Marnie Stern is a force to be reckoned with. A revered figure in the alternative music landscape with an impressive career spanning over sixteen years, Marnie Stern stands as a testament to the power of individuality, innovation and unbridled creativity. Returning to the contemporary music scene with her first album in ten years, The Comeback Kid, Marnie Stern shows the world that she still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve. Blending elements of indie, experimental pop and math rock, she delivers her unique sound fearlessly with no shortage of the intricate, virtuosic guitar skills she is well known for. Keeping inspiration and invention at the forefront of her sound, she states that with The Comeback Kid, “I’m trying to go against the grain of this bullshit that when you get older, you lose your sense of taste. I want to empower people to not be so homogeneous and go against the grain a little bit,” a sentiment that is clear with impressive, intricate tracks such as “The Natural” and “Believing is Seeing.” Marnie Stern has triumphantly let us know she is back, and not a moment too soon.
Catching the New York City native among the city’s chaos, mxdwn had the pleasure of speaking with Marnie Stern as she prepares for an eventful new year.
mxdwn: Hi, my name is Riley. I’m a music feature writer here at mxdwn. How are you doing today?
Marnie Stern: I’m doing good.
mxdwn: Good! I’ll just jump right in. You recently released your latest album, The Comeback Kid, in November. It’s your first studio album in 10 years. What does the title of the album mean to you? How has it felt to return with the new album, after working your 9 to 5 on The Late Show with Seth Meyers and the full time job of raising 2 kids. Can you walk us through the process of making that album, how was it for you?
MS: It was totally great, especially because I have spent the past decade or so focusing on making a living, bringing in an income and taking care of kids. So to be able to just focus on myself for a while was really fun and kind of just being able to let my freak flag fly was very fun. It was very fun, putting together these songs.
mxdwn: Yeah, I feel like that’s something that we miss a lot in adulthood. That kind of going back to just making stuff for fun, or doing stuff just because you feel like it or just for exploratory reasons. You know, all of that.
MS: Yeah, exactly.
mxdwn: Did making the comeback kid differ compared to when you made your last studio album, The Chronicles of Marnia back in 2013? What are some of the differences that you’ve seen in the music industry or for yourself personally?
MS: Well, the music industry has changed a lot, not really for the better {laughs}. It’s super fast paced. There’s more information than ever. There are more albums, more releases, more websites, more news, more, more, more, more, more, which I think I’m learning people like. But it’s hard to really focus on anything, one thing for more than a few seconds. So that’s kind of a bummer. But I mean, I guess the positive of that is that people are producing a lot of music, and that’s great, and different than it was. Obviously streaming has kind of taken over since the last record, so that’s a little bit different, too. I mean, that’s a whole new world of how people hear and access music and how they want to hear music.
mxdwn: Yeah, I really agree. That’s something I hear coming up a lot is it’s really hard for artists to maintain their integrity with the music that they’re making in such a fast paced world where I feel like everyone is demanding more or just, you know, looking for the hook to get popular on TikTok. It can be really hard for artists to maintain their integrity in the industry. I feel like that’s something, that you do so strongly, especially with this new album. You covered Ennio Morricone’s “Il Girotondo Della Note,” originally from the 1972 Italian Film “Who Saw Her Die.” In that we see you replacing string arrangements with your guitar, and recreating choral arrangements with your voice alone. It’s just really impressive, and I feel like it shows your skill, your talent and your creativity. Is rearranging a composition something that you do often, or was it another instance of you trying to push yourself to do something new with this album?
MS: All the time I’m trying to find a new avenue. I’m constantly trying to push myself with things like that, changing arrangements. I’ve been trying to do a lot more covers lately, because it forces me to approach it in the way that maybe the composer approached it, or even get a few seconds into that mindset, and that kind of helps change the direction of my brain a little bit. When you get used to working by yourself, only, you really repeat the same things over and over. So that example was me trying to, yeah, mess with something that’s old school. I just did a cover of “Don’t Fear The Reaper” with Fred Armisen, the same type of thing, so yeah.
mxdwn: I was gonna say, that just goes right into my next question, are there any other covers or arrangements you have your eye on doing?
