DON"T MISS OUR EVELYN EVELYN INTERVIEW AND MORE AMAZING PICTURES HERE!

AND JASON WEBLEY INTERVIEW AND GALLERY RIGHT HERE!

Performance artist Amanda Palmer is from Boston, USA. She went to art school and became a street performer, before developing her ‘dark cabaret’ style and forming The Dresden Dolls with drummer Brian Viglione.

In 2008 she released her solo debut, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? and collaborated with Neil Gaiman for an accompanying book of photographs of her pretending to be dead. The two got engaged this year.

Amanda’s warm, giggly and she can’t stop performing; despite having a cold during our shoot, she and Jason run through covers such as Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’ (changed to ‘Like A Surgeon’) and she fidgets between yoga positions while she talks. She greets Bizarre with a Cheshire Cat grin and tells us about the birth of Evelyn Evelyn, working with Jason, and going to the circus with Frances Bean Cobain…

Did you and Jason meet when you were both street performers?
Yes! It was in 2000, in Australia – I was busking in Adelaide, and after I’d finished work one day, I walked up to this crazy dude playing accordion in the street and shaking a vodka bottle filled with pennies – he was like me, a complete freak. We started chatting, and headed off to see a play together. Three years later I asked him to support The Dresden Dolls on tour.

Where did the idea for Evelyn Evelyn come from?
I told Jason how I came up with the name The Dresden Dolls: two of my ideas were Eleven Eleven and Marsha Marsha Marsha. Jason sat there merging the names in his head, and he said, ‘It’d be really fun if you had a band named Evelyn, Evelyn, Evelyn.’ We took one Evelyn off and came up with a conjoined twin duo!

What happened next?
Jason was doing a series of 7in records – all collaborations with his friends – and we decided to do one as Evelyn Evelyn. Jason made up ‘Elephant Elephant’, and I came up the song, ‘Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn’. It was obvious to do a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, so we did. It was going to end there, but the record was so good.

Have you met any real conjoined twins?
No. I’d like to see what conjoined twins would make of our show. I think they’d find it hilarious. Our act is vaudeville and it’s not meant to make profound connections or comment on society.

How did you learn to play your instruments together?
I started playing the ukulele about two or three years ago for a lark, and Jason is a decent pianist. When we’re playing guitar or accordion, the talented person has to be playing on the left; with piano it’s the other way around. So given that our positions fall in line with our musical abilities, it worked out well!

How do you handle your pre-show nerves?
We mostly hold hands under the dress out of fear! Before our debut show at The Slipper Room in New York we turned the lights down in the dressing room, and Jason’s Evelyn started pairing things together that seemed like they matched. Mine got obsessed with touching Amanda’s phone. Jason’s Evelyn got angry with my Evelyn and said I should stop, so we started looking around the room for other things that were shiny that we might be able to turn on. That was the most fun we’ve had!

How did you get Frances Bean Cobain to sing guest vocals on ‘My Space’?
We thought it’d be hilarious to get a star-studded cast of unlikely celebrities to do gang vocals. Frances is a fan of The Dresden Dolls and Neil (Gaiman). We started emailing and she said yes. We both took her to Cirque Du Soleil in New York. She’s going to art school and Neil’s trying to help her get her foot in the door with some graphic novel connections.

After your first blog about Evelyn Evelyn, you were accused of making light of people with disabilities. What was your reaction?
I was really surprised, because I hadn’t seen it coming and the record hadn’t even come out yet. I felt misunderstood. But the fallout has been positive because it gets people thinking and talking about how we perceive art.

What’s the future for Evelyn Evelyn?
We’re hoping to take them to Australia but they hate flying. We’ll see.