WAVE RIDER

Kristin Hersh emerged from the collapse of Throwing Muses to form 50 Foot Wave, with whom she continues to make her own electric music in her own unfussy, low-key way. She talks to Anna Carey.

It's hard to think of Kristin Hersh, former Throwing Muses frontwoman and the writer of many scary, beautiful indie-rock songs, as a California girl. But Hersh, her husband and her four children live in Palm Springs, the sunny district favoured by rich elderly golf players. Which means that musically, the established indie heroine is now playing to a whole new audience.

"We play a lot in Los Angeles now, and LA is a bit of a shallow community," she says. "They're not interested in things with a history. So when we play here, no one knows who we are. Most of the people who come to our shows here seem to think we're kids in our first band."

"We" is a three-piece called 50 Foot Wave. Ever since Throwing Muses reluctantly disbanded in 1997, Hersh's solo work - formerly an acoustic side project - became more and more Muses-esque. "When I have a band, my solo stuff is very quiet and austere. And when I don't, it becomes more electric."

Hersh briefly reclaimed her old band in 2003 for one smouldering last album, and the need to rock out has now found expression in a whole new band. But while 50 Foot Wave is unmistakably the sound of Kristin Hersh and an electric guitar, it doesn't sound exactly like Throwing Muses. "I didn't intentionally try to make it sound different, but it definitely does," she says. "I guess that's just the way I write now, and Bernard and Rob respond to that."

One of the major differences between TM and the new band is the direct, heavy drumming. While Wave bassist Bernard Georges was part of Throwing Muses' final line-up, 50 Foot Wave sees Hersh working with a new drummer for the first time following nearly 20 years with Muses founder-member David Narcizo.

"I thought it was going to be impossible - I couldn't imagine working with someone else. Dave and I had been working together for so long. But Bernard and I made it through half of a song with Rob before we realised we were auditioning for him, not the other way round!"

Hersh has been with London indie label 4AD for nearly 20 years: "They've always really cared about us, and that's unbelievably rare." But her experiences with US labels left her feeling cynical. Throwing Muses were always considered a cult band, but Hersh's 1994's solo acoustic début, Hips and Makers, sold more than any of her rockier work. She could have embraced the mainstream, and her then-label, Warner Bros, was eager for her to do so.

"But it was never a concern of mine," she says. "To a certain extent you've got to dumb down what you do in order for [record companies] to push the buttons of the marketing machine. They've got to buy MTV exposure, they've got to buy radio play, print ads - it's all expensive. And they're not going to spend that kind of money on something that isn't going to appeal to the lowest common denominator. They don't respect music listeners. But I think there's an untapped market of genuine music lovers out there. You've just got to reach out to them."

And that's just what Hersh is doing. On her own side of the Atlantic at least, 50 Foot Wave are a truly independent band, self-releasing their music and touring constantly. "We didn't want to suffer the traumas of the American music business again," she says. "So we rely solely on tour income - and we make the CDs cheap and short. We may do a standard full-length LP at some stage, but right now [making mini-albums] is more appropriate for our studio budget, and for people's attention spans! And the frequency of releases allows us to stay on the road."

Hersh is also a supporter of music sharing, encouraging fans to trade her work online. "I've never had a problem with that. I'm honoured if anyone just wants to give my stuff a minute. Why should musicians assume people will even listen to what they play, let alone give them money for it? It's crazy."

While the business side might get Hersh down at times, at least she'll never have to worry about a lack of musical inspiration. "I don't even mean to write songs, they just come to me. They're always just there. I work on both solo and band stuff all the time in my head, because I have so little time to practice. Most of the songs are finished before I pick up a guitar and play them."

She's always been productive, and, despite constant touring, the next 50 Foot Wave release is currently being mixed and will be out in January; the one after that is about to be recorded. And Muses fans needn't fear that 50 Foot Wave will go the way of Rhode Island's finest band, which broke up not because of musical or personal differences, but simply because they couldn't afford to continue. Whatever happens, the new band is here to stay.

"I know 50 Foot Wave isn't a money-maker," says Hersh. "But it's a labour of love."