The Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer

Yes, Virginia, This is Only the Beginning…

The enchanting cabaret band known as The Dresden Dolls have carved their name into music’s heart, inviting those willing into their seductive world of punk meets performance art. The past few years have been appreciative of the Dolls and after a successful sophomore album, Yes Virginia, vocalist/keyboardist Amanda Palmer and drummer Brian Viglione released No, Virginia, an album of b-sides and extras to quell the rabid masses as Palmer finishes her solo album.

Beyond Race: So I’m sure all the fans are loving No, Virginia, I just wanted to know if you felt pressured to release something because it’s been two years since Yes, Virginia and if there are any plans for the next one?

Amanda Palmer: No, we felt no pressure at all in fact the whole thing was my idea. We had to kind of talk the label into it, but I don’t know. Our plans for our next record are kind of vague. I felt such a huge project coming up would be the solo record, and that’s gonna take out a significant chunk of time, probably a couple of years while I go out and properly promote it. But the general plan, when I get done with it we’ll start the next record.

BR: What made you choose “Pretty in Pink” as a cover song?

AP: That actually was because we were asked by this record label… [American Laundromat] were putting out a compilation called High School Reunion and asking a bunch of bands to pick songs from their favorite 80s soundtracks. Some people were doing songs from Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Better off Dead and stuff like that – the whole John Hughes collection. And I love that soundtrack. The soundtrack to Pretty in Pink and Breakfast Club are like two of my staple record albums growing up. So I thought that that would be a really, really quick and easy one for the Dolls to cover. We were in the studio anyway working on the record and we just banged it out in one afternoon and sent it along. I never thought we’d use it after that but we really ended up liking it so we decided to throw it on the record.
(Read the whole interview HERE or HERE)