Jenny Stewart: Bio, Interviews, Articles, Etc.

In-Depth with Susanna Hoffs

By Jenny Stewart, PlanetOut Director of Content

When we discovered that Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs (“Manic Monday,” “Walk Like an Egyptian”) and alt-rock vocalist Matthew Sweet were banding together for now the second of two covers albums we weren't too surprised. 

Longtime friends and collaborators, Hoffs and Sweet have guested on each other's albums and shows for years, and you might even remember their work with Mike Myers as part of Austin Powers’ on-screen band Ming Tea in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" and "Austin Powers in Goldmember."

Taking the name Sid 'n Susie (Sweet's first name is Sidney), they've already released '60s covers album "Under the Covers Vol. 1" (2006) and now return with an homage to the 70's with "Under the Covers Vol. 2," where they reimagine 16 power-pop, glam, classic rock and prog-rock tracks from a sultry rendition of Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning," to Hoff's gender-switching leads on Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” Tom Petty's "Here Comes My Girl" and the Raspberries "Go All the Way."

Their beautiful music-making has already garnered much notice in the entertainment world, mostly by good word of mouth.  After playing some tracks recently on his Sirius Satellite radio show, Howard Stern gave the record more than just a vote of approval -- he almost raved.

I recently chatted with Hoffs (who by the way looks amazing at age 50) about the covers albums, her dream duet with Out artist Michael Stipe, and "some of the craziest nights of [her] life" with Belinda Carlisle.

The Kim Deal Interview

Interview by Jenny Stewart, Editorial Director, PlanetOut Inc.

Back in the 1980's Kim Deal was the quintessential cool alt-rock chick. She was a female bassist in one of the best, smartest bands around -- the Pixies -- but she always seemed accessible.  You could imagine sitting around with her in a bar drinking pitchers of beer, being goofy, singing along to the bad songs that came up on the jukebox.

After the Pixies disbanded, Deal became a real star in her own right in the early 90's when she launched her own band, The Breeders. Seeing The Breeders play live at the height of their popularity in the mid 90's was a transcendent experience. 

From a musical perspective, the band's talent was undeniable, but they also had an ace up their sleeve that no other band had -- Deal's identical twin sister, Kelley, was also in the band. There's always a strange fascination in general when it comes to twins, but seeing hot identical twin sisters play rock and roll right next to each other?  That's something you don't see everyday.

Breeders shows became legendary for many things, but most of the fun was watching the onstage bickering, teasing and general fun between the two sisters.  "Oh look everyone!  Kelly's tuning her guitar, isn’t that cute?"

Besides her musical talent, Deal also possessed another admirable quality.  Unlike most rockers, she's always copped to her addictions and has always spoken openly about her many vices during broadcast and print interviews.  Which made it all the more surprising when we learned that hard drinking, hard rocking, hard toking Kim Deal had gotten completely clean and sober?

First, you think, "Oh that won't last," but that was 2003, and five years later, Kim Deal is not just clean and sober, she even just gave up smoking. 

When fans learn their favorite rock stars have gotten sober, the usual reaction is, "Uh-oh, party over.  The music's going to suck and they're going to be boring."  It does happen to some artists, but it certainly hasn’t happened to Deal.  The Breeders latest CD, "Mountain Battles" was released to rave reviews, and the band has been successfully touring the US and abroad for the past six months to sold out venues.  The band rocks harder than ever, and the Deal twins still have that onstage flair.  There's certainly nothing "soberly dull" this time out.

Still, despite all that, I have to admit that right before I interviewed Deal, I was nervous that I'd be bummed out afterwards.  What if the hyper rock chick who used to talk-a-million-miles-a-minute-about-anything-that-popped-into-her-head-and-it-was-always-hilarious-and-entertaining was now…slow-talking and boring?  Would this interview ruin all of my memories of Kim Deal forever?

 

Catching Up With Kim Deal: 2009

If musicians were only as dynamic in Q&A's as they are on record, then music interviews would remain as unforgettable as classic albums.  But those are few and far between.

During one recent interview with a world-renowned pop star, I asked a simple question:  "What part of the creative process do you enjoy most when making a new album?"  Granted, the question was a bit cliche, but hardcore music fans tend to be interested in those kinds of things. After three minutes of silence, I thought we'd been disconnected.   

"Are you still there?" I asked. 

"Yes," she responded.

Another minute went by before she finally added, "I think it's nice that [name of record label] took a chance with this album. It’s like, nice that they did."

Two weeks later I met with a bona fide female rock legend for an interview.  But after a series of uncomfortable pauses and countless one word answers, I just gave up.  I've never published the piece, and I've never been able to bring myself to listen to the playback. That's how disastrous it was.  Sadly, I can barely listen to her music anymore without having flashbacks of the silence.

Catching up with Belinda Carlisle

When Belinda Carlisle described the effects of Quaaludes and made fun of Janis Ian during our recent interview, I felt like an innocent freshman in the girls' bathroom in high school, listening to a cool senior talking about her crazy weekend. 

We all know how that ended: After a decade-long crazy weekend, Belinda cleaned up her act, had a successful solo career, and is now living happily in France with her husband and 15-year-old son. She still tours with the Go-Gos, but her new album, "Voila" -- her first solo effort in over 10 years -- is a polished, sexy redux of all-French pop classics. And it's actually pretty great...

By the end of the interview, I felt like I had run into the same dangerously cool senior in the supermarket 25 years later -- glad to learn she had become a well-adjusted mom, but slightly disappointed she wasn't still dangerous...

But she's amazingly frank with her sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll stories; her Valley Girl lilt remains unchanged, and she's even more beautiful than she was in her heyday.  Oh -- and she was fully game to play "Who Would You Rather Sleep With."  Read the full interview after the jump.

Chatting with Belinda Carlisle

Belinda Carlisle was the voice of the '80s -- from her cheerful Go-Go's megahit "We Got the Beat" opening the iconic "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" in 1982 to the truly inspiring solo hit "Mad About You" in 1986. Since then, Carlisle has left her party-girl days behind her, built a successful solo career spanning over two decades, and started a new family when she married Morgan Mason, son of late actor James Mason. (The two also had a son together, James, who's now 16.)

But if there's one '80s trait still intact, it's Carlisle's distinctive L.A. accent. She may have just turned 50, but she still sounds like an enthusiastic 20-year-old -- and frankly, it would be fascinating to overhear a conversation between her and "The Hills" star Lauren Conrad. (Conrad: "I totally love your shoes, Belinda." Carlisle: "Oh, my God, these shoes are like, my all-time favorites!")

Currently on the fabulous "Regeneration" tour with fellow '80s artists ABC, Human League and others, an exuberant Belinda chatted with me about Amy Winehouse, the Go-Go's, the Manson girls, Madonna, Lindsay Lohan -- well, we talked about a lot.  Oh -- and she even played "Who Would You Rather Sleep With?" for the second time.  We attempted "F-Marry-Kill" at first, but it didn't work out... Read the full interview after the jump.