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Sylvia Mann by Peter Dizozza as printed in AntiMatters, January/February 2001 |
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On the performance night of Shoshana Ami’s "Seven Layer’s of Skin" play, Sylvia Mann and I sat down at that pizza parlor on East 7th and Avenue A to discuss matters-anti of a personal, invasive nature. The entire conversation has been expunged from memory (it’s on tape) and now, here is, in its place, our revised conversation!Peter: What’s Sylvia Mann’s new CD called? Sylvia: The Heart of the Junkyard. P: How many songs are on it? S: It contains 21 Songs: Heart of the Junkyard, Prince of Chairs, Church Boy, Trashy Girl, Grandpa Walsh Puts His Two Cents In, Slyman Moore Gets Him a Girl on the Big Draft Road, and others . . . P: Who recorded it? S: I recorded the basics with Martin Beauchamp in Harlem & additional tracks with Spencer Chakedis at Balloon Heaven in Jersey City. P: That Spencer! What are the origins of its cover? S: A photograph of a painting by my friend Elaine.  P: What is its instrumentation?S: A few songs will feature Michael Plunkett on percussion (and various noises), Spencer Chakedis on mandolin and steel guitar, Brer Brian on Banjo. All three sing on a few songs on the CD. James Telfer on bass (this is still in the works, I’m not sure if he’ll be able to record in time) P: From where may one buy it??? S: From Sylvia Mann, sylviamann@hotmail.com. At shows. P: Are the lyrics to be found anywhere? S: No. P: Are any of the songs collaborations? S: No. Of course all of the musicians on the CD have created their own parts — but the music and lyrics are by Sylvia Mann. P: Are any covers? S: Yes. An Ed’s Reedeeming Qualitites Cover avec mon ami Sir Martin Beauchamp. Not sure of the exact title, will know in time for the release. P: Do your songs arise from your works of fiction? S: Some come from my poetry. P: Do your works of fiction take place in the Appalachia? S: Some P: Have you lived in the Appalachia? S: Yes. Asheville, North Carolina. My family is from Greenbriar County West Virginia — which is where I consider home to be. P: Will you? S: Maybe. What subway line runs there? (Please Note, The Appalachia is way downtown and is not currently accessible by subway.)P: Do you consider any of your songs an expression of personal exploration? S: Sure. P: Which ones? S: I’m not telling. P: Lach has a new song about being a conduit. Trashy Girl and Prince of Chairs seem to replicate gossip of the locals. The singer could be a conduit through which they chatter. Is that intentional? S: Are you calling me some kind of Ouija Board? P: Yes. The songs themselves are highly appealing, especially as performed by their composer. Is the singer ironic? S: Never. P: Where does the singer stand on the content? S: Upside down. P: Which singers do you like to learn from? S: Ones I like a lot, and who I’ve certainly learned a lot from — Leonard Cohen, Jonathan Richman, Dan Hicks, Suzanne Vega, Lloyd Cole, The McGarrigle Sisters, The Roches, Maria Muldaur... (The following question has been adapted from Jon Berger’s ever-urgent inquiry, Who is the cutest guy in Antifolk?)P: Which local singer/songwriters do you find inspiring and/or entertaining? S: Wow. There are a lot of local singer songwriters who inspire and entertain me . . . the list would be way too long. Most of them play at the Sidewalk and the Raven. I know, I’m walking the fence here, but to name them all — well . . . P. Thank you! INTERMISSION:  FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WITH SYLVIA MANN P. I don’t know why but I during the intermission I suddenly thought how well-cast you will be in an adaptation of Camelot! S: OK, let me know when you’re producing it. Will there be Dodos in it? P: Yes. What do you mean by an Ed’s Redeeming Qualities cover? S: Band. Cover Song. Singing one of their songs, I am with Martin(e). Out of Boston, I think. Is it terrible that I can’t give you more details? P: No. S: Ed is dead now, I believe (She means that the band is no longer together). I think Mr. Hightower may be able to supply you with more Ed info. Perhaps I should look Ed up on the Internet. (Tony does indeed supply more info. He has Ed’s Redeeming Qualities 1991 CD "It’s All Good News." She’s tall, says Tony, referring to the lead singer Carrie Bradley. The other vocalist is Dan Leone, now food editor for the San Francisco Examiner. Tony used to sing King of Calypso. Be sure to ask him to do so next time. It’s a silly song about not being from Trinidad. We can’t all be Chubby Checker! Oh, Tony often plays a song called "Lighthouse" too.)P: What does Martin Beauchamp play? What are his qualifications? Have we met him? What impact has his relationship with you had upon the album? S: You know, Martin of Brer Brian and Martin fame. There should be a little accent over his name. Maybe the missing accent threw you off. Martin Beauchamp of the Sidewalk. He wrote "The Man with the Artichoke Heart" — the song Brer sometimes plays. P: Going back to the CD cover art, what does Elaine depict in her painting? S: Actually, the cover is a photo of me holding up a painting of myself done by Elaine. It was all so very long ago that I can’t remember her last name. She was an artist I met in Florida when I was eighteen. She had just escaped her job as a secretary in Washington, DC and had come to Florida to paint. She lived over the garage of the house where I rented a room. P: Have you covered "Midnight At The Oasis." Do you want to? ‘Cause I’ll learn the music and accompany you on the piano. S: I’ve never covered it, but I would be interested in covering it, sure. Do you have the lyrics written down? P: No. (There you have it. My plans for Sylvia are simple, mount a revival of Camelot and cast her as Guinevere. Also, I intend to learn the music for Midnight at the Oasis, so that I may accompany her as she sings the song. Meanwhile, I will look forward to her next performance and to purchasing a CD then. Look for a review in the next matters-anti.) |
January/February 2001 Index Page Sylvia Mann's new CD, Heart of the Junkyard, is now available. |