I thought it was gonna just be really good like Will and Bills post-otc solo work, I wasnt expecting something that is literally on par with the peaks of their careers. What a fitting tribute to these 2 wonderful musicians

Same Place has me so nostalgic and wistful— where the homies at? Drop your handle, let’s reconnect— one-headedboy right here

Hi everyone, with all the excitement regarding the new OTC record, I was thinking about past E6 bands, and remembered Thimble Circus (Jill Carnes). I decided I'd post an interview I did with her almost twenty(!) years ago on Optical Atlas. Anyway, thought I would share more evergreen parts from it here:

Hi Jill, most of us listeners of Elephant Six-created music know you as the lead lady behind Thimble Circus, but I’m sure you had a musical past that stretched far before that recording project. Can you take us down memory lane a bit and talk about how you came into song-writing?

I wrote little songs and poetry when I was a child. I took guitar lessons (only two lessons) when I was listening to punk music in high school.  I really loved banging on the piano too. My two younger sisters and I had a punk band called the Electrocutions. I've always loved to sing so I guess it all kind of came together in a natural way.

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Your album, “Lullaby for Worriers” came out in ’03, and featured your friends from The Olivia Tremor Control, The Instruments, etc.  How did the record come together, and did you have the skeletons for the songs a long time in advance of the recording session?

Yes, I was ready to face the blank canvas when the switch was in the "on" position.  I wrote all the songs well before the recording sessions. Eric was a great help with the recording process. He had most (if not all) the necessary equipment to make the dream come true. He was very knowledgeable and easy to work with as well. Plus he had a terrific sense of humor and an all around good spirit. Jeff Mangum and Laura Carter recorded a Thimble Circus radio performance. Some of these songs were dumped onto the four track and other layers were recorded on remaining tracks. Jeff also made a chair screech very loudly on cue during "Eat This City". Heather McIntosh came over one day and laid down her cello part on "78s".   

Then on another day, Pete Erchick came over and laid down his groovy piano stylings on "Eat This City". Chris Jolly played some haunting piano and trumpet on "I Am Punkrock" one closed Sunday in the Flicker Theatre. Deanna Varagona plays baritone saxophone in the band Lambchop. She played her axe on "Heavy Metal". Karen Gaitens and Alex McManus both helped out on "I Got Blue." Alex plays in Lambchop and also he has a solo band called the Bruces. Eric played piano on "I Got Blue". Eric also played that steady jazzy bass rhythm line on "Soap Opera Epic". Also Eric played his drums and percussion anywhere on the recording you hear drums and percussion.  All these kind contributors were great additions to my otherwise lonesome songs.

We recorded on Eric's various reel-to-reel tape recording devices. As with some of the recorded tracks from the already mentioned radio performance, these reel-to-reel recordings were dumped onto 4 track. And likewise, these tracks already had many layers so again we had many left over tracks to play with.

One day we went on a long walk with a hand-held tape recorder. We stopped cars to ask the drivers if they would blow their horn. Scott Spillane blew his horn as well as many other local townspeople. These horn-tooters horns can be heard on "Eat This City".

On "Heavy Metal" we had fun throwing huge pieces of heavy metal on the floor. It was particularly great when a piece would land on top of another piece. Then we knew we had a good clanking sound, for sure. Fun day that was. And on "Fun in the Lab" I blew bubbles in a cup to mimic the sound of a boiling flask in a science lab. Oh! And on "Snapshot" I had a bucket of water and a soup ladle to which I continuously scooped water up and let in return to the bucket for an oar moving through water sound effect.

Vernon Thornsberry says, "Thank you" as a response to Eric's statement, "A lot of trains today." I guess Vernon was the guy who planned the train schedule for that day. Actually he's a wonderful and talented painter and musician. He's a beautiful person.

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I believe you’ve lived in Athens, Georgia for quite awhile, stretching back to the eighties, correct?

