Last Updated on 2025-05-07 by a-indie
Dirty Projectors, a leading American indie rock band based in Brooklyn, released their 5th album “Bitte Orca” in 2009.
It’s an undisputed masterpiece that still garners support even after more than 10 years.
Participating as a former member on this masterpiece “Bitte Orca” was the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Deradoorian, whom we interviewed this time.
Although she had been active solo before joining Dirty Projectors, her full-fledged solo activities began after leaving the band in 2015.
Since then, after releasing several works, touring Japan, and forming Decisive Pink with Kate NV, she is now releasing her new album “Ready For Heaven”.
We interviewed her at this time simply because “Ready For Heaven” represents both a culmination of Deradoorian’s career and a new milestone.
The album features post-punk tracks centered around dub, impressing us with how it sounds like the music Talking Heads or Joy Division might have made in the 70s or 80s, but with a contemporary sensibility.
Therefore, this time we asked Deradoorian, aka Angel Deradoorian, to talk about what kind of work “Ready For Heaven” is.
Also, for BELONG Media, this interview with Deradoorian is the first in about 10 years, since her debut album “The Expanding Flower Planet”.
Looking back at the previous interview, Editor-in-Chief Tomohiro Yabe also asked some questions.
Please also read the interview about her debut album “The Expanding Flower Planet” from 10 years ago.
Deradoorian Interview
Encountering Music
-Yuuki Takita: I understand that you first encountered music when you learned violin and piano at school at the age of 5. Could you tell us what motivated you to learn these instruments at school and what kind of music you played at that time?
Angel Deradoorian: I think the majority of kids at school started on violin because of our teacher there who is a violinist. It was a nice way to begin learning music but I was also too young to understand it yet. My parents asked me what instrument I wanted to learn, so I chose piano. That’s when I started to learn music fundamentals and get more into practicing.
-Yuuki Takita: I heard that at 16, you quit school, moved to Brooklyn, and decided to pursue a career in music. I’m curious about what triggered this decision and how you felt at that time.
Angel Deradoorian: I graduated high school at 15 but I did not move to New York until I was 20 years old. I had been touring a lot around the U.S. in several bands between 16-19 and loved playing in Brooklyn. I could tell that was the place I wanted to be to pursue my musical goals. I could tell there was a lot of active energy there that would bring good things for me musically.
The Start of Full-Fledged Solo Activities
-Yuuki Takita: You had released EPs under your solo name before, but I think your full-fledged solo activities began after 2015. Was there a specific catalyst for this?
Angel Deradoorian: I left Dirty Projectors in 2011 so I no longer had a job. It was time to focus on my solo career which I always had intentions of doing. It was a long process writing and recording ‘The Expanding Flower Planet’ and then it took even longer for it to be released. It was ready quite a bit before 2015, but I had to find a label and go through the campaign cycle.
Changes Over 10 Years and “Learning How to Live on This Land”
-Tomohiro Yabe: In our interview 10 years ago, I was impressed when you said, “I think we’ve reached a time when we need to completely transform our way of thinking and living. […] My ideal way of living is learning how to live on this land.” In the past decade, we’ve experienced things that were unimaginable 10 years ago, such as the pandemic and the rise of generative AI. Has your thinking changed over these 10 years? Or do you feel an even stronger need to “learn how to live on this land” than before?
Angel Deradoorian: This feeling has only grown in strength. I consider every day how to find a home with land to grow my own food on. This is a big challenge living in a city with high rental rates and very little green space. It is very important that people, especially Americans right now, start living a less consumptive life and learn more ways to sustainably live, like growing their own food, taking care of the clothing they already have, and being more involved in their communities.
【Related Article | “Debut Album The Expanding Flower Planet”】
- is a music media platform run by BELONG, a Japanese music organization. We publish music articles with a focus on indie music.