Life and career

Palmer was born Amanda MacKinnon Palmer in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, and grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. She attended Lexington High School, where she was involved in the drama department, and attended Wesleyan University where she was a member of the Eclectic Society. She staged performances based on work by the Legendary Pink Dots, an early influence, and was involved in the Legendary Pink Dots electronic mailing list, Cloud Zero. She then formed the Shadowbox Collective, devoted to street theatre and putting on theatrical shows (such as the 2002 play, Hotel Blanc, which she directed). Another early influence is Judy Blume, an author of children's books.

With an interest in the performing arts, both in music and in theatre, Palmer spent time busking as a living statue called "The Eight Foot Bride" in Harvard Square, Cambridge; Edinburgh, Scotland; Australia (where she met Jason Webley); as well as many other locations. She refers to this line of work on The Dresden Dolls' self-titled CD, with the song "The Perfect Fit":

I can paint my face
And stand very, very still
It's not very practical
But it still pays the bills

as well as on the A is for Accident track "Glass Slipper":

I give out flowers
To curious strangers
who throw dollars at my feet.

The Dresden Dolls

Main article: The Dresden Dolls

At a Halloween party in 2000, Palmer met drummer Brian Viglione and afterwards they formed The Dresden Dolls.

In an effort to expand the performance experience and interactivity, Palmer began inviting Lexington High School students to perform drama pieces at the Dresden Dolls' live shows. This evolved to The Dirty Business Brigade, a troupe of seasoned and new artists, performing at many gigs.

In 2002, after developing a cult following, the band recorded their eponymous debut album, The Dresden Dolls, with producer Martin Bisi (of Indie, Brooklyn, New York fame). They produced the album before signing with the label Roadrunner Records.

In 2006, The Dresden Dolls Companion was published, with words, music & artwork by Amanda Palmer. In it she has written a history of the album The Dresden Dolls and of the duo, as well as a partial autobiography. The book also contains the lyrics, sheet music, and notes on each song in the album, all written by Palmer, as well as a DVD with a 20-minute interview of Amanda about making the book.

In June 2007, as part of the Dresden Dolls, she toured with the True Colors Tour 2007, including her debut in New York City's Radio City Music Hall, and her first review in the New York Times.

July 2008 saw the release of the second Dresden Dolls book, the Virginia Companion. It is a follow-up to The Dresden Dolls Companion, featuring the music and lyrics from the Yes, Virginia...(2006) and No, Virginia... (2008) albums, produced by Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie.

The Onion Cellar and Cabaret

Palmer conceived the musical/production The Onion Cellar, based on a short story from The Tin Drum by Günter Grass. From December 9, 2006 through January 13, 2007, The Dresden Dolls performed the piece in conjunction with the American Repertory Theater at the Zero Arrow Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While Palmer was openly frustrated with the direction of the show, fan and critical reviews were very positive.

Palmer, as part of her solo career, returned to the A.R.T. in fall 2010 for a two-month run of Cabaret, starring as the Emcee.

2010 Reunion tour

A Dresden Dolls reunion tour in the United States took place in 2010, starting on Halloween in New York City and ending in San Francisco on New Years Eve.

Evelyn Evelyn

Main article: Evelyn Evelyn

In September 2007, Palmer collaborated with Jason Webley to release Evelyn Evelyn's debut EP Elephant Elephant via Jason's Eleven Records. Their full-length album, Evelyn Evelyn was released March 30, 2010, followed by a worldwide tour.

Solo career

In July 2007, Palmer played three sold-out shows (in Boston, Hoboken, and NYC) in a new "with band" format. Her backing band was Boston alternative rock group Aberdeen City, who also opened along with Dixie Dirt. In August 2007, Amanda traveled to perform in the Spiegeltent and other venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, and also performed on BBC Two's The Edinburgh Show. She collaborated with Australian theater company, The Danger Ensemble; both again appeared at the Spiegeltent in Melbourne and at other venues around Australia in December 2007. In June 2008, Palmer established her solo career with two well-received performances with the Boston Pops.

