EDITOR'S NOTE With Asthmatic Kitty's recent decision to re-release Shannon Stephens' independent, self-titled solo debut from 2000, we thought it would be appropriate to re-edit and re-publish the interview Sufjan Stevens did with his ex-Marzuki bandmate for Bandoppler about a month after the album was originally released. Since this interview, Shannon has released a 5-song EP with Penumbra Music Co. called How I Got Away, and become a mother. Enjoy the interview, check out the record—especially now that you've got a second chance.

            Singer/songwriters walk a line similar to that of a DJ—almost everyone thinks they can do it, and so few ever really master it, let alone gain a realistic respect and following. What makes you so special? You can play a guitar and croon on about yourself. So can that guy two stoops down. But Shannon Stephens.... Shannon found something that crossed the line separating mediocrity from brilliance—that unquantifiable muse that qualifies her place in music. She tapped into the same peculiar vein that people like Damien Jurado, Jan Krist, and even Bob Dylan drain and drink daily, and like the aforementioned artists she manages to mix her own soul into the mythical singer/songwriter syrup.

            Shannon's songs wear like well-worn hand-me-downs: the scents of elder siblings and mothballs coagulating with her own pheromones, and the stains of mud-pies past splotched upon with fresh clay. As Earl Campbell observed in his review for Bandoppler, Shannon's music comes from a "supple grace and comfortable confession: a lady-like silk of red and violet yanked from regality by ubiquitous grays and cottons.... Shannon converses, telling us about her day, asking for us to understand in slow nods and blank stares that mask boiling empathy."

            And then there is her unmistakable singing voice—a pervasive, unique instrument that coats all abstract sonic dimensions with a here-and-now beauty—an instrument that garnered her these words from Tidal Wave Magazine's Editor in Chief, Chris M. Short:

Not a Joni Mitchell rip off or the next Jewel, not just someone for Lilith, but someone for everyone. This is a woman with a hauntingly heavenly voice (accompanied by her lazy guitar strumming; occasionally other instruments like banjo, piano, and drums). A strong sense of mystery and paradox permeates her words. It is like flying above the clouds, knowing but not knowing what is below you.

            Shannon moved to Seattle about a year or so ago from Michigan. She left behind a band called Marzuki. Sufjan Stevens, who is also formerly of Marzuki, caught up with her for the following insightful interview.

            Sufjan Can you remember your first musical experiences? Your father's records. Church hymns. Casey Casem. American top-40 countdown. Singing with your sisters.

            Shannon My mom tells me I used to crawl underneath the piano when she was playing. I have a dim vision of her shoes and the hem of her skirt. Dad used to play the guitar around the house, and he had a scratchy, soothing voice. Once in a while he would get together with a couple friends, and they would all jam on banjos and guitars. My sisters and I listened to 80s pop on our rollerskates, and we used to dance for each other in the living room. Mom made us sing "Have Faith, Hope, and Charity" in front of the church once. My sisters were much braver than me; I hid behind my older sister and scowled.

            Sufjan What early episodes (bands, or albums, or experiences) have shaped your music?

            Shannon Early singers I liked were Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot, Don Williams, Bruce Springsteen. I loved most of the folksy, Western-inspired music that my parents played for me, and that's what I ended up incorporating into my own style.

            Sufjan What was your first original song about?

            Shannon It was called, "Who ate my pie?" It was about Dad eating my piece of pie and ending up with a stomachache.

            Sufjan When did you start writing poetry? Can you give us one of your early poems, please?

            Shannon I started writing poetry in elementary school. Everything rhymed, and I wrote a lot of cheesy poems about nature. Here is one of them:

Cacti grow in the desert sand
where it hardly ever rains.
When you touch a cactus with your hand,
it gives you little pains.

            Sufjan How much was the first guitar you ever bought with your own money? Do you still have it?

            Shannon I bought a toothpaste-blue Harmony electric guitar in 1992. The guy told me it was a Fender, and I believed him. It cost me $35. It had the squarest sound I've ever heard. Sometime in the last year, I misplaced it. I have no idea what happened to it, but I loved that thing.

            Sufjan Have you ever written a song you would never play live?

