A Style of her own
For her latest music video, the incomparable piano rocker Kristeen Young returned to one of her favorite artistic communities: Columbia
True originality can be hard to find in the ever-diluted music industry. But this September, Columbians only had to peek inside Mojo’s for a glimpse of it.
There, St. Louis native Kristeen Young was filming a music video for “I’ll Get You Back,” a glam rock song she wrote from the perspective of the angry apple tree in The Wizard of Oz. Her edgy, eclectic lyrics and inventive musical arrangements could have been evidence enough of her uniqueness. But her style, especially the over-the-top outfits that she designs and sews, also packs an unexpected punch.
“She is a pioneer in her artistic form — a brave visionary, like Madonna or Lady Gaga, but without the diva attitude,” says Tracy Lane, executive director of Ragtag Programming. In the early 1990s, Lane managed Young’s Missouri-based band before the performer took her aggressive piano playing and operatic voice to New York. Since then, Young has toured around the world, most recently opening for indie rocker Morrissey.
Although her music has yet to make her a household name, Young takes pride in maintaining her own style rather than conforming to popular standards — even if it means facing tough criticism and making less money.
“I’ve tried sounding or looking like what is popular at a given time, but it’s never quite right,” she says. “I can never get past me, my filter, who I am. I don’t have to concentrate on having my own style. I just do, and it’s always been this way … going all the way back to my early childhood.”
Missouri roots
A half-Apache, half-German foster child, Young grew up amid the diverse St. Louis music scene and was adopted by strict Christian parents. She started playing piano but felt frustrated that the instrument had lost its powerful edge in rock music. The energetic piano playing of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard had faded, but Young was determined to revive piano rock in her own way.
As Young began experimenting with several musical styles, she found a welcoming artistic community in Columbia. Splitting her time between Columbia and St. Louis, she often performed at The Blue Note, and when she wasn’t on the downtown venue’s stage, she worked there as a bathroom attendant. “My job was mostly throwing buckets of water in overly used toilets,” she says. “I’m sure they’ve upgraded since then.”
Young recorded music with various Columbia artists, though she wasn’t as involved in the arrangements of her songs as she is today.
“Because I was so young, insecure and not very practical-minded, I didn’t understand lots of things and gave control up to other people who appeared to know more,” she says. “They usually did, and sometimes they didn’t. But I loved every nitty gritty minute of my time there, and I learned a lot.”
Upon moving to New York, she began working with producer Tony Visconti, which led to a contributing vocalist role on David Bowie’s Heathen and the opening act for the 2007 Morrissey tour. After fulfilling her piano-driven goals in her 2009 album Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd On-Looker, Young set out to reinvent her music again; she drew on multiple styles from the electro-funk of Prince and Rick James to opera and dark wave.
How does she manage to keep up a distinct, fresh style? Young says it isn’t much of a problem because she tends to get bored quicker than others.
“I’m usually the one changing, and other people are admonishing me for it,” she says, “but they come around a couple of years later.”
Unexpected inspiration
It’s quite common for musicians to draw lyrical inspiration from unhappy periods in life, but nothing Young does is ordinary. So when she found herself in a funk, watching Turner Classic Movies and feeling invisible, she decided to explore the personalities of supporting characters from iconic films. Often, not much is known about them, which left Young with an open canvas.
Thus, nearly every song on her latest EP, V The Volcanic, carries the perspective of a minor character: Violet Bick in It’s A Wonderful Life, Lucy Westenra in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, Pris from Blade Runner, Old Lodge Skins in Little Big Man, Sarah Jane Johnson in Imitation of Life. And the angry apple tree from The Wizard of Oz.
Despite all the creative spinoffs from the 1939 classic, no one had delved into the tree along the yellow-brick road that takes offense at Dorothy picking an apple from its branches. Young felt a commonality with the unlikely character: “The idea of doing all this work and creating something, and someone just happens to pop by and pluck it from you,” she says in her website bio. “That was my complete experience of the past couple years: being food for thieves.”
The most obvious example of that is the infamous plastic bubble dress that Young designed, created and wore during the 2007 Morrissey tour, including an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. In 2009, Lady Gaga sported an unmistakably similar, though more refined, bubble dress on tour and on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Young’s cult fans were quick to point out the rip-off. After all, Young’s inventive DIY outfits, whether they’re fashioned out of piano keys or Wonder Bread bags, play a large role in her arresting stage presence. Young says she’s always been driven to make stuff, though she still has room to grow.
“I still have many experiments fail, and I’m still very amateurish in the ways I piece things together,” she says. “For example, I sew, but I really don’t know how to properly sew. A real tailor would laugh until vomiting.”
In keeping with her continual reinvention, she doesn’t become attached to her custom-made clothing.
“I can’t even remember the outfits after they are worn and gone as I’m always obsessed with the next one — the one that I’m trying to find time to make,” she says. “It’s perpetual. I’d like to stop, but I keep getting ideas that tempt me.”
Back to Columbia
To depict the apple tree-inspired “I’ll Get You Back,” Young had the idea of performing a brutal danse apache, a Parisian routine from the early 20th century. She approached the video’s choreographer, Karen Grundy of the Missouri Contemporary Ballet, and her dance partner, Fernando Rodriguez, also of the Missouri Contemporary Ballet, with the concept.
“I had never heard of it [danse apache], honestly,” Grundy says. “Danse apache has a slight tango feel, so I tried to keep that theme throughout. The rest was partner work: Fernando flipping and throwing her around, and Kristeen pushing him to the ground and taking control of the situation in the end. I was slightly concerned at first because of the violence of the dance, especially towards the woman, but I think we pulled it off pretty well without sending any bad messages.”
The rehearsals drew Young back to Columbia, where her old friend Lane helped her find a beatnik-like location to film the video: Mojo’s. Drawing on her experience and connections as executive director of True/False Film Fest, Lane assisted Young with finding resources and extras.
“Kristeen is extremely talented and had a clear vision as to how she wanted the video to look and feel,” Grundy says. “We had a lot of laughs throughout the rehearsal process, which was quite strenuous, especially for a non-dancer. Even though there were days when she was really feeling her body in ways she never had before, Kristeen was completely professional and worked her butt off.”
With Grundy, Rodriguez and Lane all based in Columbia, it made perfect sense for Young to film her video there. But another part of the city’s allure was the welcome mat it puts out for diverse artists.
“My memories of the atmosphere in Columbia are fantastically positive,” she says. “I remember it being a compact and cooperative artistic community and have never found any other residence to be as satisfying in this regard. My whole life has been and continues to be given to artistic endeavor, so this is important to me. I was elated to have the same kind of experience this time around.”
