Q: Do you still live in Edinburgh?

A: Yes I do.

Q: Do you feel that Scotland is effectively part of Europe?

A: Oh yeah. I believe in unification full stop, that's just my thing. I think that's an interesting point to make. I do think people — particularly in the UK — that they very separate from Europe, but I don't. I feel like a Scottish person first, but I also feel like a European. Definitely.

Q: Is Edinburgh where you first delved into music, or did you travel outside?

A: No. I grew up in Scotland, and that was where I first became involved in a band, and I'd never been outside the country before I joined a rock band called Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie.

Q: I actually interviewed [Goodbye Mr.MacKenzie lead singer] Martin Metcalfe a number of years ago and "Blacker Than Black" remains one of my favorite singles.

A: Oh my God!

Q: And I was a big fan of [Goodbye Mr.MacKenzie guitarist] Big John Duncan from his days with the Exploited, which is why I sought them out to begin with.

A: Wow. Yeah, I mean...I love both of those boys.

Q: Do you still stay in touch with Big John Duncan?

A: Yes I do. He was in a band called the Gin Goblins, but I think he's now in Amsterdam. He's in some sort've performance group, EXTREME performance group. He does kinda weird things. He plays guitar while people pierce their genitals, that kinda thing.

Q: Do you think there's still a thriving Scottish music scene, so to speak?

A: Oh yeah, absolutely. There's a lot of great things coming out of Scotland now which is really exciting.

Q: [Scottish band] Travis are now finding a bigger audience over here.

A: Well, there's a Chemikal Underground record label that has great acts. Like Travis, the Delgados, and Idlewild - - they're all Scottish bands.

Q: Is Belle & Sebastian Scottish?

A: Yes, Belle & Sebastian, they're also — I think, if my memory serves me right — on Chemikal Underground, along with the Delgados. They're just a lot of creativity and much more diversity now than there was when I was fifteen.

Q: Do you feel that Scotland is being better represented?

A: I think it goes in waves. I think it becomes fashionable for the record companies to come north of the border to find a different slant on the music scene. And at the moment, I think Scotland's enjoying a sort've renaissance in that sense.

Q: I remember when I was in college in the mid-80's, two of the more exciting bands were Cocteau Twins and the Jesus & Mary Chain.

A: Absolutely. Two of my favorite all-time bands, ever. They're Scottish. Whenever I meet people, the hairs on the back of my neck bristle when people say "oh Scotland, that's Simple Minds and Big Country!" I say "NO, that's Orange Juice, that's Cocteau Twins, that's the Jesus & Mary Chain, that's Primal Scream!" I think there's a lot of great things that have come out of Scotland.

Q: Do you feel a strong affinity for current Scottish bands?

A: I do in a way. I'm sure they'd be horrified to hear me say that. I feel a certain admiration, because I know how hard it is to get noticed in Scotland. Like I alluded to earlier, you really still have to go through London, and you need to cause a splash, and it takes a lot of work. Anyone who's succeeded whose come out of Scotland has worked their arse off, truly. Because it's really hardcore, and I think people still think in London that Scotland's this country of half-breeds. Hahahaha. That might be a little chip on my shoulder, but I always feel a sort've swell of pride whenever I see anyone from Scotland doing well on an international level. My hat is tipped to them.

Q: How do you answer the opinion that the UK music scene has been so compartmentalized by artists from different regions like Wales, Ireland and Scotland?

A: I think just in the past there hasn't been so many artists from Wales or Ireland — like Ash — or from Scotland who have had enormous success in the British charts. I think that's quite a new thing, to have such proliferance. I do think that *IS* the UK scene, I don't know how else to describe it.

Q: Do you still go out and see local bands?

A: Well, I'm never really at home, unfortunately. My home is still in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I'm very rarely home at the moment, and I certainly haven't had the time to go out and check local artists, but they always catch my eye. In the media, if I see the word "Scottish," my eyes are borne to the page and I gobble up the details and I check out the records. There is some kind of expatriate sentimentality that obviously enters into my psyche.

Q: Does Garbage record in Wisconsin exclusively?

A: No, we've recorded in Canada and London, but mostly we've recorded in Madison, Wisconsin.

Q: Do you like Wisconsin?

A: Yeah. Again, it's strange for me because not only am I Scottish — so going to the American midwest is kind of strange — but I was a city girl. I grew up in a very beautiful, culturally rich city that's got incredible architecture, fantastic museums and galleries of great art, and a rich historical background. To go to the Midwest to basically a very isolated town in the middle of farmland was very bizarre for me.

Q: Do you still feel a clash between your European/Scottish sensibility and the rest of the band's American sensibilities?

