Joan As Police Woman | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: That is Christabel by Joan as Policewoman from the Real Life Evolution. And we are going to bring her. Let's get this mic up here. She has joined us via Restream. Joan, are you there? I am. Hey, welcome to the show. I'm excited to talk to you because I've been listening to this. You've got such a cool sound. And it's interesting, well, for a few reasons. But first of all, congratulations on Real Life Evolution. I know that it's the... the 20th anniversary of the original release, Real Life. And I think it's great.

0:34 Speaker 1: I listened to the whole thing and it's so interesting what you're doing. And it's always fun on the show to get to have a guest on who's got such a unique and original sound. So I really like what you're doing quite a bit.

0:50 Speaker 2: I appreciate that. Thank you.

0:52 Speaker 1: Where are you? Are you in New York?

0:54 Speaker 2: Yep.

0:55 Speaker 1: I thought so. I thought so. I would imagine where you are too. I mean, did you grow up there or have you lived there for a long time?

1:04 Speaker 2: I grew up nearby and I've lived in New York City for 32 years.

1:12 Speaker 1: Okay. So you're a real New Yorker. Because I would imagine being there, you're exposed. I mean, over the course of your career, you've been exposed to so many different sounds and influences. But I'm curious, with real-life evolution, and again, it's the 20th anniversary of the original release, real life, but you know a lot of artists, and you know this, and I'm sure you've been asked about this many times, but a lot of artists, when they want to re-release something and kind of celebrate the anniversary of it, they just, you know, the common move, the most common move is to put out a remastered version, or maybe they just re-release the original album, but include a couple of new bonus tracks.

1:52 Speaker 1: you know, so they, they have a single, but it's really, there's just the same album again, but you, I mean, this is, um, I, I suppose re-imagine might, might be a good word for it. I mean, you really, you know, you, you reinvented the, the entire album.

2:08 Speaker 2: That was the point. I mean, but it happened naturally over time. Uh, you know, because once, once an album and once songs are released, uh, I mean, I think of them just as animals that then grow and find their own way through the world. And, you know, playing, I play, the live show is very important to me. I've played so many shows since then with a variety of, you know, duo shows, trio, quartet, quintet, all of it, you know, and with different personnel along the way and some things have stuck and, you know, I would, I don't, I'm never interested in recreating the studio version because if you want that, you can listen to the record.

3:07 Speaker 2: You know, I'm interested in using The situation at hand, whether it be, you know, a beautiful old Steinway or like a crappy keyboard. How can we best make the live show happen? You know, yeah. So this is a result of 20 years of playing these songs live and where they evolved.

3:38 Speaker 1: I like your perspective to what you said about, you know, if you want to hear them just as they were originally recorded, you can just listen to the record because I'm someone who, well, so many artists, they insist on, I've heard so many musicians over the years say this, that when they go and they play live, it's very important to them to try to replicate what's on the record. You know what I mean? They want to present it as they recorded it. And don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that.

4:08 Speaker 1: Obviously, it's art. There's no right or wrong way. And I respect that it's important to some artists to really preserve and give the audience what it is that they're expecting. But the problem is it's almost not as interesting, right, if you just give the audience what they're expecting and i like it when i go see a live show and what is performed live does not sound exactly like it is on the record because like you said if that's what you want you could just listen to the record so i think it's cool that um you know that you approach it the way that you do and you know you play these songs in different circumstances and different configurations and And that obviously leads to this reimagining, this reinventing of this album.

4:53 Speaker 1: So I think that's really cool.

4:57 Speaker 2: Thank you.

4:58 Speaker 1: What is it about the album that caused you to, that made you want to revisit it real life? What is it about this album specifically, or maybe you plan to, or maybe you have done this with other releases, I don't know, but what is it about it that made you say, this is something that I need to reinvent and revisit these songs in a studio?

5:23 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it's really the 20th year anniversary that it's commemorating that. When I released this album originally, I had already had a whole career in music as a violin player. I had had a really full career doing tons of different projects and bands, etc. It wasn't until my 30s I started writing songs at all and singing at all. I knew I had to make an album for myself of my own material that I composed, but I didn't have any idea what would happen with it. I knew my my family and my friends would hear it and that might've been it, you know?

