On their third LP, Patience, Mannequin Pussy managed to harness all of promises from their previous releases into a concise, dynamic sound. Always lively, the Philadelphia band takes us through peaks of Shoegaze airiness and valleys of Punk fury, somewhat reminiscent of early 90’s Alternative, without falling into its tired quiet-heavy formula. They live in a world of saturated guitars, pounding rhythm section and vocals ranging from angelic whisper to rugged screams, all of which arranged in subtle details. We spoke to their singer/guitarist Marisa Debice recently, each of us holed up in our isolation laird.
Patience is available through Epitaph Records.
What have you been listening to the most lately?
This kind of anime-looking rapper called ASHNIKKO. She looks like a anime villain, which is a vibe I’m very into and she makes these very funny but enjoyable songs. I haven’t dived too much into whatever her mythology is, if she has one, but to me, she seems like a character I’d want to party with. If I wasn’t stuck inside, I would want to like hang out with her, she seems fun.
What is it about her music that grabbed your attention? Or any music in general?
I’m very beat oriented in how I listen to music. That’s usually what gets me. Like, depending where that kick is placed in a song is really important. I don’t know, anything with a hot drum track is something I like. Then, I do enjoy a lot of airy vocals. She’s not airy vocals though. She has a very sharp sense of humor in her songs. Her songs are about like, men being idiots because they think she needs them and she’s working all the time. It doesn’t sound as fun as I’m making it out! Maybe we should talk about someone else! *Haha*
Being beat oriented, is it something that actually makes or breaks an artist or a band for you? Like, if a band has bad drumming, is it a total no go for you?
Yeah, usually. I’ve always said, I think a band is only as good as its drummer and that’s something I still believe. I think because I said that so much, the universe gave us Kaleen and she came into our lives so that we could make music together. ‘Cause really, she’s the fucking best. But yeah, drums, that’s the heartbeat of the song and if the heartbeat’s failing then usually the body fails too.
Is there any exception to that though? Is there any artists where the drumming is kinda average, very simple or even bordering on bad but yet, for some reason, it passes?
Not that I can think of right now. I mean, I think simplicity is definitely sometimes a call of brilliance as well. When you become very wizardly with what you make, you want to get more and more complicated, but sometimes a simple beat is what serves the song so well. Maybe the STROKES are a good example of that? Simple drums but that just serve the overall feeling of those tracks remarkably well. I think Fabrizio (Moretti) is a brilliant drummer because he plays to what serves the song.
What’s your favorite way of discovering new music these days? Is it live, on records? Through friends’ recommendation, just dumb luck?
Yeah, probably dumb luck. Probably just seeing something weird on my phone. I think that’s how I found ASHNIKKO, someone posted a meme that she was in and I was like, “who the fuck is this?” Or maybe it was through TicTok? I don’t have an account myself, but I feel like I saw a clip that someone had made of her song. That’s the most modern response you could possibly have, Twitter and TicTok! That’s really how I get introduced to new music that I like. I’m not a seeker. Things just kind of fall into my lap.
How do you listen to music mostly? Is it streaming or are you still into physical copies?
If I really like something, I’m going to have a physical copy of it but for just listening to fill space around me, yeah, Spotify. Fucking easy.
Yeah. And the algorithm is so great, it pushes you stuff that you would have never heard otherwise, right?
Yeah, if I want to like go in a hole with it, I’m sure I would wind in some interesting music universes but I don’t really spend that much time looking for music. Honestly, my interests are in other places. I think I’m kind of a boring musician in that way, where I’m not really that good at talking about music.
Well, you’re doing good so far! (Marisa: Alright then!) What type of music do you look for, depending on setting, or the mood? Do you have a go-to for whatever activity, like in the car or working out or doing the dishes, whatever?
I don’t know. I really rarely put on music. My head is so noisy that like, when I drive, I turn off the radio and just drive in silence and listen to the road and the rhythms of the cars passing by or wind through the window. I feel more connected in that space sometimes, where there’s nothing and then your mind is less cluttered. But if I’m looking to clutter my space, like if I’m trying to make out with someone, I’ll put on T. REX Electric Warrior. If a date has gone really well and they’re back at my house, I’ll put on T. Rex and we’ll definitely make out. *Haha* That’s my trick. Anyone can use that and it has 100% success rate, so! *Haha*
Can you name three songs that you would consider perfect and tell a bit about what it is that makes them so perfect to you?
