Having a good laugh: an interview with Karla Kane of THE CORNER LAUGHERS

When I started listening to the Big Stir singles comps last year, I was thrilled to find good, new music to listen to. So I dove in, and everyone I’ve heard has been a winner, including The Corner Laughers. All of their albums are worth a listen.

Karla Kane, leader of the band, was kind enough to answer some questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: How did the band form?

Karla Kane: Way back at the start, it was formed by me and my friend Angela, who’s since moved on from music (but not the friendship). Khoi joined us pretty early on and we eventually poached Charlie after admiring his drumming in a friend’s band. We’d all been big fans of KC Bowman for years, so it was very exciting that he somehow ended up one of us. We’re a quite tight-knit foursome now and have been for a good long while.

AW: Who are your influences?

KK: I always find this to be an impossible question. Too many to name, of course. But they would have to include the masters of musical theater, British folk and British Invasion, Kirsty MacColl, David Byrne… most of all, our various and very talented musician friends. We’re so lucky to have worked with some of our favorites, including Martin Newell, Mike Viola, Wesley Stace… and to be honest, all my band members are still my biggest idols!

AW: How do you think “Temescal Telegraph” compares to your last album, “Matilda Effect?”

KK: You’ll have to tell me how it compares. It’s the first record we’ve made that’s entirely self-produced and recorded (at KC’s Timber Trout studio in Temescal, Oakland) and we made it more quickly than past albums. We didn’t have a lot of guest cameos, although we did have a few. I think it has a nicely intimate, natural and immediate sound, or at least that’s the way it feels to me because of my memories of making it.

AW: I hope this isn’t a typical “women in rock” question. So few women play modern pop/rock (and the ones that do are wonderful). Why do you think that is?

KK: I’m not sure that it’s true that few women play it, but yeah, there are no doubt scenes where it’s still much more dude-dominated. Sexism and stereotypes, unfortunately, are still rampant in 2020. Happily, I know plenty of great musicians who identify as women. I know our label, Big Stir Records, feels strongly about diversity and representation.

AW: Your lyrics are very feminist, which is great. Do you think that would be another way for more women to participate in the genre?

KK: I can’t help writing songs that reflect me and my beliefs, at least to some extent. I would hope other women feel comfortable writing whatever lyrics they want in whatever genre they wish! But there’s always room for interesting lyrics, whatever the topic or message. Some people are able to separate the artist from the art but I’m not usually one of them.

AW: I like that your music is almost folk/rock. Is that also an influence?

KK: Oh yes! We love both traditional folk and folk rock. My 2017 solo album is even more folky, but “Temescal Telegraph” definitely has lots of folk-rock moments.

AW: I love your ukulele playing. It’s a good twist. Do you mean it that way, or as something else?

KK: I just happened to pick up a ukulele one day (many years ago now) and enjoyed playing it, so that became my instrument and I began using it while writing songs. As the band developed it just naturally stayed with me. There was no plan or agenda to it. I do like the unique sound and texture it gives our music, though, and maybe adds to the folky sound you mentioned above.

AW: “Wren In The Rain” is a great song about death being natural, inevitable, and a fact of life. Do you feel this song would make people think about it that way?

KK: The whole album has a sort of “life-death-life cycle” theme going on, and, yes, that song certainly has themes of nature and seasons. It was inspired by a real-life family of wrens who often nest in our yard, so I think of it more as a song about spring and new life in that sense, but of course it all goes together. “Lord Richard,” the final song on the album, is another bird-inspired one that very much takes that approach to thinking about death.

Andrea Weiss