6:28 Speaker 2: Um, and you know, it was, it was, it was surprising and wonderful to find that people really took to it. Uh, people I did not know took to it and, uh, you know, it, it launched, it launched my career. I've been, uh, I've been touring and making albums under my, under my moniker ever since. You know, and people really cite that album as something that is meaningful to them. So indeed, I am not interested in re-releasing a new master of the album.

7:15 Speaker 2: I really, I wanted to see what else is there. You know, I'm a curious person and music is alive, you know, so, you know, I just wanted to explore the aliveness of what, what music can bring. Yeah.

7:34 Speaker 1: Are, are all the songs on real life 20th anniversary, are they all or Real Life Evolution, I should say. I apologize. Are they all substantially different, or are there any of the songs that sort of came out really close to the original, or did you intentionally try to not replicate anything you had already done?

7:57 Speaker 2: They're all different. You know, they... The song Real Life is a piano. I recorded it with piano and strings. And I recorded it again with piano. But I had one of my favorite piano players play it rather than myself. And so it's still very intimate, but the feeling is very different in it. But everything is... Sort of substantially different. I feel like the song Save Me that I have Iggy Pop's, you know, Iggy Pop is the singer on Save Me. I feel like that's probably the closest in terms of arrangement and vibe.

8:54 Speaker 2: But, you know, I have Iggy singing it. So it sounds very different.

9:00 Speaker 1: Yeah, we're actually going to play that a little bit later. I really like that a lot. He has such a haunting voice, too. I'm curious too, did any of the lyrics change? I would assume not, but then again, you know, sometimes an artist will, they'll re-release something or they'll put out a new version of something and they'll say, well, these, I don't know if I, emotionally, I don't know if I'm as connected to these lyrics. I might need to tweak them a little bit. Did you change any of the lyrics or are the lyrics all intact from the original release?

9:34 Speaker 2: The lyrics are there. There's like a, I Defy, The Bridge Is Gone, and there's other compositional parts in there.

9:51 Speaker 2: But in general, the lyrics are the same. I, I really stand, I'm grateful that I stand, that I'm able to stand by the, the lyrics. Um, I, I had definitely lived a certain amount of life at that point and gratefully had something to say.

10:11 Speaker 1: Right.

10:11 Speaker 2: Right.

10:12 Speaker 1: Yeah. Um, And I'm also curious, too, about time signatures, because on Christabel, so the original was in 4-4, and this arrangement moves it into 5-8. Did anything, I mean, because that's a pretty drastic change, just changing the time signature. Was there anything, did you change the time signatures on any of the other songs?

10:35 Speaker 2: Uh, yeah. Like anyone is in a very different, is a very different feel. Eternal flame is in a different feel. Yeah. There, there, um, there's a lot of feel difference differences. Um, the, the Christabel is the most radical one, you know? Uh, but yeah, there's a lot of, there's a lot of vibe changes. You should check out the original record.

11:05 Speaker 1: I haven't yet. I haven't yet, but I need to go back and listen to it. I listened to all of the new one, but I haven't gone back and listened to, but I'm especially curious to go back and listen to Christabel just because I'm so struck by, you know, the idea of actually changing the time signature. It's, I would be intimidated doing that. But I think it's really cool that you did that. Thank you.

11:29 Speaker 2: Do you make music?

11:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, I haven't written anything in a long time. I'm a musician. I've played in some bands and whatnot, but I've been so focused on the radio aspect of what I do. It's been a long time. But yeah, just the idea of changing a time signature like that, it would scare me a little bit. I'd be afraid of messing it up. It's really fun.

11:51 Speaker 2: I love reinterpreting other people's songs, like radically reinterpreting. If you go back I have two entire covers records where I really, really reinterpret other people's songs. And if you listen to Kiss, I do a cover of Prince's Kiss.

