Joan As Police Woman

SMOKE ON THE WASSER

What music are you currently grooving to?

I’ve been listening to a song called Process by Samora Pinderhughes.

I saw him play live recently, and he was just spectacular! I’m also listening to Damon Albarn’s new LP. And this record by Meshell Ndegeocello called Ventriloquism is really amazing.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Fresh by Sly And The Family Stone. The production is insane, and the textures of sound are so interesting. I love it, it has everyone’s voices: women, men, black, white, American, British… it’s super free.

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? I noticed the cover for Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Axis: Bold As Love at a Goodwill and bought it for a quarter. I was probably 10, and when I put that record on, I remember thinking, “Can you do this on a record?”

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? Nina Simone. She’s one of the greatest pianists and she’s always in the moment. It felt like she had a really difficult life though, so I might like to be her from the outside, but from the inside, Freddie Mercury.

What do you sing in the shower? Whitney Houston, David Bowie and Marvin Gaye.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

Dirty Mind or Sign O’ The Times by Prince.

And your Sunday morning record? This depends on my mood. John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme is great on a Sunday morning. Fela Kuti’s Expensive Shit also feels great. If I’m in a different mood, Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert. [Those improvisations] are really interesting, they move above the surface of the music.

The Solution Is Restless is out now on PIAS.