CULTURE

Mixing it up

By Sergey Chernov

Staff Writer

For The St. Petersburg Times New York-based musician Nina Nastasia, who performs at Platforma on Thursday, said she likes to use a lot of instruments in concert.

Experimental singer and songwriter Nina Nastasia on tour in St. Petersburg

Nina Nastasia, an interesting New York-based singer and songwriter who puts her unusual, strangely mesmerizing songs into sometimes bold experimental arrangements, was one of the favorite artists of the late British DJ and music guru John Peel in the last several years.

Peel, who was reputed for his ear for good, off-beat, innovative music, used the word “astonishing” to describe her sound. Living in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, Nina grew up in Los Angeles and moved to New York after living for a year in Seattle.

She did not start performing until 1990, when she was already living in New York. After stints at various underground venues in New York she recorded “Dogs,” her debut record, there in 1999.

“I actually don’t think about it,” said Nina about her songwriting by phone from her home in New York this week.

“A lot of stuff is kind of made up, and other things are definitely things I experienced one way or another. I can also pick those subjects and make things up around something I understand.”

Sound engineer/musician Steve Albini, legendary for his production work with Nirvana, the Pixies and PG Harvey, among many others, recorded Nina’s debut effort. Nina and her partner/manager Kennan Gudjonsson established a tiny record label called Socialist Records to release a limited number of copies of “Dogs” that quickly sold out.

Peel discovered Nina, when Albini sent him a copy of “Dogs,” and he put songs from it into heavy rotation on his show.

Between 2002 and 2004 Nina did five “John Peel sessions” including three at Peel Acres, his home outside of London — a considerable privilege for any contemporary musician.

“Oh, it was really one of the best experiences I’ve had in music, absolutely,” said Nina.

“He did sessions at his house, Peel Acres, and it was a really great atmosphere each day. Sheila, his wife, cooked dinner and we drank a lot of wine and ate dinner, and then after we got drunk, we did the session in his, like, den at his house. It was just incredibly relaxed. They are just good people, it was really fun to hang out with them. It was a lot of fun.”

Last year Nina contributed a song called “Bird of Cuzco” to “John Peel: A Tribute,” a two-CD collection of the influential DJ’s favorite songs released to commemorate the first anniversary of his death.

Albini also produced the follow-up albums, “The Blackened Air” in 2001 and “Run to Ruin” in 2003, both on Touch & Go Records. Touch & Go re-released “Dogs” in 2004. Nina is now signed to FatCat for her next two records, which have already been recorded with Albini.

Nina seems to like intricate, avant-garde arrangements, with a stress on strings, and is open to experimentation such as including two throat singers/igil players from the Tuvan band Huun-Huur-Tu in her touring band in 2004.

“Two of the members of Huun-Huur-Tu played at some shows,” she said.

“We did a U.K. tour, we had a lot of fun. Yeah, it was good. It kind of came together really quickly. Well, I think it would have been great to have a little more time to really develop it, but it was fun.” Although her songs stand up when performed with just her voice and a guitar, Nina said she likes to have many musicians with her on stage.

“Performing, I like to have a lot of instruments, it’s a lot of fun, all those instruments,” she said.

“I don’t know, it takes a lot of responsibility [laughs] on stage the more people I have with me. But I really love to record. It’s my favorite thing in the whole process.”

In Russia, Nina will be backed by drummer Jim White of Dirty Three and viola player Dylan Willemsa, who have both played on her records.

“I kind of mix it up a little bit,” she said. “I use different instruments sometimes, I use different people, but there’s a kind of core group of people that I use again and again, so it’s a funny thing in a way, it’s like having a band and in another way just sort of... just depends on instrumentation, how many people I use each time.”

Nina hesitates when asked about her musical influences or tastes.

“I don’t know. I don’t really collect music… or rarely even go out to hear music that much. I mean I do have friends that are in bands and stuff, certain ones I see every now and again. I am not a real music collector, like kind on top of the scene. I listen to all different kinds of music but a lot of it has to do with what been played next to me.”

After the St. Petersburg concert Nina goes to Moscow where she will perform three shows between April 14 and 19. Her brief tour is part of the musical program of the Golden Mask theater festival that also includes performances by Poland’s Warsaw Village Band (Sunday) and the U.S. band Gary Lucas and Gods & Monsters (Wednesday), all at Platforma.

Nina Nastasia performs at Platforma on Thursday. www.socialistrecords.com

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