Dead Weather Channel: Alison Mosshart on Horehound

By Erin Lyndal Martin
Published: July 16th, 2009 | 7:00am

Now that one of 2009's most anticipated collaborations is out, all there is to do is wait for listeners to process the recording of the new supergroup, the Dead Weather. Combining Jack White (The White Stripes) as producer and drummer — yes, drummer — and Alison “VV” Mosshart (vocalist for the Kills) on vocals, along with bassist Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) and guitarist Dean Fertita (Queens Of the Stone Age), Horehound was written and recorded live at White's Nashville-based Third Man Recording Studio.

It's no surprise that the results are raw — primal, even — and that the album's visceral qualities permeate every aspect of it. "We were in the studio writing and recording from scratch every day for less than three weeks," Mosshart says. There was no prissy editing or careful excision of subpar songs; all but one made it to the album. Mosshart says the missing song was created "that one day where I just jumped on the bus on the Kills-Raconteurs tour, and we were really sick. We just wrote and recorded five things, and there was one thing that was odd and didn't make the record. It's really cool. I'm sure it'll come out sometime."

"Will There Be Enough Water," the first piece written for Horehound, evolved from that same night. "We just kind of rolled into Jack's studio really early in the morning and worked all night and did that Gary Numan cover, 'Are Friends Electric?' and 'Will There Be Enough Water' was the last thing we did for the night," says Mosshart. "Dean was playing piano, LJ [Lawrence] was playing drums, Jack was playing guitar, and I was just sitting on the floor singing with them. We just made it up and played and recorded it then. It was originally 15 to 20 minutes long. What you hear on the record was the last five minutes of it," she reveals.

Though Mosshart's vocals are unusually feral on Horehound, she attributes her sound to synergy — not a conscious attempt at creating a character. "Everything is an inspiration to everything else. The music dictates the vocals, the vocals dictate the music, the lyrics dictate it back, and we knew it was just a circular thing,” she states. “Part of me knows that it's just the mood of those weeks we were playing. I never know where stuff comes from, but I never try to stop it either. It's just exploring your brain. I don't challenge it — I just let it happen."

On approaching a Bob Dylan cover, Mosshart says that remaking “New Pony” was originally White’s idea. “I think he really likes the lyrics and thought it would be cool for a girl to sing it. It's obviously not about a horse," she laughs. With lyrics like “Well, come over here pony, I wanna climb up one time on you / Well, you're so nasty, and you're so bad," one would be hard-pressed to think so — especially considering the way Mosshart belts it out like a sadistic, sex-starved housewife. "We never did any of these covers with the intention of them going on a record. Doing covers in the studio is an exercise, a way of pushing yourself into going somewhere else.”

Mosshart actually attributes much of the project's success to White's ability to think on his feet and make quick changes, even from the drummer's seat. "Sometimes he'd ask me to do things and I'd just laugh, like, 'No way!' And then I would do it, and I would be like, 'Oh my God, you're a genius!’ That kind of thing happened a few times."

This frustration was likely present on the rocking "Treat Me Like Your Mother," a song Mosshart says is heavier than anything she'd ever done before. "All the music I've ever done is really blues-based, and 'Treat Me Like Your Mother' was this different animal. I'm used to playing with one other person, and there being lots of space. I couldn't figure out where there was room for me in it. That was the only song where I actually walked out of the studio and was like, 'I don't know if I can do this.'” But clearly she could do it. And so could the rest of the band.

Now, as the Dead Weather continues its summer tour, fans are still overwhelmed in the most positive way — especially since the band's newness helps preserve the rawness that infuses Horehound. Given the unfamiliarity of the material, Mosshart is surprised and impressed that fans have been going wild for the songs. "They don't know what's going to happen,” she says, “they hardly know who's going to be playing what!”

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