Q&A With Effi Briest Drummer Corinne Jones

Effi Briest plays a free show tomorrow at the Bam Café Live with White Rabbits and Miss Fairchild as part of the Brooklyn Next series. At 8, BAMcafe Live, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-636-4139.

Now with only six!
photo: Brian Tamborello

Before they played shows, Brooklyn-based all-female collective Effi Briest spent the first half of their three years together practicing in a former bass player's basement. The mystical post-punk sound born out of that diligence, however, was worth the wait. They've, unsurprisingly, made a name for 'round these parts (Everett True's a fan) and, with their recent Mirror Rim/ The Newlywed's Song 7" released in the UK via Loog Records, they're building a fan base across the pond. EB's been hunkering down to finish up their debut full-length, but you can catch them this Saturday at Bam Café Live with White Rabbits and Miss Fairchild as part of the Brooklyn Next series.

Recently drummer Corinne Jones talked to the Voice about palindromes, the band's comparisons to the Slits, and why they might not be doing any more press with NME.

VV: Back in your basement days you started with 12 people, how did that number get whittled down to seven?

CJ: I asked people that I liked if they wanted to be in a band with me, and twelve people said, 'Yeah, we'll try it.' It was getting a lot of people together and making some noise, and then after a while it started to really take shape. Those of us who liked the direction it was going in stayed with it. It's been years now.

VV: Your bassist, Elizabeth Hart, is also in Psychic Ills. Were you in smaller bands before you decided to do this larger project?

CJ: For most of us, it's the first band we've been in. Sara Shaw, the lead guitarist, has been in a lot of bands. It was pretty amazing when she expressed interest in this because she brings all of that experience. She doesn't mind playing with people at varying skill levels.

VV: So is there a "leader" in the group in that sense?
CJ: There's isn't one person that brings a song structure to the group and says, 'Hey, play it like this.' It evolves with everyone playing.

VV: Are there times when having a larger band doesn't work?
CJ: We have some sufficient logistical problems--we can't all fit in a car and stuff like that. But to be totally frank, we're now a six piece as of a couple weeks ago. It's a big commitment, and people come and go at different times. We're sort of adjusting. We don't have too many recordings, but we do have definitive versions of songs that we need to go back and readjust.

VV: What did that person [Nicky Mao] play?
CJ: Acoustic guitar and violin.

VV: Will you be replacing her?
CJ: Well, I think we'd be OK with six. That's never been our way. We've never thought 'oh, we need a violin player. Let's get a violin player.' We knew her and she came and played with us. So we'll probably just get another instrument. In fact, we've been playing around with different keyboards. So our seventh member has morphed into a mini Moog for the time being.