Holly Ramos Takes The Lead

By: Raymond Cummings

Monday November 05, 2007

Debut Solo Release 'Racehorse' Out
Holly Ramos lives. No one cares, though, because no one knows who Holly Ramos is – which is more evidence of how life is unfair, the universe is unbalanced, and so on. In the 1990s, Ramos fronted punk trio Fur, who bashed out bratty, sexualized three-chord bursts that continue to explode from headphones with the same nasty-cum-splashy intensity today that they carried a decade back, when I happened upon the band's self-titled debut (1995) in a record store's "used" bin. Singer/guitarist Ramos – who relished her distinctively "NYC" accent – bassist Danuta Gozdziewicz, and drummer Michael McDermott should've ridden the crest of Green Day mania that made stars of Rancid, Bikini Kill, NOFX, and so many other like minded acts of that era. They didn't; they vanished. No one else seemed to have heard of them. The internet was a bust. Blackout, their label, had gone out of business. Ramos popped up as star, writer, and actress in a handful of films on IMDB earlier this decade, but that was about it. Then, out of nowhere, HollyRamos.com materialized, and shortly thereafter, a solo album: Racehorse. At first, the new disc seemed to leave a lot to be desired; invigorating, fantastical/sexual punk-rock had been traded in for mature rock, folk, and country songs about break-ups and relationships that didn't immediately knock the listener back four feet. Call it a grower. Ramos kindly agreed to an email interview, filling the frequently-pinching-himself author in on what, exactly, she's been up to for the past 12 years.

Static Multimedia: How did Racehouse come together? I see that a lot of people were involved, including Jesse Malin and Ryan Adams at points. Were the songs written and recorded within a short window of time, or over a longer period?

Holly Ramos: I had been writing songs and performing locally over the last several years and I had cut a demo in NY with Jesse Malin producing me. Jesse brought in Ryan who played on some of that demo and added to the "Kiss Like a Waterfall" production. (The song "Kiss Like a Waterfall" on Racehorse is from that session. I just really liked the feel and had no reason to redo it.) Then I moved to Los Angeles and took my time adjusting to a new city; I had lived in NYC my entire life. Slowly, I started doing music out here and I met Jess Stroup, who wound up producing Racehorse. We found out that we had a lot in common in terms of musical taste, so just for fun we decided to demo some stuff, and after listening to the demos, we decided to make a formal recording. We got into the studio pretty quickly after making the decision. The CD took about a month to pull together. Two of the songs, "Evangeline" and "Better Yet" were written last-minute to complete the recording. They are two of my faves.

Fur's self-titled album was one of my favorites of the 1990s; you know how it's said that music critics love the sense of discovering some artist no one knows about, something they can claim as their own special little secret? Fur were that secret for me. Some unknown fellow zinester sent me a mix-tape that had "Devil to the Lamb" and another Fur song on it, and I was totally hooked. I scoured the internet looking for info about you guys and came up empty-handed; no friends/strangers seemed to have heard of you. By luck I came across a used copy of Fur at Bert's in Newark, Delaware in 1998 or 1999; whenever I brought the band up on the message board site I used to frequent nobody knew who the heck I meant or they thought I was referring to some British group with the same name. What happened after Fur came out? I seriously thought you three would be a major pop-punk force, but you disappeared, and I've always wondered why.

HR: Thank for the kind words. I love that CD too. It rocks. We thought we would be a major force, too. We had lots of airplay and attention but our label never got our CD distributed so no one could buy it, and we had no idea how to do the business end. We worked hard for maybe 7 years touring, recording, playing. We recorded a second CD and the label dropped us right before it came out. It was a mess. Then there were personality conflicts in the band and it all fell apart.

Was the second Fur CD ever released? If not, have you ever considered putting it out somewhere? Is that within your power? What does it sound like?