A RADIOHEAD song comes to mind. The album In Rainbows is a perfect album. I consider that a perfect piece of work that there’s nothing in it that I would ever skip over. That would be fucked up. The song Nude, the third track, is a fucking mesmerizing, emotional…oh my god…it’s one of those songs that makes you feel warm inside and more beautiful having listened to it. At the end, he does this really incredible falsetto. It’s almost reminiscent of the melody in the Little Mermaid song that goes *hums the melody*. He does that at the end of the song and it always makes me think of the Little Mermaid but it’s just fucking perfect and the bassline in it is so mesmerizing. It falls in a groove so well. I love the way that everything sounds on that album.
I think Love Is a Losing Game by AMY WINEHOUSE would be another perfect song. Getting the DAP-KINGS to be the band on that track creates this landscape for her to tell her stories and use her voice on top, in this way that fits together. It’s both so new and so nostalgic feeling at the same time. I think the musicians who recorded the instrumental tracks for it give it this kind of timelessness where you could be listening to it in any era, and it makes sense for that era. It sounds like it’s modern and of the past at the same time and I don’t know of that many albums that are able to bridge the gap so seamlessly. That song in particular is one I turn to a lot, it’s just so beautiful.
That ROSALÍA song, A Palé, is fucking dope. She’s from Spain so she speaks in Spanish but she was a Flamenco artist who has created her own sound. In a similar way than I would say Amy Winehouse has, she’s kind of bridged these worlds of this traditional place and modernizing it in a way that’s so brilliant and unlike things I have heard before. She put out a single a few months ago called A Palé and it’s a two minute twenty banger that is like two different songs in one but it just works so well. The beginning is so minimal, it’s pretty much just some synth and vocal arrangement and then it goes into this almost trap beat and the song goes to this completely other place. I love when a song is able to do that too. You’re starting in one village and you end up in another part of the world. It’s so cool. I highly recommend her if you haven’t listened to her. She’s one of my favorite artists right now.
It looks like vocal performance is just as important to you and the beat, right? What would be your top 3 favorite singers?
DOLLY PARTON definitely. What an angelic, beautiful voice that makes you feel so much joy when you hear it. AMY WINEHOUSE would be another and then for me, Karen O from the YEAH YEAH YEAHS. She has the coolest Rock yowl. The way that she stretches her vocal cords and moans through music, I find it really satisfying and fun to listen to. You asked me about music while working out or doing something physical, anything by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would be it.
What would be some of your favorite lyrics? Either a line, a song or maybe even the general work of a lyricist?
I think THOM YORKE would be that for me. I think he’s an extraordinary lyricist. Amy Winehouse again. I think she’s one of the greatest emotional storytellers of our time. I mean, she’s passed away now so I don’t know what generation she belongs to, but probably not this one. I can’t think of single lines or anything right now but I enjoy music when I want to hear what it is that the singer’s saying. I feel like a lot of people don’t really listen to lyrics until they really love a song and then they zero in on it. Sometimes I feel like lyrics are the last gift of a song to give. You create these patterns of what it sounds sonically and then that’s the rewarding thing that goes off in your brain and draws you into something. Lyrics don’t have to necessarily be good to get you into a song and want to sing along to it but when you do listen in and there’s something there that makes me feel like you’re part of humanity. I think that’s an ultimate gift that you’re able to give someone in a song. For me, I think those two artists, I’ve definitely found a lot of those moments looking at lyrics because I wanted to understand the stories that they were telling.
Do you remember the first time music really had an impact on you?
Yeah. We were in the car, I was driving with my parents, we were going somewhere. They’d always listen to college radio, which was very cool of them, so I heard a lot of stuff when I was in middle school. Then maybe in eighth grade, the song Walk On The Wild Side by LOU REED came on the radio and we had gotten home but it was definitely the first time ever that I made my mom not turn off the car. I was like, “wait, please don’t turn off the car. I want to listen to the rest of the song. What song is this?” And she was like “Oh, that’s Walk On The Wild Side, Lou Reed.” She already knew so I didn’t have to look it up or anything but that’s the first time I remember having that moment where I had arrived at my destination but I couldn’t get out of the car because I had to hear the rest of the song all the way through.
