NEWS
4-26-10
It's not a bad life that I lead. I get sortof mopey sometimes, but then I snap out of it because really, my goodness, I get to do so many cool things and I have such great friends.
I'm totally in love with my disco improv band: Gretchen's Disco Plague (It's Infectious!). I have a great rotating cast of co-horts from way back in the day to only just yesterday, and we wear stylish outfits and make up songs on the spot. I've long wanted to have this band and now that I do have it, um yeah....I did always want to have this. It's just so awesome to be inside of the creation of the music in this way. Edgy. I like that. Does "edgy" not have an "e?" Hmmmm, why not? English is hard.
I actually tutored a 10 year old in long division today. If only my parents could have seen that one, they wouldn't have believed it. I thought I did a great job, personally. I was surprised.
I've been making furniture like crazy. It's just so awesome, people. Talk about infectious. I dream about sanding and making mortises and tenons and furniture design and just being in the middle of the process, I dream about it all of the time. Of course, when I was a dishwasher I dreamt of washing dishes all the time. So maybe it's like that. But whatever. It's super fun, super great. I'll post some more stuff as I complete it. I can tend to be a bit of an 85% completer person instead of doing it all the way. I'm working on that, tho.
I recorded a Sara Hickman song for the new Sara Hickman tribute album that she commissioned. Why didn't I think of that? Oh yeah, I did. Anyway I got to work with my beloved Rob Halverson again, the guy I made I Was Just Comforting Her with. What a pleasure it was to be back in the studio with him. Really reminded me of what I love about getting the chance to make music.
School is about to end and I couldn't be happier. I'm ready to have my life back. School really takes up time, no one reminded me of that fact.
That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sleepy. I'm going to post this so I don't feel like such a loser about never updating my website. I do love this website, it's not like I don't. I guess I've just been busy.
And you? How are you?
11-2-09
How about some new news? What has been going on over here? Well, tons of stuff, actually. Due to technical malfunctions I wasn't able to update this site for awhile, so I have quite a backlog of info to share with the people of the web. Ummm, after I went to Chicago and New York City I went to Fabulosa Fest in Guerneville, CA for birthday weekend. That was a whole lot of fun. I played a short but sweet set and got to see a bunch of friends. Then Ann and I headed off to Michigan where we had a whole 'nother blast. What a year this was. Best one yet. So much great music. So many fun people.
Is it a good idea to put up a photo where I look that geeky? The answer is "yes" if the geekiness is due to my vicinity to Leslie Hall. Where I'm in one of her costumes. Because I just performed with her, malfunctioning costume and all. Yes. It was as awsome as you could imagine.
Say, do you like Amy Ray? Do you like Sia? Do you like Patrice Pike? I ask because I performed with them, too. Take my word for it, this Michigan it was very good to be Gretchen Phillips.
Then, it was time to return to Austin and start school. You know, I never went to college. I just formed successful bands right out of high school and didn't take the time out to continue my institutional studies. I'm more of an autodidact. But the last couple of years have found me really hankering to learn woodworking, specifically as applied to furniture making. So I've been going to the community college and studying up. I love it. This semester I'm in two classes: Welding Using Multiple Processes and Intermediate Woodworking. Both are fantastic. Thus far I am terrible at welding and being terrible at stuff is actually pretty great for me. There's so much to learn inside of not being proficient yet. I don't want to just do stuff I'm good at for the rest of my life. I want to learn new things, too. And apparently I'm not instantly great at welding just because I want to be. There's a learning curve and I'm in the middle of it. But I'm really enjoying it. It's humbling. I probably need that.