A: Well, we've had a long talk about this. I think strangely enough, as a Scottish person, I come from the northern hemisphere, and Wisconsin sort've falls into the Northern Hemisphere in some ways, and I think that affects your psyche, and sort've binds up together in some ways. We're Northeners. The midwest of the America which is very far from the metropolises of Los Angeles and New York. I think being Scottish, I've always felt a sort've separation and isolation from London; so I think we feel en masse as a bunch of outsiders in some ways. So I think that's really helped bind us together as a unit, but of course there are massive cultural differences between us. The boys refer to Madison as a city, I refer to it as a town. Right there you've got an immediate difference.

Q: Have you ever suggested recording in Scotland to the rest of the band?

A: I don't they're hard enough for Scotland..hahaha I think they'd be miserable in Scotland. I think it's more more easy for a European to travel and be outside their national boundaries than it is for an American. I think such a high percentage of Americans never traverse outside their national boundaries. Europeans are accustomed to crossing over national boundaries all the time, and we're just a little more comfortable with moving around and not being at home.

Q: Are there any artists today you feel particularly interesting? Where do you think the most vital music it being made today?

A: Oh were do I start. I've got such a broad, diverse taste in music. Of course I have so many enthusiasms. I don't think you can pinpoint it. I think we as a world tend to want to put people in boxes and really close down the circle so that we can feel we have some sense of control or that we can create some order in our lives. The glorious thing is that I don't there is a way of pinning down creativity. There are these short blasts of brilliance all over the world at different times, and when an artists comes to the fore that really catches our imaginations, it's really a collision of stars. I think it's great talent — but it's also their place and time in our culture, and the mood of society that dictates the success of an artist.

Q: How was recording this new album, BEAUTIFUL GARBAGE?

A: Oh my god, it was a magnificent, scary record to make in some ways. I think we really feel we've made a great record. It's maybe the first time we feel that we've really pushed ourselves and managed to capture on record the sound of what we consider to be the essence of the band. It's a very diverse record, and I think we've really pushed the extremes. A lot of the songs are a lot more melodic, but some of them are much more hardcore in some ways. Every track isn't quite what it seems on initial listening. I think its one of these records that the more you play it the more it reveals it layers.

Q: When you went into record it, were you concerned about topping the band's previous efforts?

A: Well, I want to put the record straight, because we've had a lot of this talk of the sophomore slump with our second record [Version 2.0]. I think the general consensus was that people feel our second record didn't do as well as the first one, but are second record did better. But I think in terms of our profile, I think our profile was probably quieter than on our first record. It leant us a certain freedom and liberation when we came into record this third album, and we didn't feel the sense of pressure that we did on the second record, which allowed us to take just a few more risks and have a lot more fun. There was a much more chilled-out environment in the studio, and I took more risks as a singer and a writer and it really felt good to make.

Q: Self-produced?

A: No other parties, just us.

Q: Has the promotional machine kicked into gear?

A: The machine is starting to grumble. This is the scary part. We've been like little hermits in our holes. We've come out blinking moles into the sunlight with our record and offered it up to the gods. It's a scary rite of passage in some ways to readjust and reinvesting in your life after locking yourself up in isolation and making music together. So yeah, I have the usual anxieties, but we really feel proud of our record and feel we've pushed ourselves as musicians. You can't ask for more than that.

Q: Are you looking forward to touring?

A: I can't wait. I'm starved for communion in some ways when I'm in the studio. I think my motivating factor as a musician is to connect with others, that's what I'm looking for. There's no more privileged a place to play in my life than to offer something to people and have them get something out of it. It's such an amazing thing to do, and I really feel lucky. Am I sounding like a really deranged hippie? I feel like I've gone mad. Hahahaha.

Q: Outstanding. Is there anything else you'd like to add or highlight?

A: I would just like to say one thing. I think it's a mistake of America to lump Europe together as a sort've cultural mass, because in fact y'know each country that's drawn under the veil of Europe is very diverse in terms of the music that comes out of it. Each country has its own national sound. Each country has a very different sensibility regarding artists that are massively successful and artists that are underground. You may find a underground artist in Germany whose massive in France and vice versa. Each culture has an influence on the way people receive music. I think it's a danger in this world today that although I think it's important to maintain a sense of identity, we have to stop thinking of boundaries so much any more. The more we center on our differences as nations the more we tend to cause friction. I look at regions where everyone's fighting over their nationalities or their creeds, I feel despair. A big term at the moment that everyone's speaking about here in Europe is the concerns of Globalization. I think it's a very complex subject. On one hand I think it is horrific that we're all becoming homogenized. And yet on the other hand, in some ways the more we can eradicate our differences, wouldn't it be a happier place. How does one go about it?

Q: How do you feel about the 'Americanization' of several European cities?

A: It's tragic. You can wander through the streets of London or Lisbon or Stockholm or wherever, and there is a sense that we're losing our identities. But I think there is a way of celebrating our nationalities and our culture without it causing intolerance. I think ultimately, that is the key thing. I think we have to learn appreciate other peoples' differences and celebrate that with them and not feel threatened by a different way of thinking. Tolerance, tolerance, tolerance, as my Dad is always preaching.