Before she grew up to become the tattooed, crowd-rocking singer of the Brooklyn noise-pop band Sleigh Bells, Alexis Krauss was in amuch more traditional pop band: the forgotten all-girl teen-pop group Rubyblue,which in 2002 released a lone album that quickly worked its way into dollarbins. After the group disbanded, Krauss paid her bills during college by taking on jobs as a session singer. Thatbackground in professional recording made her uniquely suited for Sleigh Bells.Producer/guitarist Derek Miller, formerly of the hardcore band Poison the Well,had been searching for a female singer for his new project, and met Krauss when waiting on a table for her and her mother at aBrazilian restaurant (a stage mom to the core, Krauss’s mother volunteered herfor an audition after learning Miller was a musician). It was an inspired pairing: Krauss’s trained voice, girlishlysweet yet convincingly tough when the song demands it, proved durable enough to hold its own against Miller’s blown-out, distortion tracks.Within months of the Sleigh Bells' first gigs last year the band had attracted national buzz, which has only grown since the group released its debut album, Treats, on M.I.A.’sN.E.E.T. Recordings this spring.
Krauss spoke to me last month in advance of Sleigh Bells' sold-out show at MadPlanet on Tuesday, Oct. 26.
How did Sleigh Bells' sound develop? Was it something you two had in mindfrom the beginning, or did it take a while to hone?
Way before I had even met Derek, he had been working on a bunch of differentmaterial, though he was throwing out most of it. He was hashing out a soundwith a lot of low end and some traditional rock elements, but incorporatingmore electronic beats, and more hip-hop-related elements. On top of that hisinstrument is guitar, so he was adding a rhythmic, metal guitar sound, and itwas the fusion of those two things that formed the basis of what we’re doing.When Derek and I met and began recording together, the combination of my voiceon top of his more abrasive guitar work formed this juxtaposition, giving thispop feel to heavier music. We really liked that, so we kind of worked on that.In some ways, we didn’t really labor over it, it was a natural fit. We met eachother very randomly, so there wasn’t that much invested in what we did. So wekept pushing those elements, and when we got into the studio it developed evenmore. The last songs we did for the album were “Tell Em” and “Riot Rhythm,” ifthat gives you a sense of the direction we’re heading.
Howmuch is your sound a reaction to chillwave and some of the softersoundsthat are popular now?
It was definitely a reaction to it in some respects. I lovea lot of chillwave bands, and we always end up booked to play shows with NeonIndian, which is really funny. But we saw that there is this gap in independentmusic, where there are bands like The National, where it’s moody and cerebral,then bands like Major Lazer, where it’s chaos. There’s nothing in betweenwellthere is, but we were looking for something that was a bit jarring, somethingthat people weren’t expecting, that was refreshing. We didn’t want to dosomething that had been done before. If people have already done it better thanwe’d be able to do it, why try to replicate them? I think hip-hop has a lot todo with it, too, because that’s one of our big influences. We wanted to try tobring that attitude and that rhythm. Derek always says music should start withyour feet and end with your head. With so much music, it’s the opposite.
What was your background inmusic before joining the band?
As a vocalist, I had spent the last four or five years doinga lot of session work, mostly in the pop world. When I was younger I was in ateen pop band, and I met a lot of people through that, so I did a lot of studiowork which required me to sing in a lot of styles and know a lot of techniques;I recorded rock and soul and blues. So when Derek and I got together, we werein his apartment and he started playing me some of his demos, and for me it waslike any other demoing experience. You listen to a song and try to capture theenergy and assume a frame of mind that’s conducive to that music.
Whatkind of artists were you recording for as a session singer?
I was doing a bit of everything, from sessions for Britney Spearssongs to songs that were used on movie soundtracks. Basically, the artists whodon’t write their own music are usually pop artists, and I worked with the songwriters who made their songs. So I would get called in with a writer, record afull demo, with full harmonies, full production and everything exactly as thewriter wanted it, so they could pitch it to singers. I did a couple songs forLindsay Lohan, for instance. It’s funny, but it’s an interesting world and itpays well, and there are no strings attached. You can go in and be creative,you don’t have to deal with the bullshit.
Since it pays well, is it something you’d still consider doing on theside?
No, at this point. I’ve found something that I can be completelyinvested in. Derek and I have plenty of work to do in the band, so I’mpretty focused on that.
Yourvocals run the gamut from very soft to very aggressive. Do you prefer one ofthe styles over the other?
I’m not really partial to either. In the live setting, thesongs that are a bit heavier are more fun to perform, because you can become alittle bit more insane with them, and there’s less subtleties, which in thelive situation is really thrilling. But I also love harmony and triple trackingand working on sounds you can only get in the studio, singing as quietly aspossible.
Howdo the songs on Treats translate live?
Derek and I want a Sleigh Bells show to be something in between a live band andseeing a DJ set. In a way the performers on stage are almost secondary to thereaction people have to the music. We want it to be a very visceral show, wewant people to dance, we want there to be enthusiasm. Our worst nightmare hasbeen people standing there with their arms crossed. So we, in the spirit oftrying to arouse that type of reaction, we just jump around like total idiots.I’m really hard on myself and really critical, I want my singing to sound asgood as possible, but technically if our show isn’t perfect, that’s not asimportant as making people move. We’re still a new band, so we’re stilllearning, and we’re still hard on ourselves, constantly pushing ourselves toget better. We finally have our own front of house guy. I just got my first earmonitor system, which makes a huge difference, so we’re still improving.
Will your next album be as loud and distorted as Treats?
I think that’s always something that’s going to be characteristic of us. That’sthe only way we think it sounds good: blown out and in the red, with a volumeand intensity to it. So the new songs we’re working on still have that elementgoing for it; that won’t change. Derek and I have joked about making a recordthat’s really quiet, though. Just me whispering and him tapping pencils.
