Garbage’s Shirley Manson on being pro-LGBT and turning 50
Garbage's lead singer prefers to let the music carry the message
“I’ve tried very, very hard to stay out of this disgusting situation that American politics has found itself in,” Shirley Manson says. So rather than talk about this year’s presidential election, the Scottish singer and her American bandmates in Garbage have decided to let their music speak for itself.
For one thing, there’s the recognizably brooding, grungy Garbage sound, darker and more industrial than ever on the alt-rock quartet’s impressively realized, stirring new set Strange Little Birds. “It’s a very melancholic record,” Manson says. “A reflection of the times that we find ourselves in — things keep getting darker and darker every second.”
In addition to a handful of new tracks, Garbage, in concert at the Lincoln Theatre next week, will also perform several songs with pro-LGBT messages. “We have a lot of songs particularly centered around the LGBT community and gender fluidity that we’ve made a point of playing on this year’s tour,” Manson says. “We believe very strongly that the LGBT community must be supported, must be protected and must be given their civil rights. It’s something we feel really passionate about.”
The setlist includes one of Garbage’s first singles, 1995’s “Queer,” with its ambiguous lyrics open to LGBT interpretation, as well as funky-pop tune “Androgyny,” released in the musical doldrums of the post-9/11 era. “Boys in the girl’s room, girls in the men’s room,” Manson sings. “You free your mind in your androgyny.”
Manson traces her longtime passion for “kinship and fraternity” with the LGBT community to an early friendship in her hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland. “I just accepted that Leo loved boys, and it didn’t seem weird to me,” she says. “I don’t know if that’s because of the way I was brought up, or because I’m quite a masculine woman and I never really identified myself as a girl particularly. I’ve never really put a lot of stock in gender per se.”
Yet she is aware of just how uncommon her longevity and the band’s success has been. “I’m going to celebrate my 50th in a few weeks,” she says. “For a woman in alternative rock to have the length of career that I have had is still unfortunately quite rare, and I am very aware of how lucky I am to do what it is that I love. But you know, you only get to do what you love for so long, and then the tide of youth and new ideas pushes you back. And so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Almost before she can get that last sentiment out, Manson lets loose a laugh. “That is a streak of Scottish pessimism that you just got licked by there.”
Garbage performs Wednesday, Aug. 3, at 8 p.m., with an opening set by Kristin Kontrol, at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $75. Call 202-328-6000 or visit thelincolndc.com.
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