KRISTEENYOUNG: Unmanaged, Unsigned, Unstoppable

by Arthur Javier

It was an early morning in Rome, where Morrissey and legendary glam producer Tony Visconti were finishing work on Ringleader of the Tormentors.  Visconti came into the studio early to review concert footage of another client, the perennially unsigned Kristeen Young, for whom he was producing a third album on spec.  He sat quietly, taking notes as Young mounted a sonic siege on the Delancey in New York.  He assumed he was alone, as no one, especially Morrissey, came in early.

Then suddenly and quite ominously, "Who's that?" came a voice from the back of the room.  The band had just finished the piston pounding "London Cry," and the Mozzer, who had just arrived, was mesmerized, not just by the song but by the girl on the screen.  He would later refer to what he saw as "dangerous."  Her eye makeup stretched down to her cheeks like war paint, her early '60s cocktail dress was adorned with six-pack rings and she teetered atop a pair of shiny plastic boots.  Morrissey promptly notified his opening acts that they had left the tour, and he brought KRISTEENYOUNG, the duo consisting of Young and drummer "Baby" Jeff White, on board.    

Young has made a career of this, unintentionally transforming rock's deities into her devotees.  And with both major and indie labels refusing to sign her, she can't make a career doing much else.  "I'm completely shut out by every aspect of the industry.  I can't get a manager.  I can't get a booking agent.  I can't get a label," says Young.  "The indie [label]s hate me almost more than the major [label]s.  I must just fall completely between the cracks.  A lot of times, the indies think I'm mainstream.  I can't even understand that perception because all [the major labels say] that I'm strange."  

Young complains that indie has become "very soft." In contrast, she adds, "I'm aggressive and hard-hitting, but in a different way [from mainstream].  And there's just no place for that." 

The current musical model is a bit confusing.  Indie has become synonymous with the gentrification of new wave, alt-country and acoustic alternative (the holy trinity of twenty-something adult-contemporary).  Meanwhile, specialized indie labels have fortified their positions, refusing to sign anyone that doesn't fit in with their stable, be it hardcore, hip-hop or electronic.  And, of course, major labels are going wherever the money is.  But Young isn't worried. 

"It's all crumbling and falling apart," Young says of the music industry's label system.  "I feel like I have a head start in that I'm used to not having that crutch [of being on a label].  I'm used to being on my own.  I kind of view it [like] the old Hollywood studio system falling apart.  Everybody used to be [part of] a stable of artists with a particular Hollywood studio.  And when that all fell apart, everybody went freelance . . . I think it's going that way, anyway.  I think we're in a transitional period.  Still some agents won't even deal with you unless you're on a label.  Some festivals won't even deal with you unless you're on a label.  And I think that's such archaic thinking because I think in two years it's not even going to be an issue.  They need to give that up because artists are gonna have to do all that stuff for themselves and hire their own PR."

PR has become a necessity for Young.  The devout followers of the man who put the M in Manchester have already started turning the rumor mill on Young, refusing to believe that their idol has an idol of his own.  But how do you discount the résumé of someone who has recorded with David Bowie and opened for Frank Black?  Well, if that someone is a woman- "I think it's pitiful that people have to always go to that," Young says of accusations that she slept her way to success.  She vehemently denies the rumors that she is romantically involved with Visconti or, more ridiculously, Morrissey, but she sympathizes with the jealousy. "It is very puzzling, I will give them that.  It's completely puzzling how I can get [to work with] these people who love my music, people who are very respected like Tony [Visconti], like Bowie, like Morrissey, like Brian Molko from Placebo, like Frank Black.  All these people who are very loved people.  I think that's it, too.  They're very loved, and a lot of people would like to be close to them." 

Young claims that this sort of attention was never part of her plan.  "This was never how I thought my career would go," she says.  "I always thought it would be the traditional way, y'know?  I would get on an indie label, and then I would get on a major label, but it never went that way.  For some reason, artists really like my music, and industry people despise me."

So, how could anyone who is both unmanaged and unsigned get this far in the music business?  It wasn't just hard work, though Young works very hard, so much that she lacks any kind of social life.  But that's true of a lot of DIY bands.  It wasn't just luck because getting rejected by labels and managers is not lucky.  The simple answer is talent.  She has talent that the industry can't see, but the most talented artists of our time can't deny.  She is the softcore trend's greatest casualty and proof positive that the music industry has lost touch.  If the system does crumble, she's also a revolutionary.  It's been a while since we had one of those.

KRISTEENYOUNG will open for all 10 Morrissey engagements at the Palladium between October 1 and October 13.