12:16 Speaker 1: Really?

12:16 Speaker 2: And I do a cover of Jimi Hendrix's Fire. So I really enjoy... finding a new pair of glasses on a song.

12:32 Speaker 1: Yeah.

12:34 Speaker 2: So I love doing that in general because there's so much in a song that you can unearth from your own creativity, and you bring a whole other, you know, aspect to a song. So, you know, in a way, I do that in general, including my own songs.

12:59 Speaker 1: Yeah. Um, I'm curious too about, so your, your identity as a Joan as police, I'm sure, I'm sure you've been asked this question a thousand times. You're probably sick of it, but, but I am very curious. So Joan as police woman, where does that identity come from and, and, and why, why do you go by that moniker?

13:19 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good question. Uh, so, um, as I mentioned, I was, uh, uh, violin player, I was a session player, I was known for being a violin player, and I had a very particular style. And when I started writing songs and playing live, I remember I did one of my first solo shows under my own name, and people thought, because I am a violin player, they thought I was doing a solo violin show. And so I realized I needed a name for the music that I was making, the songs that I was writing. And I saw my friend Ruben on the street and I was wearing, um, uh, like a three piece polyester, uh, pale blue pantsuit and my hair was blonde at the time and he said, Joan, you were channeling Angie Dickinson from Police Woman.

14:30 Speaker 2: Police Woman is a show that some people are going to know and a lot of people are not. It ran from 1974 to 1976. It starred the great Angie Dickinson and I grew up on cop shows and It was like sort of a proto Charlie's Angels. And so that is how it happened. Joan as policewoman.

15:00 Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. I like it.

15:02 Speaker 2: Yeah.

15:02 Speaker 1: I do know who Angie Dickinson was. Or is she still alive? She's probably gone, right?

15:11 Speaker 2: I think she's still alive. But Burt Bacharach, her ex-husband, is gone.

15:16 Speaker 1: Okay, gotcha. Yeah, I remember when he passed away. Yeah, absolutely. So what's kind of the touring situation here? Obviously, I mean, I assume you've got, maybe you're on tour now, or maybe you've got something coming up, but are you, and I'm really curious, too, about the configuration in terms of playing these songs live.

15:38 Speaker 2: Yeah, where do you live?

15:40 Speaker 1: I am in Manchester, New Hampshire.

15:41 Speaker 2: Okay.

15:45 Speaker 1: Yeah, not too, too far.

15:48 Speaker 2: Anyway, okay, so I tour with Will Grafe on guitar and Jeremy Gustin on drums, and they both sing backups as well. And I've been touring with them since 2024 when I toured on my previous album, Lemons, Limes, and Orchids. And you will hear their playing on... six of the 10 songs of real life evolution because we, we developed them over that tour. Uh, and so we are touring, there's three tours set up in Europe, all in Europe, one in November, one in February, one in May. Uh, I just did four shows in New York city in June.

16:36 Speaker 2: Um,

16:39 Speaker 2: I have other, uh, Tours that I can't talk about yet because they're not confirmed. Okay. They're happening overseas in other countries in March. So I mostly tour overseas because it is where I'm able to survive.

16:57 Speaker 1: Okay.

16:59 Speaker 2: And it's also really fun. Yeah. And there's a way of listening to music. that feels a little bit different uh also a lot of people still go out to see live music less people here go out and see live music not in new york new york feels like you know its own thing but yeah um i don't know if you experience that yourself but i would like to hear your thoughts on that but um So, yeah, I have a lot of touring coming up. I also, you know, I play with Iggy Pop. And so we were playing in Chicago this month in a couple weeks.

17:44 Speaker 2: And, yeah, I always have a lot of touring going on because playing live is incredibly, incredibly joyful for me and important to me.

17:56 Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yeah. You asked my, my thoughts on, uh, you know, people not going to shows and whatnot. I do think that, um, I think a part of that is we just live in a time where there's so much competition for your attention. You know, I, I, there was a time when there was no, uh, there was no Netflix and there was no YouTube and, you.

