©Indietude.com 2008
Lindsay Kambouris: Thanks for talking to me today,
Danielle Egnew : I’ve been looking forward to it.

LK: Well thank you! That’s really nice of you. I’m going
to get right to it because there’s so much I want to ask
you about. They say it’s much harder for a woman to
get signed than for a man or a band of guys. Is that true?

DE: I don’t think that’s true, actually. Women have
always been a big marketing tool, as in our lovely
traditional patriarchal culture, women’s sexuality is still
considered deliciously taboo. And I think that it’s the
taboo that sells, actually – not the sex itself. Anyway,
I actually think women solo artists have an easier time
getting signed than groups, or male solo artists.

LK: You went from the all-girl Pope Jane to playing
with boys and girls. What's the difference?

DE: No one has ever asked me this, and it’s such a
good question. As weird as this is going to sound,
there is a difference, for me, anyway. Not better or
worse, just a difference. I’ve worked with one or two
guys that are an exception to this rule, but women
just tend to be more enthusiastically work-focused
and work-oriented in a band, all around. Women
tend to be in it for the long haul, and don’t mind the
less glamorous times because they know the hard
work will pay off. Women in music are much more
interested in building their own long-term music
career, brick by brick. Guys can be a lot more in
the moment in music and more interested in the
next big live show opportunity, where the fun is.
Guys follow their noses more, can be a lot more
hot and cold with a project, and you can lose a guy
a lot easier in a band if they realize there’s a lot of
work to do and they aren’t going to be a rock star
overnight. Guys can be way bigger divas than
women. It seems for guys that the whole social part
of hanging with buddies and noodling around in
original rehearsal with random cover song jams is a
big part of what makes music fun for them. Women
tend to be bigger work horses in projects, and tend
to stay a lot more focused when they’re working, and
they don’t want to bust up what they consider work
time on the original project that will build their career
with social time that can happen at the end. So you
just learn to balance everything out with a mixed band.
Jamming is way more of a guy thing, and rehearsing
is more of a girl thing. Most women I know aren’t into
a jamming. Personally, I’m not. Jamming is like doing
karaoke, which I don’t even do very often – once in
awhile, but that’s when I’m out with friends on my own
time, not in a rehearsal using everyone else’s time.
If I want to play covers, I’ll go join a cover band.

LK:  You hear it time and time again, but is the music
business really a boy’s club?



















DE: Well, on the administrative side, yeah. But it’s
getting a lot better in the last few years since the
majors [labels] all took a tank and everything has
had to be restructured.

LK:  You went from the early 90's grunge days in
Seattle to the late 90's roots scene in Montana to Los
Angeles in the new millennium during the breakdown
of the major record labels and rise of the Indie DIY
scene. What were the differences working within
those three scenes?

DE:  (Laughs) There’s no difference! Music business
is music business, and promotion is promotion, no
matter where you go or what scene you’re in. If you
change a tire on the interstate and change a tire on
a dirt road, you may have some difference in where
you anchored your jack, but at the end of the day --
you still just changed a tire. The good news is that
the industry has changed for the better, and that
makes tire changing much easier all the way around!

LK:  Your story is clearly an inspiration to everyone
hoping to succeed in music...especially women. You
came from a rural area with no backing and made it in
music, film and TV. How do you hope your experiences
will help future generations of women in the years to
come?

DE: Wow, well if anything, I have gone through can
help anyone at all in any way, especially for years to
come, then my career has been a smashing success.
The biggest thing I would hope people would take
away from my career is to not give up, to be flexible,
and don’t be stubborn -- learn to put your low ego
on a shelf, because it will only stand in your way.
I got my first record deal when I was 21, but my
career didn’t get where I wanted it until I was 38.
Just do what you love, work hard, be honest with
yourself about your strengths and weaknesses,
ask for help when you need it but don’t mooch and
don’ t manipulate, be humble and don’t panic and
throw fits when you don’t get everything you want,
and don’t stop learning and making changes to your
game plan as the times and opportunity change,
because everything changes. And if as an artist you
don’t evolve and change, you won’t ever go forward.
If you do these things, eventually, brick by brick, you’ll
build that yellow brick road to your own Oz. And that’s
a great feeling.

LK:  Everybody’s been talking about your record
deal, so let’s get to that. In January you got signed
to an unheard of deal with Maurice the Fish Records
where several of your musical projects are represented
at once. This is unique because most artists have to
choose a musical direction, and you didn’t have to.
With that kind of freedom, what will be your first
release with Maurice the Fish Records and what is
the concept of the album?

