The Art of Revenge

Revenge is a slippery fish; I spoke with so many people during the making of this album who told me that revenge under any circumstances was never acceptable, even to talk about revenge was a no-no. Art is a great place to make revenge, because no one gets hurt except the artist. (No one was hurt in the making of the video except my legs, which were attacked by a horde of mosquitos. Several baking soda baths later, I'm fine.) 

Kay Piper is an extraordinary director, filmmaker, and human. I'm so happy to have made her acquaintance through Craigslist. She did an incredible job bringing my vision to life and directing the action where it needed to go.

It took several days to get everything we needed. On a shoestring, you only get so many takes and so many revisions, and that's how it goes. I wished for a helicopter and some flames, but after taking a look at the budget, realized we'd have to make it work. The main piece I wanted was the threat of violence to loom large in the video. Thanks to the generosity of a friend who allowed me to shoot in his creepy-as-fuck backyard and pretend to steal his tools, we were able to do that. 

Orange and warm colors to me seemed to fit the revenge motif, so I made myself into a redhead for this shoot. I call this girl my Ann-Margret wig. Originally, the entire album was going to be a lot more mean and angry, but it got channeled into a different place. I am very glad that we took this song to the places it went, though. It needed to go there for me. I needed a place to say something ugly, to enact something violent. I throw those feelings into my work all the time. 

Being a woman in general, and being a woman in music in particular, so often means that you never get the chance to say what's really on your mind. Shooting with Kay was such a safe experience, and making this album with Dave was also a safe experience. He knew where I was going with it all, and was right there, telling me to scream louder into the mic and backing me up with a gnarly guitar riff, the likes of which have never been on a record of mine. I was dealt a shitstorm from so many directions this year and I just had to shut up, smile, take it, and act professionally. It's nice to let off some steam in a constructive way.

Enjoy the video!