I also got a day job, which is not something that I often do. I'm enjoying this one so much more than most of my day jobs. I work at my favorite furniture store in Austin, IF+D. And I'm also about to begin an apprenticeship at my favorite woodworking shop. But I don't want to potentially jinx it by giving too much away before I start, so I'll just leave it at that. Oh, and I'll show you a picture of something that I've made already:
I worked on the table with my buddy, Thor. He's in Shearwater. We're also in A Joy Division Cover Band together. He knows alot about a whole lot of things. So, I modeled this table after one I saw in New Zealand. The top is recycled oak flooring and the apron and legs are oak, mesquite, cedar and maple. Ann and I eat on this table all of the time. I have lots of designs in my head that I want to produce once I gain the skills and access to tools. Making stuff is fun. And I'm also in the midst of editing the Manlove show in order to send it out to various performance spaces. I very much look forward to presenting this show again. Somewhere other than Austin. And I'm also in the beginning stages of creating my publishing empire. Stay tuned.
The other big news is that I feel fully recovered from my hysterectomy and am working out a lot and feeling better than I have in years. I like to bike, do yoga and Pilates and not drink beer all of the time. Who knew?
6-23-09
Hey, I just got back from a weekend in Chicago. And by back, I mean I returned to NYC where I've been for this last month. I'm doing shows, working on the new Phillips&Driver disco album, seeing people and just hanging out in general. So, I've done a couple of things that you might find interesting. Here I am with my old friend Fausto Fernos on his great Chicago podcast called Feast of Fools. And I also did this radio show from a tiny storefront on First Ave in the East Village. Plus, I promise you, there's even more to come.
5-29-09
Man, MondoHomo!!!!! Ever heard of it? It's a fantastic queer festival in Atlanta that happens every Memorial weekend and I was lucky enough to be asked to play it and I'm so very glad I went. I saw fantastic performances and movies and hung out with really great people. Atlanta is happening! The dykes and the fags really like each other and they hang out together and this thing was super fun. And the record store there called Wax and Facts, it's to die for. PLUS, I noticed in the paper that Joan Jett was going to be opening for Heart while I was there, and I talked a sister into going with me and as we were walking thru the parking lot to buy our tickets this radio guy from The River wanted to interview us. I said, "No time for that, we've got to get our tickets!" And he said, "Oh, I'll give you these two!" And then he did and then we went in for free and sat in the rain and ate hummus wraps and listened to Joan Jett sing her S/M songs and her new songs and her Runaways songs (School Days and You Drive Me Wild) and then saw Heart sing Immigrant Song, Going To California, Love Alive, Mistral Wind, Love, Rein O'er Me and many many more. I made all these new and awesome friends in Atlanta, it was a perfect fucking weekend, ok?
4-27-09
I got to do this really cool thing. I went to my favorite furniture store in Austin, IF+D, and they were having an interesting sale on Blu Dot furniture. If you could somehow link your purchase to the musician Prince, you'd get a discount. There's this gorgeous chair that I've had my eye on for a year or so and really wanted. So, amazingly (and I do feel like a total wheeler and dealer here), I got the owner to agree to give me the chair in exchange for learning Dirty Mind and coming down to the store to perform it. A chair for just one song! So, I learned it on the casio, drew on a mustache with Ann's eye liner and headed down to the store. My friend Kelley agreed to dance, the whole thing was taped and I went home with a gorgeous chair. Check it out: musicvideos
4-2-09
Wow, check out what time it is? It's so laaaaaaate. I'm so late with my tour update on that west coast trip I took. Why? Well, because the moment I returned from said tour I went into the hospital for some surgery and I've been completely derelict in my duties since then. I'm only just starting to do any work at all. You know, people are always going on and on about how amazingly fun pain killers are, but that's not my experience at all. I mean, I'm glad that I wasn't in a whole lot of pain, but taking them was no fun pleasure trip.
Photo by Katy Koonce
Anyway, so I went on tour and saw lots of great people and, truthfully, put on one good show after another. I'll upload some photos to prove it to you. Thanks to everyone who came and super thanks to everyone who let me stay with them. And uber-thanks to Dawn Howse who drove me all over OR and WA in "Barbie There and Back Again", which is an experience I will never forget. That was something else.
