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  • From: WWWhatsup <joly AT dti.net>
  • To: Typical Girls <typicalgirls AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [TypicalGirls] Hour.ca Ari-Up interview
  • Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:49:59 -0400

http://www.hour.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=10650

October 26th, 2006
The Slits

Ari in charge
Martin Siberok

The Slits' head mistress makes it clear the U.K. all-girl
rockers are not a retro band

Getting in touch with Ari Up is no easy task. After several
calls to Jamaica, dealing with a hard-to-understand voice over
an echoing, static-filled phone line telling me, "She's not
here. Phone later," things just weren't happening.

However, eight hours after the prearranged time, a voice
finally says, "Hold on, I'll get her." There's a knock on a
door and a muffled voice asking, "Who is it?" The reply: "A
journalist from Montreal."

The door opens and an accented voice booms down the line,
"You're not the journalist from Montreal who phoned yesterday?"
No, I'm not...

But before I can finish, Ari Up (a.k.a. Ariana Forster), lead
singer of The Slits, Britain's legendary all-girl punk band
from the 1970s, dives right into a conversation as if we're old
friends who frequently chat. "With my crazy schedule here in
Jamaica, I'm only a shadow of Ari Up. I'm so exhausted. I can't
wait to come to America and start the tour with The Slits."

Asked how long she's been in Jamaica, Ari retorts without
missing a beat. "I live in Jamaica most of my life. But when
I'm between Kingston and Brooklyn, everything has its tiring
aspects. But right now I'm reaching my limit. Thank God it's
the countdown to the day I leave for New York, where I will
rehearse with The Slits and get ready for the tour."

"You have the tape running... that's good. That's me - not much
introduction, not much warming up."

Before I can respond, Ari is back in charge. "It's really good
that you caught me now. I could be running around doing
business, things for the kids, or driving. Driving really does
it to me. Ahhh!! I hate driving, it's so exhausting. I live in
Kingston and that explains why driving is even worse. It's a
nightmare here. It's horrible chaos.

"Hold on, there's someone at the door. 'Hello! Who's that at
the door? Hello!' Hold on, a second."

The door opens, but no one is there. "It's big chaos, absolute
chaos, I lock my door," she mutters and then laughs. "Okay,
where we were? What was your last question?"

But before waiting for a response, Ari is already in mid-
sentence. "Our upcoming tour won't be a retro get-together with
us giggling away. This is to make a revolution again. It's
really exciting."

Asked whether the reformed Slits, who broke up in late 1981,
will be playing mostly old songs, Ari bellows, "No! No! No!
Only a few. We are doing half old and half new. We are a new
band so we want to promote new songs. We're not a retro band,
we're the new Slits."

With the recent release of Revenge of the Killer Slits, a
three-song EP, the new Slits sound like those of yesteryear.
"We don't want to get away from our roots. We're gonna mix old
school and new school. We are timeless. We have the same sound
without sounding outdated."

Besides Ari and original bassist Tessa Pollitt, there are four
new members: guitarist Adele Wilson, guitarist Nadya (a.k.a.
No), drummer Anna Schulte and back-up vocalist Holly (daughter
of Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook).

When Ari formed The Slits in London in 1977, she was only 14.
"I stopped school. I was born to do music. I was one of those
music children. I grew up in music.

All my family is music. My biological forefathers were all
surrounded with music. It was unavoidable."

Born in Munich, Germany, where her mother, Nora Forster (a.k.a.
Mrs. John Lydon), was a music promoter in the late '60s, Ari
remembers a few of the stars who would drop by. "People like
Jimi Hendrix were hanging out at the house, or Barry Gibb of
the Bee Gees. Every time he came to Munich he was fucking my
mother. He used to play songs for me on his harmonica. Those
were fond memories."

There's some noise in the background and again Ari becomes
distracted. Then she says, "I have an emergency. Let's talk
about this another day. You've got a lot for your interview,
right? I will talk to you in Montreal. Okay? See you there!"

The Slits
W/ Lesbians On Ecstasy & The Apes
At Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), Oct. 29



---------------------------------------------------------------
WWWhatsup NYC
http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
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  • [TypicalGirls] Hour.ca Ari-Up interview, WWWhatsup, 10/26/2006

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