“20 Questions With Verbicide” is an interview series in which an artist is handed a list of more than 100 questions and they select 20 from the list they would like to answer.

Midwestern alt-country duo Freakwater recently released Scheherazade, their first album in 10 years. We caught up with Janet Bean for one of our “20 Questions” interviews.

In your opinion, what’s one way people can work toward making the world a better place?

Practice the concept of ubuntu which roughly translates to “I am because we are.” It’s a South African concept.

How many states have you been to?

All but Alaska and Hawaii.

What is your favorite holiday?

Thanksgiving, without a doubt.

Choose but only one: a sweet, slightly salty Gruyère; creamy Camembert; or slow-smoked sharp cheddar, aged three years.

Creamy Camembert, but only if bread is part of the deal.

Which city draws the best crowds for your shows?

The town I love and have called home for the past 33 years: Chicago.

How has your family influenced your career?

My father, when I was about 16, heard me singing along to a Fleetwood Mac song on the radio in my bedroom. He stuck his head in and said, “I know there’s one thing you’ll never be: a singer.” I work best when challenged.

What is your absolute oldest memory?

Living in the Birmingham Zoo from the age of two to maybe five. My family, for several generations, have all been zoologists. I had a nanny named Mrs. Snow. She would take me for walks around the zoo. I would see all of these children having fun, but then as soon as the sun would set, they all disappeared. It was then I would go to the ape house and have pretend tea parties with the magnificent silverback gorillas. It was both a magical and lonely place.

When you die, do you want to be buried, cremated, stuffed and mounted, or something else?

I don’t really care, I guess. At that point the process is more for the living and how they want to handle my death. I am intrigued by the Zorastrian model called the Tower of Silence where you’re placed on shelves to decompose while vultures pick your bones. I used to have a problem with cemeteries thinking they were a silly waste of space, but I have changed my mind. I would love to have some elaborate grave marker like something in Père Lachaise in Paris, even if I am not buried underneath it. The kind of cemeteries that have those flat markers and barren vast expanses of cut grass are ugly, but the wooded kind with giant weeping willows and ponds with swans, like Cave Hill in Louisville, or again, like Père Lachaise, are perfect places to gather your thoughts and think about the lives of others before you.

What defunct band or deceased performer would you have loved to have seen, but won’t be able to?

Nina Simone, without a doubt.

Which artist or album did you listen to most when working on your current/upcoming release?

I was listening to a lot of JJ Cale, but I always do, some Black Mountain, and Rumours and Tusk by Fleetwood Mac.

E-reader or paper books, which do you prefer?

I’ve written a bit on this subject in the past. Without a doubt, I prefer the hardcopy book. The artistic choices that go into making a book are lost in digital form. There’s paper choice, there’s font choice, there’s the artwork that you see every time you pick it up or close it, and there’s the obvious tactile experience. I have moved many times in my life and unpacking my books always takes me on a journey. That sensation can never be said about unpacking a kindle. There’s also the process of getting the book; of going to the bookstore; of keeping the receipt stored between its pages to be found years later. Books have odors collected over their lifetime that a plastic and glass shell will never share.

My most favorite book, The Grapes of Wrath, I found at a thrift store. It’s an old Viking Press hardback edition with slightly yellowed pages and smells like what I imagine the Dust Bowl to have smelled like. Sometimes I just take it off the shelf to smell it. Again, a Kindle will never provide this experience. With this said, I am currently reading Jonathan Franzen’s newest book, Purity, on my tablet. I brought three paperbacks on the road and I barely have room for them. So the electronic book does come in handy.

How many times have you visited Disneyland and/or Disney World? What is your favorite attraction?

I went to Disney World about 14 times the first year it was open. I was about eight, and it was the best place on Earth at the time. I went again many years later when my son was about five years old. After Birmingham, we moved to Tampa where my father worked for Busch Gardens. Since my father was with the zoo, we were invited to many pre-opening events at Disney World. I met Sebastian Cabot at Disney World, for those who are old enough to remember the show Family Affair. I also got my head stuck between some bars waiting in line for a ride and the fire department had to cut the bars to get my head out.

I used to love The Mad Hatter’s Wild Ride, or something like that. It was a car on a single track that gave the sense that I was actually steering it. Upon my return, my son found it all a bit overwhelming, and the sight of a giant rat walking around sent him into an inconsolable fit.