Most of these photos by Debra St. John
Hmm, who took the one in LA? Can't tell.
My next plan is to fully recover from this invasive surgery and then have a nice summer playing shows and traveling all over in order to not spend a moment longer in the Texas heat than necessary. I'll be coming to play in your town, if your town is NYC, Atlanta, Chicago, Guerneville. I intend to do more shows than that, that's just what I know of for sure.
2-4-09
My new solo cd entitled "I Was Just Comforting Her" is out and you can get it! Hear the album that the Austin Chronicle states "builds upon Phillips' left-field pedigree to find more universal chords." Indeed. Couldn't have said it better myself. Just hit the "buy" button on the right and get a physical copy or one of those downloaded ones.
In commemoration of this exciting release I faced down my demons and digitized years and years worth of VHS in order to present some videos for your YouTube enjoyment. If you enjoy pixilation and go-go dancers, earnestness and wigs, then peruse the many videos available for you when you hit the "video" button on your right. Last but not least, you'll want to hit the "gigs" button as well and see where I'm going to be taking my solo show in the upcoming month. Los Angeles! Seattle! San Francisco and many points in between! Come to a show and let's have a chat. I look forward to that. Next time I promise I'll write about the little Two Nice Girls reunion that me and Laurie and Korn just had here in Austin.
1-16-09
So many things, so little updating. Well, the national release of "I Was Just Comforting Her" is nigh. Yes, on Wed. Feb. 4 at 5:57 AM this baby is going to be available.
So, go to iTunes or The Connextion or CD Baby or an actual record store and check it out. I make every copy right here at the dining room table. It's a lot of work. But that's the sort of package I like to buy, so that's the sort that I make.
Also, at 5:57 AM on Wed. Feb. 4 I will be debuting my new YouTube channel starring a lot of great videos. Stuff from the olden days like Meat Joy and the like. Plus a few new videos of songs off the new album that my friends made. Hey, let me know if you want to make a video of one of the songs, because my dream is to have one for each of them like Sonic Youth did for their "Goo" album. That was great.
10-22-08
It's happening! My new solo show entitled Manlove will be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world on November 6th, 7th and 8th at the Vortex Theatre in Austin, TX .
Yes, I'm actually not a lesbian separatist. I'm a lesbian who enjoys the platonic company of men a great deal. I feel like there's much to be learned and there's much to be harnessed by cultivating good and loving relationships with men. So, for some crazy reason, I'm writing a show about my take on men, sexism, how I came to be gay, my love of Christ, my troubles with really getting in there, the penetration solution, Republicans and Democrats, and who knows what else! Come see for yourself if you're going to be in Austin right after the historic election. This is going to be something truly special. I can just feel it. Please come join me. There will be a Q&A after the Thursday show and a disco dance party after the Saturday show. Come feel the love. Let's reach across the aisle!
9-9-08
Well friends, I'm back from a most excellent vacation. I spent over a month away from Austin, working at the festival in Michigan, hanging out in Toronto, hanging out in upstate NY, hanging out in Durham, NC, and then driving really fast thru the south to beat a hurricane. I've got a ton of projects that I'm working on here at home now. The local release for "I Was Just Comforting Her" is happening. And I'm celebrating with a big show at The Cactus Cafe on Saturday, October 11th at 8pm. I'm going to have a bunch of musicians joining me and we're going to play the album in its entirety and the album will be on sale at a special discounted price. I've been waiting a long time for this and even though you may not know it, you have, too. So mark your calendar and set aside some money for the hot date that is My Record Release Party At The Cactus on Saturday, October 11th.