MS: Yes, I’ve been thinking about Bananarama’s song “Cruel Summer,” I’ve been messing with that. Yeah, I really enjoy doing covers, because it isn’t painful, unlike the way sometimes trying to create something of your own is painful. By painful I mean exhaustive in trying to find a new freshness to yourself that you’re sick of, you can just kinda go in. Your goal is to try and do the song from top to bottom and that’s fun.
mxdwn: I feel like you really hit that nail on the head earlier when you were talking about how it can be lonely working alone. I feel like that would be a really good way to connect with the larger music world and the community, it’s a really interesting way of looking at covers. Not many people look at it that way. You played a couple of shows back in November with Blonde Redhead and you have a couple of upcoming shows, for early next year. But is there any possibility, for a full The Comeback Kid tour, is that something that’s on your radar for the future?
MS: On my radar? We’re planning it as we speak! Yeah, I’m gonna try and do it in pockets across the country and in Europe – and yeah, I’m really excited to be back at it.
mxdwn: Yeah, that’s exciting! Especially after 10 years of taking a break from doing a lot of touring. Just getting ready to get back into it has to be really exciting.
MS: Yeah, yeah. Really exciting!
mxdwn: Speaking of playing and your live shows, I feel like one thing that really always sticks out with you and your music is, the sheer skill mixed with always fresh, always evolving emotions and energy. How do you strike that balance between technicality and emotion while you’re playing? Is it something that you know you have to consciously think about, or is it just something that happens while you play?
MS: No, I consciously think about it. I feel like I’ve always liked technicality, but not too much of it. If it’s just that, I think it’s kinda boring, like anyone can spend time learning how to do that if they put enough time into it. But I feel like creativity to me is just as interesting, and so I really try to marry the two together.
mxdwn: That makes a lot of sense, listening to your music and seeing you perform live. It’s definitely a conscious thing, having to make sure you’re hitting that balance between the two. I’ve seen you refer to the guitar as a blank canvas, as its own crazy, amazing thing that could bring about different ideas. I think that’s a very interesting way of looking at playing the guitar as something that plays an active role in your songwriting and in your playing. How do you think that influences you and your sound?
MS: Well, it’s good and bad. It’s bad because, I wish I could look down and trace back the guitar, the fretboard, to all the songs I’ve played before. But I just always somehow compartmentalize each song, which I mean obviously I know all the notes on the guitar, but I separate each song with “This is how this is” or “This is how that goes.” I don’t know, it’s just the way my brain works. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I guess it’s both. In some ways it’s really good, and in other ways, it would be nice for my brain to connect, which it does, to some prior context, but not in the way that you think it would.
mxdwn: That is a very good, concise way to put it! As the minds of most artists, I feel some of them are plagued by how they view things, while to us, to the viewers it just looks like something of a blessing. It’s all about their process, and how you view things. Speaking of your impressive guitar skills, this year you were named one of Rolling Stones top 250 guitarists of all time. But this is nothing new. You were named one of Spin’s top 100 guitarists in 2012 and in Elle Magazine’s top 12 female guitarists of all time in 2009, so over 14 years of holding this title. How does it feel to consistently see your name on these lists, is it something that motivates you?
MS: Yes, I think it’s great. I love it. I absolutely love it. It makes me feel terrific, because I don’t really ever see any monetary validation? Or you know, I’m not very well known. So being on those lists makes me feel really good.
mxdwn: Yeah. And I will say, unfortunately a lot of people with some such amazing talent as yourself, a lot of times they aren’t recognized during their time, or during the peak of their activity, which is really unfortunate. You definitely deserve to be up there, your guitar skills are just insane. You are also self-taught, which I feel like it is not something a lot of top guitarists of all time can say. Do you think that that’s had any influence on your sound or your approach to making music?
