![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Gossip-Q-and-A-May-2012.jpg\" "\\"Gossip-Q-and-A-May-2012\\"")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nBeth Ditto on personalities, producers and rocking for the right reasons \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Creating the follow-up to a\u00a0hot-selling major-label debut can be downright stressful, but Gossip was looking to do so with as little drama as possible. After 2009\u2019s Music for Men<\/em> proved a success, the Portland trio\u2019s members readied a new batch of songs\u2014but found themselves unsettled on the album\u2019s direction. \u201cBeing just a three-piece, it would be easy to make the same record over and over again,\u201d observes singer and keyboardist Beth Ditto. \u201cYou want every record to be different, so you\u2019re always looking for advice. We really wanted a producer that could filter it in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n Enter Brian Higgins, known for his work with worldwide pop acts like Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, Girls Aloud and Sugababes. Ditto and Higgins connected via a mutual friend the previous summer, with Higgins inviting Ditto into the studio. Their easy working relationship encouraged Gossip to ask Higgins to helm the new\u00a0A Joyful Noise<\/em>. The producer brought polish to the group\u2019s songs while remaining true to its longstanding indie-disco aesthetic. \u201cYou want it to be a good combination of personalities and styles,\u201d Ditto explains. \u201cAs a producer you have to remember that you\u2019re in there for hours a day, and be realistic and somewhat accepting that maybe we\u2019re not the most skilled musicians. We know\u00a0how to play our <\/em>way.\u201d<\/p>\n Ditto formed Gossip with guitarist Nathan \u201cBrace Paine\u201d Howdeshell in 1999; drummer Hannah Blilie joined in 2004, replacing original member Kathy Mendonca. Even the lineup change was a typically amicable affair. \u201cWe\u2019re just people who hang out all the time anyway,\u201d says Ditto. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of being in a band for so long, and being in a band just because\u2014not necessarily because you were setting out to be famous. You\u2019re making music because it\u2019s fun. I think you\u2019ll realize that you don\u2019t have to be in a band with people you don\u2019t like. Actually, you can be in a band with people you really care about.\u201d<\/p>\n That casual attitude turned serious when it was time to write songs for the new album. \u201cThis is the most involved I ever was with writing lyrics,\u201d she says. \u201cI actually took it seriously. \u2018Oh, wait a minute! I guess I am a songwriter!\u2019 I\u2019d never really let myself have that feeling.\u201d Ditto credits a confidence born of experience for allowing her to do so. \u201cGossip\u2019s been together for 13 years, and this is our fifth album,\u201d she notes. \u201cI turned 30, and I think I finally found the voice that\u00a0I felt comfortable with.<\/p>\n \u2013Amanda Farah<\/p>\n GOSSIP Beth Ditto on personalities, producers and rocking for the right reasons \u00a0 Creating the follow-up to a\u00a0hot-selling major-label debut can be downright stressful, but Gossip was looking to do so with as little drama as possible. After 2009\u2019s Music for Men proved a success, the Portland trio\u2019s members readied a new batch of songs\u2014but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[3928,3929,3934,3932,3924,3926,3935,3927,3930,3754,3936,3925,3931,10156,3933],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6650"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6653,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions\/6653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/div>\n
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