Tiny Vipers' Jesy Fortino has lived other lifetimes. From her songs, she sings of these lives. Some previously lived, some yet to be. Her playing and arrangements are a stasis, vicariously balancing between these ancients and futures. Jesy’s sound is sparse and forlorn. She haunts the beauty of a room, singing lowly and lonely, whistling at times. Her songs are serums, almost awkward in how hard they hit. In "Dreaming" she sings, “Can we learn when we can’t understand?” A solid question. Cut to Saint-Remy, France. It's 1889 in the room of a mental asylum there. A painter named Vincent paints, it's what he does. A night, with stars. Yellow, dark blue. He hallucinates. A match in the dream is struck.

Tiny Vipers: "Dreaming"

Jesy Fortino also lives in the sound of her acoustic guitar. There’s a connection, a symbiosis of vocals and instrument. She spoke:

Is there a story to the guitar you play? Is it special to you?
Jesy: Yes. I went to the guitar store about five years ago and I played every guitar there until I found the one with the right tone. When I found it, I wrote down which one it was and how much it cost. It was $1900. I’d never spent that much money on anything but I told myself going in that once I found the right guitar, I would commit to buying it when possible.

How did you end up getting it?
I went to my work and signed up for as many shifts as I could. It only took a couple months to come up with the money. I would go back to the guitar store from time to time to play it to make sure I really wanted it. I was only a few hundred short the last time I went in and the guy working there saw me checking it out again. By then, we sort of knew each other because I had come in to look at it so many times. You could see the dollar signs in his eyes when I said I was actually interested in buying it. I finally admitted that I really wanted the guitar but I didn’t have all the money for it yet. He asked how much I had and I told him and he said if I bought it that day, he would sell it to me for the amount I had. I was so excited, I ran home and grabbed my envelope of money. I couldn’t believe I was actually getting it. I was listening to The good, the Bad, and the Ugly soundtrack on my headphones when I walked back up the hill to my house with the guitar. I hid it in the broom closet when I wasn’t playing it, I was so paranoid it would get stolen. I loved it so much. I still do.

Why is this guitar magic?
It has a special tone. A very special tone. I made up a way to tune it to really use these tones. I don’t have a name for it or anything like that. I just think it is perfect for what I like to do.

Have you ever lit a guitar on fire?
Nope

What do you think of lighting instruments on fire, in general?
—

You have toured over seas so much the last couple years, do you like the travel?
I like touring in Europe. Everything is closer together there. It is tougher in the U.S. because everything is so far apart. Plus, I like the different cultures. I like being there. I think I can relate to peoples’ attitude toward living much more there. Especially in Switzerland and Germany and Holland.

Where is your favorite foreign place to play?
Germany. People are really supportive and I have some friends there. I think Germans have a good sense of humor. Norway is good too. It’s nice to play for focused people. I think there is a larger group of more focused people over there.

For your over seas tours, do you have an entourage? Who goes with you? Do you have a system?
Every time I have gone it has been different. The first time I went I toured with a rock band called Buffalo Tom. I brought a guitar player with me. We all shared a van. Buffalo Tom has a good following in Europe. Mostly older people. The shows were big. I mean to me they were big. A lot of rock venues and rockers. We didn’t have a lot of time to see anything. I learned a bunch from Buffalo Tom because they’ve been doing it a long time. I only brought my guitar and a reverb pedal. The guitar got smashed on the airplane ride home. Luckily, I had it insured so I could get it fixed. With some of the remaining insurance money, I bought a flight case so it wouldn’t happen again. It's an ATA approved flight case, custom made to fit my guitar. It is huge. A huge metal box. It’s so stupid and big. When I went to go pick it up from the place I ordered it from I instantly regretted it. I can hardly carry it and the company forgot to put wheels on it. Just to check it in at the airport I pay $100 in fines for it being so big.

The second time I went to Europe I went alone. Most of the shows I played I either headlined or played with local bands. I bought a Eurail pass and took the trains. I didn’t have a cell phone or a computer. Before I left I made a notebook full of information: each place I had to go, what time I had to be there, what train I had to catch to get there, what time I had to wake up to catch the train, where the hotel was, what buses to catch to the hotel or venue, various contacts for each place, stuff like that. All my merch was in a backpack, as much as I could cram in there. It was heavy. I only had room for one change of clothes. The guitar and flight case were a huge complication. Riding the busses was very difficult. Some bus drivers wouldn’t let me on. I would have to argue with them and even if they let me on, everyone glared at me. The case was too heavy for me to lift so I bought a collapsible hand truck and used bungee cords to tie it on. I would push it around wherever I went. If I could avoid riding the bus I would, even if it meant walking for an hour or so. A lot of that tour was me trying to pull the flight case through towns on cobblestone streets. I got strong and had crazy muscles by the end. That was definitely the hardest I have ever had to work. I woke up around 6am everyday to put in motion all the things I had to do to get to the show on time. Cabs were out of the question. I have personal rules about how to spend money and cabs are out of the question.

It was weird to see all these places and have all these experiences alone. Some days, I wouldn’t even talk. I had no one to talk to. By the time I did get to the venue and met the promoter, I was so happy to talk to them and I would ask them questions about the town and the venue. I learned a lot about all the places because of this. And I made great friends. When you travel alone, people take you into their lives a little more. People would take me to their favorite restaurants or parks, show me around and hang out with me. When you are on tour with other people this doesn’t happen so often. I’m not sure why. I guess when people see you sitting there by yourself, they want to include you.

Jesy Continues: The third time I went to Europe was with Damien Jurado. I brought my guitar in its trusty flight case, a delay pedal, and reverb pedal. Flying the acoustic amp I prefer to use is too expensive so I rented one from a company in Amsterdam. This time, the touring was a breeze. They let me ride in their van with them. They were all Seattle people, so I more or less already knew them. Damien, Jenna, and Eric were great people to hang out with. They have a really great following over there too. And they were the best audiences you could ask for. It was really a fun time!

This time, I am leasing a car. I’ll be there for a month and a half so it makes the most financial sense. I am bringing my guitar and flight case, reverb, and delay pedals. I’ll be renting my amp from the same company I rented it from last time, along with a GPS, and power converter. My boyfriend is coming to help me drive. I have only driven a handful of times in my life and don’t think drving in Europe would be very smart. Also, I'll get to travel with him, which will nice.

Do you have any funny Euro-touring stories?
I booked this show at a venue last minute. It was on the way so I thought it would break up the drive a little plus maybe we could ask around for a place to stay that night at the show. I had never heard of the place or the town. We got there and the guy who let us in was like, "I don’t know anything about this stuff, the owner will be here soon and she can help you with sound issues." I said that was okay and that we could set up our equipment now because we don’t require much for sound. Then I asked if they had any reverb. He said, "I don’t know, we might have some in the back room." Then he turned and walked away.

Tiny Vipers plays tonight, Thursday, August 6, 2009 in Schokoladen, Berlin Germany. (She probably goes on soon.)

Tiny Vipers latest album, Life on Earth, out now on Sub Pop.