Tim Kinsella (of Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Owls, and other bands) and his musical and life partner Jenny Pulse (who used to record together as Good Fuck) have released their new album Giddy Skelter on Kill Rock Stars (order yours). As has been the case for Tim’s entire 30-year career, Giddy Skelter finds him and Jenny making exactly the kind of music they want, regardless of whether or not it’s what fans of Tim’s various other bands want or expect him to make. To get a better feel for what inspired this unique album, Tim and Jenny made us a list of 10 things, including Chicago locales like The Art Institute, legendary nightclub Smartbar, performance arts space Constellation, and the Rainbo Club bar (where Tim used to work); as well as books, lifestyle routines, and more.
Stream the album below and read on for what they had to say…
1—The Art Institute
We began writing the songs that would come to be Giddy Skelter in Oct 2020, months before the vaccine became available. Throughout the pandemic, cooped up, we found great comfort walking The Art Institute of Chicago every Monday morning. It was always a very sparse crowd & it was a very different experience feeling like we had the museum to ourselves. And as the songs evolved & took shape we made a habit of starting each week by listening to the latest versions of each song, sequenced beginning to end, as we walked the museum. We also fell into the habit of walking the museum from Primitive to Contemporary each week. So each week there would be adjustments made to different songs that we’d be checking out in reference to the whole & each week there would also be diversions in our museum paths. But also touchstones started to emerge. For example I’d always stop at Matisse’s “Bathers by a River” soon after “Easter Mystery” by Maurice Denis & this was always right around how Side 2 begins. Such connections became meaningful & instructive to us.
2—The Smartbar
Our mutual love for techno & house music is one of the things that first brought us together, and the legendary Chicago club Smartbar has always been our happy place as a couple. Things happen so late there that realistically we are probably only able to go about four to six times a year now, but the impact of those few hours on what we make cannot be overstated. The influences of techno & house music in our music has been more pronounced at certain times compared to others, & on Giddy Skelter it is certainly not as apparent as it was on some Good Fuck releases. But the spirit of the radical joyous trance of the dance floor is always a meaningful standard for us.
3—Constellation
We see a lot of live music, like weekly at the very least & usually more frequently than that. And we check out an expansive range of stuff. Looking back now at what was on our minds while making this album, I can recognize a couple commonalities between the shows we were seeing. One, we very rarely felt motivated to go see a rock band. There were some excellent bands that were exceptions to this, but usually when we did see rock bands we’d leave muttering annoyed with the world about how corny & childish everything is. And two, we rarely went to see music that we knew exactly what to expect before the show, like we don’t go to see someone go play their hits very often. We went to Constellation a lot. It’s a meditative space for true believers who feel compelled to ponder & feel their musical experiences.
4—Rainbo Club
I, Tim, worked at Rainbo Club on & off for 23 yrs & even lived in the building for a few yrs. As the vaccine rolled out & the old world began to emerge a little, we were both happy to bartend there. I hadn’t worked there for a few years before the pandemic & Jen never had before, but it was a brilliant job to have at the time. People were so psyched to go out again after 2 yrs of staying in. People tipped very well. We were able to make enough that we could put half of every shift into a band fund & this allowed us to make the album. & Though we don’t work there anymore, it is still a central community in our lives where we visit w/ many inspiring musicians, artists, writers, etx.
5—Re-Search Books
My favorite part of the pandemic was re-watching favorite movies, re-listening to favorite albums, re-reading favorite books. A lot of people think that they know what something is cuz they engaged w/ it years ago when they were younger. Teaching creative writing 101 for a decade taught me that re-engaging w/ media, ideas, etx is how one really absorbs lessons. & I have grown up to be a sort of student of subcultures. The Re-Search series that first introduced me to many people & concepts that first inspired me many yrs ago feels more meaningful to me than ever before.
6—Bomba
Bomba is our cat that we adopted in spring 2020, about 72 hrs after it hit us that we really would be stuck home more than ever before. Our affection for Bomba & her constant attentive presence in pretty much every aspect of our lives is unlike anything either of us has experienced before.
7—Morning Routines
A big key to getting anything done, far as we can tell, is knowing exactly what you need to get done each day to feel good at the end of the day & recognizing how your energy changes at different times of the day & using that to your advantage. We don’t really interact even w/ each other much til at least mid-day. We meditate, we read & we write each morning before we do anything else. The whatever dumb shit jobs we do to make money, responding to emails etx, we do that shit when we’re tired & uninspired anyways.
8—Keeping Goddamn Healthy!
It’s true, we are smokers. It’s a filthy, disgusting habit. & We have a couple drinks a couple nights a week. & Weed is definitely a pretty regular presence in our lives. But we make green juice every morning. You ever try that shit? It’s like a bolt to your third eye — ZAP! Clarity. & We exercise 6 days / week. Gotta get that blood flowing! & It’s super productive contemplative time, alone with your headphones. I never exercised until I was about 39 yrs old cuz it never occurred to me, but if it would have I would’ve thought, Who has the time for that?! I need to make music! But now I think, Who could afford to not exercise? Gotta keep that life-force banging to make music!
9—Reading
Speaking of our morning routines, allow me a second to specify something here. It almost doesn’t matter what you read — of course the exceptions here are Bill O’Reilly books, trash like that that diminishes the world. But making an intentional habit of daily reading completely shifts your thinking. Reading one book blows open your perspective to the infinity of potential realities. Commit to 15 minutes a day. Read something fun. Make a point of reading slow. There’s no rush. You wanna feel alive don’t you? Relying on the goddamn dominant entertainments isn’t gonna do that. In fact that’s exactly what it’s all designed not to do, you know? Do yourself & everyone else a favor: break free of the psycho-tronic trash drone.
10- Marriage!
One big thing about what we do, it’s all we do! We are both married— to each other even! I’ve always been friends w/ my bandmates & I’ve always understood how far trust goes in deepening a collaboration, but being a married duo is a whole different thing than being in a band. Greater nuance & subtlety is not only possible, but inevitable.
Tim & Jenny play Chicago on Saturday (9/9), Detroit in October, and NYC on 10/12 at Knitting Factory at Baker Falls with Golden Apples.
Tim Kinsella & Jenny Pulse — 2023 Tour Dates
09/09 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
10/05 – Detroit, MI – Lager House
10/12 – New York, NY – Knitting Factory