The Claudettes- two Independent Music Awards: Best Instrumental Album (“Infernal Piano Plot: Hatched”) and Best Long-Form Music Video (“Live in the Studio”)
Interview conducted on March 16, 2020
by Dan Locke
The Claudettes fuse Chicago piano blues with the full-throttle energy of rockabilly and punk and the sultriness of ’60s soul to write a thrilling new chapter in American roots music. Johnny Iguana pounds the piano alongside seductive singer Berit Ulseth, bassist/guitarist/singer Zach Verdoorn and drummer Michael Caskey. Johnny, who toured for years with his cult-favorite rock band oh my god, is also in the Grammy-nominated groups Chicago Blues: A Living History and the Muddy Waters 100 Band. He has toured/recorded with Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and more and played piano on the new “Chicago Plays the Stones” album featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Buddy Guy. The Claudettes recorded their 2018 album “DANCE SCANDAL AT THE GYMNNASIUM!” (Yellow Dog Records) with Grammy-winning producer Mark Neill (Black Keys, Old 97’s, J. Roddy Walston, J.D. McPherson). The Claudettes have recorded a new album with Grammy-winning producer Ted Hutt (Violent Femmes, Lucero, Old Crow Medicine Show, Gaslight Anthem, The Devil Makes Three). It’s called “High Times in the Dark” and comes out on Forty Below Records on April 3, 2020.
Band Members
Johnny Iguana (piano), Berit Ulseth (singing), Zach Verdoorn (bass, singing), Michael Caskey (drums)
You performed at the Taste of Chicago in 2018. How was it? I have heard it is hard to get to perform on the “Taste”.
Actually, it’s not one of my favorite music events, though it’s a classic Chicago event. But Do Division, Wicker Park Fest…these are the Chicago music fests I love, and also Chicago Blues Fest. People are there expressly to see the music, and food is a “side dish,” as it were…
How did your band start?
I started the band with drummer Michael Caskey as a piano-drums blues duo, but it spiraled into a four-piece that reveals our loves of punk, classic, soul and jazz, too…
How did you get your name?
We named ourselves after the very eccentric bar owner of the Illinois dive bar Claudette’s Bar, who loved the band and made us her house band.
Why did you title your new cd “High times in the Dark”?
The members of the band and the country as a whole have been going through some dark times, and this is our avowal of that but also our unbending determination to have high times in that darkness. Besides, the most fun is had in the dark.
Why do you call your music “garage cabaret”?
I thought it was a good description, as we’ve got punk/garage energy but also silky, lounge tones, all wrapped together…
Tell me the story behind your video “Bad Babe, losing touch”?
Our drummer’s wife is in the Chicago dance troupe Lucky Plush, and I wanted to get their dancers involved, and luckily Michel Rodriguez Cintra (a wonderful Cuban dancer who came to the U.S. some years ago and joined Lucky Plush) made himself available. The song is about a woman scolding her mate for letting romance and spontaneity subside and settling into routine, and she sings spitefully at him, even as he dances in the background (a cold reminder of their early romantic times).
What club was it film in?
It was filmed in the legendary gay Chicago nightspot Berlin
USA Today “Best Dance Club”
“…while Lakeview’s Berlin harkens back to Belmont Ave’s longtime punk scene and simultaneously connects to the future. You may encounter drag queens, exotic dancers, and other controversial icons on the dance floor at this extremely friendly club.” – Jacky Runice
Chicago Reader’s “Best of Chicago 2019”
Best Drag Bar
Chicago Reader’s “Best of Chicago 2019”
Best Drag Bar
Runner Up: Best Drag Venue
Runner Up: Best Gay Bar
What video shows someone who doesn’t know who you are the true you?
I think that all four videos we have coming for this album combine to do that, with their range of tones and beats and emotions. But I do think that “Bad Babe, Losin’ Touch” shows the roguish humor of the boys in the band and the calm, cool and collected seductiveness (and mystery) of Berit, our singer, too
Since we are talking about videos. Why is the video “Don’t stay with me” says it for international only?
It says “internal use only.” It was an idea I had, that the band pissed off the filmmakers and so the filmmakers just released the video in its not-final form, as-is, as punishment.
Berit- How did you get into the band?
Johnny asked Berit to come sing some demos after the band’s then-drummer Matthew Torre reported to Johnny that she was an outstanding singer. She was previously in a country band with Matthew. She blew me away and we’re lucky that she’s still in our band.
Berit- Why were you in Thailand and South Korea? Would you go back there today if you could?
Berit has one sister in particular who works overseas a lot (she was visiting her), and she and her sisters love to travel. Berit would love to travel all the time if it were possible. We’ll be doing a bunch of that in 2020! This band has played in Estonia, Finland, Switzerland, Germany and France, and we’re going to Germany, England and Sweden soon, and more later this year.
Tell me about the new Claudette song which is about to get animated?
The animation took a year and a half for Dan Bigelow and Talon Nightshade to complete. It’s a beautiful song called “The Sun Will Fool You” that I thought deserved the Bigelow treatment (he used to illustrate for “Metalocalypse” and is a very special, soulful artist). The video has already been awarded prizes at film fests in Chile and Glasgow…it’s screening in Oxford, England, in California and will screen in many other cities, too. It’s a moving, gorgeous work of art and a perfect expression of the song.
Vinyl or digital
We have vinyl LPs (purple) and CDs coming out.
How were you selected to perform on the NPR Mountain Stage? Did you try the Tiny Desk Concert?
We were on Mountain Stage’s radar, and they finally asked us to play, and gave us lots of great compliments, too, selecting our set from that evening as the one to feature on NPRMusic.com. It was a really great experience. We’d like to be on Tiny Desk Concert…hopefully they’ll ask us now, or soon.
At the Mountain Stage what was the Jam at the end?
There was a jam on stage that was good fun…I honestly can’t remember which song, but it was a cover tune we all played/sang…then there was a late-night jam at a bar nearby. Berit sang some country songs there.
Any thoughts about music reviews in the paper since Greg Kot is leaving the Chicago Tribune?
Greg is a Chicago legend. I hope he enjoys his new life outside the paper, and also that the Tribe thrives and covers music comprehensively.
What is the best diva bar in Chicago?
Do you mean dive bar? I like Gold Star on Division St. I used to go to Innertown Pub a lot, too. If you meant diva bar, I suppose that would be Berlin!
How do you see yourselves in 5 years?
My dream would be that we have three more albums by then and are happy world travelers, and that many folks know our songs ’cause the music supervisors have been wise enough to select ’em as theme songs for Netflix/Hulu/Amazon originals!
Anything you like to close with?
Come see us live. We don’t care about perfection or mistakes…we can really play and sing, but the emotion is everything and I think you’ll leave moved and refreshed, I really do: https://theclaudettes.com/shows/
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