Randi Russo's newest release (yeah alliteration), 'Fragile Animal', is an exceptional work of songwriting, musicianship, and lyrical performance. At times reminiscent of Liz Phair's detached passion (from her early days), Russo has made a full album of material that just feels good to listen to. Sort of singer-songwriter, sort of rock star, sort of indie rock; and all sorts of good. The album is coming out March 29 on Hidden Target Recording.
What’s your (approximately) 100 word bio sound like?
There is always a short, bio/blurb that we musicians need to use for press which lauds our accomplishments, critical successes, etc. But my real bio would probably go something like this:
Randi Russo is an artist and musician whose work combines elements that are both raw and refined, work that explores how one’s inside experiences are at odds with one’s outside experiences. She was a straight-A student, typical good girl who was terribly shy, who eventually rebelled and, in others’ eyes, had gone awry. She felt compelled to follow her passions instead of shutting down and doing something to earn a comfortable living at any cost to what she knows is her true life’s purpose. In some ways, she is successful and lots of ways, she is not. She is constantly trying to adjust her perspective so that last statement can be reversed.
Why Fragile Animal?
I have a thing for word play. I like rhymes and rhymes within rhymes or imperfect rhymes. Of course, this title only works for people who pronounce “fragile” as “FRA-jill” as opposed to “FRA-JAI-el.” Since I am a word person, I started to look into this. Apparently, both are correct, but the former (my way) is the common American way pronounce it (there are always a few outliers, of course… one of my closest friends who plays on the record “mispronounces” it all the time, only to be followed by the sound of my insides cringing since the sound of words are nearly as important as their meanings to me).
For months, I was turning over word after word, trying to come up with something that rolled off the tongue but also made sense. I was trying too hard. I wasn’t coming up with anything. Then one day, I wrote the word “FRAGILE” on the side of a box the day before I was about to move. The box that I happened to be using was from a nearby housewares store and they apparently sold something that was animal-related, as the box was marked as such. Unwittingly, I wrote the word Fragile right above the box’s bold-faced type “ANIMAL” – and there it was, staring right back at me! And it was perfect because it encapsulated what is already there in my music, my art, and all the things that make me (and everyone else) human – it is about the duality of being someone who responds in ways which are reactive, primal and visceral, yet who is balanced by sensitivity, self-doubt, and insecurities. It’s about being raw, which can mean rough and primitive but can also mean to be incredibly vulnerable.
Favorite song lyrically on your album? Musically?
I’m never good at choosing one thing. Lyrically, there are three: 'Swallow', because its power lies in the asking for freedom when you’ve had just about all you can take, so I think it resonates emotionally; 'Venus on Saturn' resonates in a more intellectual way; and 'Head High' because this song is another one of my “fight the powers that be” kind of song and I always have a special place in my heart for sentiments like that.
Musically, 'I am Real' and 'Swallow' – Joe Bennett (of Goldrush) plays piano parts on 'Swallow' that are completely magical and take me elsewhere. I am Real taps into that middle-eastern and Indian feel that I’ve always been drawn to. It’s more psychedelic, hypnotic, open-sounding. Don Piper’s harmonium parts are super melodic and Paul Megna did an amazing job with the production on this song.
In some interviews you have been incredibly outspoken about politics; how do you feel your political beliefs have affected your art? And have your religious beliefs influenced it? How about social/societal beliefs?
All art forms should have something to say; and if it’s been said before, then find a new way to say it. I’ve always had a connection to people who feel on the outside of things because that was what my childhood was about, even though on the surface it may not appear as such, which made my disconnection to others even more painful. I connect to those who feel disconnected, and if you have a tenderness towards such people, there’s no way you cannot feel compassion for your fellow man. And if you truly feel compassion, then how can you just stay silent in a world governed by select groups of individuals who constantly construct rules to essentially suppress the indigenous power of those who are considered “less important” based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and economic status. And if a large part of life is about a competition for resources, then the parasitic influence of greed has only made this problem of inequity more of an epidemic. As far as my religious beliefs go, Love is my religion. I try – but don’t always succeed in – having love for everyone; it is an ideal that I truly do believe can cure all ills, whether societal or personal, and it’s a belief that I hardly think is naïve and is certainly something I don’t want to give up on.
You have an opportunity to collaborate with any artist (from any medium) from history, living or dead, who do you pick?
My goodness… this is a tough one! Like your other questions, I just can’t pick one because so many come to mind… of the dead: John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, E.A. Robinson, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Living: Jimmy Page, PJ Harvey, Chuck D. and David Bowie.
What makes art real art? What makes art meaningful?
If, through any of your senses, you, in that particular moment, are completely moved emotionally or provoked intellectually to think and feel differently than just what had existed the moment before, then that work of art is real and meaningful. And these feelings need to feel like they are a part of you and have always been a part of you. Art that can repeatedly do this (say, a poem, painting or a song) is, of course, more enduring. But it cannot be purely intellectual; the feeling must be there. When art is discussed in such a way that only involves the intellect, then more likely than not it’s bullshit at worst or ineffectual at best.
How do you try to make your art meaningful to other people?
When I was a teenager, I listened to a lot of so-called depressing songs, and I used to think how wonderful these songs made me feel, in that they comforted me; and I remember praying to God to help me so that I could one day do this for someone else. I know that the stomachs of cynical people must be turning as they read that, but that’s the honest truth. Art should always be authentic, fearless, and have the ability to tap into universals while addressing the particulars. This is what I try to do; I am always hoping for that connection to others through my own particular issues/struggles. My experience will always be your experience and vice versa. If my art can tap into that truth, then it is successful.
What’s next for you?
Hopefully learning to take things one day at a time.