Snapping Right Back

Along with Oasis, Elastica was the high-profile British rock invader of 1995, a coed band that combined the seductiveness of the Pretenders with the perky energy of Wire and other choice groups from rock’s early-’80s new-wave movement.

Singer-songwriter Justine Frischmann and bandmates not only gave us one of the most acclaimed albums of that year in “Elastica” but were also profiled by every publication with even a trace of pop consciousness. The group also crisscrossed the United States five times on tours, including subbing for a pregnant Sinead O’Connor on Lollapalooza. If Elastica wasn’t on the road here, it was playing in Europe or the Far East. All that activity contributed to U.S. album sales of an estimated 500,000.

But Elastica was surprisingly quiet during 1996--no new album, no U.S. tour and virtually no interviews. At the risk of being forgotten at a time when the rock audience attention span seems notoriously short, Frischmann and colleagues took time out to catch their breath after the furious pace of 1995 and to focus on the follow-up album.

Sitting recently in a recording studio here, Frischmann, 27, said the band--whose lineup now also includes guitarist Donna Lewis, drummer Justin Welch, bassist Sheila Chipperfield and keyboardist Dave Bush--hopes to surface again with an album and tour this summer. Frischmann, whose best songs reflect on relationships and pop life with unusual freshness and insight, also spoke about the reasons for the group’s 1996 hiatus and a slight shift in musical direction.

Question: What was your thinking in being out of the public eye for so long? Weren’t you concerned about losing momentum at a time when so many bands are having trouble following up on their past success?

Answer: We have never been too worried about striking while the iron’s hot. I think it’s important to have a life and to actually have experiences you can write about and to let your creative impulses dictate your schedule, and not vice versa. We’ve never been a band that has just gone into the studio to sort of come up with something, if you will.

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Q: How do you have a life when you’re spending all your time on the road?

A: Well, that’s the question. That’s why we took some time off after 1995. Touring is very interesting on one level, even inspiring. But it’s also very difficult, very exhausting--the things, really, that you always hear bands complaining about. There are the endless hotel rooms, being stuck on a bus for months with the same people, playing the same songs every night, the detachment from the real creative process, which is writing and recording new songs.

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Q: Was there a point where you got overwhelmed by it all?

A: Sure. After a long time of being on the road and not writing new stuff together, I think we all kind of asked ourselves if we can really handle this. And, that’s when we lost our bass player [Annie Holland], who decided she just didn’t want to do it any longer. For the rest of us, however, we decided that we did want to continue because of the music. It’s a cliche, but it is what keeps you going.

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Q: Did the band sit down and think about musical direction before you started work on the new album--or did you just go into the studio and see what comes out?

A: I don’t think it is that conscious, where we sat down and mapped out a direction. It was more like something that evolved. The songs we’ve been working on are definitely darker and, for the most part, quite a lot slower than those on the first album. The music is a bit groovier, a lot of stuff on keyboards, which adds an extra layer.

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Q: When you say groovier, does that mean you too are picking up on the electronic and dance movement in England?

A: Not in the literal sense. I am not that comfortable with dance music. I’m not a child of that generation. I am a bit older than that, but I can pick things about it that I find interesting, and that’s kind of what we are doing.

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Q: You came into rock at a time when many of the freshest and most creative voices are women--Polly Jean Harvey, Courtney Love, Liz Phair and Ani DiFranco. Do you feel a kinship with those women or do you feel it’s sexist when critics sort of lump you all together in a movement?

A: No, I think that’s fine. It’s a valid point. Male rock, if you will, has been with us for so long that a lot of the territory has been exhausted. Female rock is quite a new thing in many ways. The only time I get frustrated by all that is when writers look at us all the same. I love Polly Harvey, for instance, but we aren’t saying the same things.

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Q: The interesting thing is to see if this generation of women inspires even more women to pick up a guitar or join a band. Do you see that happening?

A: Yes, but I think what’s important is just that young women see there is more opportunity for them now than there once was--that a door is open. As for inspiration, I think one of the people who spoke to me in my teenage years was Morrissey. His experiences, maybe because he was English and closer to my age, touched me more than, say, Joni Mitchell, who is a great writer but who was living in America and writing about different experiences.

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Q: How difficult is it to be involved romantically with someone in a band [Blur’s Damon Albarn]? The history of rock ‘n’ roll relationships hasn’t been good.

A: It’s not difficult at all, as long as the [English] tabloids leave us alone, which they have recently because Blur hasn’t had an album out for a while either. Our relationship is great, very supportive. We have so many similar interests, including, of course, music.

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Q: Do you ever see yourselves working together on an album?

A: No, I wouldn’t dream of being in the studio with Damon. It’s not that I wouldn’t enjoy collaborating. But, unfortunately, if you work with your boyfriend, everyone assumes he’s doing everything. That’s absurd, but it’s the way the world works. I’m too proud to go through that--to lose my creative identity.