DE:  My first release with them is my solo album Red
Lodge. It’s an acoustic album whose concept is based
around the feeling tone of Montana – it’s very raw,
and very haunting in ways. This has been a challenge
for me to record, as I have played all the instruments
on the album while engineering it, mixing it, producing
it, of course doing all the vocal tracks – and that hasn’t
been the hard part. It’s been hard because it’s been
such a collection of songs that I am so close to, and I
want to make sure it’s done right, which takes time. I
wanted to do everything on the album myself, as it’s
part of the Montana theme -- which is a very self-
sufficient, maverick culture. But also that I used to go
to the town the album is named after, Red Lodge, by
myself all the time.  It’s a singular thing. I’m excited
about its release this year, but it did occur to me that
unlike any pf my other releases, this was going to be
like somebody reading my diary. It’s a very personal
album.

LK:  Speaking of your personal opinions, in the midst
of our impending presidential election, I saw on the
newswire that you endorsed Hillary Clinton for
president. Do you think that it matters to America if
celebrities publicly endorse political candidates?

DE:  Well…(laughs) I think a lot of America thinks
that celebrities are idiots, and rightfully so. A lot of
celebrities act like idiots. But that being said, yes,
I do think celebrities should endorse candidates, if
they believe in them. I think that more celebrities
should be a little more interested in giving back
socially, rather than always wanting to get some
thing, and an endorsement is something that is
just so easy to do, and can help the visibility of
the candidate. I went on record endorsing Hillary
Clinton, as I really, really believe in her way of
accomplishing change for our country. I’m a
registered Democrat, and I’ve always been very
politically active with initiatives and other campaigns,
and we have some great candidates this year, so
we’re pretty lucky whichever way the chips fall. I’m
a big researcher when I go into elections, and my
choice is Hillary Clinton, and hopefully, she’ll get
the nomination this year. But no matter which
candidate people chose, republican, democrat,
independent, I hope people get out and vote this
year. This is a historical election with both an
African American and a woman running for
president, and  it’s fun to be a part of history.

LK:  You're from Montana, a sparsely populated
state with less Indie artists and less places for Indie
music  to showcase than bigger cities like NYC, L.A.
or Nashville. Did that make it easier to get attention
in your city, state and eventually nationally?

DE:  Actually, it did, and I recommend people
staying put in their local music centers and building
the world’s hugest buzz before moving into a big
music center. We went totally off the grid, and created
all kinds of opportunities for ourselves in Pope Jane,
in Montana. You can do that when a place is more
flexible and doesn’t have a scene in place. You can
build your own scene, and that’s a powerful fan base
later on. Believe me, moving to big, populated place
just because there is a scene there is highly over
rated. All it means is that you are going to be fighting
tooth and nail for stage space, and you’ll have less
people in interested in buying your product, as every
one there has a product. If more artists would put
their ego in check a little, and develop their fan base
where they are, and stop whining that they have to
get a little creative in becoming their own promoters,
like going to a local bar where they hire cover bands
and talking to the owner about doing a night of original
bands instead of crying in their milk that no one carved
a scene out for them, what they would realize is that
people will come from all over to hear great original
music, and that buzz will spread.

LK:  You are a music producer, film producer working on
the upcoming Imogene's Waltz, and radio producer on the
internationally syndicated "Music Highway", which you also
co-host. How important to you is the work do you behind
the scenes?

DE:  Oh, man, it makes up most of my career. People
would be shocked if they realized how much of my life is
behind the scenes work. In order to get the artistic project
you want a lot of times, you have to produce it yourself. I
get asked a lot to come on board to projects because of
all the structural work I do, and I consider it part of who I
am, as a creative person. But I can say that I’ve gotten a
lot more specific about the type of behind the scenes
work I do, as it is a huge amount of work, and I’ve run
out of hours in the day.

LK:  How has your life and career changed as a signed
artist?

DE: It’s gotten much busier! (laughs) I can’t just dink
around and finish an album whenever I want, and my
time is not as much my own, as there is an organization
to consider. Plus I’ve had a lot of press to cover, lots of
interviews, which is really great that people want to talk
with me! It’s just more busy, but I like it that way.  How
has your life and career changed as a signed artist?

