L’art Pour L’art is home to several brilliant musicians and song writers. About a year ago I fell in love with the sweet sounds of Julie Carpenter.  My first taste of her music was with her band Princess Pangolin, and after listening to her song “Chromatophore" I knew I had found a new favorite song. Shortly after that, the L’art Pour L’art team booked Princess Pangolin to play at the April 2012 Art Industry Mixer.

Lead vocalist and violinist, Julie Carpenter deserves to be heard.
It’s my pleasure to introduce to you Princess Pangolins second album "A Message From The Sea". You can order a limited edition POP UP 12’’ Vinyl Record on their bandcamp page or simply click the following link.

http://princesspangolin.bandcamp.com/album/a-message-from-the-sea

Baha- When did you first start singing /playing the violin?

Julie- I started playing violin when I was seven years old. It was the centerpiece of a shy, disastrous childhood. This was before nerds were cool, like Felicia Day. This was more like that movie "Welcome to the Dollhouse." I only started singing about four years ago. I wasted a long time doing the things I was supposed to do instead of the things I wanted to do.

I told myself never again--and this would be my biggest piece of advice to anyone. You won't regret failing at something. You will regret not trying.

Baha- Is it hard to be a female singer in today’s glitzy world?

Julie- I think that depends on who you are and what you want to do. Is it hard for Taylor Swift? No, her simple femininity sells her music. Is it hard for PJ Harvey? I think it might be, a little. Her femininity is at odds with or irrelevant to what she wants to say. The spectrum of acceptable musical personas is narrower for women. Would Thom Yorke or Frank Black have had careers if they'd been women? I don't think their appearances or personalities would be accepted at the levels of popularity they've achieved.
Being male or female is only one part of our identity as humans, but for female artists it's the more heavily emphasized part. When you read reviews of female fronted acts you'll see lots of word pairs like dark and sultry, smart and sexy, quirky and cute. This is fine; I don't hate sexy, sultry or cute things. I just want to see female artists accessing parts of human experience that don't necessarily involve being a kitten or femme fatale.

Baha- Where do you find inspiration for your music?

Julie- I write a lot of songs while I'm driving. Sometimes things will live in my head for a long time before I finally demo them or write them down. Also, I play a lot of different instruments, so sometimes I'm inspired just by varying harmonic layouts I can try. Sometimes they're even broken instruments not particularly tuned to anything. Then I have to go back later and figure out what the hell I played.

Baha- What motivates you to keep singing?

Julie- I keep doing it because it's hard, and I don't feel like I've completely wrapped my head around it. I like learning difficult things. And for me, going up in front of people and singing is incredibly hard. The payoff is greater when you try things that don't come easily.

Baha-  If you had to choose a different profession, what would it be?

Julie- I wish I'd been a biologist. Animal life and behavior (and that includes human life) is an endless source of fascination to me. I am a huge David Attenborough fan girl.

Baha- What are your creative dreams?

Julie- I would love to get heavily into soundtrack work with a film maker who makes really unusual things. Right now I'm very
addicted to the soundtrack for that cartoon show "Adventure Time." It's absolutely mind-blowing what they're getting away with on tv; it's really edgy, weird stuff. I'd like to be on a team like that. I want to write music that's part of the world building. I think that composer Joe Hisaishi did that for Miyazaki's films. They wouldn't be as beautiful as they are without that music.

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