Hate the term or not, it is hard not to reference the new grouping of Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, Teresa Suarez (otherwise known as Teri Gender Bender), and Omar Rodriquez- Lopez as a super-group. With the band’s album now out for all to enjoy and a small tour hitting a lucky town near you, we spoke with Ms. Suarez about the genesis of this new venture known as Crystal Fairy, and just what it means to be one part of such a larger wheel.

So I had read some quotes from you where you [described] the way you approached Buzz about doing this. It sounded almost like you and Omar were kind of being like kids and talking out loud, hoping their parents would hear them so they  got the gift they really wanted. After getting it started, though, and seeing how free and easy Buzz and Dale were with it, did you regret how you approached it?

Thankfully, it happened to be so easy going. It was almost like magic, like white magic in the sense of…because Omar, he wanted to document that tour that we were on with the Melvins. He went on with us and the experience was just so uplifting, so positive. Everyone was having a good time, both onstage and offstage. The shows were great and people were nice.

Afterwards when we all got home and we were writing to each other, “Damn, imagine if we were in a band with them. Oh, shit, that would be, the fucking shit.” That’s how we talk sometimes. We curse a lot, yeah, motherfuckers.

No fucking problem with me.

That’s the scary thing, good scary. Buzz reaches out to us, and he’s like, “Hey, it would be cool to make a band.” That was just, wow. It felt like somehow we did a witches spell, and we brainwashed him into asking us to be in the band with both him and Dale.

I spoke briefly with Buzz and it seems like for him, he just basically loved watching you perform. It was almost like he was interested to see what his music would be like with you fronting it. Does that feel like a little overbearing to you?

No, not at all. It’s actually an honor, because I grew up listening to the Melvins. My father passed away. The Melvins was and still is my refugee for lashing out and being misunderstood. The world that they created and the music and the albums was for me…I lived in those albums. That sounds weird, but it’s my truth. Not just that, but the fact that when we close ourselves in the studio and we’re jamming, they were so sweet and also asking for me to put stuff down musically, which for me it’s just an honor to be able to put down melodies and stuff.

It was also cool because sometimes, my… Musically speaking, I’m limited, but I can do a lot with my limitations. I make songs with two chords, for example, which makes me on survival mode when it comes to melodies — like, oh shit, what am I going to do? We will just improvise some fucking weird melody to this very simple straight-up chord song. I thought that was going to scare them off when I presented, for example…I don’t know if you heard the record.

Yeah, absolutely.

Okay, so “Sweet Self” is very simple. “Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.” It was cool to see what they would add to it later, but later in the moment, when we closed ourselves off in the room.

I only drink one cup of coffee and look at me ranting. I’m so sorry.

No problem. Hey, it’s great. I’m all for it. If you want to keep going, go right on. (laughter)

This is only one cup of coffee. Oh, my gosh, no sugar.

To expand on what you were talking about — a lot of people are going to hear you and see you as the front man for this band, or front woman for this band, I should say. Where does fit in your mind when it comes to the feeling of your obligations? Do you see it as an opportunity to write more of the melodies? Do you want to focus more on the vocal part of this group?

Honestly, damn, I don’t know. I want to focus more on the craft of overall everything. I guess my inner desire is to someday be a producer. I want to focus on everything. I’m getting greedy. I’m always surrounded by all of these great writers that do everything in their music, like Omar, for example, or Buzz or Mike Patton. They are always involved in everything, so I need to get my game up. I want to do that too.

Shit, I want to fucking do that or be surrounded by Kimbra. She’s a good friend of mine. She does everything in the studio — she’s a producer as well.

I have so much to learn and to aspire to. Whatever they ask of me I was happy to freakin’ do. I wasn’t dissecting it. Okay, sure, I’m just going to do the melody. Basically, they were like, “Oh, do what you want.” It was cool.

Coming from Mexico when I was starting out in the punk scene, it was very much a man’s territory. I would be ridiculed a lot. “Look at this fucking bitch.” I’m translating in English. It was probably a little more raspier, but that was the idea. “Oh, of course, she’s only doing it because she wants the attention, attention whore.” When in reality, I was just trying to make a life together with people. I guess I’ve got my traumas is what I’m saying. It was really cool to open up in front of people that make music for a living.