18:20 Speaker 2: Know, people stay home and watch films, you know, instead of, Instead of going out and seeing live music. And I think people forget how live music can make them feel.

18:36 Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yeah.

18:39 Speaker 2: Do you get a lot in Manchester?

18:42 Speaker 1: Do we get what? I'm sorry, Joan?

18:45 Speaker 2: Where do you see shows in Manchester?

18:48 Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. There's a great music scene here. There's a lot of places. In fact, there's a place close to here on Elm Street called the Shafskane that really does a lot. There's quite a few venues here at Jewel Nightclub. There's quite a few venues here that have original music. Plus, where we are, too, we're less than an hour north of Boston, maybe 45 minutes north of Boston.

19:09 Speaker 2: Yep. Yep. Yeah, I have family who lives there, actually.

19:16 Speaker 1: Where? Close to here?

19:17 Speaker 2: In Manchester, New Hampshire.

19:19 Speaker 1: In Manchester? Oh, really? Oh, no kidding.

19:21 Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Yeah.

19:23 Speaker 1: Oh, wonderful. I might know them. You might. You might.

19:28 Speaker 2: We'll talk about that when the recording is off.

19:31 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's great. Yeah, because it's not a huge, you know, we're like a mid-size, you know, I think 120,000 is our population here, so we're not even, it's not even that big. But since we're talking about touring, because we are going to play the song you mentioned. I'm actually at the end of our conversation. in a couple minutes, I'm going to cheat and actually play two songs. I'm going to play Save Me, the song with Iggy Pop, and I'm also going to play another collaboration. I want to make sure I get the title right.

20:04 Speaker 1: Defy?

20:04 Speaker 2: Break the Wall.

20:05 Speaker 1: What's that?

20:06 Speaker 2: I Defy with Crystal Warren.

20:07 Speaker 1: I Defy with Crystal Warren. I'm actually going to play both of those. But is what I was reading correct that you actually recorded the song that you do, Save Me, with Iggy Pop? You recorded that while on tour with him? Is that correct?

20:22 Speaker 2: Yeah, while on tour with him in New Zealand.

20:26 Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Wow.

20:30 Speaker 2: Yeah. I travel with, like... a portable recording rig. So I had my gear with me and I recorded him in my hotel room.

20:41 Speaker 1: Oh, no kidding. Excellent. Yeah. Well, that's smart to bring that with you for sure. Um, Oh yeah.

20:47 Speaker 2: Always.

20:48 Speaker 1: Is that the only time that you've collaborated with him on a song?

20:56 Speaker 2: Uh, I guess so. Yeah. I mean, we play, I play in his band, so I, I, I contribute, uh, I'm, I'm in his band. Yeah.

21:06 Speaker 1: Oh, see, I didn't realize that. Oh, that's, that's amazing. Okay.

21:11 Speaker 2: Yeah. I play key. I play world. It's our organ, uh, electric piano and sing in his band. Yeah. For the last three years.

21:19 Speaker 1: Oh, that's amazing.

21:20 Speaker 2: Wow.

21:20 Speaker 1: He's gotta be, he's somebody I've always wanted to meet. I mean, is, is he, is he as intense an individual as, as he sort of presents to the world?

21:33 Speaker 2: Intense. I'm not sure what that means, but I mean, as a human being, he's incredibly kind and soft and wonderful.

21:48 Speaker 1: Yeah.

21:49 Speaker 2: And as a performer, he is just spectacular and vital. He's about, you know, he'll be 80 next year. Wow. 80!

22:03 Speaker 1: Wow. That's incredible. That's incredible. It is! Yeah, you see video of him at his age, and he's still just... He goes on stage, and it's just... It's take no prisoners.

22:13 Speaker 2: I know.

22:13 Speaker 1: I'm on stage with him.

22:16 Speaker 2: I know.

22:17 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. No, it's amazing. Whenever... Just as an aside, whenever I think of Iggy Pop, I think of. I think it was about 10 years ago that I heard it for the first time because I didn't realize he had recorded his own version of, because he, I think he and Bowie wrote it together, China girl. And I was used to hearing the David Bowie song. And then I heard the Iggy pop version and I like it even better than Bowie's version. I was like, Oh my God, this is so good. So, so good.

