Lizzi BougatsosInterview and Photographs by Landon MetzNew York, New York — November, 2010

Lizzi Bougatsos: I ran out of soymilk, is black ok?

Landon Metz: Yeah, I like it black.

Sorry, I haven’t been shopping. All I have is chocolate, mango sorbet, red wine and soy nuggets. Oh we could have soy nuggets!

(Laughing)

How long have you been in this place for?

A month, but I’ve been moving around a lot. We made a record in May and I was like ok I’ll find a place in the summer. But then it was one show in Brazil, one show in Japan; I had to go away once every month and it just fucked me up. I found this place by sheer luck. I was getting really bummed out because I would see all these guys from Europe walking around the East Village with a real estate broker and a computer and a messenger bag, talking about what they could pay for an apartment. Then you have to lock down $6 grand or something. I got really down and out I was like ‘I don’t want to go to Brooklyn, there’s no way; I’m not going to Brooklyn.’

That’s where I live!

Well I was there for a long time. I lived in Williamsburg when it was scary. People would get egged. Some things haven’t changed; I remember when I was there, Hasidic Jewish men would follow me around in vans.

That’s happened to me too.

(Laughs) I could see that! It’s been a trip. Three years ago I went back and I got followed, I didn’t think that was still happening but some things just never change. It’s crazy. I was scared; it was on Wythe and N 11th, that’s like the cruising area. They probably get some cute guy in the van, that’s so wild. I was ready to move back to Williamsburg though. Where in Williamsburg do you live?

I’m on Grand and Union, on the other side of the BQE. When I moved to New York from Los Angeles I tricked myself into thinking it wouldn’t be any more expensive but it really is.

Yeah. This guy I know owns all these buildings in Williamsburg but he had to go to Cuba and he was M.I.A. because the Cubans took all of his money. Gotta wheel and deal. I was ready to move back to Brooklyn though; I really like it right under the Williamsburg Bridge, that’s where I wanted to go.

Yeah that’s a really great little part of Williamsburg. I think Beyonce has a place right there.

I’d lived on Henry St already for 4 years. I didn’t think I would get back on this street. When the deal didn’t work out with the Cuban situation guy I started to look around here (Chinatown) and there was this guy that was really sweet, his name was Charlie, and he was showing me this old brothel. He said ‘Lizzi, I choose you for apartment.’ I knew what was going on for the whole block you know. It was so gross. All carpet and an old fridge from the 70’s, red lights and a doorbell at the window; I knew shit was still going down in the building, I’ve been around for so long I just know. He told me ‘I take up carpet for you, make like Trump Plaza. I want to live here.’ I said, ‘Charlie, how am I supposed to clean this place? If you think it’s like Trump Plaza why don’t you live here?’

(Laughing)

That’s my ultimate goal in life, to live in the Trump Plaza.

I know right. I wanted a little bit of luxe you know, new appliances.

This place is perfect.

I know; this place is great. I love it.

How long have you lived in New York City?

I moved to Manhattan in ’97. I’m a Long Island girl.

Where in Long Island did you grow up?

Sayville, it’s kind of in the middle.

Is it cool?

Yeah it was super cool there was a lot of really fun shit. I definitely saw a lot of my teenage years come back into my work. There’s always war and crazy shit happening. Now everyone’s addicted to crystal meth I heard. My sister lives in Portland and she bought her Volkswagen from a meth-head. I came into the city every Saturday. I was taking fine arts classes at FIT and that was really cool, we’d go to the free marijuana rallies and dudes would write me poetry in Washington Square Park.

Do you still have any of it?

Oh yeah! This one, its called 'Five Pointed Star,' was about my friends and I. We were so high in the park he wrote this poem about us. I have it framed in my bedroom in Long Island. Donald Green was his name. I found him the other day; he hangs around Washington Square Park and writes poetry.

Is that your book of poetry from guys in the park?

No, this is my writing book; I go through these notebooks you know. Jennifer from Royal Trux and I did a leather trade and she gave me this book.

That’s great, what did you give her?

My dad was in the leather business for a long time, he had a store on Madison Avenue in the ‘70’s and he made fake handbags, fake Gucci and all that. He was so gangster. It was called Bougat Leather. So he had this one piece that my mom gave me when I was 9 years old and she told me 'Your father made this. This is from his handbag factory on Madison Avenue. It’s really a beautiful piece, I wasn’t going to give it to you but I thought you might be old enough now.' It was a dark grey leather satchel with a psychedelic snake pattern. It was hardcore. Jennifer is hardcore too.

I’ve been going through the writing book a lot because we’re working on our record.

Do you read a lot?

I do but I read 10 books at a time.

I do that too.

That’s the only way to read. Unless you get something real juicy but usually those are the real bad ones. The last juicy book I read was Pit-bull’s In A Skirt, it’s this story of how these girls overthrow their gangster boyfriends in the projects. They’re all drug dealers and they run the projects. The girls end up screwing them all over, going to all the suppliers and taking over all the business and people get shot. I have a few more like Homo Thug, which isn’t as good. The covers are really good. I have a collection of fans and I also have a collection of bad poetry books.

