A L S O_.T O D A Y

Blue Glow
Will Smith is the man on the "NAACP Awards"; more reruns than you can stand

Full "Steam" ahead
By Dakota Smith
Alessandro Gassman, the Italian star of last year's award-winning film "Steam," is poised to become the next European heartthrob to find an American audience

Dusty Springfield, 1939-1999
By Joyce Millman
Remembering "the Queen of White Soul," a one-of-a-kind singer

---------------[ american  bandstand ]
-----SLEATER-KINNEY'S CARRIE BROWNSTEIN TALKS ABOUT
-----POLITICS, THE PRESIDENT AND SIMPLE POP SONGS.

BY JOE HEIM
On the eve of a scheduled interview with Carrie Brownstein, the co-singer, songwriter and guitarist of the celebrated fem-punk trio Sleater-Kinney, I get an e-mail from the band's manager asking me to avoid the following questions: How does it feel to be "women in rock"? Do you consider yourselves a "riot grrrl band"? What do you make of all of the press you've gotten?

"Don't take it personally Joe, we're just telling everyone that the band doesn't want to answer these anymore."

It's easy to understand why. Praise for Sleater-Kinney from fans and critics alike has been surfeit, but so too has the tendency to lump them into the decidedly unimaginative "women who rock" category -- as if Sleater-Kinney's most important attribute was simply being an all-female band.

With the just released "The Hot Rock" on the small, fervently independent Kill Rock Stars label, along with "Dig Me Out" (1997) and "Call the Doctor," (1996), the Olympia, Wash., trio has firmly established itself as one of the most important American groups to emerge in the last five years.

I spoke with Brownstein by phone from Portland, where she and bandmates Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss were about to embark on an extensive North American and European tour.

Sounds like you're already getting tired of talking to the press.

It's more that it's just annoying to listen to ourselves talk about the same things. We start sounding like a broken record.

OK, well, let's talk about the president.

OK.

Did you follow the impeachment at all?

I have to say, probably like a lot of the American public, that I became very tired of the impeachment trial. I think my dissatisfaction grew as I realized all the really important things that the government was ignoring, which are the same things that the government is always ignoring. But this was in such a blatant way. There was a complete disregard to the true feelings and needs and desires of the American public. I thought it was a very alienating time to be a citizen here. Often you feel like your voice isn't being heard.

I hope that what comes out of this is that people's skepticism toward our government breeds a new kind of leadership. There are always alternatives to the people that lead our country, but maybe more people would be willing to listen to alternative or different ideologies this time around.

Are you involved in anything politically?

Not in terms of government. Individually, I try to give donations where I can. I try volunteering at food banks and homeless shelters. And as a band we try to play benefits, like Rock for Choice and Planned Parenthood benefits. In terms of personal politics, I try to support local businesses in Olympia and think about the kind of products I buy, where I shop, what I eat and where my clothing is made, which are all political choices on a certain level and important to think about.

Sleater-Kinney have a reputation of being a political band, but it's certainly not overt.

That's right. I think of ourselves as a band that has ideals that can be interpreted as political in the sense that they are outside the conventional way of being in a band. I think that choosing to be on an independent label and not work for a big corporation is a political decision. I don't think, though, that our songs are sloganistic. They're definitely not.

There are politics that govern this band, but musically and lyrically we encompass a broader scope of ideas and emotions, some of them more political than others. But I wouldn't say that we're a political band in the sense that Sleater-Kinney equals an ideology or anything. There are a lot of other things that are important to us. In terms of being a songwriter, making art is important and I see art as a powerful force.

N E X T_P A G E _| Dealing with temptation and fame