No other band to emerge from the late 1970s’ new wave boom has more consistently been able to help us “Dance This Mess Around” than The B-52’s. The Athens, Georgia party band, which is about to celebrate its 40th anniversary together, is responsible for dancefloor classics like “Rock Lobster” and “Love Shack” and have put out a slew of great records since the start. Founding members and vocalists Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson have engaged in solo projects and releases in past years. And now it’s Cindy Wilson’s turn.
The lovely, doe-eyed singer and tambourine player who used to sport a tall beehive hairdo is stepping out on her own to try her hand at a solo career and the results might surprise listeners. Not that the band is breaking up…along with her fellow B-52’s (minus Cindy’s brother and former bandmate, the late Ricky Wilson), she still tours with the group and always delivers a fun, fantastic night of butt-shaking music. Cindy now has two dazzling EPs under her belt that, musically range from dreamy electronica to hip new wave dance sounds, and has designs on releasing a full length album of her own music later this fall.
In the meantime, gearing of for a limited tour of smaller venues as a solo artist , Wilson will appear at Ybor City’s Crowbar to entrance a crowd with her own style of “turbo chill” music as it’s been described. I recently had the chance to speak with this warm, jovial and accommodating southern lady while on a break from rehearsing with her new solo band for her upcoming tour and she filled me in on her current projects.
Get more information on the show via local.cltampa.com. Listen to Supernatural at the bottom of the post.
Well, we’ve had a couple of years off from the road and you know there are stressful things going on in your life and so music’s always been a good way to just negate that and have something that relieves stress and music always does that for me. So a friend of mine that I’ve been working with locally in other little projects and stints here and there in Georgia just kind of kicked it around about going into a studio to see if we would work together well and what kind of sound we would come up with so we went into Suny Lyons’s studio who is a locally sought after engineer and producer here and he’s really a smart guy.
So we went in and it was great! It was a lot of fun and it was just what I needed to work things out in the studio and it was really like a school for me because I let go of a lot of what I was doing in The B-52’s, vocally, and tried to just experiment with different vocal styles until we came out with a sound that we liked. We knew that Suny had to be part of this band so [he’s] travelling with us and he’s brought songs to the effort. The album came out so well I can’t believe it! It just flows like a river. You turn it on and it’s great driving music. You turn it on..and you just let it go. And I love it. I’m tickled with the way it turned out. We’ve signed with (indie record label) Kill Rock Stars, and it’s gonna be coming out in the fall. But we’ve got EPs out now (2016’s Sunrise and Supernatural released earlier this year) which has been a good way of getting people to hear the music and to know what we’re doing something so it’s progressing. It’s like, ‘Let’s start all over again!’ with different projects and so we’ve had to prove ourselves on every step of the way and are still proving ourselves and piquing people’s interest.
I’ve listened to both of the EPs and I think they’re terrific. I like the styles and they really show off a whole different side of your vocal talents that many listeners might not know about. I’ve read the term ‘turbo chill’ used to describe your solo music. What exactly does that mean?
We’ll we did a radio show and we were talking about the EPs and they came up with the term ‘turbo chill’ and we thought it was the funniest thing! But it was genius, too, and so we’re just having a good time with it.
It’s kind of a visual term and it elicits a feeling and it kind of matches the feel of the music on the EPs so it’s a great description.
Yeah!
Tell us about your solo show. What might fans who may not be familiar with the musical direction you’re going in expect from the show at The Crowbar?
Well we wanted to come up with more of an art kind of feel and it’s a performance art piece and we have multi-media backgrounds and videos going and it flows from the beginning to the end and then, at the end, you can stand up and clap and cheer!! (HAHA) But it’s something like that. It’s not like a regular rock and roll show.
And the show is being titled “Change”?
Yea, that’s right. It reflects the change in style that I’m doing and lots of other things that are going on in my life.
So how does this solo tour and project differ from the schedule you keep with The B-52’s?
