SFBG: You had to relieve yourself of your vote?

KD: Exactly. [Laughs] It was pretty crowded. What happened with you?

SFBG: It wasn't bad - I think a lot of people voted early.

KD: Hey, are you going to watch Milk, that movie?

SFBG: Oh, yeah, I saw it - it's really good. Sean Penn is amazing in it.

KD: No! I want to see it. I saw a picture and he looked freakin' good. Maybe the reason why I'm interested is because we did a song for Hedwig and the Angry Inch's John Cameron Mitchell tribute called Wig in a Box and all the proceeds went to the Harvey Milk School in New York City. There was a documentary about the school and they talked to some of the kids who are attending Harvey Milk School. The school isn't just for gay people - it's for people who are in a fragile state, who are confused about their sexual identity, people who get physically and emotionally tortured, in any other high school in New York City. There's a safe haven for them to go to.

You hear other people say, "What about the other people who get bullied in high school?" There were people protesting in the movie. You know I can kind of see their point, but at the same time, you see some of these kids and you're like, "Omigod, that kid would get their shit kicked out of them. They wouldn't survive."

SFBG: So how is being with the Breeders again, with a new record and an interesting new sound...

KD: I know it's confusing but we never really did break up. I know that doesn't help. If you take a long time between records, one just assumes, I guess. But we never did. After Last Splash I did the Amps record. That was in '95. I toured that into '97.

I did that because Kelley had those legal troubles and Josephine the bass player back then, she had personal issues and personal trouble she was going through and wanted to clear up, and they were both unavailable to do a Breeders record. So I thought I'll do some sort of solo-ish thing here. It was even called Pacer, for god's sake.

They never did come back. Bitches. [Laughs]

But then it's like, well, I gotta go back as Breeders, because I got Pod and <Safari and Last Splash. I can't not play these songs. What am I going to play? A 30-minute Amps record wherever I go? So I just started calling it the Breeders again. And Kelley did come back in 2001 for Title TK, and y'know what, we played with Josephine when 4AD did a 25th anniversary show in London.

That was in 2005, and Carrie Bradley, the violin player, who, by the way, lived in San Francisco for a decade, was there. She was in the Buckets. and Ed’s Redeeming Qualities, and she's a beautiful violin player, and she was on Pod and Last Splash. We had the fellows from East Los Angeles, the barrio where I was living then, and then we had Josephine, this English regal-looking lesbian, who's never touched meat her whole life, who's been a vegan her entire life. It was really nice to play with everybody - it was a love fest.

I see Josephine every time I play New York City - she lives there. and she looks exactly the same. She looks gorgeous. She's a health nut. She's really healthy - she's a cyclist now. She was always so frail! She looked purple! She looked like a little vampire. I thought she'd die from the ennui of it all! But now shes just the epitome of health and vigor.

SFBG: How did Mountain Battles come to evolve?

KD: Well, it starts in varying ways. One way was Jose, the drummer, was in town, and we were downstairs and fucking around, and it was just me and him in the basement, and we were making fun of radio songs. Songs we had just heard on the radio. We were trying to do a variation of that, a type of song - it's a real kind of monotonous melody line [drones like Eddie Vedder] with a serious kind of message, but the message is oblique and so wide and meandering you don't quite know what the point is, but it's something uplifting. The hook isn't a very good hook, but it isn't bad. It sounds vaguely familiar, and it's kind of slow.

We were just fucking around with this, and it sounded so similar to that, and to get us out of that, we did "Bang On." That was me and Jose and a 4-track - we were just cleansing ourselves after fucking around with that song for so long. We were like, "Oh, god, we have to stop. Play something fast!" And I'm signing over it and being an asshole. It was like, "That sounds cool - lemme put a guitar on that." So we brought that song to the studio and did it."

That was just a year ago - that was the last song we recorded. Each song is different - all of them start off diff.

SFFBG: Any lyrical themes going through all the songs?

KD: No! And I try not to do that. Yeah, because I think it would be pretty scary. There are bands that will answer this question - "What do you want to say through your music?" And bands will say, "I think love and hope are the most important things in the world." No, no, no! I'm lucky if I don't hate what I'm doing at the time that I'm doing it. I just try each moment to have it be honest to what I was doing.

SFBG: Has touring again with the Pixies changed you and making music with the Breeders?

KD: Not really. In the documentary Loud Quiet Loud there's a scene where we’re driving down the highway and I've got my 4-track out and I can see how people would think I'd leave the stage and sit down with a 4-track and write a song based on what happened that evening at the arena. Yeah. I mean, even if I did write a song that night, it certainly wouldn't be about what happened at the arena. That would just be a weird, boring song.

SFBG: So you're back in Ohio - why there?

KD: It's weird. I know people who are city lovers. My ex-husband John Murphy loved the city of Boston. I think he probably still does. And you know how you meet people who love New York City. They love it. They think it's the best place in the world, and of course people love Los Angeles - just love it.

I just don't have an opinion about any place, actually. It's probably OK to live in - as long as you have enough money, its going to be fine. I was born and raised here and my mom and dad are here so I might as well be here.

SFBG: What's next for you?

KD: You know this thing called All Tomorrow's Parties - this guy Barry Hogan started it. He got the Breeders to curate the one in England on May 15. For instance, I thought Th' Faith Healers would be good. I liked them in the '90s. He must have gotten ahold of them, but they're not together anymore - y'know it was just a chance in the dark.

But I saw, it was just announced - they have Throwing Muses - I asked for them. But I don't know if this is with all the original members that I knew in Boston. I don't know for sure. I guess I should have specififed that. Bon Iver - the drummer asked for him - and he's really good. Also Teenage Fanclub - I've always had a huge crush on Norman. I was always a big fan of them and they said, "Yes." So everyone other than Th' Faith Healers.

SFBG: I thought they were back together - I saw them play at SXSW two years ago.

KD: Did they really!? Bastards! [Laughs] Well, I'll make sure to e-mail Barry back, and go, "You know, I did hear..." I've been too polite. Didn't want to put anyone the spot. But I will actually!

BREEDERS
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