I first met Rain Phoenix in the early 90’s on the set of Even Cowgirls Get The Blues in central Oregon – at the time I had been listening to a bootleg tape of her first band Aleka’s Attic. Although that bootleg tape is worn out and my boom box is no longer, I hold that tape in high regard and vividly remember the songs Too Many Colors and Across The Way.

Present day, Rain lives in Los Angeles and fronts the band Papercranes, which she formed in 2003. Papercranes recently released their sophomore album on Manimal Vinyl entitled Let’s Make Babies In The Woods. After attending their record release party at The Stone Harvard Bar in Hollywood, I found myself inspired to approach her about an interview for Dossier.

Our interview was conducted through email and I met up with Rain on a warm winter day at Wattles Mansion in Hollywood to take some photos. Rain arrived wearing a Some Odd Rubies dress (designed by her sister Summer) and combat boots. In person Rain is slight, with jewel tone eyes, a bewitching gaze and hasn’t aged a day since I met her in our teens.

What I most admire about Papercranes, as well as Aleka’s Attic, is that both bands transcend a specific era, there is an innate quality that is very personal and as a listener it seems like one is privy to an almost secret ceremony of sorts – maybe in the wood, an attic or someone’s living room.

Natascha: If Papercranes were to perform covers, which songs would you cover?

Rain: We have and do perform covers. Here are some we have performed at recent shows: Pale Blue Eyes (VU), Needle in the Camel’s Eye (Brian Eno), Virginia Plain (Roxy Music), Children of the Revolution (TREX)

Natascha: In terms of women in music and rock, who has been inspirational to you?

Rain: Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, Kristin Hersch, Elizabeth Fraser, PJ Harvey, Bjork.

Natascha: How did the title of your album come about?

Rain: This guy once said it to me.

Natascha: What are some of your favorite places in Los Angeles?

Rain: The tunnel near the Observatory, Ameoba Records…

Natascha: Are there any performers whose stage presence you are inspired by and/or feel a kinship to?

Rain: Karen O, Trixie Whitley, Jen Turner, Michael Stipe.

Natascha: How was performing in Paris? It seems like the French would accept you with open arms…What were some of your favorite places in the city?

Rain: Gift Horse Project played there. What a great city. For that show we had Joe Sumner, Chris Stills and an amazing French artist You & You. I don’t really have a favorite place. Exploring the city walking was my favorite thing to do.

Natascha: What are you reading now?

Rain: I just finished Just Kids by Patti Smith. Amazing. I couldn’t help but to suggest to everyone I said hello to.

Natascha: Who are your artistic influences?

Rain: The weather, rocks and streams, lovers, haters and originators.

Natascha: I’ve noticed you collaborate with many musicians, (with Papercranes, as well as with your non-profit project The Gift Horse Project), does the idea of collaborating with many musicians have a similar feeling to working on a film?

Rain: Yeah, I think there is a correlation between film and bands (that rotate). You get so close for short periods of time and then have to part ways. Though in both cases, if the connection is real there is bound to be a time when you will work together again.

Natascha: What is your favorite song or band at the moment?

Rain: Talking Heads, Talking Heads, Talking Heads!
Talking Heads Born Under Punches (the heat goes on)

Natascha: I recently read that the recording sessions for the new album were an exercise in ‘stream of consciousness’ writing – how did this idea come about to record in this manner?

Rain: I almost always approach writing for Papercranes in an ‘off the cuff ‘ or ‘stream of consciousness’ way. This record is different, in that the whole band also approached it this way. We thought it would be a good challenge to apply this exercise to all the songs. We approached this as our ‘experimental’ record.

Natascha: Do you feel like you are able to be present when you’re performing?

Rain: I am totally present. I am completely lost.

Natascha: What does the Gift Horse Project have in store for 2011?

Rain: We are currently working on a gallery show for GHP. As an artist collective we want to produce some shows that involve other art forms. Not just music. That said, if the opportunity arises we are happy to play a GHP band show as well. Especially if there is an artist driven charity who need funds or awareness brought to their charity. We exclusively play when there is a way to give back to the artist community.

Natascha: How did your video for Synapses transpire?

Rain: I knew Antoine Wagner from NYC and he wanted to make the video with us. We started it there. Then we came to LA and Paul from Manimal helped us finish it.

Natascha: Are you creating a new video? If so, can you tell us about it?

Rain: We will be making a video for our song Long Way (single version) with The Masses.

Natascha: Has Papercranes considered doing a live score for film?

Rain: We would love to.

Additional thanks to Nancy Soto, Paul Beahan & Kabeer Malhotra

Patti Smith seems to be everywhere these days. She’s got a new book Just Kids, an upcoming tour, and just opened an exhibition of drawings, photographs and personal things: Patti Smith and Steven Sebring: Objects of Life.

There were some great faces in Chelsea’s Robert Smith Gallery during the opening night: Michael Stipe turned up to congratulate Patti, Ryan McGinley and Terry Richardson were there, even my beloved film archivist Jonas Mekas came out, and it was nice to notice the abundance of older art lovers, not only the typical gallery opening show-offs.

There was a reason why all these great people came. In the exhibition, the persona that is Patti Smith gets featured in four ways: you can find her drawings and writings; still-lifes of her iconic belongings done by Steven Sebring, a photographer, who spent a decade filming Patti and put it into a documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life; another room is highlighting Patti Smith as a performer with grand images of stage acts and singing; and the middle of a gallery is dedicated to Robert Mapplethorpe, as seen through Patti Smith’s camera lens.

The exhibition is powerful and insightful. The pictures of Patti Smith’s belongings talk about the icon that she is: her beat boots, her guitar, a necklace, childhood dress, luggage covered in old concert stickers, a Polaroid camera, a tambourine made by Robert Mapplethorpe. The objects in towering pictures appear illuminated, translucent. Real objects lay right there on pedestals: there’s a knight’s helmet, few pictures, a typewriter, and a Jeanne d’Arc book, which seems so fitting here.

Steven Sebring documents Patti on stage as well: pictures of her performing are powerful, and the image of Patti’s face with a bandana covering her eyes is breathtaking. However, here she is as a public persona, a performer. Her drawings – raw, outlined scribblings with text, sticky tape, lines drawn on dark albumen silver prints, attached pictures, screen prints of buildings – feel like free hand sketches, private and instinctive. The drawings are recent works, some of them created in collaboration with Steven Sebring, meanwhile Patti’s pictures of Robert Mapplethorpe remember the late ’60s and ’70s and her relationship with him. This part of exhibition introduces Patti’s new book, Just Kids.

The exhibition sums up everything that makes Patti so iconic: it’s not only her music, but her free spirit, non-conformism, style, and her relationships.