Stacking The Deck with MisterWives
Stacking The Deck is a feature exclusive to Adam’s World where I bring packs of 1991 Pro Set Superstars MusiCards to artists, and we discuss who they find in each pack.
Bicoastal indie pop luminaries MisterWives have been moving crowds for over a decade, and they’ll be moving some of their biggest crowds yet this fall when they hit the road with Bishop Briggs for the Don’t Look Down Tour.
Running from September 8th through October 15th, for MisterWives the tour will be in support of their just-released fourth album, Nosebleeds, which came out last week via Photo Finish / Resilient Little Records.
With Nosebleeds fresh in everyone’s ears, and the band gearing up to hit the road, I caught up with MisterWives’ Mandy Lee, and Etienne Bowler to open up some packs of MusiCards, and the artists we found sparked conversations about a litany of topics, including dancing to Madonna, touring with Chris Cornell, and ageism in the music industry.
We’ll start with the legend who is currently not on tour, Madonna.
Mandy: Yeah, devastating about what happened.
She’s having a rough time right now, but she’s clearly an icon, so is Madonna an influence on you in any way, shape, or form?
Mandy: Oh absolutely. I think she was a trailblazer at a time where freedom of expression wasn’t as welcomed as it is now for women.
Her music, too, I feel like we pull from that all the time. We used to cover “Like a Prayer” back in the day.
Etienne: Yeah, that’s right. I forgot about that.
Mandy: I think from her visuals, her music, the production, everything has permeated into the music we make today.
Etienne: Especially some of her early stuff, a lot of the arpeggiators, and drums, and melodies … I’ve listened to some of her stuff for hours on repeat just trying to absorb the production, and some of it was this disco dance vibe which is so prominent in our music.
Mandy: Even the later stuff, I remember when she came out with the song “Hung Up,” I would race home from school every day to learn the choreography with my sister, and my brother, and that song was a bit of an inspiration for “Trigger Pull” on the album. The essence of the clock ticking, and feeling time moving, and incorporating that into the rhythm, and the production of the drums, that was a little spark for that song on Nosebleeds.
You mentioned running home to learn the choreography. Are you thankful TikTok didn’t exist back then?
Mandy: Oh yeah. {laughs}
Actually, I don’t know. We were doing all of that stuff, but it was just for us. We weren’t sharing it for the masses. You were doing the covers, and learning the choreography with your friends, and taking photos on a little Cannon camera, but it had nowhere to go, and humans have always wanted to express ourselves, and now we just have platforms where everyone everywhere can see everything you’re doing at all times.
I grew up without it, so (what we were doing) was way more pure, it was creating, and having fun just for the sake of being a kid, versus I want to be a famous TikToker, not that anything is wrong with that, but that’s just not how I’m wired. Thankfully, I grew up right before social media blew up to what it is now.
If needed, could you still break out the dance?
Mandy: Yes. Me and my family, they were just here visiting, and the song came on, and we were all able to pull out a couple of the moves. {laughs}
Etienne: Just like riding a bike.
Mandy: Yeah, that stuff is crazy. The muscle memory on the things you learned as a kid, some of that will really stick with you where like 20 years later it will just pop into your brain, and you’re like, “How can I remember that, but I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday?”
Etienne: Chris Cornell was a total legend, and I actually had the honor of touring with him when I was in another band 12 years ago. It was one of the last tours he did.
His voice was amazing, an amazing performer, and when I was at that age watching him perform I just thought he was incredible. He’s written so many hits. His journey in music is very inspiring.
What do you soak in as a young artist on tour with him?
Etienne: It was my first big tour opening for a major artist. I had gone from playing small clubs to a hundred people, if we’re lucky, to all of a sudden day one is House of Blues Dallas, sold out, for a crowd that’s super excited. It was like oh my God, this is like … it sparked my whole inspiration, and it solidified my need to be like – I need to get here, and I want to be the headliner at this venue. How far does this go?