DE: It’s gotten much busier! (laughs) I can’t just dink
around and finish an album whenever I want, and my
time is not as much my own, as there is an organization
to consider. Plus I’ve had a lot of press to cover, lots of
interviews, which is really great that people want to talk
with me! It’s just more busy, but I like it that way.

LK:  You started out on piano, yet in your 20's, you
switched to guitar for a lot of your live shows and studio
recordings. Is it hard for a woman to rock out on a piano?

DE:  Nah, it’s not. Tori Amos has been dong it for along
time. I prefer to keep my shoes, on though.  Piano is a
rhythm instrument, and it can rock pretty hard! But it is
easier to play guitar and sing, because the guitar can
move with your body, and when you’re playing keys,
your stuck where your hands are, in front of you.

LK:  You are known to be one of the nicest people in
the business yet your songs' lyrics pack a real punch.
Do you have a dark side?

DE:  Aw, thanks! I think everybody has all sorts of depths
to their personality, and certainly more of those facets
come out in my lyric writing.

LK:   You seem to be very socially and politically aware,
yet I noticed that in some of your musical projects you
wear very revealing outfits. Do you think it's okay for a
woman to be serious minded and sexy looking?

DE:  Sure I do. I think it’s ridiculous that people believe
that a woman can’t be sexy and savvy at the same time.
Hmm, that’s a lot of “s”es in a sentence, but you get my
drift. Outfits for performance are just costumes, plain and
simple. I don’t think what I wear for a performance has
much to do with my political and sociological philosophies,
except that I don’t believe in putting myself in a box.  If I
feel like wearing jeans onstage, I will, and if I feel like
dressing up like a two penny whore, I’m going to do it!
(laughs) I am really comfortable with my body at this
point in my life, and I think it’s because I don’t take
myself nearly as seriously as I used to, and realized,
hey – it’s only a body. It’s a big prop. So have fun with it.

LK: Most people seem to be okay with tasteful nudity,
but what do you say to critics that believe that women
who take their clothes off are selling-out to sell records?

DE:  I’d say they’re making an assumption that it’s all
about record sales. Maybe wearing a guitar strap for a
shirt is just an artistic statement or identity? I say lighten
up. It’s a short life we’re living, and in this world that’s
falling apart, being naked should be the least of our
worries. Anyway, you usually hear that ‘selling out’ talk
from other artists who aren’t happy with where their
career is at, so I take it with a grain of salt all the way
around.

LK:   You are endorsed by Minarik Guitars. Do you
consider yourself a lead guitarist?


















DE:  No, I don’t, thought I can play leads, and tend to like
the ones I lay down (laughs). I consider myself a rhythm
player, and I lead more with my voice. I use the guitar to
do some pretty interesting things, sound wise, in
recordings, and the Minariks have great tone particularly.

LK:   You are extremely photogenic. Have you always
been that way or does mastering a photo session take
work and practice?

DE: Well thank you very much for that. No, I haven’t been
good in photo shoots in the past – this is something that
has come in through time, I think mostly from having so
many photos taken, so I guess that falls into practice,
maybe? Eventually, you just get comfortable in your
skin, and chill out in front of the camera. God, the old
Pope Jane photo shoots were a nightmare --  Kristen,
the drummer, would give me such grief for posing too
much. It was brutal! Photo shoots used to make me
really nervous, but I loosened up a lot over time, I think.

LK:   Your music is very eclectic and your styles vary
from album to album. Do you find it was harder to pitch
magazines, radio, and labels before you were signed,
when your songs aren't packed into a certain genre?

DE:  Well, yeah, I mean, it was hard with labels. That’s
why I was so excited about this deal with Maurice The
Fish Records – I didn’t have to chose a genre, and can
put out whatever I put out.  It’s not like I’m putting out a
hip hop album, and then a folk album, so I won’t be a
complete marketing nightmare for them or anything.
Although I do have a huge penchant for making dance
music, but it’s white-girl dance music (laughs). Jumping
genres has never been hard with radio promotion, and
radio is so focused on singles that they don’t care what
the rest of the album sounds like. Genre doesn’t seem
to matter as much as it used to in this new music industry,
though, and that’s nice. When Pope Jane put out Hide
Me From the Moon in 2000, we sent it to Daemon
records, Amy Ray’s label, and they said we sounded
too commercial pop, while Atlantic Records told us it
sounded too Indie roots (laughs). So now that genre’s
out of the way in many respects, that’s a lot easier.

