Photo credit Steven Harwick
New York’s iconic feral beast, CHRISTEENE, announced a new full length album, MIDNITE FUKK TRAIN, out on November 11 via Austin non-profit label Spaceflight Records. Aptly titled, the album sees CHRISTEENE leaving no soul unscathed with shrill, explosive saxophones, crushing guitars, and militant percussion backed by her affectionately named, and carefully curated, Fukkn Band. To celebrate the announcement, CHRISTEENE provided a sneak peak with the scuzzed out single “BEAUCOUP MOROCCO.”
What’s your story as an artist?
i gotta bird in mah throat that speaks to me when i sleep an whispers songs in mah ear and i got a kickin heat in mah gut that navigates me through tha fukkn strange currents of thiz wurld. i feel that if i hold fast too these things i can naturally express mah imaginative and sonic realms purely to the collective forces of tha people who care to look and listen.
What inspired this last release, “BEAUCOUP MOROCCO”?
“BEAUCOUP MOROCCO” came outta me as a raw call for all to abandon themselves to tha joys of self luv and sexual exploration. too release themselves from tha confines of self doubt and of insecurities that inhibit their ability to kick down that old screen door of fear and societal judgment… ta “Slide that dik in some shoes and piss on all them taboos”
What inspires you?
film inspires me tha most. old fukkn cinema. noir shit. foreign goods. photography hits me hard as well. portraits of folks doin their real shit. just saw diane arbus an that shit blew my fukkn head off. i git emotional lookin at it. i cry. film does that to mee too if its any fukkn good.
What’s the fondest memory you hold from recording this?
i wuz in hamburg germany wurkin with peaches an my pals lex an silky an i met this dapper fukkr late late one night who spoke french so i broke out mah french too an we got to chewin an i said where tha fukk are you from an he said morocco and i said yall speak french in morocco an he said yehhhh an i said well fukk this shit im gunna write a song ferr you called “BEAUCOUP MOROCCO” an i did. I don’t remember his name though.
What’s your favorite place or environment to write?
i like to be walkin in tha woods with tha music in mah earphones or some old nasty alley as tha sun is goin down or in a lil private clubhouse kinda place where i can scream an do whut i want at all hours.
What’s a record that changed your life?
Grace Jones’ Warm Leatherette. frum tha small collection and perfection of tha songs to tha impeccable artwurk an packaging topped off with one of tha most majestic an mysterious souls this earth has ever seen it is a fukkn juggernaut of raw power.
Who is an artist or band you look up to today?
i gotta say that i am enlightened an pure fukkn aglow when i see Big Freedia cuz Freedia is honest an a survivor an someone who has gone through so many levels of tha life in tha eyes of so many an when Freedia’s name cums up anywhere there are nuthin but smiles on faces doin tha talkin an patti smith always said u got nothin but your name an tha way folks feel when they hear it an i think Freedia has accomplished sumthin great in that respect both as a person an a musician.
What excites you the most about what you do?
there is somethin to be said bout climbin onto a stage a speaker a person in the throes of a maddening possession of self and soul an hole thru ones music all tha while tappin into some insane collective rage fear shame joy hurt an holiday of a people. it iz tha best drug there is. ever. all i ever fukkn need an want.
What is your view on genres and music styles since you mix a lot of them in your music?
i don’t like genres or labels n shit gettin slapped on peoples wurk or bein asked that shit from companies or platforms tryin their best to homogenize tha world. tha shit u hear in my music is a hurricane of sound i have absorbed since my inception. aint no place to put a finger to it u just gotta dive in an enjoy tha many nuanes of a life influenced by too many fukkn incredible artists ta name.
What does music and art mean to you?
it means a life unfiltered dangerous an pure