“I’d like to sing more”: Kim Deal on why she started The Breeders
During their initial run from 1986 to 1993, Pixies had a virtually unmatched run of four stunningly good studio albums, and preceded that run with an EP that stands just as tall as their full-length efforts in Come on Pilgrim. The original lineup of guitarist Joey Santiago, drummer David Lovering, bassist Kim Deal and frontman Charles Thompson, aka Black Francis, didn’t remotely look like the sort of group that would be doling out irresistible melodies or frantic howls of catharsis – you could argue that they didn’t even look like a band at all.
The visual mismatch between the four nerdy-looking collegiate types was nothing but a red herring, and the band were, in fact, ground-breaking in many ways. Helping forge the path for bands like Nirvana and Pavement to steer indie rock down an alternate route to the jangly and overproduced style that had dominated the 1980s, the Bostonian foursome threw together angstiness and power pop sensibilities in a way that was virtually unheard prior to their emergence.
With a dark sense of humour and seemingly no boundaries in place regarding their song’s morbid subject matters (think body horror, religious sacrifice, incestuous relationships), their alternative offering to the watered-down mainstream rock that surrounded them was understandably exciting, and their first two albums, Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, remain as pillars of the indie rock canon to this day. However, as fun as it might have appeared to have been to be in a band like Pixies, tensions and frustrations were brewing after just two records.
Following the release of their third album, Bossanova, in 1990, Deal sat down with UK magazine Melody Maker to speak about how things were going in the Pixies camp at the time, and while she admitted she was still having fun with the band, she had other ambitions on her mind.
“I’d like to sing more,” she told the magazine. “That’d be cool. But I started The Breeders to prove I can do that.” Referring to the group she initially formed in 1989 with Throwing Muses’ guitarist Tanya Donnelly, bassist Josephine Wiggs and Slint drummer Britt Walford, she continued to reel off reasons as to why she wanted to pursue a second project in parallel to Pixies.
“Do I write the same kind of songs as Charles?” she began. “No! Get outta here! I don’t care about the Bible! I don’t care about UFOs! Who wants to know about that stuff? No, I’m joking. Charles’ songs are good.”
The Breeders announced themselves to the world with their debut album, Pod, just a month before the release of Bossanova, and while it would be the only album they released with the initial lineup, it became Deal’s primary project after Pixies split up in 1993. Their second album, Last Splash, which featured new recruits Jim MacPherson in place of Walford, and Deal’s twin sister Kelley replacing Donnelly, went on to be regarded with the same reverence as Pixies’ records, and the band continue to tour and release records together to this day.
Joking about how she never had much time in the spotlight as a vocalist with Pixies, she did mention that large amounts of the stage pattern was left to her. “I don’t know why I do that,” she told the publication. “I’m not a one-woman show. I just go out and ramble. Charles never talks and Joey hasn’t got a mike.” Deal remains a charismatic chatterbox on stage with the Breeders, although the banter between her sibling and the other members is far more electric than Pixies manage without Deal having reformed without her.