Her first solo studio album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, was released on September 16, 2008. Ben Folds produced and also played on the album. The title is a play on an expression used by fans during Twin Peaks' original run, "Who killed Laura Palmer?" A companion book of photos of Palmer looking as if she were murdered was released in July 2009. Titled Who Killed Amanda Palmer a Collection of Photographic Evidence, it featured photography by Kyle Cassidy and stories by Neil Gaiman, as well as lyrics from the album.

"Strength Through Music," a track from Who Killed Amanda Palmer, indirectly references August Strindberg. The song contains an audio clip of a web cartoon called Strindberg and Helium; the cartoon almost exclusively quotes Strindberg's work.

In Autumn 2008, she toured Europe with Jason Webley, Zoe Keating and The Danger Ensemble, performing songs mostly from her debut solo album. She did most of the shows with a broken foot she had sustained in Belfast, Northern Ireland when a car ran over her foot as she stepped out into a street.

In April 2009, she played at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

In 2009, Palmer went back to her alma mater, Lexington High School in Massachusetts, to collaborate with her old director and mentor Steven Bogart on a workshop piece for the department's spring production. The play, With The Needle That Sings In Her Heart was inspired by Neutral Milk Hotel's album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and The Diary of Anne Frank. It received an overwhelmingly positive response from the Lexington community and abroad. NPR's Avishay Artsy interviewed the cast in a piece featured on All Things Considered on closing night of the production. Amanda described this process as "what it's all about" in her blog.

Palmer began using the ukulele during a concert as a gag, but soon it became a regular part of her repertoire. Later, she recorded a full album with ukulele accompaniment: Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele. She sometimes performs during free ninja gigs in public locations, open to all ages.

On April 20, 2012, Palmer announced on her blog that she launched a new album pre-order on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter project was ultimately supported by 24,883 backers for a grand total of $1,192,793 — at the time, the most funds ever raised for a musical project on Kickstarter. The album, Theatre Is Evil, was recorded with The Grand Theft Orchestra, produced by John Congleton, and released in September 2012.

On November 9, 2012, Amanda Palmer launched the first music video from Theatre is Evil for "Do it With a Rockstar" on The Flaming Lips' website. The video was co-created and directed by Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips. Subsequent videos were released for "The Killing Type" and "The Bed Song".

On August 9, 2013, Amanda Palmer made her Lincoln Center debut in New York City.

In November 2014, Palmer released a memoir The Art of Asking, ISBN 1455581089, which expands on a Ted talk she gave in February 2013. The book made the NY Times bestsellers lists.

On March 3, 2015 Amanda announced her presence on the crowdfunding platform Patreon. She released the track "Bigger On The Inside" via Patreon on March 9, 2015.

Palmer spoke at the 2015 Hay Festival about the prospect of reconciling art and motherhood. The talk was recorded for the BBC Radio 4 series Four Thought and broadcast on June 21, 2015. Also in 2015, she served as a judge for The 14th Annual Independent Music Awards.

During the first months of 2016, she released the completely patron-funded song, "Machete", and a David Bowie tribute EP, entitled Strung Out In Heaven: A Bowie String Quartet Tribute.

Participating with fans on the Internet

Palmer is noted for her use of the Internet, regularly using the latest innovations to make new fans and connect with old ones. This includes her forum, her blog, use of many free music and social networking sites, fund raising, and direct-to-fan marketing. Her grasp of the evolving landscape of music is epitomized by her success using Kickstarter for Theatre Is Evil.

Controversies

Dispute with Roadrunner Records, fans' "ReBellyon"

After the release of her music video for the song "Leeds United," Palmer sparked controversy with a post in her blog. She claimed Roadrunner Records had wanted to pull certain shots from the video that exposed her stomach, because "...they thought I looked fat." After her fans read about this, they posted pictures of their stomachs online with messages to Roadrunner, lyrics, and words of comfort. They then sent their pictures to the record label, and started a website. The fans coined a term for the movement: The ReBellyon, and put together a book, The Belly Book, of over 600 pictures and stories from fans. The book was sold over the internet to fans all over the world. Pitchfork Magazine and The Guardian were among publications reporting on the controversy.

Partly because of the Leeds video controversy, Palmer attempted to disengage from her contract with Roadrunner Records, going as far as composing and performing a song called "Please Drop Me," which asked the label to free her from the contract.

