Three years earlier in Boston, Massachussetts the two people who made up The Dresden Dolls were strangers both present at a mutual friends' Halloween party. This party featured a performance by 24 year old pianist Amanda Palmer which impressed drummer Brian Viglione so much that the following week they were performing together as Out Of Arms, before eventually changing to the name they are now known as. Together, the pair developed a style that featured a unique combination of the urgency and intensity of punk rock, and the whimsical theatricality of pre-War Germany's cabaret as made famous by the likes of Bertolt Brecht. Amanda's lyrics were just as diverse as her influences, with songs ranging from the deeply personal, Tori Amos style reflections on life, love and insecurity such as 'Good Day', 'The Perfect Fit' and 'The Jeep Song', to the dark, disturbing tales of paedophilia and similar themes such as 'Slide', and 'Missed Me' (which has a twist in which the antagonist is the manipulative underage girl who seduces an older man, and then informs the authorities when he loses interest), to the quirky songs about hermaphrodites, and longing for love without complications from a toy ('Half Jack' and 'Coin-Operated Boy' respectively). This would understandably throw people off, as people would literally not know what to expect to come from Amanda's mind now... especially as those three very different styles of song aren't completely clearly defined from each other - for example, the intense and jaunty 'Girl Anachronism' could just as easily be put into the personal category as it can the quirky one. This has led to some people confusing songs like 'Half Jack' and the line 'it's not the way I'm supposed to be, it's just the way the operation made me' for confessions that she used to be a man.
But The Dresden Dolls weren't all about the unique, hard to categorise music, but also their live performances in which Amanda and Brian settled on a look that that matched their sound entirely. Theatrical make-up, and cabaret style clothing was the order of the day, but with an unmistakably modern contemporary edge. And for those with fears that a band consisting entirely of a woman behind a piano and a man behind a drumkit couldn't be entertaining proved unfounded when you saw them onstage, with both personalities making it seem that a whirlwind had hit the stage, and their respective instruments couldn't contain them. Amanda's links to the street performers of Boston also proved beneficial, as the band's performance would incorporate stilt-walking, fire-breathing and other performance art - often from people in the audience.
After spending most of 2001 and 2002 performing and writing a catalogue of music, in 2003 the pair decided to introduce themselves to the world at large, first with a collection of live recordings entitled 'A Is For Accident' in May, and then in that September their self-titled debut solo album, which they released on their own label - 8ft. Records. The album was released to worldwide critical acclaim, which inevitably caught the attention of the major labels. In a surprise move, by 2004 The Dresden Dolls had signed to Roadrunner Records (a label known more for their roster of metal bands including Slipknot and Cradle Of Filth), and in April the debut album was re-released on that label, introducing the band to a worldwide audience.
Their next big break came the following year, when Trent Reznor was planning the US comeback of his band, Nine Inch Nails and The Dresden Dolls caught his eye, and he invited them to open for him on the upcoming 'With Teeth' arena tour along with Saul Williams and The Eagles Of Death Metal. That year also saw the band play a free gig in their home town of Boston that nearly went disastrously wrong when the city was hit by a power cut for five hours. Luckily, street performers from around the world had converged on the venue, and they were able to entertain the crowds until power was restored and the band went on to play their full planned set.
The following April, 'Yes, Virginia...' was released, which with its more commercial sheen and mixture of styles familiar to fans of the first album should have been the beginning of the next step in world domination. However, a few weeks after the albums released, Roadrunner Records decided to pull all promotion for the album for reasons that they did not make clear. This was when Amanda's relationship with the label began to turn sour - in a few years time it would decay completely. Still, the band carried on with all of their tour commitments including slots at the Reading and Leeds Festivals and Lollapalooza, paying out of their own pockets (as well as paying for their own promotion and internet team).
