Self-described “queer mammer-jammer” Carrie Biell is prepping her first solo release in years. Between raising a child and the pandemic, Biell’s been focusing on quite a few other things, as well as her band Moon Palace. With her gorgeous new song “See Through The Trees,” Biell creates a stately track reminiscent of Gillian Welch, an anthem for finding self-love after a “lifetime” of giving to others.
Biell has been moving audiences for decades with her gentle, graceful hooks and concrete, heartfelt lyrics. As a twin and daughter of Deaf parents, her upbringing was anything but ordinary. Carrie came out as a teenager, and after connecting with other Queer artists, music became the outlet that found her a home in Seattle’s expansive indie rock scene. At 20 years old, her first solo release in 2001 “Symphony of Sirens” launched her music career – landing her on some of Seattle’s top stages, and frequent radio play on indie stations like KEXP, KBOO, and KCRW.
In our interview, Biell discusses how the queer community raised her and gave her confidence to become an artist.
Does We Get Along have an overarching theme?
It sure does! The album is an exploration of relationships. Many of the songs were written in a liminal space of falling in love and continuing a slow detachment, as well as observing the transformation of so many relationships around me during these intensely unstable few years. Love is so complex, and the overlap between attachment and detachment is certainly a constant thread throughout this record.
What was the first song you wrote for it?
“Come By” is the first song I wrote for the whole collection on the record. It was after playing a show with my friend, Sera Cahoone. She suggested that we should collaborate on a song and then I ran with it. Sera added harmonies, and also came up with ideas for some of the song’s instrumentation.
“Come By” is about the moment a long flirtation crosses over into more between two people who are both healing from long partnerships that ended unexpectedly. It’s a new beginning that none of them envisioned for themselves. It’s a much-needed leap forward, and although there may be a lot of past relationship baggage hanging over, or seem too soon after a breakup, there is an ask to set that all aside and go for it. To let yourself enjoy the moment and take a leap with a new person.”
Have you missed touring? If so, what have you missed about it?
I do miss touring, but honestly I became a mom back in 2013 and that shifted the amount of time I want to be away. After having my son I took a long break from music and touring up until I started Moon Palace in 2016. With that band I’ve taken mostly short trips out of town across the country in the four years that we’ve been playing together. Since I came back with this solo project we have been in a global pandemic, and I haven’t had the chance to play many shows in general. It’s a hard landscape to even plan a release show because I’ve had shows cancel as recently as the last two weeks. I do look forward to things opening up again, but for now we may have to get more comfortable with live streams and virtual shows.
I do miss traveling out of town to play shows, but it can be a challenge to juggle mom life and plan for long trips as an indie artist. That could shift as my son get’s older and more tour support is made available. What I do miss is attending shows, and seeing my friends play, and seeing my favorite artists tour through Seattle. I’m looking forward to things opening up again.
How do you feel your queer identity ties into your performance style or music?
As somebody who came out as a teenager, my queer identity has always been important to me. The style and feel of the artwork for We Get Along is intentionally queer because I want more queers to feel seen through the music I put out. The queer community has been integral part of my life even when I put my first record out in 2001. If I traveled into any town I could always count on local queers to support me, whether it be setting up shows, finding bands to play with, promotion, or a free place to crash. When I came out in high school I was kicked out of my home, and older queers in my life are the ones who took me in and provided housing and support. I used to play guitar and sing with many of them, and that is how I gained the confidence to put out my own music.
As it’s become more accepted in the mainstream to be queer I still want to put out art and music that represents who I am. In general I think the alt-country/Americana world can’t have enough queer representation. I spent so much time around 2005-2010 playing shows with a bunch of straight bearded white dudes, and it’s nice to see more people I identify with putting out music and performing. I have felt a shift in the cis white male dominated world of this genre of music where I always felt like I was overlooked or being competed with for decent shows in the past. I’ve started to feel more seen and supported when I am out there playing shows than I ever, and it’s other queer artists who put themselves out there I have to thank for that.
What is your vision for a more just music industry?
That’s a tough one to summarize quickly, but I’ll do my best to gather my thoughts. There are so many systems at play that need to shift…money of course, artists need to be paid for their work. It’s disappointing and troubling that a career playing music is not a stable and viable option for most people. Musicians need access to practice spaces, equipment…we need affordable housing, we need better childcare options, we need public transit, we need access to consumers who expect and desire to pay for creative content. It’s overwhelming to even pick a place to begin, because even in the two decades that I’ve been making records, the industry has changed so much around consumer expectations that content be free. Or that it come to you filtered through an algorithm from a giant corporation, like Spotify or Apple Music. It hopefully is common knowledge by now that indie musicians get paid essentially NOTHING for our music to be on these platforms…We are expected to give away the content for free in exchange for “promotion”. This system does not nourish independent creators. With that said I am starting to see more organizations who are funded by music fans like “Black Fret” out of Austin, offer sponsorship and/or financial support and opportunity to indie artists. My hope is that more of these types of organizations will crop up to support artists. I just hope to see a new system crop up that offers more financial support and resources to indie artists who put out content in this digital world.