Britta Phillips: Luck or Magic?

Britta Phillips is a vocalist, songwriter, and actress, best known for her role as the singing voice of Jem, the title character of the ‘80’s animated TV series Jem and the Holograms. She also starred in the girl band movie Satisfaction alongside Julia Roberts and Justine Bateman and is the bass player in ‘90’s indie pop band Luna. In 2007, she married Luna and Galaxie 500 frontman Dean Wareham. They have performed together as the duo Dean & Britta since 2003, and have jointly composed film scores for Mistress America and The Squid and the Whale. In addition, they wrote 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, a series of scores that correspond to a selection of Warhol’s screen tests. In tis episode, we talk to Britta about making her upcoming solo album, how she rescued her waning passion for music, and what makes for a good cover song. She also shares her thoughts on the joys of performing live, and dispels the current societal panic about a supposed dearth of exciting new music.