Evan Rachel Wood on How ‘Breakfast Club,’ Karaoke Habit Informed New Band
Wood: We were actually doing the kissing scene from [1987’s] Some Kind of Wonderful! [Laughs] And afterwards everyone was coming up to us and saying how great it was and how great we were together. When the production ended we were both devastated. I was sad to say goodbye to the show, but I was also really sad to say goodbye to Zach. But then we started working on this music, and we just went from there.
How do the two of you work together in Rebel and the Basketcase?
Villa: In previous bands I’ve been in, I’ve gotten a lot of shit from bandmates about being too flashy or for making dramatic musical choices. But the great thing with Evan is that she’s always like, “Do the weird thing!”
Wood: [To Villa] I feel like you rein me in and I pull you out. But I’d say on the album, musically, a lot of it’s on your shoulders and lyrically a lot of it’s on mine.
Villa: I think at the beginning I was handling a lot of the production and Evan was handling a lot of the lyrics, but I feel like at some point we crossed paths. By the end of it we had almost reversed roles.
Who would you say were some of the musical touchstones for the album?
Villa: We share a love for a lot of bands from the Eighties, and also for female-fronted rock bands. But there’s also a modern element – I love listening to very pop and electro things, like Chvrches and M83.
Wood: And I’m into really super-alternative stuff like Phantogram and Radiohead. And I think blending all those sounds led to something that’s accessible but also completely weird.
Evan, who are your influences as a singer?
Wood: My vocal style, I think, is the powerhouse belter – Alanis Morissette and Janis Joplin and those types of ladies. I’ve always had a very loud voice. And I grew up listening to David Bowie and the Eurythmics and Garbage. Sia is also a huge hero of mine.
You were in a relationship with Marilyn Manson for several years. Would the two of you ever sing together in private?
Wood: We would, for fun. And you know, I learned a lot from being in that environment, and there’s a lot I took away from that experience. It was unavoidable. And he was somebody who was always very encouraging and believed in my ability. It was another link in the chain.
I’ve also heard you’re a big fan of karaoke.
Wood: I am! I have a karaoke lounge in my house, complete with a tiki bar and hula-girl lamps and disco balls. And we actually wrote half the record in that room. The bulk of it, really.
Villa: [To Wood] Our early rehearsals were literally us with your karaoke machine.
Wood: We would take a song that didn’t have vocals and then hook it up to the karaoke machine and sing over it, and try to find a melody that way.