This actually was something I was going to bring up later, but since you got talking about that, I guess it was right before A Raw Youth came out (because of your work with Shirley Manson) and all of the articles wanted to compare you to Shirley and to Karen O. While it’s great being compared to musicians like them, does it bug you that people only seem to compare you to other women? They can’t say she’s very much like Iggy, like Ian MacKaye, and like Buzz.

Honestly, I’m very self-loathing. When someone compares me to someone, I’m like, damn, I hope they don’t feel offended. I hope Karen O. never finds that out. They’re being dissed. One time someone told me, oh, you’re like the Mexican Bjork. I was like, holy shit. That’s an insult to Bjork.

No.

Don’t say that. For me, I’m just, again, thankful for anything, but it’s also a dis to those people.

Don’t think that. Don’t think that at all.

I’m opening up too much.

No. I think that’s good. That’s the way you talk about these things. I think it’s the best way to go about it, but I’m telling you, and this is unbiased, don’t worry about it, you’re good.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Going back to the album then — the outcome, was it what you expected as far as the sound went and as far as the direction you guys were going for where it started off?

Ooh, I was just a part of myself. For example, there is this one song, for example, on the album called “Vampire X-Mas.” It’s very old-school. It kind of reminded me of old-school Iron Maiden. I was like, holy shit, I’ve never done a song like this before. I’ve done different types of music, from pop to slow ballads to punk. I was like, damn, this is actually a fucking cool challenge, because I’d never sang this music before in this one type of song.

It was really fun for me to experiment with that, and it wasn’t something that was preconceived. It was right there in the moment. They gave it to me hot off the pan in real time, and I was able to just take the mic: “Okay, let’s see where this takes us. Let’s see what melody comes out.” It was really fun because they are like, “Oh, yeah, it’s cool. Let’s track. Let’s go straight to tracking.”

Of course, we tracked Dale’s drums, the structure, the guitar. I was like, okay, I’m actually ready to record this melody. Let’s see if we want to change it later — but they liked it, and they made it that way. Even the lyrics somehow ended up being about Santa Claus. (laughter) It wasn’t even Christmas.

We will move into the lyrics too. Again, it’s a combination of all of you guys recording this and making these songs. Did you feel that there were certain songs that you wanted to have more of a stamp on? For instance, my favorite song on the album is “Necklace of Divorce.” To me, that feels like a Teri song; like a Le Butcherettes kind of song. Did you feel that there were certain songs that “sound like Buzz” or “sound like Omar” or “this sounds like me” — or did it just meld?

I think it’s the melding. I’m not saying that to be politically correct or anything. I think it’s a great balance of all of us. Again, Buzz just agreed to playing his bass parts. He did kind of nothing to be  against…instead of doing exactly what the guitar was doing in some parts, he added his own dub version to it. It was very much in the moment, and yeah, I think it’s a healthy balance of everyone. Oh, but yeah, I don’t want to sound pretentious…

You’re good.

I’m always so self-loathing that when I talk I’m like, damn it, I’m sounding like a pretentious fuck. Damn, I don’t know why. I don’t know why that happens. Maybe if we were in person, I would be cooler because we would have a coffee. I don’t smoke, but I would probably take out a cigarette and be like… (laughter) “Oh, look at me. I’m an artist, man.” (laughter)

It’s funny for me, because I’m kind of the opposite. I’m like that every day, because I guess I’ve gotten used to doing this kind of thing. I just like flip into a mode. Once I say hello, I’m like, okay, there it goes again. Now I’m talking.

Nice. At the beginning, how would you calm your nerves down? Or do you just take your nerves and use it as a bullet?

The thing is, I’m not old-school 1980s Minor Threat “Straight Edge” or anything like that, but I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. It’s hard for me to fall into things. I just go. I don’t know. It’s weird. It’s very strange. I don’t know how to explain it, to be honest with you.

How old are you?

36.

Maybe you’re at ease with yourself. Hopefully, when I’m 36, I’ll be more at ease with myself. Do you think it’s an age thing?

It could be, but I don’t think so. I think you know it’s there, and you just don’t want to admit it. I think you’re good.

Oh, okay.

I think you’ve got a handle.

Now we’re getting somewhere. (laughter)

Let’s think about it this way now. Because Buzz and Dale are extremely prolific, and Omar is extremely prolific, and you now with him, you are extremely prolific. Has being able to assert yourself these ways maybe not changed who you are, but changed your ability to produce what you’re putting out there every day?