I remember when we toured with MisterWives on one of our first tours we played that same venue, House of Blues Dallas, and it sold out, and I was like oh my God, I made it here, it’s sold out.
Mandy: That’s a special moment.
That’s an awesome story.
Etienne: Thanks!
It’s so rare now that venues stay open, so to be able to do that is really special, to have the venue still be open, and to be able to realize that dream.
Mandy: I remember your excitement like, “I opened for Chris Cornell at this venue. This has been the pipe dream my whole life to come back to play these venues as my own artist headlining,” so it was cool to see that dream come true for you.
Etienne: That was really a big dream come true, and it’s funny because when I played it initially, 12 or 13 years ago, it felt like the biggest room in the world. It was like – I’m in a stadium. Then when I went back I was like, oh, this is a club show.
Mandy: It’s still big.
Etienne: It’s still huge, but it’s like when you’re a kid, and you go to Toys R Us, you’re like oh my God those toys are so high!
Mandy: It’s like going back to your elementary school. Have you ever done that?
I haven’t done that, but I’ve spoken at schools, and been like – were the lockers always this tiny? Were the hallways this small? No, I was that small.
Mandy: They felt so massive (as a kid). I went back to my elementary school years ago, and I remembered feeling so swallowed up by how massive the school was in Queens, and then you go, and it’s a dollhouse.
You’re like, oh, I’m not two feet anymore.
Mandy: Yeah I know. {laughs}
If you believe in life after love …
Mandy: Another song that we’ve covered before.
Etienne: Yeah, we’ve got some good covers.
Mandy: She is another one, like Madonna, who has paved the way, and she is also still just as full of life as she was back in the day. Her Twitter is one of my favorite accounts to follow.
She is a true icon, she leaves the house with a full face mask on, like to go get groceries, and paparazzi photos will surface of her, and I’m like – that’s how I want to live, really not giving a fuck.
Also, I watched a documentary on Netflix about the origins of certain things in music, and it’s wild that Cher had the breakthrough song that started Auto-Tune (“Believe”). The dial had never been cranked before for Auto-Tune, it was just a new thing, and she started that in a stylistic way, not in a way like she can’t sing, she has an incredible voice, but that created the sound that now is so prevalent in today’s production.
I thought that was pretty cool that she started a trend that still exists decades later.
Both Cher, and Madonna are women who have managed to stick around in an industry that tends to throw away artists, especially women, once they’ve hit, what, 26? Maybe 30. What are your thoughts on their abilities to have staying power, and is there anything we can learn from their staying power, or is it just because they happen to be Cher and Madonna?
Mandy: That is a great question. I think there’s so much to learn from them.
First of all, there shouldn’t be this fear of getting older. We live in such an ageist society where, especially as women, the expiration date for you is if you’re not in your early 20s your career is dead, everything is over for you, or you get really pigeonholed into this (idea of) oh, you’re in your later years of life, which is so disturbing to me, especially when we look at society for men. I think it’s celebrated (for men) to get old. Even just from the visuals – the salt and pepper (hair), the dad bod is in – it’s like when is the mom bod gonna be in?
I think we celebrate men being able to take up space in getting older, and for women you just have this expiration date on you if you’re not super young, and I think (Cher, and Madonna’s) ability to navigate an industry that is set up to not celebrate women, and especially not celebrate them being able to take up space, and get older, that takes so much courage. I imagine that’s just from who they are as people, and that translates into their music, and what they’ve done for younger artists, and (how they’ve) inspired us to keep going, and to not fall victim to the conditioning of society of thinking oh, it’s over. I’ve definitely experienced that as a 31 year old.
It gets scary where you’re like I’m being told things like I’m not a shiny penny anymore. You can either listen to those voices, or you can take it as I’m going to prove you wrong, and I deserve to still be here, and we should celebrate all ages.
