Gee muses

Image via WikipediaJoan Wasser, aka Joan As Police Woman, is at home in her Brooklyn apartment. She says it’s a mild 21C outside and pleasant in the borough that claims to be “Home to Everyone From Everywhere!”. It’s then that it hits me: Joan sounds like Fran Drescher in The Nanny. Fran comes from Queens - the borough down the road (sort of). That accent. It’s frightening. It’s distracting but it shouldn’t be. Joan has more claims-to-fame than most people have undies. Apart from releasing two stunning solo albums, the latter of which - To Survive - has just been released, this nearly 38-year-old has worked with Lou Reed, Sheryl Cow, Sparklehorse, Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Elton John, the Scissor Sisters, Joseph Arthur and recorded an album with Tanya Donelly.

She also played in the Hot Trix with noted singer/songwriter Mary Timony (formerly of Helium), was a key member of the mid-1990s alt rock outfit, The Dam Builders, and at the same time played with the excellent Those Bastard Souls which featured Dave Shouse of The Grifters. “He’s a genius, absolutely incredible; I’m glad some people know how great he is,” she gushes. If you can find it, check out The Souls criminally overlooked Debt And Departure album. In 1999, she joined Antony And The Johnsons and contributed to his Mercury Award-winning album, I Am A Bird Now. She formed the trio, Joan As Police Woman (JAPW), in 2002, but its critically-acclaimed debut was still four years hence. In 2004 she got side-tracked again. In February, Rufus Wainwright asked her to join his band and open the shows with JAPW while in August, that year, she recorded with Donelly.

Finally, Joan Wasser was the girlfriend of the legendary late musical genius, Jeff Buckley, at the time of his death in May 1997. Hell, Jeff has been gone 11 years now. Time does fly.

It doesn’t take much to conclude that Joan keeps herself busy. “I’ve been ridiculously busy,” she says. “No time for sleeping. No time for thinking. When was the last time I slept? Don’t ask me that question. It’s crazy. Crazy.”

To Survive, a record which meets her MySpace description of what her music sounds like - “the wind rushing through the forest” with sheer grace, wonderful charm and sense of melody, was written while touring Real Life, a time she describes a tale on insanity. “I’m not exaggerating. There really is an insanity living like that, so a lot of the songs are about finding solace in a certain way.

“It was made all at once and it was really important that we got that feeling of a live band, the sound of people actually playing together. If you record my parts [she sings, plays violin, piano and guitar] then cut in the drums and bass it will sound different. So we did the band first and then my vocals and then invited my favourite musos from New York to come in and play. I’ve got a lot of friends. I’m a friendly one.”

Joan has made it clear in previous interviews that she considers her time with Antony and The Johnsons to be a vital part of in her development. “A couple of years before joining Antony I was writing my own songs. I was very unsure about them, about my voice. I was still finding out what I wanted to sing about. The music I had begun writing was very intimate and quiet - I had mixed emotions about it. The bands I played in were much louder. Then I started playing with Antony and he’s such a healer naturally. You listen to that voice and you’re in heaven. The band was amazing and it allowed me to develop my violin playing with other string players outside of classical music.” She is classically trained and studied at Boston University with the renowned Yuri Mazurkevich, who himself studied under Russian violin virtuoso, David Oistrakh.

“Antony was also very supportive of my music. It was a very important part of my life.” And then there was Rufus, who hails from a remarkably talented - and outrageous, at times - family. He is the son of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, brother of Martha Wainwright, and half-brother of Lucy Wainwright Roche. And “he’s incredible too,” gushes Joan. “He’s outrageously amazing. He’s extremely disciplined. His level of performance is shockingly high. He is just extraordinary.”

The dilemma is obvious. How does Joan fit in Joan? “I do a lot of playing music,” she says. “I did have to make a choice at a certain point that I was going to do my music. I wanted to play with Rufus - he had me opening the show with my own stuff. That was an incredible opportunity but, yes, ultimately I did have to make a choice and create boundaries for myself. For now, it’s Joan As Police Woman.”

What comes next is anybody’s guess but this admirable woman promises not only to survive, but to surprise.