Born and raised in and around San Francisco, along the way, Rykarda Parasol has also lived in Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, and more recently, Paris, France — which continues to be her part-time home. Her last two albums were both released on Warner, PL as well as several smaller labels within Europe. She is also a visual artist and creates her own far-out album art.
Her fifth record, Tuesday Morning, is out now.
Rykarda Parasol is a songwriter, performer, and visual artist based between San Francisco and Paris; Collin Hegna is a Portland, OR-based musician and recording engineer, and the guitarist for The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Federale. Rykarda’s latest record, Tuesday Morning, just came out in October, and to celebrate its release, she played a hometown show at the Kilowatt in San Francisco with Federale earlier this month. Not long before the show, the two got on a call to catch up about it, and much more.
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
Rykarda Parasol: Thank you so much for doing this, by the way. I’ve been a fan of BJM since the very beginning, and just love seeing all the side projects, too. We’re going to play a show December 2, with Federale — do you want to tell me the elevator pitch about Federale?
Collin Hegna: Yeah, we started in 2004 and, you know, we came from the world of garage rock and psychedelic rock, but we wanted to do something different. I was really into film music, and specifically I was really into ‘60s, early ‘70s Italian film music — or just European ‘70s film music in general, which is stylistically quite a bit different than the stuff that was going on in America.
Rykarda: Yeah, I think we have a lot in common as far as the eclectic blend of this Americana, but then also looking at Europe.
Collin: Totally. And what’s really interesting, especially with the Spaghetti Western genre, is that a lot of those film composers and the filmmakers were basically trying to make American versions of those genre films. They were trying to make American style Westerns, but of course, it’s all filtered through this Italian or Spanish lens, and so everything gets a little distorted and it comes out way more interesting, I think.
Rykarda: Yeah, a little more elegant and refined.
Collin: Like really interesting stylistic flourishes, and the characterizations are way less one-dimensional. For instance, in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, which is a famous example of that sort of film — you know, it’s called The Good, the Bad the Ugly, but in reality, no one is either good or bad or ugly. Everyone is a combination of all of those things. Everyone is a little bit bad or a lot bit bad, and the worst people in the movie have moments where they’re really kind and thoughtful individuals, which is more close to reality. So I think it’s just a more nuanced version of the genre.
Rykarda: And you’re as interested in the film side of it as the music from that era?
Collin: Absolutely. I mean, I am not a filmmaker. I’m definitely a film appreciator — and I actually have a series that I do up in Portland at the Hollywood Theater, which is a really cool independent cinema. For instance, around Halloween, I played a Mario Bava film and we played some music before that.
Rykarda: Yeah, I saw on your Instagram and I had some questions. So is the band playing live while the film is going?
Collin: I have done that before, but not for that one. We just played a bunch of greatest hits of Italian ‘70s horror music before the film, and then I spoke about the film and the history of Mario Bava a little bit. And then we watched the movie. So anyway, I’ve taken my film fandom to kind of an extreme.
Rykarda: Yeah. That’s such a great way to take music into a new general direction, just to get people to watch imagery in a different environment, but still hear and focus on the music. Not just not just having a record and then seeing the band live. I think we have to be pretty innovative at this point, with the music situation.
Collin: [Laughs.] I just think it’s really interesting to have something outside of music to give you inspiration. A lot of our music is instrumental — and these songs are still about things. I just don’t think you necessarily need to have someone singing lyrics over the top of it and telling you exactly what’s going on in the song or how to feel. I think if you take cues from cinema or art outside of music, you could use that as inspiration to still create a story arc and a musical arc. I try to do that, just because I get a little bit tired of people banging away on a guitar and telling you about their feelings, you know?
Rykarda: Yeah. More and more, I feel like feelings don’t matter.
Collin: There’s other ways to go about creating direction in music.
Rykarda: Well, yeah, and evoking a feeling or an environment. Because I, over the last 10 years, started listening to a lot of foreign language music, and I don’t know what they’re singing about, but I get a sense of what they’re singing about if it’s good. And I just love the sound of language as well. Sometimes you do need a break from all the heavy opinions and emotions. [Laughs.] Maybe that’s also a bit a side effect of the way the world’s become with social media, and just too much overload.
Collin: Yeah, I love listening to French music and Italian music and music from all over the world. Brazilian music. Oftentimes, I have no idea what they’re talking about, but you’re right — sometimes that’s better, because the mood is still there and you can use your imagination a little bit. Then it’s interesting to go back and sometimes and see what certain songs are actually about and how close you were.
Rykarda: Yeah. And I do like the idea of guys like Serge Gainsbourg, where all these Americans are like, “Oh, I love this song!” And then they figure out what the song is really about, and it’s just a dirty old man. [Laughs.] They’re all singing along. So, I mean, there’s a part of me that wants to be that type of trickster, but perhaps not with English, because everyone understands it.
Collin: You can’t get away with it as easily.
Rykarda: Yeah, I’ll have to sing in Swedish. So you guys are about to go on tour?
