Q&A

Amy Rigby on a homegrown project

why so long since the last solo album?

I needed to feel I had something to say if I was to come up with a solo record again. The things that compelled me to write songs in my thirties or forties were changing. I had to find out who I was at this stage in my life. When I’m doing an album I need a theme to get an album worth of songs. When we recorded “The Old Guys” that was the start. It made me feel I should get things together. I enjoyed the experience so much I wonder why it takes me so long to get round to doing it.

what’s it like working with wreckless eric?

Eric is pretty intense in the studio; he will focus on one sound for many hours while I go off to make sandwiches. There’s no rivalry, it’s very creative and enjoyable. It sounds amazing but that’s our house – we have amps in the kitchen and cables all over the hall. But it has a natural sound. We call it the Southern Domestic Recording Facility.

Tell me about “leslie”?

Leslie is an amalgam of a lot of women. When I was a kid at CBGBs there weren’t many women on stage so I found myself watching the women in the crowd like Connie, Dee Dee’s girlfriend – the girls who were with the band in the way that was available at the time. It could be sleazy but I thought they were great and brazen. I hope it’s a celebration.