St Vincent: 'I can go in any direction I want'

Thursday 23rd October 2014 by Andrew Trendell, Ed Keeble, Alex Pollard

Tags: St Vincent

Guitar queen, innovator, maverick - just a few of the words often tied to the incredible St Vincent. As she picked up her Maverick prize at the Q Awards, we had a quick catch up with Annie Clark about her favourite music, plans for the future and her good friends The National.

Watch our video interview with St Vincent above

It's been an incredible year for Annie Clark. Her self-titled fourth album has not only proven a favourite among critics, but has won her the vast audience she has always deserved - not least due to her spell-binding live show.

Speaking to Gigwise at the Q Awards, St Vincent told us about what to expect from her in the future on her next record.  

"I think that the good news is that I haven't painted myself into any artistic corners," she told Gigwise. "I feel like each record has been distinct in its own way and I can kind of go in any direction that I want and it will still be my own distinct world."

Not only that, but she has pretty impeccable taste. We asked Annie what albums she has been listening to recently. 

"I loved Cate Le Bon's new record, Mug Museum," she said, "I love the latest Tim Hecker record, I love the Holly Herndon record, I love the new Perfume Genius record. It's very old news but I'm totally obsessed with the J Dilla record Donuts. I love the Beyonce record from last year, it's all over the map."

Her recent success follows on from coming to a new audience's attention through her collaborations with the likes of David Byrne and The National - with the latter about to play the biggest UK headline gig of their career at London's O2 Arena. 

Praising her friends, Annie Clark says that their slow ascent to greatness is well-deserved.

"What they've done over the years is stuck to their guns, honed their craft to write great songs," she said. "I would say that technology has democratised the process of being an artist in a wonderful way, but I think there's still no shortcut to writing great songs and touching people's hearts - and I think they've managed to do that in a very honest, classic, almost Bruce Springsteen-y way."

St Vincent at Manchester Albert Hall. Photo: Gigwise/Shirlaine Forrest

When we interrupted her from a determined champagne search before the Q Awards began, we asked what she meant by her fairly cryptic Q Awards-related tweet earlier this month. She leaned over and whispered, "I don't think I'm allowed to say yet."

The secret, it turned out, was that she had been given the Q Maverick Award. If that seems like an award so perfectly apt for a woman of such nonconformist leanings it must have been created specially for her - that's because it was.

Read St. Vincent's full Q Maverick Award acceptance speech below.

"Thank you to Q Magazine for the support. I'm gonna do a little bit of free association - the word 'Maverick' reminds me first of John McCain's failed Presidential run in 2008. Also of Mel Gibson's failed 1990s remake of a TV classic called Maverick. And also of a team that's very near and dear to my heart which is the Dallas Mavericks which is where I'm from. And I feel as though I can list off this obscure scroll of American references because I didn't understand anything about the opening monologue.

So thank you very much for this award. I will put it on my coffee table, if I had a coffee table, and I hope you all have a wonderful day, and evening, because God knows you're gonna need a disco nap after this meal. Thank you."

St. Vincent continues her short UK tour tonight in Eastbourne before continuing on to Digbeth and then London's Roundhouse. Full tour dates are below. For tickets and more info, click here.

23 Oct - Winter Garden, Eastbourne
24 Oct - The Institute, Digbeth
25 Oct - Roundhouse, London

Below: 16 beautiful photos of St Vincent at Manchester's Albert Hall