A curse is placed on you and every day, for the rest of your life, you must either piss blood, shit hot asphalt, or vomit latex-based house paint. Which do you choose?

Piss blood, with the caveat that only if this does not bring about my death.

Which is your favorite fluffy animal: angora bunnies, pomeranian puppies, or fuzzy-wuzzy ducklings?

Probably fuzzy-wuzzy duckies.

What was the first album you ever bought? What format was it in? Do you still have it?

The Jungle Book. It came with a couple 45s you played while you turned the pages of the book that was the size of a 45 sleeve. I still love all the songs on the record today. Alas, I no longer have it in my possession.

Butter or margarine?

It depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to eat it and savor its perfection, then butter. If you want to feel a sense of sadness about human progress, go with margarine.

How many pillows do you use?

I basically like to sleep sitting up, so I am known to use many more pillows than the average human.

Did you have a favorite stuffed animal as a child? What was it?

I had a stuffed guardsmen from the Buckingham Palace. He was rather large, as I recall. Maybe he stood about 18 inches. He had shiny black straps across his chest, just like the real guards, and one of those tall furry-looking black hats. He was regal as shit. I named him Bucky Buck Buckingham, and he was beside me always. His every birthday was celebrated and his love was pure.

What is your favorite spice in your spice rack?

Cumin. I go through bottles on a weekly basis.

What is one obscure fact you remember from grade school that stuck with you?

That the brand name of the toilet bowl in the bathroom closet off my third grade classroom was Stanford and it was written in a fancy cursive font and printed on the white porcelain in a most lovely blue color near the base of the toilet. I know this because I would go in there and curl up on the cool tile floor and stare at it. Florida schools in the early 1970s were without air conditioning.

What is your best tip for soothing a crying infant? Seriously, I need to know.

Drive them around for hours and hours. I was once driving from Chicago to New Orleans with my son who was quite small. Every time I had to stop for gas he would have a meltdown, but the minute we drove off he nodded off.

I was between fill-ups, but had to pee. I was so desperate to pee, but didn’t want to stop for fear his wails would wind up. I had on a dress so l lifted myself off the drivers seat, stuck a McDonald’s cup under me, and pissed. Bad idea — soda cups melt with the heat, and when the whole thing started to collapse I tried to pour it out the window, but it all came spraying back in my face. So my advice to you is, whichever method you use, if it involves peeing into a cup, never use a wax-coated soda cup.

What type of car do you wish you drove?

I have always fantasized about having a red Alfa Romeo convertible, just like the one in the film The Graduate. I would also take a Bugatti. The former will be realized some day.

What is your favorite charity? What causes do you support?

Over the years I have done advocacy work for a Congolese organization called Friends of the Congo. They are tireless and do great work toward educating people on the injustices perpetrated upon the Congolese by their governement and the numerous corporations that exploit their remarkable natural resources while providing nothing in return.

I am currently giving monthly to the Bernie Sanders campaign, and I donate monthly to Virunga, a Congolese National Park and UNESCO World Hertiage site. It is over 3,000 miles of one of the most spectacular spots on Earth located in the eastern portion of Congo. Specifically for Virunga, I support the purchase and maintenance of hounds that are used in their brave efforts to fight poaching. Find them at www.congohounds.ch and Virunga.org.

What is one new skill you’d like to acquire in the next year?

I took up weaving last year, but had to stop when touring began. I very much look forward to getting back to the loom and learning all there is to learn. I have fantasies about creating works like those of Anni Albers that came out of the Bauhaus School of Weaving.

How many tattoos do you have?

None!

Who was your first celebrity crush?

The boy who wore the striped short-sleeve shirt on the PBS show The Electric Company. Although, now that I think about it, I would say Michael Jackson.

Other than your primary artistic medium, what is your next go-to?

I love photography. I used to spend entire nights till dawn in the dark room sipping sherry and watching images emerge. I also enjoy writing and one day look forward to doing more of it. I operate an instagram account @beanatitagain that is mainly images I find interesting. I shoot architecture a lot. I am drawn to forms and objects.

How many pets do you have, what are their names?

I have a standard black poodle named Augustina Mozambique that we call “Moz” for short, and a pit bull we took in as a stray that we named Colonel Sugar Biscuit. They are the best of friends.