Brit Scout Niblett explores the mythology of blondes and blackouts
by Joe Tarr
Scout Niblett didn't set out to be a musician. She's been playing and writing music since she was a kid, but when Niblett went to college it was to study visual art.
The school she attended in Nottingham encouraged its students to tackle several different genres. So she started playing guitar and working music into her shows. Her performance pieces were a mix of video art, music and drama. Shortly after graduating, she started focusing exclusively on the music.
"The kind of performances I was doing [in college] was catering to a certain audience and I had to rely on the audience for the whole thing to happen," says Niblett, whose real name is Emma Niblett. "But just writing songs and delivering songs, I knew I could do it almost without anyone there."
So, here she is, about to play a gig at the Lion's Lair rock club in Denver. She is talking on the phone in the bathroom to escape the crowd chatter and music. On a tour of the club circuit with labelmates Swearing at Motorists (who will also be playing at the Pilot Light), she has lots in common with a number of indie acts.
But, there are elements that set her apart from the scene. One of them is a carryover from those earlier art performances—a long, blonde wig. Originally, it was used as a way to become different characters on stage. She now wears it during all her shows (and in photographs for her CDs).
"To be seen as a blonde has got certain connotations that are quite loaded. It's a huge statement almost if you've got blonde hair or choose to be blonde by dying your hair," she says. "It's like trying to be a blonde to me is something I've noticed that women have done in history, almost like it's their way to be a woman. A lot of the time, I don't know if people understand [wearing the wig] is coming from an ironic position. But that's why it's a wig—I'm putting it on."
Niblett has been playing piano since she was a child and even wrote a few songs then. The songs she wrote as a girl—including one she might record on her next album, about doing a country dance at school—were generally morose. "I just liked drama. Sometimes I think it's easy to see melancholy things as dramatic. It's almost the easiest thing. I wasn't really sad."
Niblett's debut, Sweet Heart Fever, was released last year. Although she remained largely unknown, the album was a gem that was praised by a handful of critics. The prevailing comparison was that she was a British Cat Power. The two women's voices are at times remarkably similar, but the comparison is superficial. Cat Power's songs are cryptic narratives that meander. Niblett's songs walk a strange line between 19th-century folk ballads and avant-garde rock. Some of the songs also have a simplicity to them that belies their emotional depth.
Sweet Heart Fever consists mostly of guitar ballads—love songs and broken-hearted songs. There are creative flourishes (a marching-band drumbeat on the track "Ground Breaking Service"). And despite some sad songs, there's sense of humor running through the whole thing ("Big bad man big bad man/ Everyone seems so scared of you/ Big bad man big bad man/ I hear that you eat kids too" she sings in one song).
Experimental elements have crept back in on her forthcoming EP, I Conjure Series. On the first track, she bangs wildly on a drum, screaming, "Let's Go, Let's Go," before settling down into a softer voice to ask "man and woman" to "jump into it as boys and girls." It's as though she's imploring adults to leap into love with a childlike innocence.
Her drumming is more for catharsis than to keep the beat, although she also does that quite well. "To be honest with you, I got a bit bored playing guitar. I wanted to experiment. I also got bored with the way I was writing songs, it seemed to be a formula. I wanted to step away from it." Niblett says.
"It was really fun," she says of the experience. "I purposely wanted to use them, not as a professional drummer would, but just to create a backdrop for singing.... It was more creating an atmosphere."
Although she's focused on music, Niblett would like to bring back elements of art performances. She hasn't quite figured out how to do that. "I feel really frustrated by the setup of shows where you're just presenting something. I'd like it to be more interactive. I don't understand why I'm just there playing and they're just watching. It's kind of fascinating to me."
But at the same time, Niblett is also detached from her audience. Her shows reportedly include "Sonic Youth-like discordant freak-outs."
Asked how the tour has been so far, Niblett is at a loss. "It's hard for me to know, because I can never understand how I come across as a performer. I'm not really conscious. It's almost like I black out. I wish I didn't because it's almost like I miss the whole thing."
September 19, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 38
© 2002 Metro Pulse
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