{"id":5118,"date":"2011-07-13T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-13T11:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/marisa-predisik-serving-the-song\/"},"modified":"2011-07-13T11:47:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-13T11:47:00","slug":"marisa-predisik-serving-the-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/marisa-predisik-serving-the-song","title":{"rendered":"Marisa Predisik: Serving The Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

10:32am | <\/strong>Local band Paper City is celebrating the release of their new CD, Popular Talk, with a party this Saturday evening at the Blue Cafe on Pine Avenue. In addition to a performance by the band, attendees can look forward to DJ T La Ross, comedian Kate Vail, and the infamous Count Smokula, with the whole thing MC’d by Matt Clay Brooks who, among other things, writes for Chris Rock. The party kicks off a two month tour that will run up the Pacific coast, across the country, down to the South, and back again. <\/p>\n

Marisa Predisik is the mastermind behind Paper City. She fronts the trio, sings, plays guitar, and holds down the song writing duties. I asked her why the event has a carnival feel to it. <\/p>\n

Marisa<\/strong>: It’s funny that you mention that. I didn’t intend for there to be a “carnival theme” but, if you have Count Smokula involved, it seems inevitable. [laughs] But, I do mention carnivals\/state fairs in passing on more than one song on the new album. I’ve always been into that stuff. Even the word “carnival” can conjure a very vivid mental picture, so I think it’s an appropriate word choice in certain lyrical instances. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: What do those things evoke in you?<\/em> <\/p>\n

Marisa<\/strong>: A colorful dizziness, being in love, being excited, being free… When have you ever been bummed out at a carnival? Don’t answer that. There are lots of things that can bum someone out at a carnival, I’m sure, but the idea remains so romantic to me in a carny sort of way. [laughs] <\/p>\n

The lights, the rides, the treats, the tickets, the entertainers, the summer air, the running around and forgetting yourself. This all applies to theme parks for me, too. I love a good theme park. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: Tell me about the tour. Although you did a solo tour to the South, this is the first time you’ve hit the road with a band.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Marisa<\/strong>: Yes! It’s my first band venture. We’re all really excited about it. We’ll be on the road for two whole months, from July 18th to September 15th. We’ll be stopping in 23 states and playing over 22 shows. We’re basically doing a loop around the USA. We’re stopping in Nebraska to play the Nebraska Pop Festival, then up and down the East coast, then down through and across the South where we’ll end up back in Long Beach! It’s going to be a busy time. <\/p>\n

I’m putting a lot more behind this album: Publicity-wise, money-wise, everything! I’m going for it. I know I’m going to die one day, and I want to start living. You know what I mean? <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: I’ve always thought of you as rather lively. <\/em> <\/p>\n

Marisa<\/strong>: Thank you, Sander! I do have a lot of energy. I always seem to be the last man standing at any given party! [laughs] <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: What’s the recording process been like?<\/em> <\/p>\n

\"MarisaMarisa<\/strong>: Recording is always the toughest part, in my mind, because everything has to be perfect, but they all did a really great job. Ben Swenson’s really amazing on the bass, and he’s very considerate of the song structure and vocal melody. Although he could be playing straight-up Jaco Pastorius licks, he’s thinking about how to serve the song, and not overpower it. <\/p>\n

Dave Waterman, our drummer, is the same way. He serves the song without trying to be Keith Moon. We’re a good fit. We all serve each other. It’s nice! Dave jokes about me being bossy, but I don’t think he’s joking. I left a couple of voice messages on his voice mail during the recording process. It’d be almost 11 at night, and I’d be leaving these messages that were like, “…for ‘Blue to Grey,’ do this with the kick drum…” and I’d go into this beat box thing. I have no idea how to transcribe drums, so I’d have to call him and do it with my mouth. Luckily, he didn’t erase any of those, because we used them as a reference while we were recording. It helped a lot!! <\/p>\n

There are 14 songs, 6 of them are ukulele and 8 are guitar. I really went for the electric guitar on this album, although two songs were recorded with acoustic. Live, I play everything with the electric. <\/p>\n

As for my singing, I used some gear I’d previously avoided and it allowed me to really project, vocally. I could yell a note, or whisper a note, and they both came out without getting lost, or getting distorted. On “Who Do They Love” I’m basically yelling the chorus, and it came out clean. With “Holiday” right before I go into the chorus, the vocals change from a croon to a yell, and neither overpowers the mic. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: Let’s talk about writing for a moment. You’ve been in a stable long term relationship for several years, now, and you’ve had a solid, stable band as well. Your career as a professional masseuse has continued to expand. Has all this stability and happiness changed what you write about?<\/em> <\/p>\n

Marisa<\/strong>: Sort of, I suppose. I’m not sure if the songs appear happier. I thought they would but, after listening to the album as a whole, one may think I’m going through some heartbreak, but that just isn’t so. I did write one song for the heartbreak of someone else. “Who Do They Love” was written for Edie Sedgewick. <\/p>\n

I became interested in her after watching some footage that Andy Warhol had taken of her in the 60’s. Then, I had to watch everything she’d done, and read all I could about her. She had a very tragic life; it fascinated me. Like a lot of songwriters, I wished things had been different for her. I’m assuming other songwriters felt the same, but it’s hard to say how the Cult really felt when the wrote Ciao Baby! <\/p>\n

Ciao Manhattan, her last movie before she died, is really sad. Sad because she’s sort of doing a parody of her own life. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: I sometimes fear that’s what we’re all doing.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Marisa<\/strong>: I don’t mind if that’s the truth of it. I’d like to look back and laugh at some stuff. I wonder what a parody of my life would look like. Probably exactly the same! [laughs] <\/p>\n

— <\/p>\n

Advance tickets to the CD Release Party are $5, and are available here<\/a>. Tickets at the door will be $10. <\/p>\n

Hear tracks and follow Paper City on facebook<\/a>, or visit their website, PaperCityMusic.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this interview with Marisa Predisk, lead singer, song writer, and guitarist for the local band Paper City, she talks about this Saturday’s CD Release Party at the Blue Cafe, the recording process, and their upcoming nation-wide two month tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5118"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=5118"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}