Breech: Just Add Water

A Glorious Noise interview with Breech.

Getting attention for an up and coming band can be daunting. There are thousands of up-starts throughout the country and picking through those that are worthwhile is like separating sugar from salt. Zealous bands could just literally grab audience members by the throat until they listen, but why not just have a bake sale? Contributing writer Jude Lemrow interviews Missy Gibson of the Los Angeles rock outfit Breech, who have made their mark with their intense live shows and irresistible pistachio bread. Read more.

Interview with Missy Gibson of Breech

By Jude Lemrow
June 2002

Hang on a minute while I dust off a memory from 1992. It was one of those Friday nights in my young adulthood, when for some reason or other, every one of my friends was out of town or busy, leaving me to fend for myself for an evening’s entertainment. I wasn’t habitually hitting bars by myself yet, but I didn’t want to stay home. Earlier in the day my roommate told me that a Detroit band called the Strange Bedfellows was playing Kalamazoo’s Club Soda that night. He suggested that I check it out. With that in mind, I went to the show by myself. The Strange Bedfellows were the opening act that night. When they took the stage and began bashing out their first song, I remember being immediately captivated. I remember looking around the club; conversations had stopped, people stared at the stage with awed faces painted with an odd mix of intrigue, unease, and the realization that this band had come to challenge them. The crowd kept its distance from the stage as if the band was a caged animal that might strike out at them. How right they were.

I got the bright idea to be the first to break the ice on the crowd’s behalf. I, beer in hand, walked right up front and center, an arm’s length from the turf that the singer, Missy Gibson, had claimed for herself. The stage was a foot or so higher than the floor where I was standing and I found myself craning my neck to watch the singer as she belted the songs out. I had figured that she either didn’t see me or didn’t care that I was standing so close to the stage when suddenly she reached out and grabbed my throat and began to squeeze. She had a firm grip. Breathing became a little difficult for me, but I thought to myself, “Hey, this girl is choking me in front of the entire club… Cool!” She held on tight for about a minute or so, eyes fixed on the crowd behind me, piercing the back of the club with her eyes, singing the whole time, before she broke away. The great thing was that she never, other than choking me, acknowledged my existence. She never actually looked at me, she never skipped a beat, but she let me know that it sure as hell was her show and her stage. I was hooked.

Years later, I received a postcard in the mail announcing that Missy Gibson’s new band Breech was going to play Club Soda. Again, they were the opener. I arrived at the club early and I was surprised to see an almost bare stage - only a guitar amp and a mic’ stand - and so I discovered that Breech was a two-piece. The bigger surprise, however, was the show itself. Again, Missy delivered an absolutely riveting performance, sometimes screaming, sometimes whispering, sometimes just breathing into the mic’, backed up by simple guitar work by then Breech guitarist Thomas Trimble who now fronts his own band (Detroit’s American Mars). The simplicity of the music forced every note played and every word sung to carry much more weight, as there was nothing to fall back on. The show rocked.

In the years since those hazy days in Michigan, Missy has relocated to Los Angeles from Detroit and has rebuilt Breech into a demanding band. Breech has a CD due to be released June 8, 2002. The band embarked on a Midwest tour at the end of May. I managed to catch Missy long enough to ask her a few questions about Breech’s past, present and future.

GLONO: For the uninitiated, what is Breech? How would you describe Breech - comparisons to other bands, what are some of your influences and favorite artists?

Missy Gibson: Well, let’s see. We can be very textural, very moody. We’re unique in that we have more than just the usual guitars going on; we have some stuff that’s really accordion driven, some clarinet and other stuff. We’re a unique band made up of unique people. I think we’re special.

As for comparisons, we seem to be compared to P.J. Harvey, Velvet Underground, and Tom Waits. Favorites would include P.J. Harvey, Rickie Lee Jones, the Replacements, and Blonde Redhead. I’m really into the Starlight Mints right now. Influences would be, like, Rickie Lee Jones and a lot of older stuff. Growing up in Detroit, I was exposed to a lot of R&B when I was young. I didn’t get too much rock radio back then. I grew up liking Al Green, Earth Wind & Fire, that kind of stuff.

GLONO:

Does Breech have an agenda, or anything that might be loosely defined as an agenda? Is there an emotion or a set of emotions that you try to instill in people? I mean, Breech is definitely more than just a rock band that plays songs that work - there’s more going on there.

MG:

For me, I guess, in a very selfish sort of way I’m exorcising my demons, so to speak. One thing that’s really important to me is connecting with people. I’m always making direct eye contact with the audience. It’s important to me as a performer to have that kind of communication. I’ve always had a desperate need to communicate with people. I write about really personal things. I love it when someone in the audience comes up to me after a show and says, “Hey, that song really touched me.” There’s always an emotional subtext. Breech really tries to capture that subtext. It’s not just about the lyrics themselves, but also the emotion that lies under them.

