The Thresher (October 1996)

IT PAYS TO BE PATIENT

Thresher writer Bill Stites had the opportunity to speak with guitarist and alternative singer/songwriter Kristen Barry. Her debut album, the beginning.the middle.the end., is currently available on Virgin Records.

BS: Who would you consider to be your major influences?

KB: Oh, I have really strange tastes. Just about everything. When I was little, I listened to a lot of classical music, and that still influences me a lot. As I got older I got into heavy metal, then punk, then ambient, then Kate Bush and that kind of stuff. All of that has influenced my music.

BS: When did you start playing and writing music?

KB: I've been playing forever. I started the piano at age 5, and when I was a little kid I wrote all these epic soundtracks. I played keyboards in a band from age 15 to 19 and started writing and singing at around age 17. And I'm 26, now, so it's taken a long time to get this album out.

BS: Why did it take so long?

KB: Well, it's not that it was hard to get it made, but it took a long time to get the opportunity to make the album I wanted to make. When I first got signed, they kept trying to make me collaborate with other songwriters, and that didn't really work. It took a long time for them to just let me make the album I wanted.

BS: What inspires you to write music?

KB: It just kind of happens. I have a love/hate relationship with my writing because I can't control my inspiration. I'll write a lot for a long time, and then all of a sudden I'll have a huge dry spell. Then I'll get inspired out of the blue in the weirdest situations, and the floodgates will open again.

BS: Is this your first tour? How do you like touring?

KB: Yes, and I love it! It's great! It's so fun! I have a blast!

BS: If you could have a torrid or romantic affair with anyone, real or fictional, from any point in history, who would it be?

KB: (long pause) ... Cyrano de Bergerac, because he was so incredibly romantic. People like that intrigue me, who aren't outwardly beautiful, but have secret souls.

BS: If you could invite any three people, real or fictional, from any point in history, over to dinner, who would they be?

KB: (another pause) ... Vincent Van Gogh, just because I think he'd be really interesting ... George Orwell, because he's confrontational, and he'd stir things up ... and [The Color Purple author] Alice Walker, because of her whole thought process and her compassion.

BS: What else do you want people to know about you and your music?

KB: Well, that I finally got the album out; it's the album I wanted to make, and that if anybody ever wants to do this, it pays to be patient.

BS: Do you think animals have the same rights as people?

KB: Yes, definitely.