Mary Beth Abella is an intriguing name for a female mortal. Is this your real name?

MARY BETH: No, my given name is “Mary, Mother of God.” “Mary Beth The Beautiful” (which is what Abella means) seemed less egotistical.

Why don’t you go by something like Cher, Madonna or Pink?

MARY BETH: Because Cher, Madonna, and Pink are all whores and they’re all going to hell. I’m the Virgin, Mother of God. “The Madonna” is my real name anyway.

Does anyone ever think you are a lesbian?

MARY BETH: Why do you ask that, does this pussy in my face make me look gay? I don’t care what sexual orientation people think I am. People like to put other people into categories they can understand and I’m not about that.

Please explain to me why I shouldn’t think of you as an acoustic, hippy chick singer?

MARY BETH: I play acoustic or electric guitar depending on the song I’m playing. When people see a chick with an acoustic guitar, they think of her as a folk singer. But artists like the Pixies, Jeff Buckley, the Violent Femmes, and Jane’s Addiction all used acoustic guitars on certain songs and no one calls them folk or “hippy” singers. Besides, hippy chicks smell and I take showers almost monthly.

Who do people most compare you to musically? And who do you compare yourself to musically?

MARY BETH: I’ve been compared to a lot of people that I like and don’t like, like Natalie Merchant (you did that, too, didn’t you, you bastard!), Jewel, Alanis Morissette, Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow, Mazzy Star, and the Sneaker Pimps. I’ve also been compared to people I love, like Jeff Buckley.I don’t compare myself to anyone. I used to compare myself to other locals and go, “oh, I suck!” or “I’m so much better than that!” I’m at the point now that I can appreciate almost everyone if I like the genre. And while I don’t compare myself to people anymore (that’s really a no win situation), there’ll be times when I hear someone, I’ll be inspired to write more, which is great when that happens. Like when I opened for Juliana Hatfield, I thought cool, I would love to write like that. And for a while, every time I heard PJ Harvey I felt inspired to write. Lately, when I listen to my new album, I say, oh my god, that sounds like I lifted it from the Beatles! The Beatles are my musical heroes. And my brother who is also an enormous Beatles fan produced it, so you’re going to hear Beatles influences all over it.

Why do so many mortal, female solo artists seem to go the acoustic guitar route?

MARY BETH: Do they? I don’t know, maybe because there aren’t many female role models for electric guitar. It took some convincing for me to go electric.

Why are their fewer local mortal female artists/bands in comparison to men?

MARY BETH: Maybe you’ll find fewer female artists than men in general. It’s still a male dominated industry. It takes an enormous amount of confidence to get up in front of people and play. A lot of girls growing up lack confidence. One of the things I really admire about a lot of men is their natural confidence. A lot of men seem more at home in this world and maybe that’s because it’s a man’s world, whereas a lot of women walk around in fear of violence and are really busy trying to fit in and look okay. Our biggest concern all the time is how we look. It’s really sad. It gets really tiring, like can’t I just be a person today, do I have to be a woman today? Can I just rest and not constantly be judged on my appearance? If there’s one thing I think we should learn from men, it’s how to be more confident and how to fuck all and not care what people think of us.

What is the biggest prejudice female, mortal artists have to suffer?

MARY BETH: That they’re judged more by their looks than by their talent. I often lament that really talented people like Janis Joplin would probably not make it today. The mainstream music industry is so disgusting. Not only is it filled with really crappy music, every woman on MTV looks like a model.

What is the most aggravating part of trying to move forward in your music career?

