Birthing Hips [ Interview # 199 ]

1) I don't think I understood what the term "birthing hips" meant until I saw the movie "Kingpin", as Randy Quaid was Amish and that was important to him.   Birthing Hips is actually one of my favorite band names.   It can be taken a lot of different ways.   What was the decision like to choose it as the name?

1) incredible - i've never seen kingpin but i'm a supporter of the quaid family of actors. i think we chose birthing hips as a band name because it was slightly tougher sounding than some of the other options we had kicked around. i also think maybe subconsciously we chose it because it kind of emphasizes the body by what it does AND how it looks; like any art, a combination of the inside and the outside views matter;;

2) I first heard about Birthing Hips because, being from CT, you're considered to be local.   What is the music scene like in Boston these days?

2) the music scene in boston is an explosion of youth and rebellion. lotsa transient kids. i hope the rent hikes and stuff don't shoo everyone out. some of the bands really freak us out in a good way, espc. dent, and noise freaks like andrea pensado. "music scene's crazy - bands start up each and every day - i saw another one just the other day - a special new band" guess who it is? lots of bands in boston sound like the band that wrote that line.

3) All of your releases have been available on cassette.  Do you share the same fondess for cassettes that I do and if so why?

3) cassettes are cheap to make and warm to the ear. i love that they decay; each hearing is a special moment in time for the tape and for your ear engaging with the music. oooh i just love 'em! very democratic art form, a strong signal of the diy

4) Your sound is a tough one to describe as it seems to be a bit of everything and nothing all at once.   What is the process like going into making songs that for other bands could be an entire album?

4) ha ha ha yes our songs have some kind of density, or mystery or whatever. our songwriting process is one of us comes up with an idea and it becomes the THING with which the rest of the material has to contend. we either directly juxtapose the style of that original material from section to section, or we develop it throughout the song as a throughline. dance between references; songforms....i think you have to take each song for what it is and what it presents in each moment of its becoming. 

5) Of all the songs on "Urge To Merge" I still feel as if "Belly Please" is my favorite because who doesn't like food.   Do you feel there is an underlying message in that song about how society seemingly wants us to starve ourselves to appear beautiful?

5) i think you should feel free to read into the meanings of all the songs as you would like. carrie is the lyricist and she has a genius for life-of-pablo style honesty that's so forward that it becomes oblique. there's certainly mucho social critique there but if this contextualizes it for you better we wrote the lyrics while waiting in a restaurant to pick up some korean food before a show. 

6) What has your experience with NNA Tapes been like?

6) nna tapes is the best. toby and matt are wonderful curators and cool people who really get it and support weird art. we are so grateful for their support and their clear love of serious music. love love love. 

7) According to your Facebook Page, Birthing Hips will no longer be playing shows.   Is this just the end of live shows or... the end?

7) "a circle has no beginning"

we do this

because we love you all

--wendy, guitar, birthing hips.