INTERVIEW w/ CHASTITY BELT

Chastity Belt (Julia Shapiro, Lydia Lund, Gretchen Grimm, Annie Truscott) is a treasure of a band. In advance of their May 22, 2019 show at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, program director Rob Patrick interviewed Julia Shapiro about movies, breakfast food, and their upcoming album.

Rob Patrick: Fan favorite Jason Baxter of Hardly Art said you were in the studio last week. I know Annie [Truscott] had mentioned to She Shreds that there was a desire to record with a violin or cello. Did that happen?

Julia Shapiro: Yeah, both. There’s a lot of crazy instruments on this record. We actually recorded it in January, and this month we were down in LA mixing it. There’s a trumpet on one song, even keyboards. We just had a bunch of ideas. We never really talked about it. On this record we didn’t want to be rushed at all, because we always tried to cram recording in to too few days. For this one, we took a lot of time recording and doing overdubs. Because of this, we had more of an opportunity to fuck around and try more instruments.

In a YouTube review, Lie Likes Music described “What the Hell” as a song about dishonesty and apathy. Is that true?

[laughs] Did you watch that YouTube video?

[laughs] Yeah, it’s amazing.

That’s insane. Gretchen [Grimm] and I got really high one night, and we started off watching all of our old music videos because we hadn’t seen them since they came out. Eventually it turned into us finding things like that. My favorite part was when he was reciting the lyrics. I’m trying to remember what that song’s about. I mean, yeah, I guess it’s about apathy [laughs].

Olympia photographer Conner Lyons once told me “a lot of people like Chastity Belt. The members of Chastity Belt are good people in a good band. A lot of people moved up to Seattle because of them. Everybody is doin’ it — it’s nbd.” How does it feel to know that you have influenced so many listeners to make their way up to Washington?

I didn’t even know that we did that. That’s cool. We’re just reppin’ Seattle. It’s a great city. I remember a phase when I was over Seattle and wanted to move somewhere else, but now I’m back into the city. I’m so pro-Seattle right now.

How many tabs does Lydia [Lund] currently have open on her phone, and can you name at least three of them?

[laughs] You would have to ask her, but yeah I didn’t even know you could have so many open at once. Like, over 100. She’s just constantly doing research.

How close are you to finally starting a gear talk podcast?

It’s always something we wanted to do. Actually, I feel like at this point in my life I know more about gear than I ever have. And I’m most interested in it — so it could definitely happen sometime soon.

Since we’re a dang movie theater, what are your top three favorite movies?

It changes all of the time, but I really like Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog. It’s good on so many levels. It’s so full of emotions.

[laughs] It’s really funny, depressing, and haunting — all at the same.

[laughs] Yeah, it really is. Let’s see, what else. Probably A Star is Born. Oh my God, it’s incredible.

I haven’t seen the movie, but it seems like another thing that has a lot of hilarity, sadness and terror? Just like Grizzly Man.

Yeah, absolutely. I’m obsessed with the soundtrack. And then I would go with The Royal Tenenbaums as the third movie. It’s a classic.

Does this mean that the movie where Jared Leto plays an old man has fallen out of favor with you? What’s that called?

Oh, that’s right! What’s that called? Yeah, he’s an old man. I had forgotten about that movie — I have to re-watch that. It was life-changing [laughs].

Will we ever see a bill with Who is She, Childbirth and Chastity Belt?

Unlikely.

Third Eye Blind recently covered your song “Joke.” If Eve 6 were to cover one of your songs, which one would you pick for them?

Probably “Different Now.” That would be really cool.

Finally, what’s the band’s favorite place to eat or get zorked out in Olympia?

[laughs] Probably New Moon Cafe; we had breakfast there and it was great. I like that place. I also like Old School.

Tickets for your favorite band’s favorite band, Chastity Belt, are now on-sale both online and at our box office.