Two years later, The Dresden Dolls released what is currently their final album, 'No, Virginia...'. An album featuring B-Sides, previously unreleased tracks, and some newly recorded material. Directly after this, Amanda started concentrating on her debut solo album which she started the previous year. 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' was released in September the same year, featuring string arrangements from Paul Buckmaster (famous for his work with the likes of Elton John, The Rolling Stones and Guns N' Roses), as well as contributions and production from Ben Folds. The album was once again released to almost entirely positive reviews, but at this point her relationship with Roadrunner Records took another turn for a worse... talking in a 2009 interview, Amanda explained:
When my solo record, Who Killed Amanda Palmer was being made, the label had the option of first refusal to release it. I had paid for the entire production of the album myself out of my own savings, with additional borrowed money from friends and family, to the tune of about $200,000. I was banking everything on the record being a success. When the label heard the album and decided to pick up the option, I assumed that at the very worst, I would get my money paid back and they'd at least get it in stores. I was used to doing all the promoting myself, anyway. I assumed that they would be proud and excited that I'd gotten Ben Folds as the producer (they weren't: most of the guys in the top offices didn't know who he was, I had to tell them.) In the end, it was the nightmare scenario. They paid for a few videos to be made, and that was the extent of their album promotion. They didn't even mail the record to most radio stations. It wasn't in stores. They simply did nothing. I wasn't surprised.Now with no hope of any help from her label, and no money to fund a tour herself, Amanda took one of the biggest risks of her career. Together with four actor friends, she embarked on a world tour with literally no budget, relying entirely on the good will of her loyal fanbase. Instead of paying for restaurants and hotels, fans would feed them and give them somewhere to stay, and during performances a hat would be passed around for donations, without which the tour could not continue. Despite being told by numerous people that this would never work, the began and ended as planned, and they even managed to scrape together a profit of around $100 each on most nights.
It was at this time that she met the author Neil Gaiman (famous for The Sandman and American Gods), where they collaborated on a book with the theme of the album's title. Each page featured a photo of Amanda posing as a corpse, with a story by Gaiman.
Roadrunner's interest in Amanda was reignited after the completion of the video for the song 'Leeds United', but unfortunately not for the right reason. The label decided to take issue with shots in which her stomach were visible, calling it "uncommercially fat". This was the last straw, and the singer immediately began campaigning to be released from her contract, writing a song that she would perform on tour entitled 'Please Drop Me'. There was also outrage amongst her fans, who began what became known as the ReBellyOn - fans from all over the world took photos of their stomachs, sent them into fan websites and they were eventually compiled and sent to Roadrunner.
More controversy arose in the UK when Amanda was informed that the video for the song 'Oasis' had been turned down by all of the major music channels, because the lyrics "make light of" rape, abortion and religion. 'Oasis' is the story of a girl who is raped at a party, finds that she is pregnant, has an abortion where she is harrassed by fundamentalist Christians and falls out with her best friend... all the while not really caring because the band Oasis had received her letter and sent her a signed photograph. Not a song to be taken seriously, which is part of the problem... as she later explained on her blog, she herself had been raped, but she feels that if you can't make fun of things like this, it would take over.
This is around the time that I began to really pay attention to Amanda again - I'd heard the first Dresden Dolls album, and thought it was brilliant, but for some reason I had never really followed them the way that I did other bands. It wasn't until it was announced that she was dating Neil Gaiman, who is one of my favourite writers, that I really started searching for music and listening to it properly. This will probably annoy her. Who she's dating being what sparked interest in her work, when she has identified as a feminist would probably not be the most flattering thing. But that's the truth, and at least I can definitely say it's not the only reason I'm a fan.
Anyway... in the early part of 2010, Roadrunner released Amanda from her contract, which she celebrated with the free release of the song 'I Swear To Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth, So Help My Black Ass'. Part of what made her tour for 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' so successful was her use of the then-emerging Twitter. Using this she could directly interact with fans, and organise with them where to stay, etc. as well as what would soon become known as 'ninja gigs'. She would tweet a time and location, and play to whoever turned up, sometimes attracting upwards of 100 people. Now free from the restraints of a major label, Amanda would take this form of promotion to the next level. Using nothing but her own website, Twitter and word of mouth from fans she released the EP 'Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele' on the music distribution site, Bandcamp in July with a bare minimum price (enough to pay Paypal fees, and Radiohead's publishers) but the ability to donate more if you wish. The result? Within 3 minutes of release she had made $15,000. She noted at the time that this is more money than she has yet to see from the album that received a major label release.
2010 also saw the release of her collaboration with Seattle accordionist Jason Webley, the dark concept album 'Evelyn Evelyn', about conjoined twin sisters called Evelyn and Evelyn (portrayed by herself and Webley) and their struggles for friendship and happiness, whilst being exploited by those around them. Unlike The Dresden Dolls, the style of this album was almost pure cabaret, and is by turns funny and disturbing.
Which brings us on to this year, where Amanda went immediately from her New Years Party/impromptu wedding to Neil Gaiman to an extensive tour of Australasia. To celebrate this tour she also released a new album entitled 'Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under', featuring live performances and new studio recordings of songs written in/about Australia, as well as some covers of songs by Australian artists.
If you're still reading this, I hope it's because I've sparked your interest in this person, as well as her music. If so, then my work is done and all is left for me to do is to say that her entire discography is available for download at this location... http://music.amandapalmer.net/ The majority of it is available for free, but as a completely independent artist, you may want to support her by making a donation. Enjoy.
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