Quotant Quotables vol. 25

from Cooleh's interview w/ DIAMANDA GALAS

it would be nice to be accepted when I'm alive instead of when I'm dead. I would prefer that, that would be kind of refreshing. Especially when you see something idiotic like the Grammy awards. I turned it on last night and I almost threw up, I just thought, my God, these people are such idiots.

I know. Coldplay? [nominated for 7 Grammys in 2008]. They are horrible.

Thank you! And all this shit, these fucking Foo Fighters...God, that guy [Dave Grohl], I just want to put a fuckin' bullet right in his fucking mouth. He's sneering at the audience 'cause he thinks he's too superbad to be there, but he is there. He's such a horrible musician that it's the best he can do. He's come really far for being such a crap musician. But, all the singers on that [nomination ceremony], none of them could really sing. You have Christina Aguilera trying to do Nina Simone...when Nina Simone was alive, none of you motherfuckers gave a fuck about her, and now what? None of you are fucking innovators, you don't have a fucking clue.

Now they have a whole evening about who's nominated for the Grammy awards. That made me sick. It's part and parcel of the problems I'm having right now which is that my record company was sold to EMI. So I am officially an EMI artist which means that it's hell getting my records distributed. [The EMI people] think I'm a freak. I'll sell out 2 concerts in Madrid for thousands of people, and they still won't come to a show. I don't like going to Spain, and touring Portugal and not seeing one record [of mine for sale], EMI won't even show up to sell the records. And they won't put them in the stores, I mean what the fuck is that?

There's this whole con the record companies have got where they have endless award ceremonies to keep promoting the same crap. I think about the rest of us and I think, really, they're just waiting for us to die so they can sell our back catalog. I've decided to start my own company here. I'll do a few records for Mute because I've been on Mute for a long time, but I'm not gonna put up with this crap, this is just insane.

I mean “Porgy and Bess” [the song Aguilera sang at the Grammy ceremony] in 2008? I've got nothing against “Porgy and Bess” if it's Nina Simone singing it, but what about all the innovators who are doing music now, and their music doesn't ever get heard? And so, what, in 100 years, they're gonna have me on a video [screen] and someone will be singing with me? If I were a goddess I would fucking have them speared to death! [Laughs] I'd put a spear up their asses and say “shut up, bitch! Don't fucking sing my song!”

guess we should've watched the Grammys together, eh? what a night that would've been.