Collin: Yeah, it’s a little miniature tour, and then we’re coming back because it’s getting towards the end of the year. I want to have a bigger tour early next year. I haven’t been to San Francisco with Federale since the pandemic, so [the goal is] to just actually be there again, but I also kind of want to get the tour legs back so that we can do a much more extensive tour.
Rykarda: Well, we’re excited to play. It’s been a long time for me. I haven’t played in San Francisco since 2016, because I was primarily based in Europe. I had a band in Warsaw, Poland, as one does. [Laughs.] And I was just touring out of Poland and Germany and Austria. So these are guys that I record with, and have played out before with them, but it feels really good to get the band back together.
Collin: That’s great. How long were you in Europe for?
Rykarda: Well, I was living in Europe on and off for 10 years, and then two years straight in France. Because I was touring so much, I don’t feel like I was living anywhere. And not touring like BJM, but a lot of small shows, lots of small tours.
Collin: Cool.
Rykarda: I miss it. It would be fun to play out again. I think being in a band feels like you’re in a moving company, except you have these moments where you get to play. You’re just moving large equipment.
Collin: Yeah, it’s a lot of waiting and nothing happens, and then it’s these bursts of excitement followed by long periods of completely dull everything else. And occasional emotional outbursts from your comrades. [Laughs.]
Rykarda: Oh, yeah. I mean, I would say over the years the outbursts have lessened, but I definitely have had some experiences like drummers who just don’t show up, and then grabbing some friend last minute to play drums and just not knowing what’s going on…
Collin: I feel like being on tour, or traveling and doing music in general, you have to have MacGyver skills. These random bizarre problems will creep up and you just have to be able to like, “Oh, I’ve got some chewing gum. We can find a way to make that work.”
Rykarda: Yeah, I kind of really like those moments. I mean, there are definitely limits, but when you’re a creative person, you’ll find a way to roll with it. It’s rock. There’s that component. So you guys have some new music out, yeah?
Collin: Yeah, we released a single.
Rykarda: And you recorded it?
Collin: Yeah, I record a lot of what we do. Not all of it, but a lot of it, and then we generally have someone else mix it. Although for our last single, “Blood Moon,” the B-side was a cover of the song “Mona Lisa,” and I actually did mix the “Mona Lisa” song. I have a recording studio, and I record a lot of other bands, and I do a lot of mixing, but I try not to mix my own music, just because it’s great to get someone—
Rykarda: Outside of your own head.
Collin: Yeah, to tell you what’s good and, more importantly, what’s not good. I tend to have other folks mix, although sometimes I break that rule. We have a new single that’s coming out — it’s actually a Christmas cover of “What Child Is This?” Which is a really old…
Rykarda: [Laughs.] I’m not that well versed on Christmas music.
Collin: It’s based on the tune Greensleeves.
Rykarda: You know that was originally about a prostitute?
Collin: Yeah, I read about that.
Rykarda: I’m well versed on music about prostitutes.
Collin: It’s also attributed to Henry VIII. I think that’s been proven to be false — I think they just were like, “Hey, you wrote this song.” He was like, “Yes, I did, thank you.”
Rykarda: Yeah, I have a book of his music notations on some songs. I’ve never tried to replicate them, but yeah, he was a little songwriter. Trying to enchant the ladies, before he cut their heads off. [Laughs.]
Collin: What a charmer. But, yeah, that song I actually did for a film. It’s set at Christmas, but it’s a horror movie, and I thought it was maybe going to be coming out this holiday season, but I think it’s going to be next holiday season at this point. Anyway, we needed some public domain Christmas music, and that song is so old that it’s in the public domain. So I took that version and I added real strings to it and some real French horn and stuff, so it’s kind of like a full on ‘60s style orchestral Christmas song, sort of like Johnny Mathis or Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra.
Rykarda: Oh, yeah, I can just visualize it. I love reruns of the Dean Martin Show. The skinny microphones… I did a Christmas special in Poland. It was a national program and it was recorded live. This was, I don’t know, maybe 2012 or something.
Collin: Was it broadcast live?
Rykarda: I don’t know for sure, but the president of Poland was in the audience and stuff. They asked me to sing a Christmas song, and I was like, “Uh… I’m not really that faithful.” So I was like, “Well, I’d like to do ‘Wintertime Love’ by The Doors or something like that,” and they just wanted me to sing something Christmassy. So I found this song by Jacques Dutronc, “La fille du Père Noël.” And I’m like, “Yeah, it’s Christmas song.” Nobody spoke French or understood what it was about, but it was about — in Europe, there’s a guy that hangs out with Santa, but he’s the guy that will punish all the kids if they’re naughty, and it’s sort of this masochistic song. [Laughs.] So we sang that in French on national TV.
Collin: That’s pretty cool. I know that there’s Ruprecht in Germany, and if you’ve been bad, he’ll put you in a sack and take you outside and beat you with a switch.
Rykarda: Yeah, he’s kind of like that guy. And it ended up on an album later [2015’s The Color of Destruction]. But holiday music — I gotta hear new stuff, because I can’t go to Target and just deal with what they’re pumping through the sound system.
