BLACK PUSSY

INTERPRETERS OF ANOTHER DIMENSION

Black. Pussy.

Two words that, when strapped together, get everyone’s neurones firing off in every direction. A band that will throw you into a heavy rock haze. Out of Portland, Oregon, Black Pussy pours a stiff mix of desert and ’70s rock in a tall, retro tumbler, meant to be slammed back and finished with a plump doobie.

The controversial “Black Pussy” handle has a thick history, with partial credit given to the Rolling Stones for their song “Brown Sugar.” The song title was allegedly first dubbed “Black Pussy,” but, as rumour has it, their record label made them change it to something a little more accessible. “That’s what I found on the interweb,” recalls Dustin Hill, Black Pussy’s founder and front man. “I was thinking if Tarantino was forming a band, what would he name it? And I can see Tarantino coming out with a film called Black Pussy, you know.”

The Portlandian band recorded their latest album, Less Info More Mojo, on the ranch of desert rock king Brant Bjork, in Joshua Tree, California. How groovy. Bjork has been in the desert rock scene for decades, predominantly known for his work with Kyuss and his solo material, now active with Vista Chino, a Phoenix of sorts, risen from the ashes of Kyuss.

“It was awesome working with Brant. There’s a lot of love there,” Hill muses over the two weeks spent at Brant’s house. “He’s been a huge influence on me for 20 years and then, to actually have him helping me working on an album, and being the producer, was mind blowing. It’s like, indescribable.” Black Pussy had remained self-produced until the creation of Less Info More Mojo.

Black Pussy is Hill’s rock ‘n’ roll cheetah cub. He’s the chief songwriter and had recorded all of the instrumentation on the band’s debut, On Blonde. “With Less Info, I had a band (to record with), so you know you get that vibe of musicians playing off each other. Two of the musicians were pretty much brand new, so everything was really fresh.”

Expect Less Info More Mojo (release date TBA – BP is looking to graze some wide, green pastures on the label front) to be laden with a heavy, classic rock vibe. “We tracked it live, we tracked it super ’70s, so all to two-inch tape, all jamming in the same room.”  We can trust that the new album will be chock-full of wicked tones, some streaming from a newly added keys player, a Wurlitzer Warlock.

Black Pussy might eat, sleep, and shit rock ‘n’ roll, but they definitely consist of something much deeper. Hill describes songwriters, “like interpreters. We’re mediators between the spirit world and this dimension, like weird psychics or something. We just have to listen and make sure we interpret correctly, and bring it into this dimension as correct as possible.

“I describe songwriting as meditation. I really more try to clear my mind and songs kinda just get beamed into me, is really how it happens. Then, usually after the record’s out, after about a year or two, I’m listening to a song and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s what that means!’ A lot of songs are like premonitions; it takes me a minute to know where they were coming from, because songs are like children. They’re individuals, I don’t own them – I’m just responsible for raising them.”

These guys are going to be worth seeing live. Hill describes Calgary as being one of the most rockin’ cities through which Black Pussy has toured. Let’s fuel their fire. “Live is where it’s always at… It’s kinda like, do you wanna have sex over the phone? Or do you wanna get it on in real life? You make the choice there!”

Catch Black Pussy on May 21 at the Palomino (Calgary).

By Shayla Friesen