It’s the total opposite. It’s more like the beginning when we (The B-52’s) first started like back in the punk and new wave days playing really small clubs which is really fun and you’re right there at the level of the audience and it’s just great. I feel like I’m going back in time..but in a good way! I’m enjoying the energy. We’re trying to watch our pennies at this point to we’re traveling in a van and staying at Airbnb’s so the whole thing is great. I’m loving it.
So what will this experience bring when The B-52’s regroup? How do side projects enhance what you all do collectively as a band?
Everybody has got another band and I think it’s good for the soul and it’s a good way to grow when you’re in a band when you kind of have to play the same songs from the past which I’m counting my lucky stars that we have them and we have a back catalog. There’s so many that we can dig up but you have to go back and do certain songs every time. You have to! There’s certain songs you can’t stop doing but like I said, it’s just nice to be able to go in and stretch creatively and, I’m just having a blast. I really am.
Overall, do you still enjoy this lifestyle? I know you’re a mom and your life has probably changed a lot since the early days of The B-52’s. Is this part of your life still enjoyable and fun?
Oh it is! I have to make a point to try to get back into it as much as possible even if it’s just for a couple of nights. This year’s going to be crazy and it hasn’t been like this for a long time. My husband understands, thankfully! My kids are college-aged so they’re older but my husband does have a lot on his plate…I feel bad about having to leave but he’s a real trooper.
And your whole family supports your music and your projects?
Yeah, I’ll ask them sometimes, “Does it feel bad that I’m away all the time?,” and they’ll say, “No mom we want you to do this…” It’s very important’ so I’m very much supported by my family.
So your show is going to feature music from the EPs and maybe some stuff that’s going to appear on the upcoming full-length album?
Yes! It’s going to be there. We’re still writing too but I’m done and it (the album) is ready to go but the stuff we’re writing now will probably be on the next record.
What’s in the future for you? More solo touring once the new record comes out? Any B-52’s projects in the works?
Yeah! This is the 40th anniversary for The B-52’s and it’s gonna be a lot of touring for us. We might record like one song, that’s possible, but I don’t think a whole album is really possible…but you never know.
That band is so influential and meant so much to so many people. In a recent interview with Berlin lead singer Terri Nunn, she referenced what a huge impact The B-52’s had on her. What does that feel like when you hear those kinds of accolades for the work you’ve done and the art you’ve created?
It’s amazing! It really is. You go about your daily life and then you go back and get onstage and you look into the faces of the crowd and you see what a good time they’re having and I’m having a good time too. We’re all having a good time, and it’s like it’s peaking in motion. I’m really digging it and if you would have asked me if we would still be doing this forty years into it (breaks out in laughter) I would think you’re crazy but you know, it’s just a good time and it’s a really special thing. I think we were original and each of us and our personalities coming together…it was like alchemy and it propelled us into the future for a long time to come.
What a great body of music you all have. I like to ask people their opinion on what their ultimate Saturday night party record is. Ironically, my personal stock answer is usually a James Brown album or a B-52’s album so it’s funny that I’m asking you this…but how would you answer that question?
(Laughs) At different times, it’s a different answer. I’ve been listening to Tame Impala and Temples lately so that’s my go-to for what I’m listening to right now. I love that sound. But I love different albums…it could be opera to country to whatever…it could be James Brown! I dig it all. I’m loving the old 70s and 80s music again too…
Yeah?
Oh yeah…I listen to different things…I love garage bands like really primitive stuff. I love it all. It’s amazing. You can go back and appreciate music that you hated back in the day like there’s some of the Top 40 hits that I really hated and now I go back and listen to them and I’ll say ‘that’s really great!’. I’m rediscovering things too.
Like what in particular?
You know, like those high power bands from the 70s…I would never listen to …uh I can’t even tell you the names…but it’s fun.
It’s obvious you love music and that you’re still passionate about it. It never feels like you’re just doing a job and your enthusiasm for it and for your newer music really shines through.
Well that’s what it’s all about. You know, if you’re not having fun, then go home! (laughs)
This article appears in Jul 20-27, 2017.