            Shannon When I write a song, I am already thinking ahead to playing it on stage. So, I've never really let a song develop that might be inappropriate or too embarrassing. I have written some poems, though, that I would never show to anyone. They are tucked into the flaps of my poetry folder.

            Sufjan What was the best thing about being in the band Marzuki?

            Shannon Well, we could talk about the best personal thing, or the best musical thing, or the best memory, etc... The best thing in terms of the music was being able to collaborate with such a group of amazing writers. Arguing out every chord in the bridge, entrance of an instrument, build or fade ... and even better than the discussions were the times that we got into the "zone" and started playing off each other without really thinking or trying.

            Sufjan What is the best thing about playing solo?

            Shannon I suppose it's being able to develop a song just as I please. It was a real thrill to record my own album. I played the banjo like a drunkard, the piano like a 10-year-old. Everything was sloppy and 4-tracked and lo-fi. It was just what I wanted.

            Sufjan Has your confidence changed playing alone? Has your writing changed?

            Shannon When I first started playing alone, my confidence was in the toilet. I was just trying to make a few extra bucks, and thought I could take advantage of Marzuki's old haunts until they realized my solo stuff was boring. The response was so positive, though, that I started getting excited. I put a band together and recorded some things. Over the course of a year, I became much more confident in my writing and performing. My writing has changed a bit since I moved to Seattle, due to the different makeup of my band here. I have two string players, upright bass and cello, so I write a lot of string-based songs. I haven't written a poppy song in ages. But I still have the occasional alt-country ballad, mixed in with a lot of meditative, emotional songs.

            Sufjan What kind of people attend your shows or buy your CD? Do you like them? Does it matter?

            Shannon It's occurred to me that all kinds of people like my shows. My stuff is so mellow that the older generation can appreciate it, and it's innovative enough for the younger generation to notice it. But the ones who keep coming back, or buy the CDs, are usually people in their 20s or 30s who listen to similar types of music already. I like almost everyone who comes to my shows. Most of them could probably be my friends.

            Sufjan So much of your music investigates the intimacy between things, between you and your "lover," or between you and God. I have trouble distinguishing between the songs about men and the songs about God. Why do you use the same sensual language for both subjects?

            Shannon Everywhere in the Bible, God is depicted as a lover. He longs for his people, aches with jealousy, and looks forward to the day when his marriage will be consummated. He's given the ultimate sacrifice so that he can "shout over us with great shouts of joy." I began to discover Jesus as a lover a few years ago. Before that, I wrote songs about earthly love that reminded others of his perfect love. I am now realizing that it's useless for the Christian to differentiate between "earthly" and "godly" love, because it all comes from God, and is a demonstration of his desire. Every God-given relationship in my life is a "means of grace."

            Sufjan A year or two ago, you used the controversial book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, to affirm your singleness. What brought this on?

            Shannon I was severely disillusioned because of a breakup. I had spent over a year with this person, and in the end, we couldn't even be friends. My hope had been to marry him, and it took me a long time to see that he wasn't interested in that. I desired a husband, but he desired a girlfriend. I wondered what I could do to avoid getting myself in an aimless relationship again, and it made sense to stop "dating" ... getting romantically involved. I saw it as a distraction, a needless activity that didn't promote commitment or marriage. One sure-fire way to sort the wheat from the chaff was to set forth a really high standard: either a) befriend me, be a man and ask me to marry you, or b) don't waste your time.

            Sufjan And now you are getting married in October. What has happened?

            Shannon Seth is the epitome of the "wheat" I was just talking about. We became friends over the course of a couple months, and then he told me that he loved me and wanted to marry me. I didn't have to think twice about it—I had already been praying and daydreaming about it for a long time. Because I know and trust his character, I'm not afraid to give my heart to him.

            Sufjan What is "dating" anyway, and why do you find it unnecessary?

            Shannon It's a messy way of trying to discover if someone is right for you. Some people date to find a spouse; others have no such intent. The main pitfall is becoming intimate with someone who you can't yet commit to. It sets both people up for disappointment and profound rejection. It also uses a lot of unnecessary emotional energy. I believe all that's needed is to befriend someone, pray, and be patient. Then you can discover if they are right—and no hurt feelings, no harm done.

