Queen of Jeans | Photo by Cameron Pollack for WXPN | cameronpollackphotography.com
Time Capsule: Miriam Devora of Queen of Jeans discusses the evolution of “Moody”
In Time Capsule, we ask artists to revisit songs they may have forgotten: pieces they wrote, released, and packed away—until now. Each month, we’ll pick one band who will pick one song and tell us the story behind where they were and what they were thinking when they wrote it.
Last January, Queen of Jeans was born. I remember because around that time the long-standing Passyunk Avenue King of Jeans sign was rumored to be in danger of coming down. At first, I saw Queen of Jeans to be social media’s answer to the handful of people distraught about losing this icon—which featured a shirtless man in Springsteen-tight jeans, kissing a lady who’s passionately crouched down in front of him. But that was something different—a collaboration between street artist Kid Hazo and general Philly-loving t-shirt designers of South Fellini.
And at the same time that these jokers putting up signs insinuating that maybe it was time for ladies to rule the hood, a group of them were already working on it.
Queen of Jeans is also the name that songwriter Miriam Devora gave her then-brand-new project which included guitarist Matheson Glass, bassist Nina Scotto and drummer Patrick Wall. And yes, the group is from South Philly, but they’ve got a sweet and sour ‘60s surf style that couldn’t sound further removed from that part of town with its wiz-covered potholes, hoagie shops and sexed-up Greaser signage.
In this month’s edition of Time Capsule we spoke with Miriam, lead singer, guitarist and original conspirator behind Queen of Jeans.
“Because Queen of Jeans is a really new group, most of the songs are brand new ideas that didn’t go through too many changes overall,” she tells us of the songs off of the group’s self-titled album, available on pink and blue vinyl next month. “There is one track that is an exception, though, which has been recorded and reimagined a couple of times throughout the years on my own for fun. It was only when Queen of Jeans got together that I dug the idea back up and finished it.”
This track is “Moody,” and its alt-90s Speedy Ortiz-like intro was one that Miriam wrote over and over again, re-recording and re-imagining how it would all play out for years before introducing it to the full band.
The Key: What is the premise behind “Moody”—what was it inspired by?
Miriam Devora: It’s a song about a sort of love/hate relationship I’ve got going on with myself. When I wrote that first part, I was a freshman in college. Naturally, every crush that went unreciprocated was slightly devastating and made me pouty. But after sitting on the song for a few years, I started writing the second part and realized I was speaking less to some daydream of a love and more to how I saw myself and my own vanity—because it’s frustrating when you feel like you are putting on a different mask for every person you interact with. So it sort of developed into this piece that unabashedly reflected my own insecurities, and I think a lot of people might relate to or have experienced that sort of self-torment in one period or another in their own lives.
TK: When you relisten to this song, are there parts you’d like to change or do you think it’s important to keep it as-is because of where you were when you created it?
MD: I think because I’ve revisited it so often I feel like it went through its necessary phases, a few in correlation to whatever was going on back then, too. So, the fact that it has been recorded and is out there for all to hear is significant to me and reassures me I was ready to move on. And it’s kind of neat to have now, this little artifact of pure openness and vulnerability, which normally isn’t my thing at all! I have a tendency to bundle myself up.
TK: What do you hope someone listening to this song understands about it or gets out of it?
MD: I just think we should all give ourselves a break every once in awhile. It’s so easy to beat the crap out of yourself over every little thing, which is what I was doing subconsciously writing this song. But in the end, it really helped me identify a few of my own insecurities, which motivated me to move past those thoughts and find something positive to say about myself instead.
TK: Do you play it live now that you have the full band—and, you know, the full song—to back up the intro?
MD: We do, we play it out often! It’s our one real jammer, I always feel like a much cooler person when we play it. The girls make the performance, though, they’ve got some pretty awesome dance moves.
Queen of Jeans kicks off its May residency at Bourbon and Branch this Friday, May 6th. It continues every Friday through the month.