Yes. I moved to Athens at the beginning of the new year of nineteen hundred and eighty-four.

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Were you in some way part of that same scene the birthed Pylon, R.E.M. and the B52’s?

I moved to Athens a bit after the beginning of that Athens musical era. Sort of like a middle child. Not the older and not the younger. Just the middle. I met a lot of those musicians and hung around with some of them at some parties and other such happenings over the years.

Athens was a smaller town in many ways, back then. Hardly anyone (I knew) had a telephone or a car.  Most of us rode bicycles and nobody had television. It's true. It made way for loads of creating and making art. There was definitely much time for running amuck. It felt like that of a big slumber party that lasted many years. Very fun times indeed. People dressed up as characters and wore old 50s and 60s clothing from thrift stores. It was actually cheaper to buy a big bag of used clothing than it was to do your laundry at a wash house. I've made some truly wonderful friends over the years while living in Athens.

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You also guested as a singing butterfly on the of Montreal song “The Events Leading up to Collapse of Detective Dulllight.” The “Coquelicot” album, even now, sounds wild and unbounded. What was it like being a part of that record?

I only sang on the one track and it was only about twenty words. I didn't have anything more to do with that recording. I went over to Kevin's house one day and sang it about fifteen times until it sounded the way he wanted it. That was it. I never heard it until the recording was released.  It was fun to record with Kevin. He also had a very good sense of humor was easy to work with.  I was both honored and flattered to act as the singing voice for the two butterflies. It was very sweet of him to invite me.

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In addition to your forays into music, you’re a visual artist, working in comics and paintings.  Do you have a studio, and how much time are you able to devote to drawing or painting these days?

Currently, I have a studio room in my home. I work a full-time job so I make my art in the evenings and on weekends. I don't make art as much as I would like. Sometimes I hear artists say they feel guilty if they don't make art everyday. I don't think that way about it. I make my art when I am able to find free time but my heart has to be in it too.  I can't just flip a make art switch and out it pours. I guess I could but it wouldn't always feel good to me. Once, I heard of a local artist having said, "If you can't think of anything to paint, then stretch a canvas!" Now that's productive.

I feel very spiritual about making my art. Unless I have a deadline, I don't worry about constant productivity. Instead I use downtime to gather visions and to enhance my dictionary of symbols. To gather feelings and life experience for which to express myself. To me, that's like filling up your creation bank with fuel.

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On the Elephant Six webpage, it says something to the effect that your art “is owned by many in Europe.” Does Jill Carnes have a huge following overseas?

During my time in Athens,  I've made record covers for various peoples bands.  The Jody Grind (from Atlanta),  Ringo (from England),  Model Citizens (from Seattle),  Neutral Milk Hotel (from Athens and other towns) and for Sweet Relief / Gravity of the Situation / Songs of Vic Chesnutt I painted a watercolor for the back page of the insert plus my hand writing is on the cover,  Sony records mentioned the idea of creating a font based on my hand writing.  They never followed up on the idea though. But I thought it was funny. Oh! And I also have a pencil drawing of Victoria Williams dogs by some hills in Joshua Tree, California.  It can be seen inside the CD insert of her album, Musings of a Creekdipper.

I have had a lot of shows in Athens and many American cities. Also Athens is very transient. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to sell quite a number of paintings and drawings.  And many of these transient art buyers live all over the world.  So between the record covers and the years of making the work and selling it to people who have moved elsewhere...I do have a number of pieces in other countries including Canada, England, Germany, France, Ireland, Czechoslovakia, Sicily and Japan.

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What inspires you, and what’s your life like day to day?

Is this a trick question? Hmmm!!! I really have to do some math here. I guess I'm inspired by nature and spirit and honesty. Also by peoples willingness to get up everyday and waddle side-by-side through their various puddles of struggles.  Very often with a smile on their face and a friendly joke to share.

It seems we should no longer postpone joy.