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Local music vanguard Dana Hamblen has been performing her unique brand of Rock for more than a decade. I asked her recently about her own history in music, how far she thinks women in music have come and where she feels they’re headed.
“I think I always wanted to be an entertainer,” Hamblen says. “From an early age I took on lofty projects/porch-performances. I think I’ve always been singing. I’ve always been attracted to music and musicians. Eventually, a bunch of equally talented beginner friends of mine started making Noise music. We were called Devil Nut Mother Hole and we’d all play musical chairs with the instruments, sometimes creating brilliance and other times a messy ‘happy new year’ squawk.
“One day I was handed an electric bass, which I seemed to be able to play immediately; to write songs with it. I became the bass player.
Which I guess I still am. It’s the instrument I can lose myself in.”
Devil Nut Mother Hole led to other projects, most notably Ditchweed, where Hamblen played bass, and her two current projects, The Fairmount Girls and Culture Queer, where she plays drums. And, of course, she always sings.
Hamblen credits fellow musicians in those bands with furthering her growth as an artist.
“I’ve always been thankful to the more accomplished players I’ve been lucky enough to play with,” she says. “Kendall (Davis) from Ditchweed, Marnie (Greenholz) from The Fairmount Girls, Sam (Womelsdorf) from Culture Queer — they were never condescending to my beginner’s approach. They encouraged my songwriting despite the fact that it usually was primitive. I’ve always held the idea that sometimes the novice produces something fresher due to their lack of rules. I still consider myself a beginner.”
Hamblen is part innovator, part instigator and a wholly creative woman. That creativity isn’t limited to her music. She’s also a DJ and visual artist.
Apart from her music, Hamblen might be best known for her cutting-edge fashion and aesthetic senses which she brings to her shows with both The Fairmount Girls and Culture Queer. Both bands are as visually interesting as they are sonically stimulating.
Like most artists, Hamblen has to find the right balance between her nighttime gig (music) and her day job working for the local video production company Lightborne (a sister company to CityBeat). And that isn’t always easy.
“It’s hard sometimes,” she admits. “It forces me to think far ahead because my schedule is tight and my days are long. I don’t expect any free evenings.”
Hamblen is more fortunate than some, however.
“My job definitely supports artistic attitudes, so that helps,” she says. “And I try to expand my knowledge at work to benefit my bands.”
Her goals for her music aren’t fame and fortune, she says. “I never thought it was going to change my lifestyle or make a profit monetarily. I think that would almost curse it.”
For Hamblen, it’s truly about her art. “I like creating with people. I’m inspired by living every day. I wish I had the time and energy to carry out all my ideas … that would be the ultimate!”
When asked if her path as an artist has been negatively affected by being a woman, Hamblen is no-nonsense: “Sometimes I may need help lifting my bass amp up the steps. But I can’t think of any way my gender has held me back musically. I don’t really think that way. I think nowadays especially it’s OK for a girl to play guitar in her bedroom.”
And a lot of those girl (and women) musicians in Cincinnati count Hamblen as the inspiration to take their music from those bedrooms to the stage. “I’m very thankful and shocked, even skeptical,” she says. “Because I just do what I do. Sometimes I’m ridiculed on the street for the same things I get complimented on by my peers.”
Who does Hamblen think is inspiring to women musicians?
“Björk, because she’s so well respected and such a great writer and musician and a real freak,” she says. “Missy Elliott has broken down some barriers. She’s such a workaholic collaborator. Both Dolly Parton and Joni Mitchell have always existed writing and performing their own music. I think it’s a snowball action, a collective. We all do our part to make it OK to play hard.”
Over the years, Hamblen has seen both the positive and negative facets of the music scene. Of the best aspects she says, “There are so many — playing shows that exploded until you were laying on the floor; singing in Ultrasuede (studios) at 3 a.m.; opening for Guided By Voices twice; getting a kiss from Kim Deal after a show; my musical family; singing with Melissa Fairmount; the revolving door of players in Fairmount Girls making it possible to reinvent ourselves; getting to travel; using all the aspects of design (cover art, photography, video, fashion themes).”
And the worst parts?
“Even the worst moments turn beautiful with time,” Hamblen says. “To quote Melissa Fairmount: ‘I’m never prepared to stop!’ ”
THE FAIRMOUNT GIRLS perform Friday at the BarrelHouse as part of the Chicks RockFest. For more on Hamblen’s projects, check fairmountgirls.com and culturequeer.com.
This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2004.
