Aug 1, 2008

New album asks 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer'

Dresden Doll takes solo plunge

By Paul Freeman / Entertainment Writer

Amanda Palmer, of the forever fascinating punk cabaret duo the Dresden Dolls, has embarked on an exciting solo project. Her soon-to-be-released album is titled "Who Killed Amanda Palmer?" (which will amuse "Twin Peaks" buffs, who recall the "who killed Laura Palmer" fervor).

In conjunction with the album, a book will be published featuring photographs by Palmer and other artists. Graphic novelist and screenwriter Neil Gaiman wrote the text. The book's photos all depict Palmer as a corpse.

"It's a whole book of dead Amanda," Palmer chuckled. "I started the project five or six years ago when I started taking photos of myself dead in different cities."

But Palmer insists, "I don't think it's anything more profound than being all alone and trying to blow off steam and all you've got is a camera," she said. "It's more fun to take a picture of yourself dead in an interesting place than to just take a picture of an interesting place. ... or maybe there's something else going on, but I'll leave it to you to psychoanalyze."

The album is due out in September, but you don't have to wait to start analyzing the songs. A full tour, brimming with theatricality, begins in late fall. But Palmer will introduce the imaginative tunes at more intimate dates this month, including a Great American Music Hall performance on Aug. 6.

In addition to several Dresden Dolls numbers, a couple of covers and the fans' revered "Ask Amanda Anything" segment, audiences will hear the powerfully dramatic new solo songs as they were originally conceived - with just piano and voice.

"Then Ben Folds got involved and it turned into a rock record," Palmer said, adding with a laugh. "It was an unplanned event."

Folds, who produced the project, left his imprint on the album while amplifying Palmer's uniquely charismatic musical personality. Among musicians contributing their talents are Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray and San Francisco cellist Zoe Keating.

"Ben and I have a similar sense of humor. We seem to share a lot of the same opinions about what sounds good and what the song needs. Ben pried my mind open on a couple of the songs and I love what came out of it. I'm lucky we were on the same aesthetic page."

Palmer said she went into the collaboration totally wide open. "I never write for any particular purpose. I write songs and then figure out what to do with them later. So I brought Ben this pile of songs and he helped me shape the record. He added a ton of wonderful production, lots of percussion, great string parts, synthesizers and a couple of full band songs. Production-wise, (the album) couldn't get farther away from a Dresden Dolls record."

In 2000, in Boston, Palmer formed the Dresden Dolls with Brian Viglione. But she had been a performer all her life. "I was a showoff-y little kid, putting on plays in my back yard."

She later took up busking, planting herself on New England streets as a living statue. "It prepares you for life onstage like no acting school can ever do. There's no faking it. When you're out there performing, no one's looking out for you. No one has to care about you. It's literally just you engaging with the world, getting their reactions and keeping their attention, with no help," she said. "There's something really terrifying about that when you first do it and then really empowering about it when it works."

As a street performer, Palmer tested her patience and endured endless ego-bruising. "Once you've done that for a couple of years, when you get onstage, nothing bad can happen to you. You've seen the absolute worst. You've had things thrown at you. You've had total strangers yell at you and try to tear you down. The stage is really safe compared to being literally on the sidewalk.

Palmer feels that art colleges should instate a mandatory two-month intensive program where artists of all stripes would be required to perform or create their art in public. "It was a really important thing for me to go through, because it gave me an insane amount of confidence."

Though she's an amazing songwriter, Palmer's focus remains on performing. "To me the music's really the means to an end. I try to write personal, entertaining songs. But I write the songs so that I can throw the show - not the other way around. Some musicians play the show so that they can write the music. The show supports their music habit. I feel like the music supports my show habit. I got into music so that I could connect with people."

Palmer admits that she doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about music and practicing. "I'm much more interested in people than I am in music. Music is just the bridge."

Palmer looks forward to connecting with her Bay Area audience. "It's one of my favorite places to play. I tend to gravitate where my friends are and my friends have all tended to gravitate toward New York and San Francisco. There's just something about those two cities that feels like that's where the artists can really officially call home."

In Boston, Palmer enjoyed sharing space and energy with her friends in their lofts and galleries. But, she says, "It's a very transitional city for a lot of people. There are a lot of universities and things come and go very quickly. It's hard for a scene to get a foothold. And it's a very conservative town. (There are) lots of personal rules, lots of laws. There isn't an embrace of counterculture the way there is in a place like New York or San Francisco."

Wherever Palmer plays, society's outsiders feel at home. "We've always tried to make our shows very community-minded. It's about more than standing there and watching. It's about connecting with those around you, having a collective experience, finding your people."

Palmer, who'll be developing a play this summer, still finds creative possibilities to be infinite. "If I didn't," she said, "I'd hang it up."