Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O busts some of her biggest myths

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Speaking from her home in Los Angeles, Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek) is delightfully giggly when revisiting the glory days of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, one of the iconic bands that led the New York City denim-rock revolution at the turn of the millennium.

Perhaps it’s partly that the band’s glory continues; last September they released Cool It Down, which bucked the cliche of reformed bands releasing mediocre junk. Led by the charged anthem Spitting Off the Edge of the World, the album was a striking comeback after a nine-year hiatus.

Ahead of their first Australian tour in a decade, we talked about a lot – including whether Karen once pushed Courtney Love into a catering table, or not.

Rock icon: Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.Credit: David Black

You have quite an interesting relationship with Australia. I was at that gig in 2003 where you fell off the stage at The Metro in Sydney.
Oh no.

I have a photo somewhere of the ambulance in the alley, taking you away. How significant was that moment for you in terms of how you approach your stagecraft?
That was a pivotal moment for me. I think the angst in my performance had been escalating to an unhealthy point and it culminated in that fall. It was a six-foot drop and the monitor I fell off smacked me in the head. As challenging and jarring as it was, I was lucky in not hurting myself badly. I was always someone who loved to perform on the level of people I idolised, but it was a wake-up call I needed in changing my approach to just, like, self-care.

Who were some of those people you idolised, performance-wise?
When I was in high school, I lived in Jersey and I was going into New York City to see shows from bands like the Make-Up, Jonathan Fire Eater, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and PJ Harvey when she’d come to town. They were incredibly charismatic, powerful, heart-on-their-sleeve performers. And, you know, quite f—ing sexy; that reckless abandon on stage. Nick Cave and the Birthday Party were a big influence, too. I liked performers who’d go the extra mile and just mesmerise you.

Karen O at Sydney’s Metro Theatre in 2003, just before the gig was aborted midway following her fall.Credit: Domino Postiglione

Twenty years on, what are you like on stage now?
Well, I’m not rolling around on broken glass! It’s more like… let’s see if I can describe it. When I go out there and see the audience, it’s like plugging into some high voltage energy outlet. And now I feel like I’m able to wield that energy flow in certain ways, whereas before it was wielding me completely, you know? Also, not to sound too new age-y – although I do live in Los Angeles – but a good part of our show now is love, just emitting it and receiving it. We don’t tour that much so the audience’s appreciation, with the old stuff and the new record, it’s beyond just appreciation; it feels like love.

Were you also out here when Spike Jonze was filming Where the Wild Things Are in Victoria?
Yeah, that was in 2006. We did a bunch of songs on the soundtrack. But we weren’t out on set because we were only in town for a couple of days and they were filming out in the wilderness.

There’s an infamous Reddit theory that suggests Samantha, the AI character in Spike Jonze’s Her (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), is based on you. Do you know about that?
Oh! I don’t know that theory.

The idea is, basically, that the film’s a metaphor for your relationship with Spike: older guy starts dating younger woman, right as she’s developing into a huge rock star with a global following, etc.
I can confirm that’s not, like, 100 per cent true. Spike, I mean… There’s been many loves in his life that I think culminated in that character. But yeah, there’s probably a little bit of me in there.

Is it true that Maps was about, or inspired by, your relationship with Australia’s own Angus Andrew from the Liars?
Yes, it was, actually.

That’s an amazing song for him to be able to be like, ‘Hey, that’s about me!’
(laughs) Well, yeah. Someone asked me recently, how does he feel about that song? And honestly, I don’t know. You’d have to ask him if he likes it.

Do you know if anyone has ever written a song about you?
Yeah, there’s an indie band [Sun June] that has a song titled Karen O. It’s pretty good.

It’s good when the song about you is good.
Yeah, I’m happy about it.

I fell down a Meet Me in the Bathroom wormhole last year. Lizzy Goodman’s book is incredible. The documentary is good, but it feels like a sliver of the book. I might be misremembering the anecdote, but did you really shove Courtney Love?
No, I didn’t! I feel like people have projected a lot onto that moment. That was during our shenanigans at SXSW [in 2002].

[Note: According to the book – and onlookers, including then Yeah Yeah Yeahs manager Asif Ahmed and the band’s producer Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio – Karen apparently called Courtney a “f—ing bitch” and pushed her into a catering table. In the book, Karen O denies the incident but admits the band were “fuelled by tequila and really, really naughty prankster behaviour” during that SXSW experience at the peak of their early rise].

Was it just a feeling of, like, “ugh, here’s the old generation trying to latch onto the exciting new thing”?
No! I mean, I don’t even recall her being backstage. But apparently someone said, like, “Oh yeah, you shoved her into the catering table.” And it’s just like, there’s no way. There’s no way in a million years that I would ever be able to shove Courtney Love! Into a catering table or anything. There’s just no way. She’s, like, one of the most powerful women ever. It didn’t happen, so I don’t know why that might have been made up. Just someone starting some shit.

It’s the 20th anniversary of Fever to Tell this year. What does that album evoke to you?
It’s our genesis, the beginning. It’s very much tied to that New York scene that predated social media and it felt like one of the last bastions of being able to start a band and be part of a community, just completely naive to what was going on in the rest of the world. It’s also tied to uncertain times. We started the band in 2000, we were in New York for September 11, and it felt very much like the end times. It was a pretty volatile conception, but also just super celebratory. Music was our lifeline. It’s what got everybody in that community through a dark moment in history.

I noticed that Heads Will Roll from It’s Blitz (2009) is your biggest track on streaming. It’s had a fascinating second life with so many remixes floating around YouTube and TikTok. Also, Scarlett Johansson sang it as a porcupine in Sing 2, which is why my kids play it at home every other day. Why do you think that song in particular caught on with a new generation?
Well, it’s pretty catchy. “Off with your head, dance till you’re dead” – I mean, that’s pretty good. Apparently it spikes in popularity around Halloween too, which, you know, we’re a little bit goth at heart, right? The A-Trak remix being in that film Project X kind of blew it up to a new audience and then it just took on a life of its own from there, completely outside our control. I’m just happy that people are still digging it.

What do you listen to at home with your eight-year-old?
With Django, my kid? He’s really particular about what he likes; it veers towards a bit electronic. He’s a huge fan of Daft Punk, Kraftwerk…

Wow.
He’s got good taste! Some Brian Eno stuff. That’s kind of his vibe.

Cool It Down was an inspired return, and I think people can be sceptical when long-established bands put out new material. But I’ve heard you say that it developed naturally, in the sense that the band needed nine years off to figure out what to say or to find the sound that excited you. Since it did so well and got such a good response, has that opened a tap?
I’d like to think it opened a tap. I’m actually quite fried from the last couple of years, so I’m laying low and I’ll find some inspiration as soon as my brain comes back to life. But I don’t think our next record is going to be nine years from now, that’s all I can confirm.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs will perform at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on July 20, Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on July 24, and at Splendour in the Grass on July 22.

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