Collin: Yeah. There’s a station here in Portland, the jazz station, and it plays the most amazing music all through December. And they do occasionally repeat stuff, but it’s amazing the amount of diversity of music that exists out there, but you only hear two or three or 10 songs on repeat whenever you go to the mall or whatever.
Rykarda: Yeah, I mean, good for Mariah Carey. So when you are discovering new music, where do you go? I noticed with the rest of BJM, everybody’s on the hunt for vinyl records all the time.
Collin: Yeah. Well, when I was younger, I used to really be into collecting vinyl, and I’ve got a lot of records. But I work in a recording studio almost every day, so at a certain point, I kind of got tired of the collecting-the-relic aspect of things, you know? Like, “I need to have this certain pressing or this mono version from this country of this particular recording.” I mean, that stuff is cool, of course, but I don’t seek those things out. I’m not really a record collector, I’m more interested in the music.
So I spend a lot of time listening — again, I listen to the jazz station here in Portland, KMHD, because they play some really amazing stuff that I don’t know. And they have live DJs who play vinyl and it’s not programmed at all, so it’s very interesting. They’ll have a show that does Brazilian music, and then they’ll have another one that does music from the ‘40s. And, of course, I’ll hear things in films and I’ll be like, “What was that?”
Rykarda: Can you think of a film of recent — I’m putting you on the spot. [Laughs.]
Collin: I went down this rabbit hole a few years ago of watching all these giallo films. The music in those is always really, really interesting. Diving into these movies sucked me into this whole world of these composers from that era that were making really, really neat stuff. So I really went down a rabbit hole with the giallo composers, which is what led me to programming that show, actually, and playing some of those songs. You know, stuff by Fabio Frizzi and Claudio Simonetti. Of course, his band Goblin did a lot of really amazing stuff. And Alessandro Alessandroni, who did a lot of stuff with Ennio Morricone. I got really into him and his back catalog. Just a lot of really neat Italian composers.
Rykarda: I haven’t delved into the Italian cinema music, but I love lots of singers and artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s like Pino D’Angiò and Mina. And a lot of French artists as well. I suppose it’s the way they… I mean, it’s presumptive, but the music education is just sort of different.
Collin: People take it really seriously in a lot of places in Europe. That’s why there’s so many amazing musicians and producers coming out of Sweden. Because they actually really foster music as a form of the arts. And people are taught that from a young age, so people who are interested in that actually have an opportunity to learn and to make a career out of it. Whereas in the United States you have to do it against all odds, it seems.
Rykarda: Well, I’m half-Swedish, so I spent my summers in Sweden, and I think Swedes just love to play. You also spend a lot of time indoors because of the weather, so you have this opportunity to isolate yourself and work on projects, and having a project is really important. My mother was like, “You must have a hobby! You must have a project!” [Laughs.]
Collin: I’m sure that’s a huge factor.
Rykarda: Your last name is Norwegian. Did you know that?
Collin: [Laughs.] I do know that, yes.
Rykarda: Well, up in the Northeast, it seems like a lot of Scandinavians…
Collin: Yeah. My grandfather and his family are from Norway, and they actually lived in Wisconsin, and then he moved out to Oregon from Wisconsin.
Rykarda: You guys have played [Norway] many times, I think.
Collin: Yeah, yeah.
Rykarda: Actually, I ended up seeing you guys in Zurich, because I was supposed to see you in Sweden but family things got turned around. So I ended up in Zurich, which is bizarre.
Collin: I remember the Zurich gig. It was a smaller room, as I recall, but people were really liking it.
Rykarda: It’s a really nice club, and a really great green room. [Laughs.] I never saw green room like that.
Collin: Oh, yes! That green room!
Rykarda: It was like an apartment that some schlager rock guy had. It was like a pimp den.
Collin: ‘80s European coke den. Porcelain white leopards everywhere, and there was this mirrored window thing that opened up to reveal a whole booze collection. That place was really something.
Rykarda: I think European Coke Den is the name of my next band.
Collin: Fantastic. You have to let me guest on it.
Rykarda: Oh, for sure. Opening for Nose Candy. [Laughs.] So, any projects for Federale besides the Christmas song?
Collin: I have a full length. With the turnaround around vinyl, I think it’s probably going to come out in June. But I’m still trying to finish up some of the mixing, and occasionally I’m retooling a lyric here or there. Very close though. And then I think we’ll try to hit the road a little bit more around that period of time.
Rykarda: Great. Well, I’ll just mention: I just released a new album October 24. We didn’t do a record release, so the show will be that. I just try to keep things understated, I don’t want to use bad language, but I’m really just all out of fucks. [Laughs.] And that makes music so much more fun now! Who knew?
Collin: Well, there’s all these things that you’re supposed to do with a release, and it can be kind of annoying. You have to make videos and you have to do all the social media stuff, and it’s like, I’d really rather spend my time writing more music.
Rykarda: That’s where I’m at right now. When we’re done with this, I’m writing all day today on a second project. No name for that project, but — oh, maybe European Coke Den! I’m sure the guys will approve…
