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All Hail Beth Ditto! One-on-one with the brassy, in-your-face, out lead singer of The Gossip
Story and styling by CLINT CATALYST
Photography by ALBERT SANCHEZ
It’s Thursday night at the Troubadour, and by the time my pal Pedro and I arrive, the sidewalk is a mob of scenesters dressed in pants two sizes too small and ragged T-shirts with slogans ranging from “Warning: Drunk Lesbian� to “Big Dicks Are Go.� The Gossip are headlining, and the show is sold out: A salt-and-pepper haired man wearing thick black Elvis Costello throwback spectacles stands holding a sign that reads, “Need Ticket.�
Fortunately Pedro and I are already hooked up, so we weave our way to the backstage area through the diverse mix of tattooed dykes, skeletal-thin indie boys with exceptionally high-maintenance hair, and middle-aged fans.
After fast-talking our way past the stout security guard, we saunter through the doors and encounter the lead singer in all her boisterous grandeur. Beth Ditto is holding court in a black stretch tube dress accessorized with a silver-sequined belt and sling-back stilettos in a savage shade of pink, and her groupies are hanging on every. Single. Word.
“It’s been a hell of a day, girlfriend,� she says upon seeing me in my “intrepid reporter� mode (read: handheld cassette recorder replete with bulky microphone in one hand; spiral steno pad clutched in the other). She takes a slurp from a honey bottle, then with a whisk of her hand that says “I’ve got business to take care of here� in a single gesture, she scatters the hangers-on like convicts from a crime scene.
“Let me just tell you about it,� she begins, motioning the micro-recorder closer like a seasoned pro. “We played last night in San Diego and had to drive up this morning to go on Jonesy’s Jukebox.� She’s referring to the radio show hosted by former Sex Pistols member Steve Jones that airs on Indie 103.1. “We didn’t expect it to last as long as it did, but he was so great. We talked about what it was like for him to star in [the cult classic film] Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, and he talked about how cool it is our latest band merch references it through the skunk cartoon and our slogan ‘Skunx Not Dead.’�
“I love that movie. Diane Lane as a punk princess who dyes her hair two-tone and totally rips the system, proclaiming, ‘I don’t put out.’ How can Corinne ‘Third Degree’ Burns [Lane’s character] not be one of my heroes? That film was, like, completely ahead of its time—10 years before the whole riot grrrl movement happened.�
It could be said that Ditto herself is ahead of her time. She’s definitely the progeny of loud-mouthed, opinionated women—Patti Smith, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill,
Courtney Love back in the heyday of Hole—who are known for stirring up the male-dominated, testosterone-loaded music scenes of their moments. The thing is, Ditto is doing it within today’s increasingly image-conscious, “size six is the new size 14� entertainment industry, and she’s swinging the pendulum the opposite direction: a fat-positive approach.
“Sometimes there’ll be a journalist who has the gall to say, ‘Can you believe there are actually people who think you’re pretty?’� Ditto quips, “What the hell are they thinking? I’m not some insecure pea-brain who’s brainwashed by fashion magazines and reality TV like America’s Next Top Model. I’m a real woman, with real talent. Kate Moss wishes she could be me!� She laughs, punctuating her declaration with a hearty slap to her stomach.
Ditto is a real woman with real talent, indeed. And she is beautiful. Breathtaking, even. And queer. Two-thirds of the trio that comprise the Gossip are of the limp-wristed persuasion, but Ditto and her bandmates are also conquering the music industry by their own terms. In other words, with their singles “Standing in the Way of Control� and “Listen Up!� in heavy rotation on Indie 103.1—not to mention just about any other hip college or of-the-moment station on the airwaves—no one’s prefacing the tracks with any tripe along the lines of “Here’s a great song by this ‘new gay band’ the Gossip.�
That’s a good thing. For starters, the Gossip are not a “new� band. They may be recent blips on the general population’s radar, but while other same-sex upstart artists might be pushing their sexual orientation from that first “one sheet�—in layman’s terms, a band’s press release—this hard-working collective of musicians has been cranking out releases and consistently touring, touring, touring.
In other words, they’ve taken the old-school approach of making music: With three full-length CD releases, an EP titled “Arkansas Heat� as a homage to their Southern-fried roots, and two additional “12-inch single remix� EPs beneath their belt in the notably short span of five years, the band has laid off the hype and laid on the heavy sound—thereby allowing the music to speak for itself.
"I’m a real woman, with real talent. Kate Moss wishes she could be me!�
Their brand of not-so-easy-listening rock is speaking loudly: iTunes chose “Listen Up!“ as their single of the week, and Subterranean—MTV’s latest incarnation of the 120 Minutes alternative-music showcase—recently had them on as featured guests for an episode. Not as a “gay band,� but rather as a good band. It’s not that Ditto is closeted in any sense of the word; on the contrary, she is just as eager to discuss her identity as a “femme bottom with ‘switch tendencies’ who finds [her] morning makeup ritual the best part of the whole day� and her current relationship with a “genderqueer boy-dyke� as she is her favorite flavor of ice cream. The point is, Ditto is a maverick in the true sense of the word. She doesn’t have to spout her politics at anyone who isn’t interested to listen, because it’s her soul-driven, Southern-church-choir-studied powerhouse of a voice that lures them to her like an inexorable siren. Along with Brace Paine—the svelte guitarist who slinks around stage with his sexy serpentine movements—and Hannah Blilie—the soft-spoken yet deadly drummer who pounds her instrument of choice with a passion one might not expect from someone working such a cute pixie cut—the band is a powerhouse that is making key industry players take notice.
“We’re being courted by the majors,� Ditto admits, referring to three labels with massive corporate clout that are hot on their trail to sign them. “And we’re torn as what to do about it. I mean, Kill Rock Stars [the band’s label since their nascent days] has given us total creative freedom. They’ve never had us sign our lives over in any way for anything—and instead of throwing down royal proclamations of shit like ‘y’all can’t do this’ or ‘y’all shouldn’t do that,’ they offer suggestions. None of that ‘the label commands you to blah-or-blah’ bullshit. For instance, some of the KRS staff didn’t want me to show my armpit hair on our latest album’s cover art, but they didn’t tell me no. I don’t shave my underarms because I’m a feminist, and I don’t want to have to turn down that fury for any suit who doesn’t get it. I mean, let’s face it: Do you think anyone would let Beyoncé release a cover photo with unshaven underarms? Hell, no!�
Which is her point exactly: She ain’t Beyonce; she’s Beth Ditto. She eats what she wants, says what she wants, wears what she wants…and is still winning the game. The best part of it all is: She’s not even bothered to sign up as a player.
Editor’s Note: The Gossip recently announced that it signed to a new label, Music with a Twist, which is a division of Sony Music.
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