Arts & Entertainment
Friday,
March 18, 2005
Volume 33,
Issue 11
Sat, Nov 21, 2009
IN THE SGN
SECTION ONE
Front Page
MORE/ALL
SECTION ONE
STORIES
SECTION TW0
Arts & Entertainment
AFTER THE FALL |
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| AFTER THE FALL | ||
| Interview by Maggie Bloodstone
- SGN A&E Writer
What I was saying about synchronicity: turns out theres a little piece of Nomi here in Seattle, in the person of Maxine St. Clair. Amiable, petite Maxine is now a natural soap maker (she can be found at the Capitol Hill Farmers Market Saturdays) with a teenage daughter, but in the early 80s Maxine resided in NYC and had the pleasure of the company of several semi-legendary downtown personalities such as Joey Arias, John Sex and most especially, Klaus Nomi. Maxine will be present at the opening night screening of Nomi Song, March 25, 7:00 p.m. to answer questions you will do doubt have about one of musics most unforgettable, almost forgotten treasures. Maggie Bloodstone: How did you come to know Klaus? Maxine St Clair: I met him shortly after I moved to New York. I was always a fan of opera, and I think I was dating a guy that was working in Klaus show as a stagehand, and he said: You have to hear this guy Klaus Nomis music, its just wonderful, youd love it! I had never heard him before, and when I heard the music, I was just astounded, I was blown away. I had always pictured this really large, Nordic-looking man, just bellowing out this fantastic opera. (Laughter) I went to a party in the East Village, and Klaus was there, and when I met him, I was shocked because he was, you know, just average. M.B.: Well, Id hardly call him average (Laughter) M.S.C.: So, I just struck up a conversation with him, and we just got on, and I think I met him again at a club where they were showing some of his videos. And we just kind of became fast friends- I have to stress that I wasnt really involved in his professional life, I was just a close personal friend, and pretty much a constant companion for the last two years of his life. M.B.: You werent interviewed for the film, were you? M.S.C.: No, I wasnt interviewed for the film- I supplied (Director) Andy Horn with a lot of photographs, and a lot of tidbits, and I had a lot of conversations with him over the years, but, no, Im not in the film being interviewed. I am in the film in the party scene for the Simple Man video. M.B.: Oh, that was you! (Laughter) One of the interviewees in the film described Klaus as being deep down superficial and profound on the surface. I know people like that, so I know what he means- do you think thats accurate? M.S.C.: Well, the way I knew him was he could be kind of profound, but to me, he was I dont want to say average. He described himself in a later interview, that he really was a simple man. He was not that complex, he was fairly conservative I havent seen the film, so I really dont know what people said, or anything. M.B.: Everyone was nice - there was no dirt or anything to dish. M.S.C.: I dont think there was any dirt to dish (Laughter). He led a very clean and simple life M.B.: Well, well, there were a couple mentions of his going down to the Trucks occasionally, but like thats really unique for New York (Laughter). M.S.C.: I didnt really know about that- as far as I knew, his relationships were- just-conservative! (Laughter) Maybe there was something that I didnt know, but M.B.: He seemed to be that kind of artist that did what he loved first. M.S.C.: Oh, yeah, definitely! M.B.: And it seemed like only later, when he was actually getting attention for what he did, he really got interested in being acknowledged for it. M.S.C.: Yeah, of course he wanted to be acknowledged for it. I think a lot of that came from getting a bad deal from his record company, and not getting the acknowledgment he felt he deserved. M.B.: What, exactly, happened with his record company? M.S.C.: All I can say is what Klaus told me: he signed on with RCA early in his career. They promoted him mostly overseas and Europe. They didnt promote him that much in the United States. They paid for his housing, his utility bills, that sort of thing. They pretty much gave him an allowance, and it wasnt that much money, it was only $200-$250 a month. As he gained popularity, the record company was making all this money off him, but he was under contract, and in a way, it was his fault, I mean, he signed that contract never knowing that hed become as big as he did. M.B.: He wasnt very business savvy? M.S.C.: I think he was just kind of naïve. I think he was just really happy to have signed with a big record company. I mean, who wouldnt be? I think he just didnt give it a lot of thought, and as time went on, and he wanted a change in his contract, he couldnt get it, and it caused a lot of conflict in his life. M.B.: It seems hard to imagine now, how terrified people were about AIDS- I can remember when people were absolutely hysterical. M.S.C.: Oh, yeah, some of my friends were, like, Are you crazy? Why are you taking care of this guy? No one else was, so I probably saw him maybe two days before he actually died- I was actually living in his apartment when he passed away. I stayed there quite a bit while he was in the hospital, because he was so worried about being robbed. M.B.: Do you think people he knew stayed away because they were really afraid of catching something, or they just couldnt stand to see him like that? M.S.C.: I think they really were terrified of catching something, I really do. I know some other performers like John Sex, who also died of AIDS, was concerned for Klaus, but he told me he was afraid of being exposed to it, so hed call me and asked how Klaus was doing, but he was afraid to actually come and see him. Because at the time, people thought you could get it by just breathing the air! When he was hospitalized, the only way you could see him was you had to put on a gown and a mask. Yeah, it was pretty different from how it is now. M.B.: How long was he ill before he died? Because back then, once you were diagnosed, it was like, no time at all before the end. M.S.C.: It was about a year. M.B.: Oh, he really held on, then! M.S.C.: He died in August of 83 I wonder if it was less than a year I just know, on New Years Eve, I think I was going to a Nina Hagen concert at a place called The World, and I went over to visit Klaus, and I brought champagne, and I was going to stay there til midnight, cause he wasnt feeling well. And I walked in, and he said Maxine, I know whats wrong with me, I have this AIDS, this new Gay disease. I said, no you dont, what gives you that idea? He said, I know I have it, I have all the symptoms, and he was so adamant about it. And when I went into his room, I saw hed been reading an article about it in the paper, so I thought thats where he got that idea. But, it turns out he did have it. He was hospitalized twice with pneumonia, the second time, he noticed a little lump on the back of his neck- I dont even believe he mentioned it to the doctors. He mentioned it to me, cause he wanted me to look at it, but that turned out to be the beginning of Kaposis? M.B.: Kaposis Sarcoma, yeah. M.S.C.: Right. And unfortunately for him, he got that all over his face and upper torso, which was really traumatic for him because it was so disfiguring. That was one of the hardest things for him. M.B.: Lets end on an up note: What is your favorite memory of Klaus? M.S.C.: We had an awful lot of really good times together, but I guess one of the best memories was I lived in a rooming house in the East Village, in this little dinky room, and he would come over, and the whole house would just fill with his voice just carried, and it was so nice, with the sun streaming in the windows, and Klaus singing at the top of his lungs. He used to say he couldnt sing in his own apartment, because his neighbors would complain! So Id have him come over to my little tiny room, and sing. M.B.: Was there anything you wanted to add? M.S.C.: Just that Im grateful to Andy Horn for doing this film, and keeping the Nomi spirit alive. |
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