7-21-08
Fans, Romans, Countrymen: Lend me your ears! I went on a mini tour of the west coast that I want to tell you about. It all began in sunny San Francisco at El Rio on June 18 at the Deep Lez Potluck. Wow, what a perfect send off for the tour. I got to see a million friends, old and new, from all over the place. All of the performers were fantastic, it was an awesome evening. And one of my songs from this show is even up on YouTube. So, if you're curious, check out The Reluctant Butch. Thank you, Hannah Guggenheim. The next night saw me performing at a delightful house party in Oakland. Thank you Darby.
And the day after that saw me taping my solo show for Portland's public access television. Thank you, Sutree. You know, that's how Meat Joy went about conquering Austin. We had a show on public access that played at all hours of the night and gained a lot of exposure from insomniacs that way. I'm counting on something similar happening to me in Portland. Then I did a sweet gig at In Other Words, the women's bookstore. Portland is a very cool town. Lots of biking, lots of art, very delicious food and cocktails, smart people. What's not to love? I got to stay with my beloved former roadie from Two Nice Girls, Tex Clark. Although I still insist on calling her Alison, because that's the name I met her with. Anyway, I saw tons of pals from Michigan and beyond and did a final kick- ass show at Mississippi Pizza.
The next day, I drove to Olympia with Jones and Meadow. We got there early and spent a great deal of time getting pedicures. I'd never had one. Once you get over the noxious smell in the salon, the smell that you just know is going to result in cancer some day, it's alright. I even still have the polish on there and it's been over a month. I'm very thankful that I got to learn new things while on tour. Oh yeah, and I also figured out a self-counseling technique for when I'm feeling bad. I just ask myself, "How bad is this very moment really, Gretchen?" And it never is actually killing me. And then I'm brought back to reality, away from my anxiety. I also figured out on this tour that I really want to study furniture making. I love working with wood and I want to do it even more. I also decided to visit the west coast about every six months or so, so they don't forget me there.
So, my gig in Olympia at Jakes on 4th was fantastic. Thank you, Alex Awesome and Scream Club for everything. And a big shout out to that sweet owner, too. I think I remember that his name is Rob and what a great guy. Jake's on 4th is a great example of a neighborhood gay bar. All types of people were in there, fags and dykes and their straight fans. It's a really gorgeous space with a very inspiring stage. There are the recipes for the various Red Bull and vodka drinks posted in the bathroom stalls. I ate a ton of fried bar food at the end of the night. It was a great mixed crowd and I can not wait to go back.
Oh, also, Olympia has a women's softball team called 13 Nice Girls. But really the team has 15 players on it. And some of them came to my gig. I asked them if they have fun. They said, "We have fun and we also win." Apparently they're like the champs or something. That is just so cool. I begged them for a jersey or a t-shirt or something. I really hope that one does show up in the mail. I was flattered beyond belief.
So, that was my mini tour. I flew Southwest airlines, where they don't charge for checked bags. I made everything fit in my suitcases, including my amp. I wore the same hot suit every night. Hot in both ways. And I got to see my pals and I think I made some new fans. Success!!!!! Lessons Learned!!!!!! Ooooooh, it feels so good.
So tomorrow I'm going to be digitalizing a bunch of old stuff to put up on YouTube. Might as well utilize it while it's still free. So keep your eyes open for some vids up on that site.
Have a great summer.
2-9-08
Here's the latest interview I've done. I'm part of a series of interviews with some really interesting lesbian performers. If you read mine it will lead you to others: DykeDiva.com
12-21-07
Queer Music Heritage is a the reason why the web was invented.
There's an exhuastive interview with me on this great website: Interview with Gretchen
Check it out.
12-15-07
Let me tell you about this cool radio show that I did while I was in NY. I played live on the public radio station there, WNYC, and it's available for download. It was super cool and you might want to listen to it. The host, David Garland, played piano and Bitch played violin and I played my little travel Taylor guitar and sang. It's a sonic combo that will probably never be repeated again, so if that sounds intriguing, then tune in.
Simply CLICK HERE. That should be my show. You might also want to check out the enormous archive of shows that David Garland has done because he has simply fantastic guests.
