An interview with Elisabeth Esselink By Nick Harris
Originally in ESP Magazine

Of all the DIY “pastiche” acts to emerge in the path that Beck cleared, perhaps none have quite as intriguing a story as Holland’s Elisabeth Esselink.

In early 1997, after holding down the guitar slot in what she terms a “guitar noise band,” Elisabeth picked up an eight-track recorder and a late ’70s-era sampler on a whim at an auction she frequented to scout out finds for her used record shop in Amsterdam. A few months later, after scouring through albums and CDs that even the most anal retentive of obscurants wouldn’t have anything to do with, she had a demo tape made up of samples from those toss-offs and added some original melodies on keyboard. In a what-the-heck move, she sent the demo out to record companies under the name Solex (a French term for a low-end motorcycle; previously used by Esselink in naming her cat).

The last mailing was barely out of her hands when inquiries began pouring in: Who, exactly, is Solex? Would they, she, whomever, be interested in flying to the U.S. to discuss a possible contract? Within a year Solex vs. the Hitmeister was released on Matador and thumbs-ups were given by a multitude of reviewers. New Music Express, Alternative Press, Entertainment Weekly, Magnet, and Spin were among the big names that the Dutch lady with the high, dulcet, voice of a girl had found herself endeared to.

Now comes the newly released Pick Up, another mish-mash styling of dance-oriented rhythm loops, childish wonder inspired melodies, and amusing clangs and thomps that stick inside your head hours after turning off the stereo. Then there is the added charm of having these situational sketches that make up the song-narratives being related via English as a second language; it makes for some fun wordplay.

Speaking from the very un-Amsterdam locale of Aimes, Iowa, where she and another international critic fave, the Japanese rap duo Cibo Matto, were amidst their Midwest leg of their run through U.S. college towns (they will be appearing at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro this Thursday), Esselink had this to offer about her unexpected career turn.

ESP: How did you piece together the elements of the songs for your new record?
Esselink: I went to a lot of concerts of lesser-known bands at the beginning of the year around Amsterdam and made bootlegs with a DAT recorder. Because there are no copyrights on bootlegs, I thought, “you can sample anything and all you want from bootlegs.” Other samples come from the records in my store. Most of the CDs I sample from are from not sellables because they are really bad, so I find a few good things from all the bad CDs.

ESP: I understand many of these songs are about toilet conversations?
Esselink: I used to work in a discotheque, in the back selling stuff, and it was right next to the ladies bathroom. The walls were very thin and sometimes I could overhear the conversations. Most of the time these were very concentrated, because these girls want to share as much information as possible in as less time as possible. Girls really have a tendency to talk things over in the bathroom.

ESP: Why do you like recording the songs in English instead of Dutch?
Esselink: Well, English sounds much better than Dutch. Dutch sounds so aggressive and is not a very poetic language. It is very hard to write in Dutch in a way of which is not too graphic and straightforward.

ESP: How do you come by some of the wordings you use?
Esselink: I try to avoid high school English, so I watch a lot of American and English shows such as soaps, and write down what I think are good phrases or catchy lines and try to match them with the atmosphere of the music. Sometimes it’s a bit hard because people use a lot of slang, especially on the talk shows we get David Letterman, Oprah, and several others. Sometimes the guests use really good sentences, but if I look something up in the dictionary, it’s not there, and then I just have to guess. They sound really good but I’m just hoping the meaning of the word is close to what I (want it to) mean.

ESP: What is the popular music in Amsterdam like now compared to the States?
Esselink: If you listen to radio, during the daytime there is a lot of modern R&B and some Dutch pop bands, but I think that kind of music is very conventional and boring. But during the night there you can hear really interesting stuff. If you compare daytime R&B radios popularity in Holland, it’s very much like classic rock over here.

ESP: Ahh..., you noticed.
Esselink: American radio plays a lot of old stuff and I think European radio is more oriented to music that is just coming out.

ESP: What type of instrumentation do you use for your live show?
Esselink: The other owner of the record shop is the drummer, and we have a guitar player, and I play keyboards, do the samples and sing, of course! I think about maybe adding another musician, but it is very costly.

ESP: So what do you do about your store while touring?
Esselink: We put a sign on the door: Due to success we’re closed. (laughs) We sell only second-hand CDs, so our customers don’t mind waiting until we get back, because if they want something brand new, they have to get it from another store anyway.