Grass Widow or Grass Window?
Grass Widow‘s got the Slumberland Records 7″ canon coursing through their veins. They’ve got kale and poutine coursing through them, too, but we’ll get to that in a minute. As for the trio’s connective musical tissue, it’s an unspecific sound, but immediately recognizable, too. Bracing rhythms and tension derived from post-punk cut into the sweetness and light of 60s pop harmony. It’s a sunny day, but bring a sweater, ’cause clouds are glooming on the horizon. Internal Logic is Grass Widow’s latest, and it’s a winner. Three-part harmonies pulse over a groove pulled taut, and the empty space inside the songs is as important as the outer space keyboards tugging tetchily at the corners. There’s that darkness again, riding shotgun with the light.
We asked Grass Widow a bunch of questions about — what else — snacks, and they were more than game to answer. Check out their thoughts on gummies, pierogi, hotdog suits, and the search for a great gluten-free poutine.
You jumped from Kill Rock Stars (2010′s Past Time) to release Internal Logic on your own imprint, HLR. Any plans to expand your product line into Grass Widow: The Snack? Imagine the merch table.
Raven Mahon (Guitar): That’s clearly the next step for us. We should have a snack window made out of grass at our merch table. A grass window, you might say. (It’s been said before.) It would be a place where we can really break everything down to grass snacks; the key to who we are as a band, the motivation behind our music, and the real reason we tour. We could also sell items like rice cakes, chocolate kimchi, sour gummies (my personal fave) and trail mix.
Hannah Lew (bass): The last time we were in Olympia, Wash., a restaurant called Quality Burrito named a drink after us. Maybe we could set up our own renegade bar on tour and sell our namesake drink.
Lillian Maring (drums): HLR, our label, actually stands for Ho! Likable Recipes.
You’re kicking off a huge tour. Any treats you can’t wait to return to? Maybe there’s a rock club somewhere in America with a soda fountain right next door.
Raven: I enjoy snacking on seaweed. I also miss burritos when I’m away. Once, a friend on tour in San Francisco consumed three burritos here in one day. They’re that good. I bought a dehydrator awhile back and have been making kale chips to bring on tour, but I’m not really happy with the recipe yet; if any Snackpotters have suggestions for what to put in the goo you spread on the kale pre-dehydration, I’m all ears. I’ve tried cashews, tahini, olive oil, peanut butter, jam, mud, yogurt, donuts…
I also always look forward to eating piroshkis in New York City.
Hannah: I could stay in NYC for a week and just eat different foods all day. I used to live there, and look forward to eating cold borscht and boiled pierogi at Veselka in Manhattan. Coconut Samosas on 6th Street, too.
Lillian: Once, Raven and I split the $17 Reuben at Katz’s Delicatessen. Best I ever had, and half was enough.
Van Snacks: a tour must. What are your go-to’s?
Raven: Chips of every size and shape and flavor. Lifetime supply of Sour Gummies. Avocado.
Hannah: We eat a lot of corn thins on tour. They’re basically a vehicle for hummus, avocado, whatever. I like drinking coconut water or apple cider vinegar while on tour, as well.
Lillian: Bragg‘s has these beverages with apple cider vinegar in them, sweetened with stevia. I like the apple cinnamon. We recently ate a whole bag of raw kale at a rest stop — that helps beat the “I’ve been sitting in a car for eight hours” thing.
Lately at the Snackpot we’ve been talking about the differences between domestic and worldwide snacking. The varieties, the flavors, the weird. What has Grass Widow encountered in the way of far flung snacks?
Raven: Poutine? That’s probably the most popular “foreign” food we talk about. Last time we were in Montreal, we were on a search for gluten-free poutine. It was a challenge.
Lillian: If anyone knows a poutine recipe that doesn’t include gluten, dairy or soy and isn’t totally horrible, please email me at lillian.maring@gmail.com. We played a festival in Chiasso, Switzerland, right on the Italian border, and they had an impressive spread of snacks. There was a big plate of dates stuffed with soft cheese and wrapped in prosciutto. Every time I think of that, my eyes roll into the back of my head.
Hannah: When we were in China we had a really delicious watercress salad. The food there was really yummy and fresh, unlike American Chinese food which is often greasy and full of MSG.
Will you write The Snackpot’s theme song? Don’t worry, we ask everyone.
Raven:
Where do you turn when you get that feeling?
When you’re bored or cranky, or kind of upset?
Or maybe you’re in trouble at work and want to quietly rebel?
Set your autopilot to The Snackpot…
Follow your bliss into The Snackpot…
Your tummy is sure you’re in the Right Spot
Find yourself and your friends up in The Snackpot!
Hannah: That song’ll be featured on Raven Mahon’s solo record. It’s called JOHN I’M ONLY SNACKING!
Lillian: The video will feature Hannah and me singing backup and doing cartwheels in hotdog suits.
