Amanda Palmer: Dead or alive?

Amanda Palmer is best known as the vocalist for the darkly theatrical Dresden Dolls, the duo comprising herself and drummer Brian Viglione, but the Boston-based singer has embarked on a new artistic path with a remarkable solo album, released this week. Produced by Ben Folds, “Who Killed Amanda Palmer” (Roadrunner) includes songs penned over the course of the last decade and a haunting cover of “What’s the Use of Wondrin’” from the musical “Carousel,” and it features plenty of the powerhouse vocal work fans have come to expect from the gothic attired performer.

As Palmer was preparing to embark on a European tour -- she’ll visit the Henry Fonda in December -- she took time to chat with us about what it was like to strike out on her own, the cathartic power of art and why having breakfast with Neil Gaiman, with whom she co-authored a book that accompanies the new release, was one of the highlights of her year.

-- Gina McIntyre

I think it’s interesting that you set out to make a solo record and wound up working with such a variety of collaborators on the album –- not just Ben Folds, but East Bay Ray who appears on the record, along with cellist Zoe Keating and St. Vincent’s Annie Clark. How did that happen?

The earliest idea was to take this collection of piano ballads that I had kicking around and to just record them very straight. It was going to be a side-project of stray Dresden Dolls ballads, more or less. I thought, maybe I’ll record it in my apartment and keep this really low-fi. It was right around then that Ben Folds got in touch. He dropped a random fan mail to the Dresden Dolls website that someone forwarded to me. I wrote him back, and we got to talking. We met up a couple of months later in Australia, and I mentioned to him that I was going to start working on this solo record sometime soon, and one thing led to another really quickly. I headed down to [his recording studio in] Nashville not knowing what we were going to do but ready to put a lot of faith in Ben and let him lead the discussion. He did and he did a fantastic job.

Did he help you expand into new directions -- either in terms of songwriting or vocal performance?

One of the things that was great about my relationship with Ben is that we had a great amount of respect for each other. With that, came the ability for him to produce me very bluntly. He really respected the differences between my songwriting style and his, but at the same time he was able to bring in that incredible outside perspective that I can never have because I live within these songs. He could stand back and say, Amanda, you’ve got to cut that verse, you’ve got to chill out on that vocal, you’ve got to bring up the dynamic there, you’ve got to cut out some of the drama there, you’re overstating your point here. I can take that feedback from anyone who I think really respects the work. He was a perfect producer that way because he definitely made me feel very safe, very taken care of, but also I didn’t think that any of his choices were ever about his own ego. His choices were there to serve the songs.

Is it true that he’s the one who pushed you to include the song, “Runs in the Family”?

We had a minor spat about that. I was very proud of my ability to submit to Ben’s lead. When he said, 'Oh, you’ve got to include this,' I sort of clenched my teeth and said, 'Really? It’s so angsty and immature.' Ben said, 'No, you’re living in your head. It’s a fantastic song.' There are still a couple of lyrics that make me cringe a little bit, but I’ve gotten good at submitting to that as well. It’s like I’m paying homage to my 22-year-old self and giving that angsty 22-year-old the respect she deserved back then and wasn’t getting. It’s hard because I’m 32 now, and I’m handing people this record and they’re taking these songs at face value. They don’t necessarily know if I wrote that song six months ago or 10 years ago.

Where was that angst coming from?

At that particular time in my life, I was going through a legitimate struggle that I’m sure everybody goes through at some point, especially if their parents are divorced or they’re adopted. You look at yourself and you say, I really am just a biological creature made up of genetic material that came from him and her, whoever they are, and at my core, that’s what I am. I was facing that in my early 20s as I came to realize I barely knew my father, and I was starting to notice his mannerisms creeping into my hands and face.