LK:   What artists have inspired you on your road to
success? If you could put out a duets album, who would
be on it?

DE:  I am an Annie Lennox nut. She is so talented, having
attended the Royal Academy of Music, and so amazingly
gifted as a vocalist, and as a pianist and flute player. She
writes amazing songs, and is able to really put out a soulful
album. I also love the Eurythmics, as Dave Stewart is really
a great producer, and does some great writing, too. Sheryl
Crow has been a big favorite of mine, though I tend to like
her older, less lovey stuff a little better. If I could do a duets
album, I would do something with Annie Lennox, or course,
and some other great strong singers – Celine Dion, and
Andrea Bocelli and Josh Grobin, even Sheryl Crow when
they’re not making her under-sing in the studio. She has
some big pipes in there! All of those artists have such
incredible voices that I would be honored to do something
with any of them.

LK: You've scored films, radio drops, ads, and TV shows.
Is it easier to write a song or score a piece?

You know, I think it’s the same amount of work, only you
have different focuses. If you’re scoring, you’re paying a
lot more attention to the action of what you’re scoring to,
whether it’s a time code, or something onscreen. If you’re
writing a song, you’re scoring to your lyrics. So it’s the
same either way, I guess. I just love to write music. I can’t
wait to get back into chewing into some good composition,
that’s for sure.

LK: If you could try something completely different with
your life, instead of being an all around entertainment
success, what would it be?

DE: I would have been an astronaut. But if I had to make
a change right now at 38, I would go in to Physics, or the
Acoustic Sciences. Or maybe Paleontology. I’m from
Montana so I’m used to sitting in the hot dirt for hours at a
time (laughs).  Or I could go into politics. I’m big on human
rights and there’s no shortage of needing people to stick
up for those who can’t stick up for themselves.

LK: I’m surprised you had so many answers off the top
of your head because you have what most people would
consider a dream job – you’re a celebrity. You’re a rock
star. You’re famous. But now I have to ask, do you ever
wish you took another career path in your life? [Writer’s
note: Prior to the following answer, there was a very long
pause.]

DE: I think no matter who you are, or what you do in your
life, you’re always going to wonder what would have
happened if you would have taken another path. If you
did something different. I’m very happy with how my
entertainment career has turned out, and continues to
grow. I’ve worked hard for it, and I am so filled with joy
that so many people get so much out of my work. I’m a
very blessed person, and I’m very aware if that.

LK: Danielle, thank you for this visit. It’s been great.

DE: Well thank you, Linsday. You’ve been awesome
yourself.

Egnew's  Website:
http://www.DanielleEgnew.com
Egnew's  MySpace: http://www.MySpace.com/danielleegnew
Danielle Egnew: Where The Girls Are
By Lindsay Kambouris
Female singers and songwriters seem to embody
independent music. You’ll find dozens of female artists
entertaining in corner coffee shops, local festivals, and
SXSW stages. Women make up a majority of the vocal
talent on stage today. But behind the curtain, the music
industry is notoriously known as a Boy’s Club. Just try
and find female music producers, composers, A & R
Reps, sound mixers, or anything else that contributes
to the nuts and bolts of the industry. You’ll have a hard
time because it's all male all the time.  At least that was
the case before Danielle Egnew started kicking the
doors down.

From music to movies, Danielle Egnew is famous for
writing her own rules, whether it's behind the scene or
center stage. She was DIY (Do It Yourself) before DIY
was an acronym. Danielle Egnew is one of the reasons
we have the DIY movement. She rode the first brave
wave of women warriors alongside the likes of Ani
DiFranco with all-girl band  Pope Jane.  

Her brand name is recognized and respected through
all levels of the industry, not only for her musical, vocal
and songwriting abilities, but for her business savvy
when designing and launching her many projects.

Danielle Egnew is an architect of the arts, and some
of her most impressive credentials are from behind the
scenes, where she has earned her reputation as a
prominent producer and composer. I talked to
Danielle Egnew about her amazing career, one
that has kept everyone talking, and still keeps
us on pins and needles.
Editor's Note:

We are pleased to feature the Danielle Egnew interview  which was submitted to Indietude by Lindsay Kambouris.  
Lindsay had the opportunity to sit down for an extensive conversation with Danielle. The interview is both informative
and thought provoking and shows the intelligence and depth of this artist. Indietude would like to thank both Lindsay
and Danielle for allowing Indietude to publish it on line.