After a long legal battle between Palmer and Roadrunner, and her repeated pleas to discontinue her contract with Roadrunner, Palmer announced that Roadrunner Records finally released her from their label. Her appreciation was punctuated with another new song: "Do You Swear to Tell the Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth So Help Your Black Ass" as a free download to celebrate her new freedom. She repeated the announcement during an appearance on the Australian music quiz show Spicks and Specks.

"Oasis" controversy

Palmer's song "Oasis" and its follow-up video sparked more controversy. The song's semi-autobiographical story deals with an Oasis fan and rape victim who has an abortion. Despite these tragic events, the lyrics state, "I've seen better days, but I don't care," and directly after, inform the listener what just happened involving the narrator's process of communicating to Oasis through fan mail, first, "I just sent a letter in the mail", then, "Oasis got my letter in the mail", and finally, toward the end of the song, "I just got a letter in the mail." Palmer received an e-mail while she was in the United Kingdom from her label there explaining that "all" of the TV outlets in the country had refused to play the video due to its "making light of rape, religion, and abortion." Palmer, in response, wrote on her blog "I suggested that I might be allowed to play it if I just slowed it way down and played it in a minor key. Think about it. If they heard the same lyrics against the backdrop of a very sad and liliting piano, maybe with some tear-jerking strings thrown in for good measure, would they take issue?"

"I Kissed a Girl" skit

In December 2008, Palmer alongside the Danger Ensemble and Margaret Cho performed an anti-Proposition 8 agitprop skit at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. In the skit a Katy Perry look-alike came onstage and began singing her controversial song "I Kissed a Girl," only to be interrupted, kissed, and fondled by Palmer and comedian Margaret Cho. The skit ended with the two binding and gagging "Perry", who is forced into a mock wedding with Palmer, followed by the raising of an anti-Proposition 8 banner. The skit was directed by Steven Mitchell Wright (Artistic Director of the Danger Ensemble). Palmer mentioned, on her blog, the discontent some in the LGBT community had with Perry over her exploitation of their identity in her song "I Kissed a Girl", and said she meant the piece as a protest against Proposition 8.

Crowdsourcing musicians controversy

On August 21, 2012, Palmer's website announced that she was seeking fans to play with her Grand Theft Orchestra in each city on her 2012 tour. Musicians would be compensated with beer, merchandise and hugs. Angry musicians flooded her website with criticism for hiring musicians without properly compensating them. Raymond M. Hair Jr., president of the American Federation of Musicians commented that, "If there's a need for the musician to be on the stage, then there ought to be compensation for it" while Steve Albini expressed dismay and described the act as "plain rude." Palmer defended her action by stating that, although the musicians accompanying her on the tour were paid she could not afford the $35,000 to pay the additional local musicians she wanted to include in local performances. In an interview with the New York Times she said, "If you could see the enthusiasm of these people, the argument would become invalid...They’re all incredibly happy to be here." By mid-September, Palmer had changed her mind and announced she would pay all the musicians who had volunteered to play on her tour.

"a poem for dzhokhar"

then a remarkable thing happened.
the people who hated the poem started writing THEIR OWN POEMS, sometimes in sloppy haiku form, sometimes in limerick form, sometimes copying the stream-of-consciousness format of the poem i had posted...
and then: someone told me it was national poetry month.
and i thought: this is amazing. when was the last time a thousand people argued about a stupid poem?
or shared so many poems about something bad that had happened?
not any time recently, that i can remember."

amandapalmer.net

On April 21, 2013, Palmer published a poem entitled "a poem for dzhokhar" on her blog, seemingly addressed to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two men accused of perpetrating the Boston Marathon bombings. The poem provoked angry responses from readers who felt it was too sympathetic to the alleged bomber. In a follow-up blog post on April 23, Palmer said that the poem took "about 9 minutes to write", and that much of it was misinterpreted, both by its fans and its detractors.

Glastonbury 2013 and the Daily Mail

The British tabloid the Daily Mail reported that, when Palmer appeared at the 2013 Glastonbury music festival, "her breast ... escaped her bra", adding that "Amanda's bra rode up while her shirt opened, leaving her wardrobe malfunction on show for all to see." In reaction to that report, which otherwise contained no reference to the show or her music, Palmer, when she gave a concert at the Roundhouse in July 2013, performed a song whose lyrics, a letter to the Daily Mail, conclude with "Dear Daily Mail / Up yours!" Halfway through it, Palmer threw off her kimono and continued her performance nude. She has been interviewed on her response and her role in feminism.

