Veteran Art Rocker Vanessa Briscoe-Hay of Pylon on Honoring Music Legacy Through Reenactment

Any well-versed music fan is aware of the unmistakable impact the Athens, GA art rock scene has had—not only on rock music, but on culture as a whole. Bands like The B-52’s and R.E.M. sprung out of the small college town in central Georgia in the late-1970s and early ’80s. 

Another incredible band established during the earliest days of the Athens scene was Pylon. The collective of visual art majors from the University of Georgia is best known for anthemic tunes with a danceable beat and primal vocals.

Said vocals are courtesy of Pylon’s original lead singer, Vanessa Briscoe-Hay, who still fronts the band, now known as the Pylon Reenactment Society. “The name came from when Pylon got back together the third time,” said Briscoe-Hay during a recent interview over Zoom, “and we were having to totally relearn our music from scratch. It’s kind of what we called ourselves as a joke: we called ourselves the Pylon Historical Reenactment Society at practice.”

Here’s our conversation with Vanessa Briscoe-Hay, who’s performing live in Jacksonville with Pylon Reenactment Society at Jack Rabbits on Saturday, August 31. Get tickets and learn more here.

The following interview has been condensed and edited.

You came to music by way of visual art. I’ve read that you weren’t initially interested in fronting a band because you didn’t necessarily consider yourself musical. But now, all these decades later, you’re still fronting this great band. How did your identity and confidence as a musician evolve through the years?

I came from a really great art school that led to a lot of thinking outside the box that gave us the feeling that we could do anything we wanted to do. The members of Pylon had actually auditioned several people before they auditioned me. And one of the things that led them to say yes to me and bring me into the band was that I was on the same page. I was willing to have my mind open to what was happening and not have any preconceptions about how things should occur or happen. And that’s how we wrote. It was a bit like making art.

Has the punk rock ethos influenced areas of your life beyond music?

Yes, I would have to say so. The thing about early punk music and the people involved in that movement is that it was an inclusive scene. Women were made for the first time in the music business to feel like they could be in control of what was happening. I felt like I could do anything that I wanted to do, even as a mother. And when I worked as a nurse for 21 years, I would have ideas still continue to come into my head, and I might scribble something down. It’s always been a part of my life. It’s just how I’m wired.

I’ve always found your voice to be so energizing and stoic. Whenever I’m on my way to something nerve-wracking, like a job interview or something like that, I’ll put on Pylon and just scream-sing along, and it feels like it gives me magical powers. To you—in your body, and in your heart, and maybe even in your spirit—how does it feel to sing these songs?

It’s not exactly an out-of-the-body experience, but it’s like I feel a oneness with everything. I sometimes feel like I’m in the best band in the world. It is a very powerful, addictive thing to be able to sing and just let it fly and let it go. People go, “Hell, you sound so strong and angry, but I meet you in real life, and you’re so calm.” Maybe I’m calm because I can let go of a lot of that aggressive emotion by singing. But that’s not the only paint that I have in my palette. I have other emotions that I can use quite well, too, these days.

As the frontwoman of Pylon Reenactment Society, what do you hope to be reenacting at your shows?

Traveling around the country, I’ve met so many younger musicians and younger women who were influenced, or say they were influenced, by Pylon. I’ve really enjoyed working with the people in Pylon Reenactment Society, because we just couldn’t help ourselves. We started writing new material. We used Pylon as our guide star, so to speak.

What elements of those old Pylon songs feel like  the brightest guide stars for you in writing music today?

Anything that has, you know, a good dance beat. The way that we worked is we wrote together, and it was like being part of a machine. Everybody had their own part. They interlock. I would just let my mind open up to come up with my part that fit into the machinery, and that’s what I continue to do now. None of these songs are ever written alike. I don’t have a template. Having been in Pylon and being an artist, I can bring to this music something that’s coming from deep inside me. You know, the subconscious.

It would be malpractice if I did not ask about the Athens music scene. Here in Jacksonville, we have an incredible local music scene, and I think any Southern music scene will look to the Athens scene as a model and example of potential when it comes to cultivating a music community today. Do you have any advice for musicians?

Our motivation was to have fun and create something to do. Because at that time in Athens, there was really not much of anywhere to go. It was a house party scene. We had a tipping point where it snowballed. The same people would show up every time, and then the numbers just grew from there. And the bands, they,  all pretty much kind of made a point of trying not to sound like each other and do the same type of thing.

“It is a very powerful, addictive thing to be able to sing and just let it fly and let it go.”

Vanessa, I’ll see you and the rest of Pylon Reenactment Society at Jack Rabbits on August 31st. Thank you for chatting with me today, and thank you for all the great music through the years.

Well, thank you so much for having me, Hurley. I can’t wait to come to Jacksonville. I’m really looking forward to it. 

Pylon Reenactment Society performs at Jack Rabbits on Saturday, August 31. Get tickets and learn more here.