What’s your favorite bad poetry book?

There’re two in the running. One of them is called Princess of Hollywood, it’s this girl that used to hang out with Darby Crash and she wrote all this poetry. The other is called Motorcycle Diaries, written by this woman who dated guys in Sturgess Rally and it’s all her poetry about love making in the ‘70’s. My friend Jessica Craig-Martin recently gave this book called Oblivion Seekers about an Arabic woman in the early 19th century who was a nomad had to dress like a man to get through all the tribes and survive without getting raped and brutalized and she had an affair with guy on the road. My book collection is all in Long Island, I have a pretty good library but I give away a lot of shit. Don’t get me drunk.

So what’s going on with your music at the moment?

We’re writing and finishing our album, it’s taken a long time but we’re almost done. We’re just so picky. A year and a half ago we went to Joshua Tree and recorded, we’re unleashing that a little bit. The new album we just recorded at Dreamland Studios in Woodstock in May and we’ve been working on it ever since. My other band I.U.D. is playing in Greece on a float. They invited us to perform in a parade and I said ‘Well I think I need to play on a float.’ In New York we have parades and they have sick bass systems on the trucks and Hot 97 will be blasting all the best hip-hop and I thought I needed one of those systems and I need to be up there on a float. People get crazy at the parade. The covers of our new EP’s are Public Enemy bootlegs, I didn’t really get inventive with my look or anything but we’re getting there. I’m working on the Gang Gang Dance art too, usually Brian (DeGraw) does the cover and I do the insert because he’s the beat dude and I’m the word girl. I knew I had 6 months off and had to get a place to work, so I’ve been making a lot of art.

What have you been working on?

I’m working on a baby series. But first I have to make these Christmas ornaments for Printed Matter’s Giftland. Last year I was in Rob Pruitt’s flea market in London and I did these bananas called 'Bananas for Bondage,' they’re like Warhol bananas but I dressed them up all S&M. My new thing is the babies. I’m at the age where I’m supposed to be having children, and everyone is having children, so I’m doing these demented baby collages. I’m also working on new braces pieces. I just got my clay from my other apartment. My guitarist just got married and they went to a Greek place in Minneapolis and they got me these (Gyro posters), I’m going to work on them this week. So it’s these and the baby series. I don’t know, what am I supposed to do. Reproduce?

How are you doing the braces?

They’re ceramic, I make them out of clay and then I lay them out and spray them with metallic spray and epoxy them on. I was thinking to do a vampire one with fangs and cat eyes, and Dolly Parton thing with one with pasties maybe, with the tassels.

I’m also working on artwork for the new Gang Gang (Dance). This song, I don’t know if it’s going to happen but for the title I made up the word 'KOO-DA-LEH.' Did you ever see that Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David is like 'KOO-DE-LAH' or 'KOO-DE-YAH' or something, it’s this term he used like ‘it’s cool with you, it’s cool with me, koodela.’ So I made up this word 'Koo-da-leh' and it’s the most African sounding song on our record, it’s a very positive song. Koo-da-leh, yeah.

I like your Aaliyah shirt (pointing to photograph)!

I had to give that away! I made a deal with this guy in Dublin when I was on the road. He wanted me to buy him an Aaliyah shirt back in New York and I said ‘Yeah, I think I know where I can get one.’ Then we went back to Dublin on tour like a year later and I had forgotten to buy him the shirt, or maybe I didn’t see it you know, I don’t know. I went and I was wearing the shirt and he was like ‘You never gave me a shirt’ so I gave it to him off my back. It was way too small for him. If you make a deal you make a deal.

This is one of my pieces on top of a Brian DeGraw. I have to figure out how to hang my part though.

Do you like dancehall?

Hell yeah, that’s my jam.

Mavado?

I love Mavado! There’s a trend in music right now that I think took off from auto-tune. For me it’s really emotional and that’s important.

Are you interested in the way trends in music transcend and steep into other countries? I feel that a lot is cross-referenced at this point.

I think that’s really important and it started a long time ago. I’ve always been fascinated in the way music and ideas travel. It depends what part of a trend you’re thinking of, I think people got so into auto-tune that it took away from actual singers like people that studied opera. Jay-Z talks about that in his new album and the whole thing is delivered raw, there are hardly any effects on his voice, he’s always been straight up like that. I feel like it really corrupted a singers voice for a while. But I had fun with it; and I had fun listening to it too.

What’s this little collection of rocks you have?

Rita (Ackerman) got me this nutmeg from Hungary. These rocks are from all over the world, when I travel I bring my mom rocks because she likes rocks. This one is from Joshua Tree. This white one is from Hawaii.

Did you like Hawaii? I love it there.

Yeah I really liked Hawaii, I went to the main island. I got this rock in Portugal because it looks like a heart. This is a nice penis! This one is from Turkey. I forgot where these ones are from but they’re from places I wanted to be. I would ask my mom what she would want while I was traveling on tour and she would just ask for rocks.

I just learned about sheets; like 100 count, 500 count. I found 1500 count Egyptian cotton sheets so you know, things are good.

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