Which is a great feeling, right?
Yeah! And my mom was cool enough where she was like, “yeah, let’s listen to the song! It fucking rocks!”
From there, what have been some of your milestones in terms of musical discoveries?
Actually, same thing when I was in high school, I had really bad insomnia. I could never fucking sleep as a kid so I would just be up really late and I would watch VH1 and MTV and stuff like that and they used to have a bunch of shit about music on there(!) and they played something that was like music of the 60’s. They played MC5 and the STOOGES on it. That was a fucking awakening! Being in high school and hearing MC5 Kick Out The Jams. I really didn’t know music could sound like that. That it could be exciting and raw. I feel like my concept of what music was like, the BEATLES. It was still coming from my parents, in a lot of ways but I remember being very excited when I heard that. The first couple times that I heard it, I think I went to my TV too late and I would miss who the artist was. I think this was before Google so I couldn’t go to Google and plug in the lyrics of the songs. I had to wait until it was on TV again and then I could find it.
Which, to be honest, I kind of miss that era. When music still had some sort of a mystery element to it, where it had a life of its own. It was done and it wasn’t around anymore.
Yeah, if you liked something, there was no passive action. If you heard something and you’re trying to figure it out, that was your obsession. I remember I would go to school and I was like, “ah, anyone not sleeping at 3am and watching VH1?” and all my friends would be like, “no, sorry, I can’t help you.” So I had to wait. But I eventually found it and that was very satisfying.
What are some of the most memorable shows that you remember seeing?
Well, the first concert I went to was JIMMY EAT WORLD. I think I was 15 maybe and this band PIEBALD opened. I remember leaving there and I ended up buying Piebald’s merch instead of Jimmy Eat World’s. It was the first time I realized that an opening band doesn’t have to suck. That it’s probably worth it to get there for the opening band. I say that now as someone who opens for people all the time. Like half my income comes from being an opening band. I don’t know, maybe I put some magic into the universe back then because people are very generous with us as an opening band too.
What would you say is the band that you’ve toured with that impressed you the most? The one that you had to watch their set, night after night, no matter what.
I don’t know about ever going on tour with a band where I’m actually going to watch them night after night. That’s not going to happen. But we’ve gone on tour with a lot of really great bands. Some whose albums I’ve listened to regularly. I mean, I was really impressed when we got to tour with JAPANESE BREAKFAST a few years ago. I was so impressed with how Michelle brought those albums to life live. In a way, that just sounded phenomenal. Michelle is a good friend too. She’s taught me so much about her methods and how she creates and is so driven to create. I really really admire that spirit. I mean, everyone we’ve been on tour with are very good musicians and great songwriters. It feels good. A tour feels better when you’re inspired by the people you’re on tour with. We didn’t get to finish the last tour, it got cancelled because of coronavirus but we were on tour with BEST COAST and those were great shows. Bob, the guitarist, was so much fun to talk about guitars with and tone. He’s a really fun music nerd and Bethany has this incredible voice and this really interesting, beautiful way of writing songs. Getting to see how they work together every night was really cool, but unfortunately that tour got shut down.
Is there any up and coming artists that you’d like to recommend?
I really like this band, I think they were from Portland but then they moved to Philly, called STRANGE RANGER. They put out an album called Remembering The Rockets last year that’s really enjoyable sounding. Indie Pop kind of? I don’t know how to explain what anyone does but I really like that record a lot.
Then ASHNIKKO again because I think her songs are really fucking fun and cool.
In closing, do you have any projects that you’d like to promote?
Yeah, I do. Actually, that’s kind of the one silver lining of this. I have this kind of experimental Pop project I’ve been working on with two friends of mine for like, two, maybe three years. Me and one of the other people I work on it on, we’re both in touring bands so we’re constantly on the road and now, we’re starting to get some of our songs finished because we have all the assignment to be home. We’ve bounced around with names but naming something is such a strange thing. We were gonna go with MZM and…I don’t know. We’re gonna put out some music. We put out some music before under an alias, Rosie Thorne, but naming yourself is one of the trivialities that isn’t so fucking trivial of music. We’ll see what we come up with but I’m so excited about what we’re making together so it’s very cool.
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