MS: Hmm! I don’t know, because I never learned the other way. But I do think that, and I think anyone would have to if you really want to forge your own sound. I mean you have to spend years just kinda trying to figure out other people’s songs and playing other stuff. Like you could take a thousand lessons and learn to play, but you’re always going to be learning other people’s songs. If you haven’t written your own, it’s very hard to create your own style, though, like really hard. I think that no matter what, whether you’re taught lessons or not, you’re going to have to get to that place somehow, and that’s going to take a lot of time.
mxdwn: Yeah, I was going to say, I feel like that is one of the hardest things with musicians that are just starting out, is finding their own sound. You’ve said in previous interviews how you faced a lot of discouragements and setbacks before you got on your first record label. Do you have any tips for musicians maybe struggling to figure out their sound? Or do you have any advice for musicians struggling in a similar place as you were?
MS: Yes, be brave, be uncomfortable, embarrass yourself. Do things that, you know, you wouldn’t normally do and try not to stay in the safe place of wanting to sound cool, or look cool. I think that’s really important in shaking loose a person’s safety. All that safety is cover-up, it’s been done a billion times before, and that’s not the real person of you. Underneath all of that, try to get to that person.
mxdwn: Well said! I think that’s some very sage advice for upcoming musicians. Just from personal experience, that is something that is really hard, and where a lot of musicians get stuck. I just have one more for you, as you state so clearly on The Comeback Kid’s opener “Plain Speak,” “You can’t keep moving backwards.” What do you see in the future for your career and your art after such a triumphant return?
MS: Well, I feel, I’ve been feeling very discouraged by the music business and feeling frustrated that since I started there’s even less of a living to be made in the music business. Which, it was pretty nothing before. But I just, you just can’t let it stop you, in the face of it all. I mean I’m basically talking to myself in all of my songs. There’s no choice. What do you do, give up? No! You just keep on doing it, hopefully. Hopefully it changes for all these young poor people out there who are busting their butts for nothing, or for very little reward. And I’m only focusing on the monetary. It’s very easy when you’re younger, you don’t mind sleeping on the floors of friends’ houses, and that’s fun, but it shouldn’t have to be that way if you are releasing music that people enjoy listening to. It should go back to being a normal business, where you can earn something to be able to keep on going. I just really feel like someone needs to advocate for all these young people who are coming into a world where this is normal. Where this seems to be normal, and it just doesn’t feel normal to me.
mxdwn: I completely see that. You would think as time moves forward, especially as the appreciation for art and music becomes much bigger that it would be a position where people are being taken care of – That sense of advocacy is really important, especially moving forward in the music industry. We need way better.
MS: Well also, if you go back to the ’50s with Payola, where nobody got a cut of their record.. money was stolen from the artists. It’s basically set up right back to what that was. I don’t understand, everyone knows now how it’s reverted. Somebody’s making a lot of money. You saw it with Snoop Dogg, where he got a billion streams and it was $45,000, stuff like that. Yeah, it’s not normal, it’s incorrect. The math is incorrect. Somebody made a lot of money off of that, and he should have gotten a chunk of it.
mxdwn: Yeah, it is a little ridiculous, considering the labels and the PR people make more money than the actual artists who are making the art. It should be way easier of an avenue for artists to make a living off of their work.
MS: Here’s my feeling: If the world was free, that would be alright, too. I just don’t like the fact that someone else is profiting somewhere. Somebody else is profiting off of it and it’s not the artist, that’s the part that pisses me off. I’ve never made art to make money, I never really expected to really get anything from it, because I enjoy it so much. But somebody is profiting off of these people and they don’t deserve it. That’s the thing that pisses me off.
mxdwn: Yeah, the music industry is definitely set up for the artist not to profit while others profit off of them. It’s very much taking advantage of them, of people like you that are as dedicated to their art as you are. When artists feel the need so strongly to create, and if they want it badly enough to dedicate their life to it, especially when it’s so uncertain and so little money, it can be taking advantage of those people. It takes a lot of dedication. I feel like that’s brave to still make art in the face of all of this.
MS: Yeah, it is.
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