Chan Marshall

Chan Marshall

the only one

interview by OLIVIER ZAHM
portrait by THEO WENNER

 

Chan Marshall, the singer-songwriter, actress, and sometime model known as Cat Power, wrote and recorded her first album, “Dear Sir,” during the month of December 1994, with the help of Steven Shelley from Sonic Youth. Since then she’s been one of Purple’s favorite singer-songwriters. Alternating between periods of luminescent creativity and of escape and emotional exhaustion, she has continued to experiment with the music and songwriting this native southerner — and daughter of a tap-dancing bluesman — was born to do, always looking for newer and more powerful ways to express her feelings. She’s been away from the scene for three years, and we’re very happy to interview her for our 20th anniversary issue and to celebrate “Sun,” her first solo album since her breakthrough album of 2006, “The Greatest.”

OLIVIER ZAHM…