MARY BETH: Ah, there are so many aggravations. The biggest thing for me has been finding the time and the money that I need to spend on it. Playing music as you know is incredibly expensive. I was amazed that I was finally able to finance my album. I was the only musician I know who’s been writing and playing as long as I have who had absolutely nothing to show for it. It’s a constant struggle between trying to make a living and trying to play music. It’s been further complicated by the fact that I chose a very low paying and high stress career for my day job–social work. It just so happens that the things I’m best at and that I’m committed to–saving the world and writing songs–don’t pay anything. I made a decision recently that I would no longer work at nonprofits because one job that pays nothing is enough. But I keep making that decision and then I get sucked into wanting a meaningful day job in which I’m making a difference in people’s lives. In an ideal world, I would make loads of money changing the world through music. Is that really too much to ask? You’d think the Mother of God could find some way to do it. Or pigs could fly or something like that.

Everyone who gets up on a stage does so because someone influenced them. Who influenced you?

MARY BETH: It’s true, I’ve been thinking lately about how no one gets anywhere on their own. There’s always someone, whether it’s a family member who believes in you or a friend who encourages you or a teacher or someone who gives you a
little push. I think about how many people there are who tell you no, who say you can’t do it, who talk behind your back, who criticize you–there are tons of people who are committed to killing other people’s dreams. And then hopefully, it only takes maybe one person who really believes in you to counteract all that crap. I can’t think of just one person who influenced me to get up on stage. I can think of people who inspired me to write songs or play guitar. And I can think of people who were really instrumental in helping me realize that I could do my own album, like my brother. I couldn’t have done it without him. Even Kevin, who is the most supportive person I have in my life needed some convincing that I should spend loads of money and time on this project. And he met me at a gig and says he fell in love with me while I was on stage–or in lust anyway! So there wasn’t just one person. When I was little I danced ballet, sang in choir, played in the orchestra, played piano recitals, acted in school plays–I was dying to be on stage. Then I got older and thought I didn’t deserve to be on stage and that I was meant to help people and only play benefits and do performance art for free or as a political statement. It took other musicians and performers asking me to do Shows with them and begging me to play my songs before I would do it. And then after they all moved to San Francisco and New York and no one was asking me anymore, I didn’t even think of trying to get gigs for myself. It took people who heard me play hounding me and asking me, “when are you playing next” for years before I decided that I should do it again. So after that long answer, I guess the short answer to your question is: anyone who’s ever told me they liked my music has influenced me to get on stage and do it again. The audience has that much power. It’s the only reason I’m not just playing to myself in my living room.

So consider your pathetic life as it is now. What if, starting in two weeks, you had the chance to begin a life in which you were signed, were going on tour, making videos, making a lot of money and all the things that go with being a successful national artist, what type of pragmatic things would you do to get ready?

MARY BETH: What kind of advance are we talkin’? Let’s see, I’d need to first figure out which band members can come and find players for those who couldn’t go on tour and get those new people up to speed (something I’m really used to considering I’ve had the wonderfully frustrating experience of having played with over 8 different drummers, 5 bass players, and 4 guitarists in the last few years). Of course I’d need to buy new equipment, Yay! Kevin and I would need to find someone to watch our animals (of course I’d bring Kevin–his job on the road would be to supply me with a steady stream of young hotties , whiskey, and no doz). I’d also need someone to take over Colorado Women in Music. Then it would be time to shop, shop, shop for furs, cars, and pink guitars!

I have two questions I want to direct to ‘good Mary Beth’ and ‘bad Mary Beth.’ One, if you could save or change the world for the better, what would you change or do? And two, if you could commit one felony crime with impunity, what crime would you commit?

MARY BETH: Our Lady of Assumption would want nothing short of peace on earth and the eradication of all poverty and oppression. Shitty people would still be shitty, but they’d have no way of taking it out on other people, like their kids or their wives, or their employees. Bad girl MB would probably need to go on a binge of stealing guitars (oh and I’ve always wanted a keyboard!) and breaking into hotel rooms and pretending to be someone else and running up huge bills wherein I hire sexy masseuses and eat fancy chocolates in a hot tub. I could really use some new clothes, too.

You shall now tell me about your new CD! By what title do you call it?

MARY BETH: “What Happened to the Girls?”

Is this your first full length?