I’m definitely inspired and influenced by them, without a doubt, but I still feel like I have so much more to learn. Do you know what I mean? I still feel like I’m in search for my own thing, not that nothing else is my own. You know what I mean. Buzz, O., and Dale are all known for their own sounds. I still feel like I’m on that path someday, and hopefully with Butcherettes, I’ll be able to achieve.

I know that sounds very ambitious, but I guess that’s my mission. I aspire to be game-changers like them. That’s really hard nowadays because everyone is doing their own game-changing. I’m just still looking for my own land, my own little piece of land to put my own fingerprint on it. That’s why, I’m just like, fuck, it’s really hard, but it’s going to be okay at the end of the day. First of all, I’m healthy and I have a life. You should just be okay with that. It’s going to be okay. We’re going to die one day. Enjoy what we have.

Again, I’m so fucking grateful that I was able to even work with them and make this record. What I’m trying to say is I’m an ambitious person. That’s why I’m so critical.

Not to get too far off the point again as well. I’m just talking to you and trying not to make you feel uncomfortable or anything like that, but in all honesty, when I listen to just Le Butcherettes stuff, I see insane growth. I see somebody who is being able to still go back to exactly what they sounded like when they started, but growing. For me, I’m only thinking Sin, Sin, Sin is the start. I didn’t hear any demos earlier than that. For me, that’s the start. I’m seeing it kind of meld into…here’s a good example. When I first listened to Raw Youth, “Stab My Back” came on and I’m like, good, good, good. Then that chorus came on and I was just like floored. That is the most addicting thing to me in the entire world. I didn’t finish the song for a good week, because I kept going back to start it again. This is what I liken it to. Are you familiar with the Replicants album where Paul D’Amour, when he left Tool and he got together with Chris from Failure — they made a covers album only.

No. Oh my gosh, I feel embarrassed. I’m sorry.

No, that’s fine. Actually it wasn’t the most well-known thing in the world. They did a cover of David Bowie’s “Bewlay Brothers.” It’s the exact same song, and they go through the first chorus and it’s like, “Alright, they’re just doing a straight cover.” Then when the chorus hits the second time, they just have this rhythmic pounding, animalistic beat behind it, just whole notes. It’s simple yet perfect.  That’s what I’m getting from you now when I hear your music.

Damn. I’m speechless. Thank you.

I know I went a little off track there. It’s not even a question. We just wasted some time with me explaining that, but that’s how I feel.

(laughter) No, thank you. It’s good to hear. Perfect on the time. It’s good for me to believe that it’s going to be okay.

I got more. I won’t go through it now, another time maybe when we swing around to New York and the show comes I will tell you. Just a quick for instance; the storytelling ability on “The Hitch Hiker,” stuff like that. That’s tough for people to do. That’s impressive.

Damn, man, thank you.

You got it.

If you could see me now, I’m sweating all over my armpits. There’s two huge circles around them, so thank you. That’s a good thing. I’m letting out those evil thoughts away and breathing in positivity.

Toxins out and good stuff in.

Yeah.

Let’s talk about lyrics then in reference to Crystal Fairy. Your lyrics are not straightforward in most senses. It’s poetic, but there is to me, social commentary behind a lot of it. I was asking Buzz if he was fearful that he was now going to have to, for some reason, answer for something you may have said, even though there’s nothing on the album whatsoever that I think would raise such a question. Does that also weigh on you, though, when you’re writing lyrics for something like this where it’s a joint venture?

I think that maybe unconsciously — at least for this record — my hand did a lot of the writing. I try not to question it. Then maybe after rehearsing it, then I go through the lyrics. Then, I just try to give it meaning to make sense, because sometimes I’m just like, “What the hell does this even mean? Oh, shit, maybe this is what I was going through at the time.” Just to play this is a little embarrassing, because that means that I’m just thinking too much about it. I’m going unconsciously at least in this record.

Okay.

For example, the song, fucking, “Drugs on the Bus.” I was rereading the lyrics and maybe at the time I wasn’t aware of it, but for me, it was about this refugee. She’s trying to climb the fence, but she’s stuck on it because her clothes got caught on the fence. In order for her to be free, she has to rip the clothes off and sacrifice. It represents sacrifice, so she jumps off and now they’re after her. I don’t know. I find the meaning afterwards with this record.