Personal life

Palmer resides in Boston, Massachusetts, with other artists in a cooperative named the Cloud Club.

She has identified as bisexual, telling afterellen.com in 2007: "I'm bisexual, but it's not the sort of thing I spent a lot of time thinking about," Palmer said. "I've slept with girls; I've slept with guys, so I guess that's what they call it! I'm not anti trying to use language to simplify our lives." Palmer has spoken out on feminist issues and about her open relationships, stating in one interview that "I've never been comfortable in a monogamous relationship in my life. I feel like I was built for open relationships just because of the way I function," Palmer explained. "It's not a reactive decision like, 'Hey I'm on the road, you're on the road, let's just find other people.' It was a fundamental building block of our relationship. We both like things this way."

Palmer has said that she once worked as a stripper named Berlin. She has stated that the song "Berlin" was written about this experience.

On her blog, Palmer has stated that she had an abortion at age 17. In the same blog post, she stated that she was date raped when she was 20 years old.

On January 1, 2010, she stated on her Twitter feed that she "might have told 'd marry him but also might have been drunk." On January 15, 2010, Neil Gaiman and Palmer confirmed their engagement in an announcement made to their respective websites. On November 16, 2010, Amanda Palmer hosted a flash mob wedding (not legally binding) for Gaiman's birthday in New Orleans. On January 3, 2011, the couple announced, via Twitter, that they had legally married in a private ceremony. The wedding took place in the parlor of writers Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon.

Palmer practices meditation and wrote an article titled "Melody vs. Meditation" for the Buddhist publication Shambhala Sun, that described the struggle between songwriting and being able to clear the mind to meditate.

Palmer has also mentioned her pescetarianism.

On March 18, 2015, Palmer announced via her Twitter and Facebook profiles that she and her husband, Neil Gaiman, were expecting a child in September. Palmer gave birth to the couple's son, Anthony, on September 16, 2015.

Awards and honors

• 2012 - Artist & Manager Awards - Pioneer Award
• 2012 - Twitter Feed @amandapalmer in The Boston Phoenix's Best 2012
• 2011 - Actress in a local production: Cabaret - Boston's Best, Improper Bostonian
• 2010 - Artist of the Year - Boston Music Awards
• 2010 - Cover of Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead) named 13th of Paste Magazine's 20 Best Cover Songs of 2010
• 2009 - No. 100 on After Ellen's Hot 100 of 2009.
• 2008 - No. 6 on the Best Solo artist list in The Guardian's Readers' Poll of 2008.
• 2007 - No. 6 on Spinner.com's Women Who Rock Right Now.
• 2006 - the Boston Globe named her the most stylish woman in Boston.
• 2006 - listed in Blender Magazine's hottest women of rock.
• 2005 - Best Female Vocalist in the WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll.

Discography

Solo artist

Demos

• Songs from 1989-1995... (1996)
• Summer 1998 Five Song Demo (1997)

Studio albums

• Who Killed Amanda Palmer (2008) No. 77 US
• Theatre Is Evil (2012) No. 10 US - as of 12 September 2012
• Jack & Amanda Palmer: You Got Me Singing (2016)

Live albums

• Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under (2011)
• Several Attempts to Cover Songs by The Velvet Underground & Lou Reed for Neil Gaiman as His Birthday Approaches (2012)
• An Evening With Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer (2013)

EPs

• Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele (2010)
• Amanda Palmer and Jherek Bischoff: Strung Out In Heaven (A David Bowie Tribute) (2016)