MARY BETH: This is my very first full length CD! It is soooo exciting to finally have it finished! My brother flew out here from Philadelphia to work on it. We started it 9 months ago, so I feel like I’ve given birth to something. (Immaculate conception, of course.) Eight of the drum tracks and some of the bass parts were recorded at Sleeping Brotherhood in Five Points, and then most of the other instruments and vocals were recorded at my house by my brother and me. We mixed at my house and then did final mixing at Colorado Sound. We got it mastered at Air Show Mastering in Boulder. The whole process was so gut wrenching and painful and funny and ridiculous. I was so naive about the whole recording process and the amount of money and time that is involved. I got a bunch of loans, bought a computer and Pro tools, went into one studio totally unprepared, had the bass player quit halfway through recording bass tracks, used a drummer who wasn’t in the band anymore and another drummer who played with me only occasionally, finally recorded all the drums, bass, and guitars and thought I only had vocals left to do and then threw almost everything out except 8 of the drum tracks and started all over again. It was so awful. I have spent so many months screaming with my brother about every little detail, fighting with engineers to listen to me, begging musicians to stick it out and do it over, going back into the bank for more and more loans, wringing my hands over the next best move and asking everyone in the world for advice. But I’ve also had people cut me deals and try to explain basic concepts to me and work with me almost everywhere I went. To say it was a learning experience is an understatement. But I seriously doubt the next one will be any easier. It just seems like a really difficult and expensive process. As for the actual album, I’m proud of it and I think all our labor really shows. I’ve picked my favorite songs and I had the absolute best musician I know producing and arranging and playing most of the instruments on the album–my brother. He also understands the way I write better than anyone I know and he shares my vision. We drove each other crazy (we literally do scream at each other) but he’s the only person in the world who cares as much about the songs as I do. I’m going to be so sad when he leaves. I started my own label with this album, called The Abella Kids Records. Like officially registered it with the state and everything. Now, all my siblings will be required to use this label whenever they make an album –well, that’s what I’m telling them anyway.

Why is your mortal brother a part of your recording/music life?

MARY BETH: My whole family is pretty musical–my mom studied classical piano and got a degree in music and we were all required to learn at least two instruments each. John was especially gifted. He had perfect pitch and taught himself guitar and was accepted into the Berklee School of Music on an audition right out of high school. John has spent over 20 years playing in different cities with blues and hard rock bands and has also been a session player. He’s incredibly talented and experienced and can play almost any instrument.I used to be really intimidated by him musically, but when I finally got the courage to show him the songs I was writing, his reaction was amazing. He loved my songwriting and really encouraged me. We started writing together when he stayed with me a few years ago. He told me he wanted to record some of the songs and so we recorded that EP with 6 songs on it. We recorded it on his 8 track recorder in one weekend. When I told him I was thinking of recording a full length, he
told me that I shouldn’t let anyone but him do it. He believes in my music so much that he was willing to fly out here and live with me for several months while we worked on the album. I respect John more than any other musician in the world and he respects me, so we make a good musical team. Like I said before, he also understands my writing and adds so much to it. The end result is really amazing. I’m lucky to have him. It’s too bad he wants to go to another city, though. He’s used to bigger cities with bigger music scenes.

Tell me about some of the songs and what they are about.

MARY BETH: Like everyone else, I write about everyone I’ve ever met and everything I’ve ever experienced. And I’m always really honest when I write. You’ll hear things in the songs that I would never say to another person. The songs are an opportunity to exorcise demons and tell secrets.

Mortals are pathetically insecure. What is the biggest insecurity you have as an artist?

