Mary Timony performing with Wild Flag. Photo by Francis Chung.
The last time we caught up with Mary Timony, she was on tour for one of her many musical collaborations, Wild Flag, with pals Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, and Rebecca Cole. Tonight, Timony’s playing a hometown haunt, playing a one-night-only set of Prince covers with Shudder to Think’s Nathan Larson and Pharmicist’s James Canty for the second night of the Black Cat’s twentieth anniversary party throwdown.
DCist recently spoke with Timony ahead of tonight’s show to talk about the evolution of the D.C. music scene, what’s next for Wild Flag, and fond memories of Black Cat after all these years.
DCist: So you grew up in Glover Park, and went to Duke Ellington (School of the Arts). Do you remember when the Black Cat opened? What was the music scene in D.C. like back then?
Mary Timony: When I first moved back to D.C. after college, I was hanging out at Dante’s, which is this restaurant Dante opened before he opened the Black Cat. I spent so many nights there hanging out, I was there all the time. It was the favorite club of the band I was in at the time, Helium. I also loved the first space that Black Cat was originally in, two doors down.
DCist: And what was the music scene like then?
MT: I think it was pretty vibrant. There were a lot of bands and it was certainly different than it is now.
DCist: How so?
MT: Well, the volume of bands in D.C. is less now than it was then. Music scenes kind of move around the country, and at the time it was really a hotbed of activity here for punk and post-punk bands.
DCist: You’ve played the Black Cat with many bands in many different iterations. What’s your favorite memory of playing there?
MT: There are so many good memories, I can’t choose. But I remember lots of crazy things happening there.
DCist: Like what?
MT: Like, my great memories are just hanging out with other musicians there. As a musician it’s so important to be able to gather with your tribe and talk to other people and watch what other people are doing and so the Black Cat provided that for D.C. for a long time. I don’t think this town would have been the same.
In 1995, I went there after Lollapalooza, back when it was a touring show. I remember Courtney Love came too, and she was up to all these crazy shenanigans, like dumping ice water on people’s heads, or doing cocaine off the bar. It was pretty gross, actually.
But as for best memories, I loved opening for Pavement, playing with Blonde Redhead, Shudder to Think, other D.C. bands. D.C. is lucky to have a club like that. A club that’s run by musicians and is all about the music.
DCist: What are your hopes for music in D.C. in the next five years?
MT: I don’t hope it changes at all. I’ve seen a lot of young kids doing some pretty cool stuff. There’s a weird age gap, between people in their early 20’s and people in their late 30’s, but I feel like a lot of people in between have moved, and got the hell out. That’s kind of weird, but there’s some exciting bands coming out of here. I don’t hope to change anything.
DCist: Who are some of the new bands you’re into?
MT: Priests is cool.
DCist: And they have a lady drummer.
MT: Yeah, she’s cool. And there are these two girls, Hand Grenade Job.
DCist: What’s next for Wild Flag and Soft Power?
MT: I’m working on a couple new projects right now. They’re not quite ready yet, but I’m definitely working pretty hard on one record. Wild Flag is on hold right now, but I’ve been writing some songs for a different project lately.
And on Saturday, my friend Nathan Larson, of Shudder to Think, who now does music for films, and Eli Janney (of Girls Against Boys) and Alexis Fleisig (also of Girls Against Boys) and James Canty (of Ted Leo and the Pharmicists) and I are rehearsing Prince covers. Nathan’s been in Sweden all summer so we’ve been practicing via computer.
DCist: Would you ever want to score films? I know Wild Flag came about because you scored a documentary together.
MT: Yes, but it’s hard to get into. I’d love to do that actually, in another career.
Mary Timony plays the Black Cat tonight for the second night of the venerable punk venue’s twentieth anniversary bash. It’s sold out, but you may have luck scoring tickets on Craigslist.
