In a brand new interview, Amanda Palmer opens up on the significance of The Dresden Dolls in 2026, whether she thinks about her legacy as an artist, and the importance of ‘Yes, Virginia…(Tailor’s Version)’…
Photo Credit: Pixie Vision Photography
What does it mean to you on an emotional level to have Yes, Virginia…(Tailor’s Version) coming out into the world?
On an emotional level? It’s funny, you know. As I look back on my last twenty-five years of playing live music and putting records out, I don’t think there’s another level available. It’s like: I’m always vaguely aware that there’s this practical level, about the business, the streams, the money, the vinyl, the tickets. But mostly, I’ve always just cared about the music reaching the people it needs to reach. I used to think it was about reaching the greatest number of people possible; but now I realize that it’s more about creating the conditions where the music can find the people who need these songs, these words, these sounds, this band. The people in 2026 who need The Dresden Dolls, and this collection of songs? I don’t know. I think we’re about to find out. But this music has never been just about entertainment; it’s like a medicinal music for the aggrieved and the chronically weird.
Those people keep proliferating, so hopefully, maybe somebody will find their long-lost band this year, and it’ll be us. But personally; I dunno….these songs were like incredibly personal diary entires. Singing them again into a microphone was like having a conversation with my sadder, fizzier, more fragile 26-year-old self. But none of these songs sound immature to me; in fact, they’re full of a daring and an unfiltered quality that I really respect. So it’s also a little disorienting. I’ve grown so much as a songwriter, but I’m also blown away by how unapologetically weird I allowed my own lyrics to be, before the days of overthinking really remodeled my songwriting brain.
Mostly, my feelings are just awe, and pride. Pride that my band lasted this long when so many other bands disintigrate. Pride that Brian and I can still play together and make so much good, emotional noise in a world that still loves and embraces that noise. Maybe needs it more than ever.
The album was tracked almost entirely live with longtime collaborator Benny Grotto and mixed by Paul Kolderie, co-founder of Boston’s iconic Fort Apache Studios (and sound engineer on the original 2006 Yes, Virginia…), can you give me an insight into one or two of your favourite experiences during the process?
Brian and I have been playing these songs for so long that the moves, the tempos, the stops and starts are sort of baked into our blood. I swear to god, you could take me away from a piano for 5 years and plop me down across from Brian to play “Mrs. O” and we’d probably nail those hits after the long, indeterminate pauses like no time at all had gone by. There’s such an incredibly deep memory in the playing of the music, and Brian and I have this indelible chemistry. So being in the studio and getting to capture the current incarnations of these songs was just such a gift. Not every band gets to do that; most bands don’t get to do that. Usually, you go into the studio, make your record, THEN take it on the road for a year or two and by then you’re like, FUCK, I wish the songs were this good on the first recording, I wish we’d had a year to fine-tune them. These songs kept growing and evolving on the road…they’re just more beautiful and sharp versions of the originals, and to that end, we didn’t over-rehearse. We just made sure we were in incredible shape and we hit the studio ready to slaughter, and to not get too caught up in the distraction of the originals. My favorite moment in the studio was feeling the rush of emotion, while at the piano, when the band just snapped together into place – it happened during several songs – and you could just tell the take was going to be the perfect, usable, take.
As an engineer, Benny was the perfect foil. He didn’t over-produce the tracks, he just set up the microphones in the perfect configuration, added the perfect light touches, and let the band blare. That’s no small feat, because the balance in the sound with a band like the dolls is so critical. It’s simple, and they’re more easy to ruin. So in those moments when the drums slayed, the piano crashed perfectly, and we all got goosebumps on either side of the glass, I don’t know, I live for those moments. They don’t feel like anything else on earth.
There was also the tenderness. Brian and I have been caretakers of one another’s art and space for decades now. This music and this process is so very emotional; it’s easy to trample on one another, and we used to cross those boundaries all the time. We’ve learned so much over the years about respecting one another’s feelings and moods in the studio, it was a really enjoyable experience to feel that maturity in real time. We’ve toured plenty since 2007, but this is the first time the band was in the studio for a prolonged undertaking, and our miles really showed. We’ve both become more sensitive, more careful. Just feeling that kind of growth is delicious.
You said in the press release that “Re-recording these songs 20 years later proved to be a really surreal trip down memory lane.” – did you think about some of the more challenging times you faced as a band, and how did you reconcile with those more difficult memories?
