Drummer Janet Weiss Finds Her Primal Center

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As drummer of the now-defunct Sleater-Kinney, Janet Weiss is used to answering questions about gender, about Portland, about her former band. Today, she answers questions about a completely different topic: "Steve."

A member of the Jicks, Weiss now drums for Stephen Malkmus, frontman of 1990s indie rock band Pavement, which disbanded in 1999.

"That's the voice," Weiss said of Malkmus. "It's very special. There are very few voices that have that kind of weight."

Weiss said she's learned a lot from the famous Malkmus, whose songs tend to float somewhere between the contradictory realms of slacker pop and power pop.

"I find myself trying to imitate what …