HR: It never came out. I own it, and I had briefly tried to release it but didn't push because there wasn't much demand. Also, two singles were released prior to the CD coming out, so the four songs are out there in the world: "Mira Mira" b/w "VD" – which was a pretty cool single, fast and wild, high energy with Danuta still on bass, she sand "VD," the only Fur song I didn't sing. The other single was "The Rare Fur Theme Song" b/w "Don't Need No Xmas Tree," which you can hear on my label's MySpace page. With the exception of the Xmas song, which I produced with Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) at a separate recording session, the second CD sounds different from the first. The producer, drummer, and bass players were from a more hardcore background, less rock 'n roll. The songs are faster and harder, and there is a very rough early version of "Thinking About You," which I did on Racehorse. The CD is good, but personally, I prefer the first Fur CD.

What have you been doing for the last decade or so? I remember coming upon your name in an IMDB.com entry for a film. Do you still act at all?

HR: Fur broke up in 1998, and I went to acting school and did some work before venturing into music again as a solo artist. I have actually been doing solo shows since 2000; it has been a slow gradual process to getting to where I am now. I have continued to do some acting as well, indie stuff, shorts, plays…

There's a strong sense of melancholy and loss strewn across Racehorse; I get the sense that a relationship is being mourned. Were these songs written about any one person in particular?

HR: There is a strong sense of melancholy and loss in my music, yes. Thanks for noticing and describing it so nicely. I like the songs about heartbreak and love lost (and found). No one person but heartbreak has been a big part of my story thus far.

Do you ever listen to Fur, or perform any of those songs live these days?

HR: I do listen to Fur and love it, (when I am in the right mood). My fave is our Christmas song (a late single). I was doing "Sex Drive" on this last tour, and sometimes do "Devil to the Lamb" and "Beautiful Wreck" and "James Brown", if the feeling struck me.

Who do you consider your biggest influences, musical or otherwise?

HR: My biggest influences…hmmmm…..countless but I'll try: the Rolling Stones' songs, Johnny Thunders' attitude/accent, Iggy's brilliance, the Ramones' genius and poetry, Elton John! Wendy O. Williams, Carole King, Debbie Harry, Poly Styrene, Patti Smith: all for being interesting artists who look, act, feel different. Nina Wurtmueller, brilliant director – oh dear, I could go on and on with authors and directors. Anyone who is outside the box and honest, human, alive and can create work that is moving, touching, makes me feeeel something.

Any tour plans for later in 2007 or early 2008?

HR: Not yet…

What led you to cover "Art Lover"? It's an interesting song, starting out with a strong hint of something creepy but broadening into outright, relatable heartbreak; in this sense it links country-ish Racehorse with punk Fur, where your themes – youth taken to extremes – fed into a larger feel of wanting to discover a sense of self and push some personal limits.

HR: "Art Lover" is interesting, yes. I remember seeing Ray Davies perform it on Saturday Night Live when I was a kid, and at the end his child, a toddler, came running out on stage. SNL used to choose interesting bands that would play non-hits or covers or whatever as the second song, less top 40, more underground. The song has stuck with me ever since. I love the little weird melody things in it…"like a prima ballerina"...it is great fun to sing, and it is weird and wonderful.

Who are some of your favorite contemporary musical artists?

HR: I like the White Stripes, the Hold Steady, Regina Spektor, Spoon, Cat Power, Ryan Adams, Beth Thornley (LA), Beaut (NY), Rick Baccus (NY), GoGol Bordello, Mary Gauthier.... I am all over the map, different stuff strikes me for different reasons, but weird, interesting, vulnerable, honest, human music mostly, and some dance stuff.

What's living in LA like compared to NYC? Do you prefer one place over the other?

HR: NYC is awesome, but the quality of life there is harder – unless you're a millionaire. LA has space and sun! I love bare feet. You only wear socks here two months out of the year. I hope to be swimming in a pool on Halloween, can't do that in NYC. But NYC is more integrated – it used to be cooler and edgier – and has more community and nightlife. LA has some good secrets but you have to work to find them. NYC is kind of over as far as being underground. But NYC is my home and I can find the familiar charm if I leave the island and venture to the more remote boroughs. The Queens Museum has a plaster cast of the Pieta – a beautiful Michelangelo.