I wrote another song right around the same time called “Half Jack” about the same thing, and it was so hard to write that knowing he would hear it. But amazingly when he did, it drew us closer together. I remember meeting up with him and being like, we don’t really have to discuss it but I just wanted you to know that song actually helped me connect to you, so please don’t take it the wrong way. And he didn’t. Now we’re much closer than we ever were when I was growing up. It’s interesting. But there’s that wonderful backwards twist that the more you’re able to work through in your music the more you can actually achieve balance. Then you’re taking it out on your songs, you’re not taking it out on the people around you or on yourself. Art can be really therapeutic that way.

From your perspective, what separates these songs from Dresden Dolls songs?

The original delineation was really simple –- songs without drums. Obviously there are songs with drums on the records. What happened was once I started working on the solo project all of these other songs came bubbling up. It got to that point where I had a discussion with Brian and asked him if he wanted me to set aside some of these songs for the Dresden Dolls. He said, just go ahead and do what you want. If and when the band makes another record, we’ll take it from there. Interestingly enough there was a song that I brought to Ben, “Night Reconnaissance,” that Ben recorded drums to. Then he listened back to it and he said, there’s no way these drums are going to sound as good as Brian Viglione, you should put this song back in the Dresden Dolls pile. I did, and Brian and I ended up recording that one for the interim Dolls’ record that came out this past winter. I think a lot of it was just very fateful. Had I written “Guitar Hero” or “Astronaut” or “Leeds United” three years ago, they most likely would have wound up on a Dolls record and not on the solo record. It was just a question of the right song being at the right place at the right time.

“Guitar Hero” seems like perhaps the biggest departure from the Dresden Dolls. Was it liberating for you to be able to go in a little bit of a different direction?

Absolutely, but it’s tricky because it makes it seem like I felt stuck. And I didn’t. Brian and I loved staying within the confines of drums and piano because it was so much in itself. To me, the Dresden Dolls never sounded like it needed more. We were never tempted to add on top of it. In fact, we took increasing pride in the fact that we could make such a big sound with so few instruments. It’s not like I was itching to do some heavily orchestrated record. Once Ben started talking about arranging this and arranging that and putting strings and stuff, I sort of cocked my head and said, Sure, let’s try it. But I’ve never really been a gear person or an arrangement person. I’ve always assumed that if a song was a good song, it would sound good no matter how it was translated. I think there’s a part of me that would still like to think that as beautiful as this record is and as much time as it’s taken and as incredibly proud of it as I am, I still think that if it was a solo piano record and these exact same songs on it, it would be fantastic.

Why did you decide to include the cover of “What’s the Use of Wondrin’”?

I was in that musical when I was 17, and I hated it. That song in particular, I remember when I heard it for the first time, I wanted to scream. I almost wish we had included the text that leads up to the song. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it must have been something along the lines of, my husband beats me, what should I do? I had a visceral reaction to that one. I wrote a protest song called “June Is Busting Out All Over” in response to “Carousel” as a concept, and I played it for my [theater] director. He liked it so much that he let me perform it during intermission. That was a great milestone in my life because it was the first time I was singing one of my own songs in front of a big group of people. 

You're releasing a book of photography simultaneously with the album, and Neil Gaiman wrote the text. How did you wind up hooking up with him on that project?

Neil Gaiman came through a mutual friend who knew that we would like each other. The book of photography sort of grew out of the flailing music business being what it is. I looked at the fight that I knew I was going to have to have with my record label if I wanted extensive packaging. I was bracing myself for the argument and I just let my hands drop and said, Why don’t I just put out a book and the fans who want the artwork can buy it? That’s what gave birth to the idea, I had too much album artwork.

Once I got the idea for the book I thought what better collaborator to write a bunch of fictional stories about a dead girl who isn’t dead than Neil Gaiman? I just said, I doubt you have time but would you be willing to write some text for this photography book? He said yes, much to my delight. I think that’s been one of my favorite parts of this year, being able to get to know him. He came to Boston for a week, and we had the most wonderful time together, hanging out and talking about great ideas over breakfast. I feel like I might have used up all my artistic collaborative luck with all the wonderful people and projects that have come my way. I feel a little too lucky.

Photo credit: Beth Hommel