MARY BETH: I taught myself guitar, so I worry about that. I can’t tell people the chords I’m playing half the time! I just make shit up when I write. And I’m a terrible student when I try to learn from someone else. I took lessons last year from a teacher who ended up moving to LA. Before he left, he asked me if I thought I had learned anything from him. He said he felt like I hadn’t gotten anything from the lessons at all! And then I can make such a fool of myself because I feel insecure about it. Like when I opened for Juliana Hatfield and was talking to her afterward, she was trying to pay me a compliment and tell me that she liked my songwriting. I just gushed over her and said that I couldn’t play guitar and that I wished I learned theory like she did at the Berklee School of Music. She told me that I knew everything I needed to know; all I need to know is how to write and play the songs, which I knew already. And she said that learning theory would just mess me up and that she’s spent years trying to forget what she learned at music school. She said you can’t learn songwriting, some people just have it and I just have it. The morning after this conversation, I woke up feeling like an idiot. Here she was just trying to have a conversation with me and treat me like an equal and I was gushing all over her to the point where she had to reassure me! I felt so embarrassed but thankful she was so kind to me.

What movie, that has already come out, do you think your music would have been perfect for the soundtrack?

MARY BETH: I can’t think of any.

If someone who never met you, had only your music to get an impression of who you are as a mortal, what kind of impression do you think they would get by listening to your songs.

MARY BETH: I don’t know–hopefully that I’m really hot!

How did you get involved and why are you involved in Colorado Women in Music?

MARY BETH: I was talking to different female artists about what we needed and in an ideal world that we would support each other rather than do some of the back stabbing shit we’re used to doing to each other. A lot of us have been doing all women’s shows for quite a while–sometimes they’re political and sometimes they’re just to support each other and sometimes it’s just because we like each other and we happen to all be women. I started doing all female revues in 1990 in Boulder–the shows were very political and they didn’t just involve music, they were multimedia performances. I missed that kind of camaraderie and collective creativity. When I started playing in Denver three years ago and joined COMA, I thought there was going to be that kind of camaraderie and sharing of information, but there wasn’t. And I heard from a lot of people that they wanted that, too. It just isn’t natural for women to get together and support each other. I think we’re really trained to be competitive with each other. But we all know we can get farther if we support each other. Playing music is really hard; it takes a lot of support. We decided to do that for each other and to really try to create more of a scene here that other cities have. The scene that I had in Boulder in the early ’90s was because we all liked each other and we really sparked creativity with each other. As a group of people, we were really able to some amazing shows that we wouldn’t have been able to do as individuals. So I emailed a bunch of female artists I knew and after some deliberation decided to do it at COMA. The whole idea of this is collaboration, so a collaboration with COMA seemed fitting–it gives everyone access to a large number of music industry people in Colorado. Like everything else in this biz, it was really hard at first. I lost about $750 on the first show. I put up money I didn’t have because I really believed in this. Now we have over 55 members and $1000 to put toward our third show. We’ve promoted nine local artists in a few short months. We’ll also be doing weekly shows at 60 South and doing our own open mics to support and mentor other artists. It’s pretty amazing how much and how quickly the community responded to this idea. I think we’re just now starting to really collaborate and make something big. What we’re trying to do is really push and grow the scene here and for Denver to become known nationally for its music scene.

You will now ask me five questions.

MARY BETH: What’s your day job?

My Greatness mostly sleeps by day. It’s not that the undead are afraid of the light, it’s just that most zombies are drama queens. Rotting skin looks infinitely more dramatic in the night time shadows than in the daylight glare.

MARY BETH: How big is YOUR wee wee?

You can see a picture of it on my website. However being it is decomposing, it’s even smaller now than it was when that picture was taken. I’m expecting it to drop off any day now.

MARY BETH: If you were a woman, what would you do? And would you be pretty?

Of course I would be pretty! I am pretty now female mortal! If I were a woman I would mostly focus on getting laid by as many of the hot straight men I could. I would start at a construction site and end at a firehouse. Oh yeah, Pepsi delivery men would be on my check list too.

MARY BETH: Are there any bands that you think suck?

Yes

MARY BETH: What’s your favorite thing about Mary Beth Abella? Come on now, don’t be shy!

My favorite thing about you? Your boy toy, Kevin!