Well, I mean again that is that song itself. Now you are going to be taking this onstage, and granted, you’re very free onstage but necessarily not talking to the audience every five seconds. With the current political climate though, do you think that may change a little bit now?

Oh, no. You can tell I butcher my words, and I’m not very articulate. I do music or I’m a performer per se, because that’s much more easier and I don’t have to think about it.

When you’re talking to someone, you have to put a lot of thought into it, especially nowadays. You don’t want to offend someone. You don’t want to come off as an asshole. People that can talk to an audience — Mike Patton or Cedric Bixler — I applaud them because they are so articulate. Or Shirley Manson. They have such power with their words. Just being able to be a spokesperson for a certain thing or a certain product, damn, and to be fluent with it. That’s a craft all in itself. I’m just going to stick to what comes naturally.

I remember going to shows as a younger guy and seeing the opening act and very rarely being impressed. I’ve seen you now open for Faith No More. I’ve seen you when you’ve been opening when it’s you doing a set and then Bosnian Rainbows coming out. Obviously, you had a reception with the Melvins when you were opening for them. Are you feeling anything from that exposure? Are you looking for more exposure in that sense, or it’s just what comes is what comes?

Ooh, wow. I’m not going to lie. There are some days when a little bit of the industry gets in my head. This was a long time ago. Now I’m away from that circle. When I first moved to the States and I started playing in the States, this ex-manager at the time was telling me to hide my Mexican roots to say that I only had American experiences and to shy away from that part and to stick with the apron, before I performed with a bloody apron. Stick with that. That to me, that was a fucking dilemma, man, because someone was asking me to just swallow down my culture. This was coming from a “liberal” person, a liberal artist. That for me in a way, because I had admired this person so much, I gave her what she wanted. It was my dignity in a way. So I will never forgive myself for that.

So now I’m just going to try to be true to myself and just take every day as it comes. I want to play music next to people and connect to different cultures. There’s a reason why I also love making music, because it gives me an excuse to go to different countries and try different food. The point is just to take it as it comes and be grateful for it, because what we do is very special, not “we” as “me” in general, but people, writers. People who are musicians and get to dedicate their lives to the arts — it’s a special thing. It’s a special thing, especially nowadays where it kind of feels like it’s being threatened. For example, with the Muslim bands, and for all of these artists that come from all of those other countries, how are they going to fucking come to the States and put their seeds down and tour the States?

Two quick things to wrap it up and I will let you go. I don’t know why I even have to ask this, but I remember talking to Buzz and asking,” What do you think is the future of Crystal Fairy?” He wants to take this to the very end until he can’t do it anymore. Is that on the plate for you as well?

It’s an honor for him to say that. Yeah, it definitely is. We’re on the same page. I think most importantly also the friendship. Of course, I’m a Crystal Fairy until the end, but also I’m going to take our friendship to the very end as well.

Oh, you do have so many things on your plate. I know a lot of people, including myself, are clamoring for things like the next Bosnian Rainbows to come out, and so on and so forth. Is there anything that you know that is on the horizon that we should be keeping our eyes out for?

The Bosnian Rainbows record is finished. We just need to master it. We’re basically waiting on Rafael Arcaute, who is a great producer. I love him to death, but he’s also super busy. He’s been touring with Rene of Calle 13. It’s this other huge artist. I don’t know if you’re aware of him, but he actually studied his genealogical tree, and he went to every country where his genes are from and studied the music. And put all of the music into his record. So Rafael has been working with him closely, which we understand.

It will happen when it happens. I’m just one of those people that goes with the flow. I try not to stress so much. I’m already stressed enough, you know, about real things like, am I going to pay the rent this month? Shit, my mother is in rehab. Am I going to go see her? Is she going to be in a good mood or not? Real problems in the world. Yeah. Things will happen as they come. Let’s see what else? We’re working also on the new Butcherettes record.

There you go.

I’m excited about that. We’re actually going to work with a new producer, and that’s fucking scary for me because Omar has been the producer for the last records.

Yeah. Any change I imagine can be just something to be wary about. It can probably only bring good things at the end of it all.

Change is good, right?

Yeah. Absolutely. As long as it’s not “the world exploded” change, we’re good.

Yeah. Exactly. Our spirits will go to another planet.

Teri, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Matthew…

Have a good one.

…for your patience.

Absolutely. Take it easy.