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Kay
Hanley:
No Democracy
by Stacey Dawn |
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| After
a decade of life with Letters to Cleo, Kay Hanley has decided
it is time to venture out on her own and is currently putting the
finishing touches on a solo CD entitled Cherry Marmalade.
Not solo in her daily life, Kay is married to her musical partner,
Michael Eisenstein, who was also a member of Letters to Cleo.
In June of 1999, they became rock n' roll parents with the birth
of their daughter, Zoe Mabel. I spoke with Kay about her years with
Letters to Cleo, and what lies ahead for her new solo career. |
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Aside from the musical success of Letters to Cleo, the Boston-based
band stood out for their ability to cross over onto the silver screen.
They appeared on the soundtracks of several movies (including The
Craft and Jawbreaker), and appeared in Ten
Things I Hate About You, performing Cheap Trick's "I
Want You to Want Me" on the top of a building. Kay enjoyed her
brush with the film industry, "I loved it, it was very glamorous…
to be flying around, shooting scenes and having to get back to LA
to cut more tunes for the soundtrack… having our own stylist and
makeup people. It was definitely very Hollywood." Breaking out of
the music biz day to day helped to keep the band new and interesting.
"Everything I do outside of my music is an opportunity to stretch
out. I hate doing the same things over and over again. So, it's
nice to be able to do other stuff within the confines of the field
I've chosen."
Last year Kay and Michael teamed up to write music for Generation
O, the animated WB show about the planet's greatest rock
band. Kay provided the voice for eight-year-old rock star Molly
and Letters to Cleo performed all the bands songs. "They didn't
want to have jingle writers, writing music for this cartoon band.
The creators of the show are huge music fans and their children
are big music fans and they really wanted to have a real band or
at least a real songwriter, writing the songs, a real rock n' roll
songwriter. So, they came to us and we had to jump through a bunch
of hoops to actually get the gig, because they had a couple of other
bands in line too. But ultimately we pulled it out of our asses
and got the gig." Working on an animated series was challenging
work for the rock outfit, "We learned a lot in terms of having to
work with a really strict deadline and having to treat music as
a real job. We would construct a song from top to bottom that needed
to achieve a certain thing, both lyrically and musically. It was
sort of like lifting weights for your muscles, just constantly having
to be on your toes and really working out your brain."
The film beginnings began to develop into more career opportunities.
Last year, Kay got the part as the singing voice for Josie in the
Josie and the Pussycats movie which was released
in April, 2001. The rock couple was asked to appear on the Howard
Stern Show. "I guess he really liked Josie and the Pussycats
and he found out that I was the same person who had done Ten
Things I Hate About You. I didn't hear it, but I guess he'd
been talking about the Josie soundtrack and how much he liked it
and everyone one was making fun of him, again I didn't hear any
of this, but I had heard about it. And the next thing you know,
they called to see if we (Kay and Michael) wanted to do the show.
It just so happened we had a gig in New York around the time frame
that they were talking about. So, we just kind of crammed it into
one New York trip. It was awesome. It was terrifying before the
fact. I was really terrified to do it, because I do listen to Howard
Stern every once in awhile, at least a couple of times a week, so
I know what his deal is. There were so many different ways I had
thought of in my head about how he was going to fuck with me. But,
as soon as he introduced himself and shook our hands, I think we
both knew that this was cool and it's going to be fine. And it was,
we had a really awesome time. The interview was good and everyone
was happy."
Back home, Kay participates in the Boston Rock Opera, a non-profit
organization mixing theater and classic rock music in a unique and
powerful way. "I'm friends with the people who run the company.
I've been friends with them for 8 or 9 years. So, whenever I can
and they need me and I'm available, I take part."
As for Kay's take on Boston's local music scene; "It's not really
on my radar right now. There was a time when I spent 3 or 4 nights
a week going out to see bands. But now that I'm married and have
a kid (and hate music… adds her husband jokingly in the background)…
Today's rock n' roll music doesn't appeal to me. But, obviously
the Boston rock scene is nothing like what you hear on the radio.
But, I'm way too out of the loop to even comment."
Kay is currently putting the finishing touches on her first solo
CD, Cherry Marmalade due out early this year. She has plans
to distribute the album though her own Web site (http://www.kayhanley.com),
with a little semi-formal distribution help from Co-op Pop and Newbury
Comics. The new project has a similar sound to the former group
Letters To Cleo. "Vibe-wise it's a little more chill, but it definitely
still rocks. I get to produce and I call the shots, there's no democracy.
Other people's opinions are taken into consideration, but ultimately
don't count (she laughs) unless they're good opinions. Letters to
Cleo was very collaborative and that was awesome for as many years
as we did it, but I don't feel like being part of a democracy anymore." |
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_________________________________
For information on Kay's forthcoming solo CD Cherry Marmalade,
merchandise and tour dates, visit her Web site:
http://www.kayhanley.com
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_________________________________
Stacey Dawn is a freelance writer living in the Metro-Boston area.
You learn more about the Boston music scene by reading her page
Boston @ Nite, at Coolgrrrls.com. |
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