Dec 02, 2013 8 Questions with: Maggie Vail
Jesse von Doom and Maggie Vail at the CASH Music Summit LA at The Echoplex (November 16, 2013)
I was introduced to Maggie Vail by our mutual friend Lance Hahn when he was staying at my house and her band The Bangs was playing down the street at Spaceland. It was probably 1999 or 2000. Later on, I would correspond with Maggie as she was doing press for the Kill Rock Stars record label and I was editing Giant Robot magazine. Loved her band, loved her label, and loved her PMA, but we both moved on.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw Maggie for the first time in years. She was hosting a talk for CASH Music, a nonprofit partnership she co-founded with fellow KRS contributor Jesse Von Doom. They empower artists through free technology and learning, providing an open-source platform for sharing music that can never be bought or sold away from them. Guest speakers at the summit included big-time technologists Tara Tiger Brown, Tatiana Simonian, and Pascal Finette, as well as some of my favorite musicians Allison Wolfe and Mike Watt, and I was blown away by their discussion.
It is a really cool and important thing that Maggie and Jesse are doing and 8 Questions seemed like a good way to find out more about their mission and what my friend has been up to.
How would you describe your job?
My job is incredible–by far the most all-consuming, challenging thing I’ve ever done. Jesse and I exist in this strange land all by ourselves at the intersection between music, technology, and industry. It’s kind of lonely at times but it’s a pretty amazing feeling knowing you’re doing the exact thing that needs to be done to help the people you care about most. Sometimes it’s grown slower then we’d like it to and sometimes it’s harder than we expect. It’s always worth it.
This is stupid but I’ve looked everywhere and this is driving me crazy. Is CASH Music an acronym?
It is! Kristin (Hersh, from Throwing Muses) named it. CASH stands for Coalition of Artists and Stakeholders.
Maggie Vail, Tara Tiger Brown, Allison Wolfe, and Tatiana Simonian at the CASH Music Summit LA at The Echoplex (November 16, 2013)
At the recent CASH Music summit in Los Angeles, you emphasized the similarities between music and tech. Can you describe your outlook?
I think there’s this basic assumption that musicians aren’t businesspeople and that developers aren’t creative. Rarely do I think that’s actually true in either case. The best of both have to incorporate the two. There’s more common ground than the current dialogue would leave anyone to believe. I’m interested in exploring that.
Was it challenging to go from growing a very focused, almost family-like label to working for musicians of all kinds?
No, that part really isn’t too different. Kill Rock Stars had bands of all kinds and from all corners of the world.
One of the more challenging aspects of CASH to me in the beginning was learning tech and start-up language. I didn’t speak it and definitely felt alienated by it.
Being a musical artist yourself, does that make it more gratifying or difficult to spend your hours enabling other bands instead of working on your own music?
I’ve always found it gratifying. I have definitely spent way more of my life–like 95 percent of it–working on other people’s music and careers rather than my own. I keep thinking once we find our stride that I’ll go back to working on my solo album in the evenings. We’ll see!
The Bangs (courtesy of Kill Rock Stars)
What are some things that inspire you outside of music or tech? Books? Artists?
Lots and lots of things. English detective novels–usually written by ladies–are a big weakness of mine. I’m really obsessed with my dog and going to the dog park. Honestly, it’s the best way for me to take a break and let go of some of the stress. He’s so completely happy there and seems to make all the other dogs moreso as well. It’s a real joy to watch.
Also earning languages, making collages. Huge trees are important to me (as a NW native) and swimming. Maybe I love swimming more than anything. My family refers to me as a fish.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a marine biologist. For a few years, all I talked was whales. Then I wanted to direct movies. I never really did anything to make either happen.
Also, I was placed a year ahead in math in 8th grade and just got lost. Never got it back again. Sometimes I think I’d like to get into math for fun and prove to childhood me that I can actually do it.
You haven’t totally stopped your label work. Can you tell me about Bikini Kill records?
This is true. Bikini Kill got their rights back to their back catalog and wanted to release it themselves, so I’m managing their label for them. I oversee the reissues, do publicity, accounting, etc. We released the 20th anniversary of their first EP last year and are working right now on the second EP (now LP, with seven new songs) as well as the CD/digital version of both. Those will both be out in early February.
It’s an honor to continue to work with a band that has meant so much to me personally as well as to the culture at large.
Maggie Vail, Pascal Finette, and Mike Watt at the CASH Music Summit LA at The Echoplex (November 16, 2013)
Check out CASH Music at cashmusic.org and Bikini Kill Records at bikinikill.com.
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