Oh god. Well, yes. This band is like a fire. We don’t have a medium setting, only high. The music works because the emotional tenor is set to eleven; everything is a controlled burn, but it’s still a burn, and there’s no getting around that. We do not make soft, pretty, palatable-to-the-masses music. We rage, and we pound, and we scream. We emote and we cathart. We really burned out back in the old days. It just wasn’t possible to sustain that kind of outpouring, night after night, and there was really no form of self-care and no handbrake, no governing body to say “this band needs to take care of itself for its longevity”. We were young and starving for the audience and we said yes to absolutely everything. Our agents and management and labels and the promoters were never going to encourage us to say no. So, natully, we burned out with exhaustion. We grew bitter and breathless and we just kept not taking a break. By the time we fell over, the band broke. We knew it wasn’t the very end, but we were both ready to get away from the fire.
We’ve talked a lot about those old days and there is plenty of blame to go around, but I think Brian and I have both seen so many years go by, so many other bands explode and not repair, that we understand the importance of keeping the core together so that we can serve the music. The songs are sort of bigger than both of us, now. The band just has to get out of the way of the songs, play them, channel them, like a service. When we do that, everything unfolds perfectly.
I resonated with this quote: “It was almost unsettling how relevant these lyrics still are in 2026, especially the themes of turmoil, powerlessness, the subtle creep of fascism, abortion rights; there’s even a song imagining the corporate takeover of outer space in ‘Modern Moonlight.’ It’s like, wow, look how far we haven’t come.” – what is your message for Dresden Dolls fans, who draw great strength from your work, even in these difficult times?
To take what you need, wherever you find it. These times are just so incredibly dark, right now. In America, for certain, I don’t know a single person who isn’t feeling some level of existential dread. The walls can feel like they’re closing in on you. My message hasn’t changed in 25 years. Community above all. Haters gonna hate, and they’re going to hate with extra bile nowadays, because there’s so much to be afraid of. The fear breeds the hate, and our job is simply to feel a (boundaried) compassion for the people who can’t get out of the hate-mindset. It’s even in the lyrics: we want to welcome everyone, even the bigots, the bitter, the broken. Don’t close your heart. As much as they clobber you, stay open. Stay open to love, to chosen family, to your passionate art undertaking. You can just make shit up. You don’t have to follow these rules they’ve given you.
Can I ask, over the years has your attitude to success changed, as an artist? What about as a person, is your definition different when you think about that on a personal level?
Yes. It certainly has changed. Nowadays, I prize my time with my son and my time with my beloved friends more than my critical or commercial success. I rate the success of a day by how warm I felt in the company of others, how much I laughed, how safe I felt, as opposed to how many people streamed my music. I was so hungry for success in my twenties, and I’m glad for that.
It propelled me, and it worked. I busted my ass to get to the point where I can now make a good living as an artist, draw a salary from patreon, and go on tour without stressing the details. It took a lot to get here. If I cannot enjoy it now, at 50, it feels like it wasn’t worth it to take this absolutely bananas job.So I cut more out, nowadays. I don’t stay up answering my emails til 4am anymore. I say no to more work things, and yes to more friend things, more nature things. I eat my food more slowly, I cook more. I listen to music more carefully.
Do you think about your legacy as an artist, if so….can you tell me what you think that might be?
I don’t know what a legacy really is, except for the idea that you leave your mark in the hearts of others. My legacy felt intact when I was 25 and the first person said “you’ve saved my life with your songwriting.” That was enough for me. And I like the idea that we’ve influenced all these people, Lady Gaga, Billlie Eilish, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo. Every time one of them says our band name in an interview, I get a little rush of adrenaline. But also, that’s not the point. The real pleasure comes from the audience whose heart is moved by the work, by the mom who’s lost the baby who runs into me in the street and says: “I know somebody understands me because of your songs. I know I’m not alone”. That’s the key, that’s the reason, that’s the everything.
Pre-Order/Pre-SaveHERE
THE DRESDEN DOLLS–EUROPEAN SHOWS
For complete details and ticket information, please visitdresdendolls.com.
SEPTEMBER 2026
1 – Vienna, Austria – Arena Wien Open Air
2 – Warsaw, Poland – Progresja
4 – Prague, Czech Republic – ARCHA+
5 – Berlin, Germany – Huxleys Neue Welt
7 –Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg
8 – Paris, France – Élysée Montmartre
10 – Manchester, UK– Albert Hall
11 – London, UK – British Airways ARC