            Sufjan Some of your songs use fictional narratives, such as "Catch the morning line." How is it different to write "exclusively" from the imagination, versus autobiography? Maybe there is no difference, since imagination is conditioned by our memory of true things....

            Shannon I've never written a song that was exclusively imaginative. Everything I write has some basis in my own reality. Even "Catch the morning line," a song about an arsonist alcoholic boyfriend, was an embellishment of an experience in my life. If a song is not a straightforward, honest account of a personal experience, then it is drawn from one.

            Sufjan But at some point, even the actual events of autobiography are questionable, since our memory is subjective. Did your friends actually want to meet you at ten? Did you take a Ryder truck across country when you left your father? Or a U-haul. In New York, was your coat orange or red? I remember it as red.

            Shannon I think the friends did want me to meet at ten (and it exhausts me to remember it). But you're right, I take liberties to make a song rhyme or to perfect the meter, and then sometimes I forget what the real facts were. It may well have been a U-Haul. And my coat was red. But doesn't "orange" sound so much better?

            Sufjan Yes, orange has great vowels. But how do you think you take liberties with fact to demonstrate truth?

            Shannon My goal is to create a mental picture for another person that evokes an emotion. Whether a coat is orange or red is mostly unimportant; it's a vivid color, and you can envision it standing out against the grays and blacks of the city. So the truth is that I was a sore thumb in Manhattan, but the fact is that my coat was red.

            Sufjan This is a business question. Do you acknowledge any sort of christian market, or is that bunk? Would you be willing to participate in the christian market?

            Shannon Honestly, I feel that the christian music market was created out of a need for safety by separation. People wanted to know that the music they were listening to would not contaminate their souls or the souls of their children. The truth is that we are not contaminated by our culture, but by our own hearts. I do think it's important to feed the fire as little as possible, but shutting out the world and creating a safe subculture is not what Christ commanded us to do. Rather than making absolute judgments about christian bands or labels, I try to take them on an individual basis. Sometimes people ask me if I play "christian music"—I don't even know what to say. I'm a Christian, and I play music, but is it all praise and worship? No. I feel more comfortable outside of the box, where things are more dangerous and oftentimes more real.

            Sufjan How has Seattle changed your music? Were your sensibilities different in Michigan?

            Shannon I don't think it's changed my writing a bit. Actually, I've done very little writing here, so there wasn't much of an opportunity to break the mold.

            Sufjan What do you miss most about Michigan?

            Shannon My mom and sisters.

            Sufjan Will you ever return?

            Shannon Only for vacations, I think.

            Sufjan Are you a sentimental person?

            Shannon Hmmm.... I'm not sure what sentimentality is. I am an emotional person, and a romantic person, but am I sentimental? I don't know.

            Sufjan What do you want for yourself in the next ten years?

            Shannon The current plan is to put my husband through college and seminary, and support his 15-year-old brother through high school. As far as the music, I am not sure where the Lord's taking me. I went through a major burnout this year, and was forced in my agitation to give up on the whole thing and take a break. I said, "Lord, if you want this music thing to succeed, you're going to have to do it yourself. I'm not lifting a finger." Ever since then, crazy things have been happening. I feel freer than ever before. I don't feel the need to define myself as a musician. I can just be a person, and be satisfied with that. I am no longer compelled to wear myself thin for a success that hardly appeals to me. Now, if I become successful, it's because the Lord has ordained it, and I can just enjoy the ride.

            Sufjan So many of your early songs are about loneliness and estranged relationships. How do you think marriage (or the prospect of it) changes what you write about? Will it squander all those sad melodies about "the wall of ice blurring you and silence?" Will you now write songs about homemaking and kneading dough?

            Shannon I might write more happy songs. I figure I will write some songs about the wonder of intimacy. I'm ready to stop pissing and moaning.

            Sufjan Do you want to have children?

            Shannon This has been a huge topic of discussion, and the answer is: certainly not anytime soon. But I recognize the fact that sex = babies, even sometimes when you least expect it. And if God puts a baby in my belly, hallelujah. At least I can blame it on him.