Portland-based drummer Sara Lund is easily one of this region’s most talented percussionists. Steady and solid in cadence, but wildly adventurous in structure and scope, Lund’s drumming in Unwound was that Olympia trio’s not-so-secret weapon.
Photo by Sung Kim
When former Sleater-Kinney frontwoman Corin Tucker was putting together a band to back her new solo project, she was wise to pull Lund into the mix. My longer feature on the Corin Tucker Band is coming up in Wednesday’s issue of the paper (the CTB play the Showbox at the Market this Friday, October 8–tickets are still available over here), but here’s an excerpt of my conversation with Lund, in which she recalls the first time she saw Tucker perform and the unique satisfaction of playing in a band with other parents.
What is your first memory of recognizing Corin’s talents? I know you guys go way back to the Olympia days…
I have a pretty clear memory of seeing Heavens to Betsy, I think it was at Evergreen. They were playing in the middle of the room on the floor so everyone was standing in a circle around them. They played the song “My Red Self” and Corin’s voice had such soul! There were a lot of angry young girl bands around Olympia at that time, but Heavens to Betsy stood out from the rest because of Corin’s unique singing style.
Corin cites you as a someone who played a big role in the development of several songs on 1,000 Years. What did you enjoy the most about working on this particular project?
Well probably the most enjoyable part of this process of was playing music with fellow parents! I know that doesn’t have much to do with the music itself, but the whole process was so different from anything I’d ever done before because we were operating around the lives of our families. Music has always been #1 priority for all of us, but with kids they obviously have to take over that spot. It was so nice to work with people who were all on the same page about that. I am the newest parent in the group, my son was only 9 months old when we started working on the record, so it was so nice to feel so supported!
Musically, it was a a fun and interesting challenge, as I had never really come into a band that had songs that were more or less already formed. In a sense, I came in as a drummer for hire, although they asked me to play because they knew my particular style would work well with the songs. I did have a fair amount of creative freedom, but for the most part I was working from directions and cues from Seth and Corin. It definitely pushed me as a drummer and I found myself at home practicing technique on my practice pad so I could pull off these parts I wouldn’t have thought of on my own.
