Betty Dylan

By Alex Teitz

     Betty Dylan is real. There are no prejudices. No games. They sing honestly and truly with something that borders between rock and neo-Americana. Vickie and Dr. Dan come from a varied history that includes as much theater as music. Their first album, and book, American Trash, is a collection and a perspective on the world today. Flame continues the theme but as some fiction and fact. Betty Dylan is receiving radio airplay but deserves much, much more. Betty Dylan is one of the few bands where the listener finds himself or herself humming the music days or months afterward.  FEMMUSIC was able to have a few words with Vickie. Here’s what she had to say.

FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?

V: Songs are like sculptures in that they take shape as you chip away at them. Maybe you are walking down the street in Santa Fe and an old Indian women reminds you of mother, or you are dealing with a snow storm in Wyoming and you suddenly realize, in the middle of a spin-out in the car, that you love life. And then you hear a tone or a timbre that feels like it matches the experience emotionally. It’s the same feeling as not being able to remember a dream, but knowing exactly what the emotional content of that dream must have been.

FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making Flame?

V: Focus. It’s easy to get distracted by toys in the studio or even working with your heroes. But there is a deeper responsibility that you have to yourself–to focus on what’s important. So, at some point, we thought of having this dude come in and add strings to the record. But after listening to the tracks, it seemed obvious that they did not need that. It’s hard to say no to your idols.

FEMMUSIC: What was the best experience making Flame?

V: We recorded hours and hours of songs, enough to put out a double CD. But after we finally decided which tracks worked together to make a cohesive statement, we realized we were too close to it! You see, we do everything ourselves, so we knew we needed help. We sent two hours of songs to our friend, David Avery. And, we called our trusted friend Ann Ruckert – she was in T-Rex when she was a kid – and she helped us make final selections (and purposefully left some of the most awesome tracks out for us to save for the NEXT album…which was hard for us to do at first).So, when we got the mastered CD back to make our last comments, we realized the record was finished.

FEMMUSIC: What did Marvin Etzioni bring to the project? How was it to work with him?

V: Marvin brought a lot of focus. There’s nobody I’ve ever worked with who’s better at pre-production (like taking out an unnecessary verse or adding a cool bridge). Dan was a big Lone Justice fan – he even saw Marvin open for U2. Without Marvin we would not have had that belief in ourselves. I mean, we thought we were good, but Marvin showed us we could be great. On the other hand, Marvin works with The Counting Crows and bands like that. I’m sure the Counting Crows have a generous budget in the studio. We do not. So we couldn’t experiment and play around in the studio as much as everybody would have liked.

FEMMUSIC: I understand you just sold your house, and have become pure touring artists. This is big move and a huge risk. What made you decide that now was the time to do it?

V: We had no intention of doing this full time, but every time we faced a challenge we kept stepping up. It was like the universe would say, “Are you all ready for this? Can you handle this?” And we kept feeling like we had no choice but to go deeper or give up. It was like a calling from god or at least a godfather – an offer you cannot refuse and all that.

FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?

V: I wouldn’t change a thing. If you want to sell garbage to people and they buy it, you will have to deal with the karma. We are business people AND artists. It is our job to figure out a way to make a living. I don’t care one way or another about record labels or MicroSoft, but I do care about people, and I love to reach people emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. Who cares about record labels? It feels so good to get an email from somebody that you touch with a song. We want people to make love to this record, even the record label executives. Maybe that’s the one thing I’d change about the record industry – they’d all have to make love while listening to the Betty Dylan record.

FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?

V: No, but I have been sexually harassed by drunks in bars too often. It’s the worst because these guys are having fun listening to me sing, and the world is a beautiful place. But then, the monster is loose, and I have to deal with it. I do not drink at all anymore, and I love the true fans, but as much as I enjoy singing and performing, it is a job. And it is much harder for me to do my job when I have to deal with alcohol-induced behavior. In a funny way, I understand that if I look sexy, some will make comments or treat me like an object. I am putting myself in that position. However, I appreciate the men (and women) who can rise above their base instincts and act respectfully toward me and my art. Really, what I do is specifically designed to bring out what’s underneath. If you lift up an old rock, you may see slimy worms or you may see a beautiful, fertile environment of living things.

FEMMUSIC: What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?

V: Do not listen to your mother, your father, or your friends. You have to trust yourself. There is no artist that has not been rejected a million times – even the Beatles and Madonna. Being an artist takes the same amount of work as being a doctor or a plumber or an athlete. A doctor spends ten years in school, then he borrows more money to buy equipment and get and office space, then he has to buy a list of patients from another doctor just to get started. Art is hard work, but it is a gift – a gift that you give away, and you trust the universe and you hope that you touch someone in a real way. And if you really feel you have a gift, do not withhold it from the world.