More Than Sex

"It's just a matter of the right zen or something. If the vibe is right at the time, then it's right. You can't really schedule it like a dental appointment."

Three decades into a lauded career of musical exploration, enduring cult figure Jarboe says she has no secret about the projects she takes on. From her earliest days with the visceral post-punk artiness of famed New York outfit Swans, to work with deathgrind juggernaut Cattle Decapitation and drone pioneer Justin K Broadrick, it's always been about relying solely on her instincts ‐ which, over time, have proven impeccable.

"It's funny because early on, people had this idea that I was proving something from a feminist agenda because I joined the loudest, heaviest, most extreme band in the world, Swans, and I didn't think twice about that. I just worked hard to get in, and worked hard the entire time, even up against all kind of doors being slammed in my face. But I had this moment when I realised that I was on my life's path, and so I was like a runaway train that couldn't be stopped. And some people mistook that as me having something to prove as a woman, but that's bull... I never had any sense of that. It was always about the music and the sound; it was always about the fact that there was no compromise. I've never cared what anybody's thought of what I've been doing, there's never been a feminist agenda, there's never been a desire to prove anything, it's always been about the actual sound and the actual performance, that's all that I've ever cared about. There's no political agenda, no stance about women's rights, you just do it.

"I'm really irked when journalists bring up this thing about, 'Let's talk about women in rock or sexism in rock'. I'm left out of that equation. The reason I chose to work by my family name is because you don't even know if I'm a man or woman, and it's like, I didn't want to play that card. Because your sex has nothing to do with it if you're an artist."

Not only is Jarboe an artist, but she's a busy one to boot. Upcoming projects include an interactive memoir ("not just a boring book") and a record that would marry Jarboe's extreme sensibilities with jazz playing. Ahead of her Australian tour with Neurosis guitarist Scott Kelly, the vocalist also mentions that the two have been talking about doing a record together.

"We have talked about doing an acoustic album in the past, but he's always quite booked and so am I. So it was just a matter of timing, [but] I [still] hope that album idea progresses into something. The last time I mentioned it to him he said he was booked through for a long time, like a year and a half, and since then it's just been a case of both of us having the time, at the same time, to make that album happen."