Exclusive Interview: Christy Hemme
It’s great to talk to you, Christy! What’s been goin’ on?
We’re writing and demoing out our album. My guitarist is actually going on the road with Creed. He’s their second guitarist so as soon as he gets back we’ll have this stuff prepped and ready to go into the studio.
You’ve got some new tunes out now. “Don’t Give Up” is the lead single.
Yes, it was released as our little introduction to Hemme.
Tell me more about that song. I bet there’s a reason you picked it as the lead single.
It’s a really powerful song for me as well as for the band. To get to this point has been a really long road of trying to balance everything out. Music is my passion but I don’t make money at it so I have to go work and keep it going any chance I get. Between having to juggle that and my struggle with severe panic attacks – I’ve been having them since I was a kid – that song really came from some of the moments when I started to see life after the panic attacks. It’s a liberating feeling to see my dream come alive. I’ve given up everything to not give up on the thing I love.
I even remember hearing some of your songs a few years ago on MySpace.
That was some of the stuff we were doing back in California. I’ve worked with so many people. When I’m passionate about something I want to understand it and I want to know it. I’ve been into music my whole life but I’d never made music myself. I started dreaming about music four or five years ago. I’m really poetic and I write a lot of poetry. Then it started to come into my dreams as lyrics and melodies. I knew it was something I had to do. It was calling for me so much that I just went after it and started taking lessons – music theory, singing lessons – anything I could possibly do. For the first couple of years I worked with so many people. I didn’t really know where the music I was writing fit in for me and what it should sound like. I was inspired by different things and I tried different things but it came back around to sounding more like it did when I first started. It’s growing it’s own legs and taking off in the direction it was always meant to go in.
Do you thing working with so many different people at first took away from what you wanted it to sound like?
When I started taking lessons I didn’t want to be just one of those girls who had people writing things for me. I wanted to understand and hear every little thing. As a casual music fan you don’t hear everything. I really got into training my ear. Now I can explain to people what I want. The people in the band now are so what it was supposed to be. If I’d met them four years ago they probably wouldn’t have been interested in working with me. I wasn’t ready for the situation. I have always been a huge fan of bands that have chemistry. I grew up listening to bands I could feel when I listened to the music. I didn’t want it to be missing something. A lot of artists today have great songs but I can’t really hear a collage of great people coming together like some older artists. I could have gone to some big label and have them make me a little star but that’s not the direction I wanted.
Usually people that are concerned with that aspect of it are not interested in the music. You can just tell. Some of those girls are just a prop, really.
I’m working with Eric Friedman. When we first started he was trying to be very tasteful with the music and let me shine. It got to the point where I told him I wanted everybody to shine. I wanted every single person in the band to do the best and not have just one person stand out. This EP is awesome because it’s the foundation of where this project is going. I’m really excited about the album because I can hear so much more.
I hear you’re all living together in a house to work on the album. You’ve gotta have some video cameras in there recording that stuff!
I know! That’s what we keep saying! I totally need to set that up. It’s amazing. We’re right on a lake and it so beautiful. It’s crazy.
You mentioned earlier that there were certain bands that inspired you, bands that had great chemistry. Who are you talking about?
My first introduction to music was all the goodies – the Doors, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC. I really grew up on that. My dad loved all that stuff. When I got into middle school and high school I really got into Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins. I loved the bands that came out of Seattle. I love Nine Inch Nails, Massive Attack, Kings of Leon, Incubus. There’s just so much.
I’m probably going to get my ass kicked by our readers if I don’t ask you some questions about wrestling, too. A lot of people remember you coming onto the scene by winning the Divas Search. What do you remember about your first year in the WWE?
It is such a blur. I don’t do anything I’m not passionate about. Wrestling was one of those things I didn’t know I was going to get into. I wanted to wrestle years before I got into the Divas Search. At the time the girls were a lot bigger. I’m pretty small when you see me in person. When I saw the Divas Search come along I thought that was my “in”. I didn’t know I was going to win the contest but I knew that where my life was going. I was getting my foot in the door. At the time they were looking for girls to be a valet or whatever. When I first got there – from day one – I would get to the ring hours early. I would have anybody that was there to show me. I wanted to learn.
How do you feel about your wrestling career now?
I love TNA. The people are amazing. They’re such great a great company to work for. It was so cool to be a part of something that was growing. The people were hungry to help it grow. That is much more satisfying to me than something that’s already established. I just jumped into wrestling with the WWE. I was training on the road, but it’s not the same. When I joined TNA I really learned so much about the sport and the entertainment. Right before I got injured I was just starting to go after the belt. It was time for me to shine again. Career-wise, my last match was my favorite match I’ve ever had. I just felt so much more fulfilled than I did with anything I did with the WWE. I worked so hard for it.
What do you see happening for you in 2009?
I see me going back into TNA and doing some damage there. I’m working really hard with this music. I see us getting into the studio and finishing the album. I see me winning the Women’s Division Championship belt. There’s a few things I’m going to conquer this year!
Thanks for taking time out for us today, Christy. What would you like to say to your fans?
I’m really excited to start seeing them more when I get back into wrestling. Giving them a piece of this music is a proud thing for me and I hope they enjoy it. I will see you when I’m in a town near your town!
