Cindy Wilson talks new solo music and B-52s tour
This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
On the last Sunday morning of September, Georgia Bulldog fans were busy making their way out of Athens after game day. Across town, at a secluded recording studio in the suburbs, Cindy Wilson of the B-52s was relaxing in a comfortable chair, having a lively conversation with frequent collaborator-producer-multi-instrumentalist Suny Lyons.
She looked up to welcome her guest with her usual shy but fabulous appeal and Classic City-bred humility. “Oh, we’re just in here workin’ on some new music,” Wilson said and chuckled. “I know I ought to be resting since the B’s and Devo tour is on a little break, but we just wanted to keep recording some new stuff.”
“I really want you to hear this album,” she said excitedly as she gestured to Lyons to display a vinyl copy of her new, six-song EP “Second Sight.”
But before Lyons pushed playback on his console, the two explained how the totally independent disc quickly morphed from a vague merchandise concept to a fully produced, ready-for-retail product. “You know, I do hate that word ‘product’,” she said, “but we sure did produce it fast. I really think it’s a work of art and a real labor of love.”
The project began in June when Wilson asked Lyons to help her record a two-song single as the B-52s-Devo tour was in early preparation stages. “Well, that’s how it started,” she explained. “At first, all I was planning to do was to try to get a little single out in time for the tour. We weren’t even sure if we’d even have time to do that.”
The clock was ticking as the two went to work on the idea. “I think the first song we came up with was ‘Man Of The People.’ I believe you can feel the immediacy of the need to get it done. So instead of going to another studio and packing and unpacking at a new location, we just decided to do it all right here in Suny’s studio.
“It’s exciting to look back on how fast it came together,” she said. “We didn’t want it to be too precious or drawn-out anyway, so the time constraints worked to our advantage. And to me, that’s the whole spirit of the new wave era that this tour with Devo represents.”
Lyons, who worked on two of Wilson’s most recent solo albums as well as assorted EPs, nods in agreement. “I think working fast really increased our creativity, even from ‘Realms’ (Wilson’s 2023 full-length release on the Kill Rock Stars label). So now we’re constantly coming up with new song ideas that we can do fast and just have fun.”
The studio is headquarters for Lyons’ Spin Records imprint, and it’s also the Athens native’s childhood home. “I grew up in this house, and I feel like it’s the most comfortable place I can work.”
Said Wilson: “It’s got magic vibes. I really think it does! It’s probably the most relaxed recording situation I’ve ever seen.”
With the comfort level established, Wilson said she began to run song ideas by Lyons. “We had so many things, we basically had to expand the project from a single to an EP. I really do think if we’d had enough time, we could’ve made a double album because the ideas were coming so fast.”
She said current events shaped the overall sound and lyrical content. “Things today remind me of the ‘70s and ‘80s, only way, way, way more intense, so I think the overall feeling is inspired by the crazy things we’re enduring. It sounds anxious and frantic because everyone I know is anxious about everything.”
The fundamental role of an artist in society, Lyons said, is to take the “darker elements of a culture” and hold them up to a mirror. So, the two musicians turned collective unease into a batch of kinetic energy.
“But staying in the punk mindset, we didn’t want to overly complicate it,” said Wilson. “I think that’s why it all flowed so freely and we really had fun with each track.”
On “Realms,” she continued, “Suny was learning what my voice could do, and I think we were sort of stretching the envelope a bit. So, for these songs, he suggested I should go back to my own punk rock roots and just let it rip.”
Wilson said that she has learned to cowrite over the years from working with the dynamic personalities of her B-52s band mates. “Yeah,” she said with a laugh, “the longer it’s gone on, the more dynamic they’ve become!”
Lyons said Wilson offers a constant fountain of musical ideas. “From those, we work together to make them a reality. It’s really that simple, especially when we’re working here. There are less cooks in the kitchen, and we can work out whatever ideas we have in the moment.”
Lyons cued up the EP opener, and “Image in the Sand” bristled with the pent-up societal anxiety Wilson described. “It’s like what we were taking about earlier,” she said. “We’re only here for a moment. Time is short, and especially from an older person’s perspective, it’s contemplative, but it’s danceable at the same time.”
As the title track “Second Sight” played, Lyons explained, “This one is really about manifesting reality. The feeling that you are bringing about your own reality, and you can basically see it before it happens.”
While the winsome closer “What You Leave Behind” sounded out, Wilson said, “It’s a little bit of a lighter pop song than the rest, but like a lot of this record, it centers on the passage of time and how we never really leave things behind. We take them with us anyway.”
The songs having played, Wilson gave her opinion of the collection. “I think we’re coming from the right place with it,” she said as she leaned back in the chair. “It’s big bursts of minimalist new wave, and I love it. We had such thick mixes on my last two records, with strings and everything, and that was great, but it’s time to lighten it up a little bit.”
The EP’s production personnel included only Lyons, Wilson and her son Nolan Bennett on drums. “Yeah, it’s a family thing,” she said, “Because Suny feels like family since we’ve worked together for so long, and my husband Keith Bennett did the back cover, so it’s about as bare-bones indie rock as it gets.”
Since there’s no other label support, Wilson and Lyons plan for word-of-mouth and social media clips to help promote the physical record, which is currently only available at merchandise tables on the tour and via shop.Spinrecording.com. Digital editions are available through Spotify and Apple Music.
“I really hope people will pick it up at the shows, especially if they’re into the whole new wave thing we’re doing,” said Wilson. Though the tour is just getting going, “it’s been amazing. I think people need to see something like this right now.
“As we said, it’s been a dark time, so it’s time to have some real fun for a change,” she said. “We are alternating the headline sets and (opener) Lene Lovich is so cool and original, and she really brings it. I was very happy to see a hip chick on the show. I watched a lot of (the first two shows) on the monitor in my dressing room and man, people were smiling, dancing and just loving every minute of it — and we are too! I can’t wait till we get to Georgia (on Saturday) because I want everyone to come out and just have some fun.”
CONCERT PREVIEW
The B-52s and Devo with special guest Lene Lovich
7 p.m. Saturday. $26-$262. Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, 2200 Encore Parkway, Alpharetta. 404-733-5013, amerisbankampatl.com.
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Lee Valentine Smith is an Atlanta-born artist, writer and musician. A regular contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, his work has been syndicated internationally. He has appeared at Music Midtown, on CBS Radio and on Air America. He also served as art director, consultant and archivist for projects with ’80s hitmakers the Go-Go’s.
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