Jun 20, 2008

One gal's 'Garbage' her treasure

By Paul Freeman / Entertainment Writer

For British-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Kirsten Price, the title of her debut album, "Guts and Garbage," holds significance. The album will be released on July 1 by her own indie label, KPI. She had been tied to a major, but when the conglomerate fed her garbage, Price displayed guts and went her own way.

"When I was dealing with a major label on this project, the title, like a lot of things, was something they didn't like," Price said. "There were songs they didn't like, pictures they didn't like and ways of doing things they didn't like. So the album title is just part of me doing everything the way I like.

"There's a certain amount of one's soul that can go with the flow before you intrinsically want to vomit. You can't have a gag reflex 24 hours a day, so, at a certain point, you have to stand up for yourself."

Price did so, and the result is exciting rock-dance-R&B music that's soaked in genuine soul. "The product itself is only 1 percent of the battle, in the general scheme of things. Because I'm very confident and relaxed in my music, the bigger sense of accomplishment is in getting the product exposed, having other people enjoy it as much as I do."

Price gains her greatest satisfaction from songwriting. "Some ideas have to be developed at length, others come out whole, straight from your subconscious. I write tons of stuff and, from my point of view, most of it is crap. When every now and then something's good, you know it."

Her music is so good, it's been featured on "The L-Word," "CSI" and "Cashmere Mafia," prior to the album's launch. Songs like "Magic Tree" have had an instant impact. "For me, hearing it on a TV show is an out of body experience," Price said.

Another memorable track on her album is "Crazy Sexy Beautiful." Tina Turner was an inspiration.

"I have a jones for Tina Turner," Price said. "The song objectifies all things fabulous and female. People identify with the energy and the sexuality behind the song. It's raw, female adulation. You often get that in hip-hop. This is kind of a spoof on that."

The "Possibilities" song was conceived by Michael Hutchence of INXS shortly before he passed. His friend Danny Saber wrote a string arrangement and allowed Price to pen a chorus. "You can tell the song originated back in that time that you had that Portishead, British, trip-hop thing from the late '90s - that slow, sultry, moody energy."

Music has always been in Price's DNA. "It's not something you decide to do. A lot of us who are in music don't really have a choice," she said. "It's not so much about succeeding as just staying alive. You have to create ... otherwise, you're kind of dead."

Price sprang to life in London and soon began singing in choirs and a cappella groups. "The human instrument, historically, is an amazingly important thing, from mothers singing lullabies to their children; to starving people, marching through the desert, singing to keep themselves together; to slaves singing, because that's all they have. There's something about human voices singing together that I find incredibly spiritual, powerful and beautiful."

Price eventually moved to San Francisco. "When you've lived in one place your whole life, you just want to go out and investigate further afield," she said.

"I knew nothing really about America or American culture, except for the bubble gum that we're exported. I just knew about the post-'60s hangover that's associated with San Francisco. I knew that it was a very liberal and all-embracing kind of place to be. I slept on the beach the first two weeks I was there. When you're young, you're on an adventure."

Then Price was drawn to New York. "There's a massive diversity. And musically, it's an incredibly vibrant environment to be in," she said. "If it was 1850, I would have moved to Vienna. In this day and age, I moved to New York."

She arrived a week before 9/11. "Having grown up with the IRA setting off bombs on the British subway, bombs in bars, mail bombs, rubbish like that, I didn't understand what this represented to such an innocent, virgin country that had never suffered an external attack on her soil.

"Not being able to see out the windows because of the dust, not being able to make phone calls, hearing ambulances for days - slowly, the realization of the magnitude hit me."

She found a positive aspect. "There was a massive feeling of solidarity and community that wasn't present before the attack. Whenever you have a terrible time of mourning, people get together and are really there for each other. So it was a great, strong, New York spirit that I was inducted into."

Price blossomed in New York's fertile creative atmosphere. She played a benefit with Wyclef Jean. For the rising young singer, opening for Sly and the Family Stone was especially thrilling. "Just to say I did it, makes me wet and excited. Sly Stone was such a major influence on so many of the people who influenced me."

Like Stone, Price is a dynamic performer. She's looking forward to playing San Francisco's Elbo Room on June 23. "My primary focus, when I'm performing, is that people are coming on a journey with me, not just watching somebody sing," she said.

Price has the passion and determination to carve out a long career. "The most important thing is not to be shot out of a cannon or have your face pasted on a hundred magazines - it's to have integrity in your work, to keep doing it and to learn how to do it better and better.

"People who are spending all their time and energy on image - style over content - will lose hands-down, in the longer scheme of things."

Price can be pragmatic, as well as idealistic. "We all understand the benefits of marketing and merchandising. You don't want to just stay in your apartment, creating all the time. What's the point of that, if no one's going to share it with you?"