Also, what a gift to get older, and to master your craft more, to become more honest in your writing. I just feel like you grow, and learn so much, why wouldn’t you want to see that? I love seeing artists who have had a career that spans decades, where you get to see them evolve, and grow, versus being like here’s your tiny window, oh it’s up now, on to the next. That’s really disheartening.
You mentioned the shiny new penny, and everyone likes the shiny new penny, but isn’t it always cooler to find the one that says “One Cent” on the back?
Mandy: YEAH! Yes! Totally!
Etienne: Good point!
I’m including this one because when we pulled it we were all obsessed with the hair.
Both: {laughs}
Mandy: I want to know the hair care routine that they do. Find out what they’re doing.
So what you’re saying is I now have to track down BulletBoys, and find out what their hair care routine was in 1989?
Etienne: Yeah.
Mandy: {laughs} Yes! That would be a big TikTok here.
Thankfully, I’m not on TikTok.
Mandy: Oh, you’re not??? {gasps}
Oh my God, you’re my hero.
I’m also not on Instagram.
Mandy: I really want to do this. Once the album is done, and we’ve done the tour, I think I’m going to take a breather from socials, because I don’t think humans are meant to be this glued to our phones, and screens, and the comparison. I just think it’s a vicious cycle.
Etienne: I’ll take it over. Don’t worry.
It’s a lot, and then, “Oh, this is gonna kill Twitter,” so now everyone has to sign up for these six new things.
Mandy: It’s exhausting. Good for you! Living off the grid.
I’m only on two forms of social media, and that qualifies as “off the grid” in 2023.
Mandy: Isn’t that crazy? {laughs}
We’re talking on Zoom, and I’m “off the grid.”
Mandy: I want to live in Adam’s World.
That’s the name of the website!
Mandy: I know!
It took over 20 years for someone to randomly say the name of the website during an interview! Thank you so much!
We can sandwich this interview with dancing, since you mentioned a Madonna dance at the start.
Mandy: I definitely can’t dance like MC Hammer, that’s for sure. An iconic dancer. I feel like everyone knows that one.
Etienne: MC Hammer, as a kid growing up I remember the whole golden toilet fiasco.
Mandy: Wait, what?
Etienne: Is that a true story?
His Behind the Music was filled with just a bit of opulence.
Etienne: Apparently he bought a golden toilet, and maybe lost some money after that. Then in the Austin Powers films (there was a line like) “I want a golden toilet, but it’s just not in the cards,” so it’s just become this legend, but I don’t know if it’s true. (Editor’s Note: It’s true!)
I love that MC Hammer’s first job was as a bat boy for the Oakland A’s. Did either one of you have an interesting first job?
Mandy: I just worked in a bakery. A vegan bakery.
Etienne: Yeah, restaurant servers.
Mandy: Which is how we met, actually. One of my first jobs, I was a teenager working in a restaurant, he sat at the bar, and this will really date me, at the time all my music was on Myspace, so I sent him my Myspace, because he was a drummer, and I was like a singer-songwriter, and our worlds collided, and we met because of this job.
Etienne: She was really good with the Myspace coding, so her profile looked pretty legit.
Glitter graphics outta control?
Mandy: Everywhere!
Myspace was the heyday. If there’s one social media platform that I actually enjoyed it was Myspace.
Etienne: Fun fact – Tom from Myspace, we did actually end up staying in his house. We rented an Airbnb, and it was Tom from Myspace’s house, for when we recorded our second record (Connect the Dots).
Whoa! Did he have that picture of himself anywhere in the house?
Mandy: Everywhere. No, I’m kidding, but there were lots of boxes of Myspace stuff in the garage, and I remember being like – we can’t open these, but we should.
Etienne: There were tons of boxes that said “Tom. Myspace.”
He’s probably waiting for someone to take that stuff, which is why he’s Airbnb-ing his place! He comes back every time like, “It’s still here!”
Mandy: That’s why he left it!
For more MisterWives, check out misterwives.com, and listen to Nosebleeds by clicking here.
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