By Keith Walsh
While most of us take sewing machines and those who work them for granted, Lun*na Menoh and Saori Mitome of LA’s Les Sewing Sisters are asking us to think about them in new ways. With a completely unique form of Musique Concrète made entirely from their voices and sounds generated with sewing machines and sampled into Garageband, the duo bring up issues around gender politics and the work of seamstresses around the world. But Menoh doesn’t necessarily mention these issues explicitly.
“It’s not really a black and white issue,” she said in a phone interview today. “Of course there is cheap labor in the fashion industry, and lots and lots of issues, in the fashion industry, including the dirty collar, gender issues…but I don’t want to put my position against something . Everything is gray, that is my position.”
Les Sewing Sisters’ brilliant new video “She Sews,” the first release from their upcoming album (to be released on July 23) finds Menoh and Mitome vocalizing above a mix that’s robotic and retro-futuristic, and featuring music that’s increasingly dramatic as the song goes on. The stunning visuals accompanying the machinelike beat were expertly directed by Jordan Ellis and produced by Madeleine Gallagher, in cinematic style.
At the halfway point the lyrics warn, “she hides a sharp needle in her mouth,” and “watch out, she’s under the table,” as the song descends into the soundtrack for a nightmare, with sounds getting darker and darker as ominous layers are added. “It’s like a double meaning,” she said. “Under the table is just kind of a sexual thing, and under the table is the exchange of money.” When asked about the dark gender politics of the tune, Menoh added with a laugh: “it’s a revenge song too.”
In her work as a clothing designer and visual artist, Menoh has confronted the taboo against seeing dirty laundry by doing a series of paintings of dirty collars, as well as by creating a white wedding dress made entirely of soiled collars from mens’ shirts she collected. It’s no surprise that her lyrics are also woven with taboo-breaking artistry.
The upcoming debut album by Les Sewing Sisters is produced by Adam Lee Miller of ADULT. and was recorded in Los Angeles and Detroit. Camerawork on “She Sews” is by Landis Stokes and Brent Kaplan, with Alan Pineda as Engineer and Theo Rasmussen as Associate Producer.
I’ll post part two of my interview with Lun*na Menoh in July, including what she has to say about her music being in the tradition of work song, along with much more info about the album.
Les Sewing Sisters On Facebook
Lun*na Menoh’s World
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