Singles

• "Leeds United" (2008)
• "Oasis" (February, 2009)
• "Do You Swear to Tell the Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth So Help Your Black Ass" (April 6, 2010)
• "Idioteque" (Radiohead cover, June 10, 2010)
• "Map of Tasmania" (December 2010)
• "Polly" (Nirvana cover, from Newermind, 2011). Remixed and re-released February 2012.
• "Do It With a Rockstar" (June, 2012)
• "Institutionalized" (Suicidal Tendencies cover, from A Tribute to Repo Man, 2012)
• "Bigger On The Inside" (March 9, 2015)
• "The Things About Things" (March 9, 2015)
• "All I Could Do" (August, 2015) Amanda & Jack Palmer (Kimya Dawson cover)
• "So Much Wine" (August, 2015) Amanda & Jack Palmer (The Handsome Family cover)
• "A Mother's Confession" (February 25, 2016)
• "Machete" (March 9, 2016)
• "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" (May 3, 2016) Amanda & Jack Palmer (Richard Thompson cover)

DVDs

• Who Killed Amanda Palmer: A Collection of Music Videos (2009)

As part of The Dresden Dolls

Main article: The Dresden Dolls discography

• The Dresden Dolls (EP) (2002)
• A Is for Accident (2003)
• The Dresden Dolls (2003, reissued 2004)
• Yes, Virginia... (2006)
• No, Virginia... (2008)

As part of Evelyn Evelyn

• Elephant Elephant (EP) (2007)
• Evelyn Evelyn (2010)

Other collaborations

• "Trudy" (with Ad Frank and the Fast Easy Women on In Girl Trouble) (2003)
• "Circus Freak Love Triangle" (with Hierosonic on Pornos and Razorblades) (2005)
• "Warsaw Is Khelm" (with Golem on Fresh Off Boat) (2006)
• "Life", "Eight Days of Hell" and "Witch's Web" (with ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on So Divided) (2006)
• "The Lovers" (with Meredith Yayanos on Brainwaves) (2006)
• "Stuck with You" (with Voltaire on Ooky Spooky) (2007)
• "Everybody Hurts" (with Cormac Bride on Stereogum Presents... Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic For the People) (2007)
• "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" (The Dresden Dolls with Franz Nicolay on All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash) (2008)
• "With the Needle That Sings in Her Heart" appearing as "The Ringmaster" (Lexington High School's Spring Production, 2009)
• "Black Versus White" (with Apoptygma Berzerk on Rocket Science) (2009)
• "3 Men Hanging" (Murder By Death cover) Murder By Death/Amanda Palmer Split 7" (2009)
• "Living in Misery" (with Kill Hannah on Wake Up the Sleepers) (2009)
• "New England" (Jonathan Richman cover) Franz Nicolay with The Dresden Dolls on St. Sebastian of the Short Stage EP (2009)
• "János vs Wonderland" (with Tristan Allen on Tristan Allen EP) (2010)
• "The Little Prince" (with Lance Horne on First Things Last) (2011)
• Nighty Night (with Damian Kulash of OK Go, Neil Gaiman and Ben Folds as 8in8) (2011)
• "Such Great Heights" (The Postal Service cover), with Kim Boekbinder on Such Great Heights single (2011)
• "The First Time Ever I Saw Her Face" (with The Flaming Lips) (2012)
• " First World Problems" (by Weird Al Yankovic on Mandatory Fun) (2014)
• "You and Him" (by John Grant)
• "Before Too Long" (by Missy Higgins on Oz) (2014)

Film

• Temple of Art (2014) Co-produced by Palmer.
• Artifact (2012) Interviewee.

Bibliography

• Palmer, Amanda (2006). The Dresden Dolls Companion. New York, NY: Eight Foot Music. ISBN 978-1-57560-888-4.
• Palmer, Amanda; Viglione, Brian (2008). The Dresden Dolls - The Virginia Companion. Cherry Lane Music Company. ISBN 1-60378-079-3.
• Palmer, Amanda; Gaiman, Neil; Cassidy, Kyle; Hommel, Beth (2009). Who Killed Amanda Palmer: A Collection of Photographic Evidence. New York, NY: Eight Foot Books. ISBN 0-615-23439-9.
• Palmer, Amanda (2009). Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?. Cherry Lane Music Company. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-60378-123-7. A songbook with the chords and lyrics to the album Who Killed Amanda Palmer
• Von Buhler, Cynthia; Palmer, Amanda; Webley, Jason (2011). Evelyn Evelyn (illustrated ed.). Diamond Comic Distributors. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-59582-578-0.
• Palmer, Amanda (November 11, 2014). The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 1455581089.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]