While Kim Deal gets the solo bug out of her system with the Amps, her sister Kelley, fresh from rehab, has started her own side project, Solid State. Recorded in Minneapolis last August, Run To The Sugar Altar, features collaborations with Jimmy Flemion (the Frogs) and Grifter Dave Shouse. "Dave is the Yummy Man," says Kelley. "He can put the yummies on sounds."
"Kelley's stuff is gonna blow Kim's away," says Shouse.
Recorded on Deal's dime--to the tune of 10,000--Run To The Sugar Altar is currently making the rounds of major and indie label A&R departments. By the time you read this, Kelley will probably have accepted one of several offers currently on the table--whichever one allows her to continue with the Breeders as well. To here Kelley tell it, reports of the Breeders untimely death have been greatly exaggerated. "We're supposed to get together in the spring," she says. "Kim wants to finish touring out Pacer. It'll be all the same people.."
Kelley's battle with heroin addiction were one of the reasons for the Breeders' hiatus. While she says she first started the drug during the '94 Lollapalooza tour, Kelley is quick to point out that she's dabbled in substances since puberty. "I started doing drugs when I was 13, before I even had my first period," she says. "I always loved drugs." By age 14, she says, she was shooting cocaine and mescaline. According to Kelley, it was naive experimentation, but her recreational drug use became full time job with heroin. She was arrested in the fall of 1994 when she signed for a package containing several grams of smack.
"The guy came to the door and asked me to sign for it, and as soon as I did, [the police] jumped out of the bushes," she recalls. "There were like 10 of them. I think they thought they were onto something bigger."
Kelley pleaded guilty and opted for treatment in lieu of a conviction on her record. During that dismal winter, through all the court proceedings, she was still using. "I was high all the time," she says. It took a "tough love" intervention from her sister and family to get her into rehab in April. "I hated [Kim] for it at the time," Kelley says. "They had to take me kicking and screaming. My dad accompanied me on the plane to Minnesota to make sure I got there. I actually tried to kick a couple of days before because I knew something was up, and I wanted to say goodbye to my parents without pinned eyes."
The songs on Run To The Sugar Altar draw on Kelley's rehab experience at the Hazelton Clinic in Minnesota. The LP's lead track, "Canyon," was inspired by a young, female crack addict she met during her brief stay in jail.
"She was so strung out that she was eating this turkey and Swiss sandwich and just passed out with food in her mouth before she was arrested," recalls Kelley. "Her boyfriend told her that the dog ate the food out of her mouth--he finished her bite."
Solid State's name is taken from the cosmology of the Arica cult, which she learned about from someone she met at Hazelton. "They believe there are various states of life, 'State One' and 'State Two,' all the way up to 'State 6000,' which is like nirvana," Kelley says. "'Solid State Three' is this stage of ecstatic drunkenness."
Solid State recently played select dates with the Grifters and Red Red Meat. "It was a blast," Kelley says with a giggle, "my dad drove us around in his RV."