own that I don’t even think they need a label. It’s just sort of like looking at a map, taking a map to try and figure out what you need. I think some people feel comfortable with the record label. It adds another layer, it’s an additional layer of protection. When you are taking a percentage of the artist’s money you have to actually make sure that you are doing something for them that they can’t do for themselves.
SR: How many artists are currently signed on Daemon?
AR: Well, we have about fifty records out there, almost. We don’t sign people to the label, we just help them put their records out. We have a few artists that are very active. We did a record by Magnapop, a great band out of Atlanta and a record by an acoustic trio called Girlyman and they just do great. They’ve got a new record coming out soon. We work with this group called Athens Boys Choir. We just put out a really great box set by Utah Phillips, a fellow folk musician, fellow activist and storyteller. He’s worked with Ani Difranco.
SR: I think I actually have that record.
AR: Yeah, we put out a whole box set, sort of a definitive box set of his work. We just put a live record out of me playing with the band I toured with last year for my solo stuff and we’re working on a DVD of that stuff, me and my different bands. I don’t know when we’re going to put that out but that’ll be done in a few months. Then we’re just looking at a few different people and we’re talking to them about what we want to do…interviews and stuff like that. But I’m always looking, always going through MySpace and looking for bands to sign. I just am a fan of hearing new music, so I’m sort of always listening, I’m just curious. I think that what’s on the radio isn’t that great, I mean, sometimes it is, but I’m looking for music that is under the radar.
SR: Back to some Indigo Girls stuff, we saw the show at Town Hall last week and it was a great show.
AR: It was a lot of fun.
SR: Yeah, it was! The setlist was unreal! Every time you guys would start up, the crowd would just consistently get more amped. There was just amazing energy in there.
AR: There really was.
SR: Is that overwhelming for you, when you feel that coming back from the audience? Or does that feed you more?
AR: Both. It’s definitely a great mutual sort of exchange. It feeds the music. But sometimes it makes me nervous, with New York especially, because when it’s that high energy, you are sort of trying to stay in the moment the whole time. In New York, the energy is high for like an hour and a half straight! You have to have the energy to last. Most shows, it starts out and then you kind of have a cool little high at the end. When it starts out high energy at the very, very beginning, you just feel like you are going to die at some point up on stage when people are already going crazy [laughs].
SR: I was also going to mention Memphis in May. I was there when you played in a rainstorm three years ago…
AR: Oh, yeah, I remember!
SR: Other bands, like Pantera, and other hardcore bands didn’t come on stage and y’all were out there, spitting water out so you could sing. I was right up on the rail so we could see people behind you guys saying “No, no! Get off the stage!” and stuff was blowing off of the stage. I remember turning around and literally a sea of people was there and no one was leaving.
AR: Yeah, that was crazy! I have to say, our crowd is amazingly strong!
SR: You and Emily have been very vocally anti-Bush, how does it feel to know that there is an end in sight? Are you anticipating what is going to happen next?
AR: I’m excited! But, I’m a little worried about what is going to happen in the next year. I’m just freaking out, I can’t even believe it. It’s incredible. But, he is a lame duck. And that is what worries me, because he is like a mad man at this point. He’s like a little child that doesn’t even know….he’s kind of like a kid that messes something up and gets so frustrated that he gives up and he messes it up even more. He’s kind of in a vicious cycle. He’s like that kind of child, down in the basement that has his toy and just wrecks it. He has no concept of what is real and he thinks he can just make decisions and be hardheaded and convince himself it’s the right thing to do when he knows it’s not. He’s in a very desperate situation. It’s just crazy. So, I’m worried about the next year…Iran and that situation. But, I’m very excited about the palette of candidates that we have.
SR: What do you think about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?
AR: I don’t know who I like the best. I’m a huge Barack Obama fan as far as his charisma and speaking, and some of his issues, but Hillary…I love Hillary though she’s more conservative than I am. I’m actually a John Edwards fan, too. I think he’s moderate, but he’s not….
I don’t know. I just really like him. I don’t know what it is about him. I like his thinking, I like the way he speaks, I like his thought process,
I liked him in the last election. And he’s a
southerner. But I think that he is less moderate than Hillary and Barack. That’s interesting to me. Nothing is ever going to be as bad as Bush. It just can’t. Out of all the people that are running, the Republicans too, there is just more brainpower there than has ever been. So I feel better.
SR: So, I’ve mentioned that Oxford is a very musically rich city. Fat Possum Records is here…
AR: Oh, yeah! They are a great label. Just great. I’ve been to their website.
SR: We’ve had a lot of wonderful musical acts come through, too. Would you consider doing your solo stuff here?
AR: Yeah. I would really like that.
Amy Ray’s records Stag and Prom are available at www.daemonrecords.com The Indigo Girls’ official website is www.indigogirls.com