22:45 Speaker 2: Yeah. He's, he's incredible. He's incredible. I can't say more good things about him. He's incredibly inspiring. Those songs that he's written are some of the most perfectly created songs I've ever played.

23:03 Speaker 1: Oh, that's cool. That's very cool. So when do you go back on tour with him?

23:10 Speaker 2: I do a show, like I said, in Chicago. I do a show with him this year. We did tons of touring last year, so that's the only show for this. I think for the rest of this year, but I guarantee we'll be doing more.

23:25 Speaker 1: Okay. Outstanding. Outstanding. Well, Joan, this has been wonderful. I'm really glad you were able to join us today. Like I said, I'm going to play two songs at the end of our conversation. I am going to play Save Me the Song with Iggy Pop, and I'm also going to play I Defy. with Crystal Warren. Anything we should know about that one, by the way? We didn't really talk about that song, I Defy, with Crystal Warren, but anything we should know about that and who Crystal Warren is?

23:52 Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. So the song originally was recorded with Anoni. I was in her band, Anthony and the Johnsons, in 1999 to 2004. If you're not aware of her music...

24:11 Speaker 2: you should absolutely check it out. And so that was a very special song on the album. And she has an incredibly signature voice and delivery. So I needed to find someone who could really hold their own in that role. And Crystal Warren is one of my favorite singers. She grew up in Kansas City and now lives in France. You heard her voice. It's beyond. It's beyond. She really added so much to this recording. When you hear this, when you listen to the original and then hear this, you'll see how much I altered the sound, the arrangement, the chords, but the song remains.

25:15 Speaker 2: So check them both out.

25:20 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Now, I am going to go back and listen to the original album for sure. I'm especially curious to hear it now. So we're going to hit those tracks. We're going to let you go in a moment. But before we do that, Joan, as a policewoman, where is the best place for people to go online to keep up with everything that you're doing? Because you've got a lot going on, and where should they go online to find the album and all of that?

25:42 Speaker 2: I mean, I have a website, joanaspolicewoman.com. Yep. And I'm on all the music streaming platforms. I'm on all the social medias. You can buy vinyl and merch direct from me. I have a U.S. store and I have a U.K. store. And, you know, I would most like you to come out to a live show and see that. So, you know, come over and visit me.

26:14 Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Joan, this has been wonderful. Again, I've been excited to talk to you today because the project is so interesting and we are going to play both of those songs, but we'll let you go for now. But I'm sure that we will talk again in the future and we'll have to, maybe you can, maybe we can email offline and talk about who your fans are.

26:36 Speaker 2: All right.

26:36 Speaker 1: Just tell me this much, your family that you have here in Manchester, are they musicians?

26:42 Speaker 2: No. No? No. No.

26:44 Speaker 1: Okay. I was going to say, because if they're musicians, I probably do know them.

26:50 Speaker 2: All right.

26:51 Speaker 1: Well, it is a small world though, isn't it? All right. Joan, we'll let you go for now. And again, thank you so much for joining us today.

27:01 Speaker 2: You too. Thank you. Have a beautiful day. Thanks a lot for this.

27:04 Speaker 1: You got it.

27:04 Speaker 2: Wonderful.

27:05 Speaker 1: You got it. Take care.

27:06 Speaker 2: Bye-bye.

27:08 Speaker 1: All right, that is Joan as Police Woman. And as promised, we're going to actually play both of these tracks. So first we're going to play Save Me, which is featuring Iggy Pop. And then we'll play I Defy with Crystal Warren right after that. And if you are listening live on Saturday, stick around. We've got plenty more to come. as we continue on. And coming up in the third hour, Charles Richardson will be with us. So lots more, lots more Unleashed coming at you. But right now, here it is. This is Joan as Policewoman featuring Iggy Pop on this one.

27:40 Speaker 1: This is such a great song. This is called Save Me.