Northern Transmissions interviews Jesse Clavin of Bleached and finds out a little bit about her love of celebrity murders, Richard Brautigan, and the Renaissance.

NT: What were the origins of Bleached?

JC: When we were in Mika Miko, we were already thinking about starting up a band, because we knew Mika Miko was coming to an end and we wanted to keep playing music together, so that was how Bleached got started. Our Dad was a big influence on us too, he’s our biggest fan. We grew up listening to him play, and then he bought me a bass when I was sixth grade, and then Jennifer started player a guitar that he built himself. Those pictures of us on our blog when we were young is really what it was like, we have
a lot of fun playing together.

NT: Can we expect the same high energy at your shows at the Mika Miko shows?

JC: Me and my sister really work off people’s energy. When the crowd goes crazy then we can go crazy and have a lot of fun. Even if it’s not crazy, we still have a lot of fun, but it’s about working together with the crowd. It’s not just us playing live, it’s the crowd, sometimes when I’m playing I think “I wish I was in the pit right now!”

NT: Can you tell me about the inspiration behind “Searching Through the Past”?

JC: Jennifer writes all the lyrics and melodies, and when she wrote that she was going through some things in a relationship, so she recorded a demo, handed it to me, and I wrote a bass line, and a guitar lead, and that’s how it goes.

NT: I saw a picture of you at JonBenet Ramsay’s grave, what was that all about?

JC: Yeah Jon Benet Ramsay is a big fan of mine! Ha ha! When me and my sister were kids, celebrity deaths were a big deal especially living around Hollywood. The Simpson trial was a big deal when we were young. We used to drive past Nicole Simpson’s house a lot. When it’s close to home, it seems more normal and real. I think because there are celebrity crime scenes, you know more about it, because people write about it, their theories about it and there’s usually a lot of creepiness that surround it, and it’s really interesting and entertaining. That book that O.J. Simpson wrote “If I Did It”. That’s the shit I live for. When that came out it felt good, because I felt part of it living so close, it feels good being part of that history. Or maybe I’m just getting old.

NT: Do you find there’s a lot of sexism still in rock and roll?

JC: Actually I do, I had an experience last night. It’s like we’re going to go play a show and we’re supposed to get a buyout, and the dude is like “No, I can’t do that”, and I’m like “It says so in our contract”, and he says “I can’t do that.” But if I was a guy, he’d totally give it to me, so we sent our drummer to ask for it, and he gave it to him.

NT: Are you comfortable having your pictures viewed by thousands of people on your blog spot?

JC: I personally don’t go on the internet, and I don’t even own a computer. It’s kind of a weird feeling sometimes when I go on Facebook, and I see a picture of me, but I just don’t get involved because I just like playing music. I’m not against it, I just don’t even get involved, because I know people like it. The only thing that sucks is when we go on tour and everyone has their ipods and computers and I have like a big bag of books. I read a lot of Richard Brautigan and books about the Renaissance.

hellobleached.tumblr.com
www.myspace.com/HelloBleached