GLONO:

I definitely detect a lot of feeling in addition to the lyrics. So, along those same lines, is there a difference between establishing this communication between yourself and the audience as an artist and as a woman?

MG:

For me, I always try not to let my sex get in the way of my art. I never want to be defined by my sex. I don’t want to be defined as a woman artist per se. Obviously, I deal with some issues emotionally differently as a woman than a man would and my interpretations might be different as such. As an artist, I feel fortunate enough that I actually have this vehicle with which to communicate and connect with people. I feel really blessed.

GLONO:

You’re very interactive with the crowds during your performances. Has that ever been misinterpreted by anybody?

MG:

Absolutely.

GLONO:

Have you ever had a really bad situation develop?

MG:

Yeah, you know, I’ve slugged a few people, I suppose. (Laughs) I remember one night Joe, my accordion player, said, “You’re gonna get arrested for assault if you’re not careful.” By the same token, you take a big risk and you make yourself very vulnerable when you interact with people. Time and time again there’s always a smart-ass who’s making fun of you and trying to break you, break your concentration, imitating you, and just being a total dick, and that person just has to be slugged. That’s how I see it. That person always shapes up real quick when that happens. We had a situation at a show in Vegas recently. There was this woman who was just talking, talking shit about me. I walked up to her and I tried to hand her the microphone. I said, “Here, go ahead and sing.” She walked away and I said, “You know what? I think I won.” Sometimes people get really uncomfortable, and if I see that, sometimes I take advantage of it, but usually, I try to connect with people who are directing their attention at me.

GLONO:

A lot of your songs deal with your childhood or different aspects of growing up. Why is that?

MG:

Well, everyone is affected by things that happened during childhood. For me, I’m trying to work through some of the bullshit and exorcise some of those demons. My songwriting is a vehicle for that. Like everybody else, I’m still dealing with some of those demons. Again, fortunately, I have this artistic vehicle that allows me to do that. There are lots of fun and quirky things about my childhood too. We have a song called “Grounded” that is about constantly being grounded.

GLONO:

Breech has a unique method of promoting itself and raising money for recording projects.

MG:

Yeah, we do bake sales. We pick cool shows at venues around town and we show up with a table and sell goodies. They’re going pretty good. It’s a great way to make money and meet people and advertise the band. Sadly, I think we’re known in LA more for our bake sales than for our music. The local papers have dubbed me Betty Rocker. People have no idea what the music is like, but they like the idea of the bake sales.

GLONO:

Yeah, but you’re in everybody’s minds, though. That’s more than most bands can say.

MG:

I think I can safely say that we’re the only band that has paid for a CD project via bake sales.

GLONO:

What sells the best?

MG:

Our pistachio bread. People love it.

GLONO:

Do you have any best / worst bake sale experiences that you would like to share?

MG:

Yes. Our best experiences are our celebrity visits. David Byrne came to one and he hung out with us and got people to come over and buy things. John Doe loves our bake sales. However, Hanson scoffed at our bake sale.

GLONO:

You mean the little boy band?

MG:

Yeah. They walked by and made faces at us. You can go to our web site and in the stories section you can read about our bake sales. Some of them are pretty funny.

GLONO:

I remember when Breech was in its infancy. I mean I remember seeing you with Thomas Trimble. Obviously, you have changed a lot. What are some of the more profound changes? Obviously, more band members lend more color, but other than that, what are some of the big differences?

MG:

I like to think that my vision of Breech has been very consistent despite all the personnel changes. I’ve grown and part of that growth comes from working with so many different people. I love the guys in my band now, they’re so creative and talented. It’s all been a growing experience.

GLONO:

It definitely worked as a two-piece.

MG:

I have a side project called Nellie Bly with my guitarist. It has more shades of the early Breech. There’s something unique that still needs to be satisfied in that minimalist way.

GLONO:

What are your favorite songs on the new album?

MG:

I like “Candy Cane,” “Easy Bake,” and “Apron Strings.” I love the heaviness, the release of “Candy Cane,” it lets me stoop to another layer. I think “Apron Strings” is a beautiful song, it’s a tale of desperation. The accordion and clarinet are really beautiful. I get chills every time we play it. “Easy Bake” is just a fun song, very bittersweet. The music belies what is happening lyrically. It’s funny because people like to dance to that song. When they do, it’s like, “We got ‘em! We have the upper hand.” The joke is on them.

GLONO:

What’s going on with the business end of things?

MG:

Well, we’ve been in negotiations with a label for a few months now, but I’m not really sure where that’s going. We’re putting the CD out ourselves. We’re not that eager, we’re not going to cave in just to get a deal. No deal is better than a raw deal.

Breech’s website contains lyrics, tour and merchandise info, cool articles and stories, and mp3s.