I had a chance to sit down and speak with Poison Ivory, an eclectic up-and-coming pop musician based out of southern California. Ivory and I had a chance to discuss her diverse range of influences, from Katy Perry to Janis Joplin, her thoughts on the current state of American society, and who she’d feature on a dinner playlist. Check our her newest EP, The Filth, on iTunes or Spotify.
I’m going to start off with some musical association. I’ll name some sort of situation and you should respond with an applicable artist, song, or album so that we can understand your influences.
First situation: You’re back stage right before you go on. What are you listening to?
Right before I go on stage I usually listen to myself to make sure that I have everything down. [Laughs.] If I’m on the way to the venue to try to amp myself, I’m usually listening to Janis Joplin.
What’s the most moving song you’ve ever heard?
There’s so many. I remember the first time I heard Summertime by Janis Joplin. That was a really moving song to me. There’s also this song called Lightning Crashes by Live. I remember the first time I heard that on the radio. I was like “What is this? This is so crazy.”
Your friend asks you for the best popular song right now. How do you respond?
Well, it depends what you like. I like everything. I like pop music. I like underground music. I like everything. My favorite popular song right now is Take Me to Church by Hozier. I also like the new Alt-J. Of course the really mainstream songs too. I think Katy Perry is really cool. I like how she’s original to herself. Even if there’s a trend, she doesn’t copy it completely. She takes elements of it. Lots of popular artists just copy things directly. Even I’ve been victim of a big pop star that was following me on Instagram just copying things that I was doing. I couldn’t believe it. I’m not gonna name any names, but ultimately artists do that. Not Katy Perry though. She created her own lane. She writes her own stuff with her team. That would be my choice.
You’re making a dinner playlist. Who’s the main artist to feature?
Joni Mitchell
You’re going on a road trip. You can bring one album. What do you bring?
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin I? Or which one?
Greatest Hits
Fair enough. Let’s talk about the EP now. The first thing that strikes me is that it is evocative: it’s called The Filth, your name is Poison Ivory, there is a song called Sex is My Weapon. What are you trying to evoke?
I’m not promoting this filth. I’m promoting that these things aren’t right. If you listen to the lyrics, it makes you feel dirty. It makes you hate the filth. On Sex is my Weapon, I discuss these girls that I used to know. They used their bodies and sex appeal to get what they wanted, whether it be power or money. I mean men do that too. Little Piece of Heaven is talking about betrayal. Somebody stole something innocent from me: my little piece of heaven. Then you got Mr. Wonderful. It talks about the filth and lies that society pours into us. Mr. Wonderful seems incredible, but he’s not. He’s disgusting, but society portrays him otherwise. He’s sitting on the other side of the desk telling you who you are and what you have to do to get what you want. He’s telling you that you don’t add up. The Filth is about these lies and bullshit that we are led to believe.
The EP cover is my parents and I. Those are my actual parents. My dad is a retired pastor, and my mother still works in a homeless ministry. Then there is me: the product of America. I’m rebellious. I feel misunderstood. That picture is so powerful because it represents so many girls across the US.
The Filth is about those lies. My next body of work is not going to be the same. I was talking to somebody yesterday and they said, “The Filth is so in your face. Is that who you are as an artist?” I mean that’s who I was when I was writing this body of work. That’s not who I always will be as an artist. That’s just how this work came out. At that moment, there was a lot of filth in my life that I just wanted to purge.
So you are mentioning many recurring themes on the EP. Would you call this a concept EP? Or what?
It’s not a concept EP. All of the songs touch on something different. They all talk about different scenarios. Sex is a Weapon is about a woman who can get what she wants with her body. The Blues, for example, is the exact opposite. The Blues is really popular amongst people struggling with drug abuse or some sort of demon. I’ve gotten emails and DMs from people telling me that The Blues has really helped them. So the songs aren’t lamenting on the same things. They are different stories. They are all layered. They are all different sounds too. Mr. Wonderful has some reggae shit, but The Blues has this open, soulful vibe.
You mention The Blues. That was also my favorite track. I was hoping you could walk us through the creative process behind that song.
The Blues is my favorite track, it’s my baby, and it has an interesting story. I wrote the melody on The Blues, but not the lyrics. I wrote the lyrics and melody to everything else though. Actually, my father wrote the lyrics of The Blues years ago for Janis Joplin. She was actually supposed to cut it. He had a meeting with her. He was cool with her manager at the time. They had a business relationship, but whatever the politics were, she was gonna record it. Then she overdosed and died, so it was never recorded. Growing up, I would hear my dad talk about it. There’s two sides to him. One side says, “Thank God that wasn’t recorded.” My dad was a big hippie. He did a lot of drugs. He says if that got recorded I wouldn’t have been born. You know what I mean? Part of his testimony of his ministry is that God took away his addiction overnight. He tells that story, and when I would ask him about his music that was one of things he’d talk about.
So I was getting ready to go to New York to work with a producer, and I asked my dad if he could send me the song so that I could record it. Initially, he was like, “You can only cut it if you do it exactly as I wrote it.” Obviously, the way that it sounded was like Janis song, and I could never do a Janis song. I’m not Janis. I wish I could sound like that, but I can’t. If I were gonna take the song, I would have to do it my own. I told him that I couldn’t guarantee I’d cut it like he wanted, but I just wanted to see what I could do with it. So I started working with it, and my producer was blown away by the lyrics. He got on the piano, started playing, and I began singing the lyrics to a melody that I’d had. I really felt for this song. The fact that my father wrote it made it even more powerful. I started thinking about all of the times that I’d had the blues, whether it’d been from heartbreak or drug abuse, and the song just began to resonate with more and more. We recorded it all live. It came together so organically, with little effort. It was a magical night.
So we’ve been talking about the studio. Contrarily, what are your thoughts on live music? How important is live performance to you?
Live music is everything. I prefer performing live over performing over a track. When I perform live over a track, I get so angry. I’m working with such incredible musicians now. We just played the House of Blues, and it was such an incredible vibe. If I have to perform over a track, I’ll do it, but it just loses something. When you do it live, the whole crowd is in the same musical place as you. When you sing live over a track, people have to feel your emotions through something so processed. Live is the most important thing to an artist. We lack this right now. We have visual artists, but most people can’t perform live. You have to be able to connect to an artist musically in a live setting though, not just visually.
Who is your favorite live performer?
There’s quite a few. Of course Janis because I’m so obsessed with her. Definitely Joni Mitchell. She was so effortless. You felt everything she did from her soul. One of my really good friends is also an incredible live performer. Her name is JoJo, and I love watching her perform.
Last question: where are you headed artistically?
I never like to reveal what I want to do. I just like to do it and put it out, but all I can say is that it will be incredibly soulful.
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Great interview! I love Poison Ivory!! She is amazing! #poisonappleforlife
