Claudia Miriam Gonson (born April 5, 1968) is an American musician best known for her work with

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. The band is named after the André B ...

. She often provides the band lead vocals as well as performing the piano or drums. She is also the band's manager. Gonson met Stephin Merritt in high school in the early 1980s, and the pair have worked together ever since. While in high school at Concord Academy, Gonson performed in her first band, the Zinnias along with Merritt. The band's material was co-written with John Gage. The band broke up when Gonson left to attend

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Gonson later returned to the Boston area to attend

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and joined the group Lazy Susan, which also included Therese Bellino and Shirley Simms. She has since performed on many of Merritt's albums, including the critically acclaimed 1999 album '' 69 Love Songs,'' and frequently appears with him live as part of the usual quartet that constitutes The Magnetic Fields. Gonson has been Merritt's longtime manager. She appears extensively in '' Strange Powers,'' the 2009 documentary by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara about Merritt and The Magnetic Fields. As well as her work with Merritt, Gonson also plays drums in the band Tender Trap. She has written and performed her own music with Shirley Simms, Michael Hearst, Tanya Donelly and Rick Moody. She has also played drums in Providence, Rhode Island–based band Honeybunch and performs as the lead vocalist in Merritt's Future Bible Heroes project. She sang on Neil Gaiman's song "Bloody Sunrise". In an interview with '' The Advocate'', Gonson remarked: "When we started Magnetic Fields we purposely had one lesbian, one gay guy, one straight woman, and one straight man. The audience could identify with whomever they wanted." In that interview, Gonson noted that she feels that Merritt's songs are predominantly about "Loneliness, isolation, and the need to be recognized by another person." She believes that if homophobia were not so prevalent, these experiences "would be less rampant instead of being so associated with the gay personality." Gonson believes that many LGBT youth have listened to The Magnetic Fields for "words of wisdom". In 2010, Gonson gave birth to her daughter Eve.

References

External links

Interview
with drummergirl.com

Interview with LA weekly's Vaginal Davis

My Reading Life

Saveur.com- I Love My Kitchen Because... {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonson, Claudia 1968 births Living people American rock pianists American women songwriters Songwriters from Massachusetts Columbia University alumni Harvard University alumni The Magnetic Fields members American women drummers American rock drummers American lesbian musicians American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters Concord Academy alumni 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American lesbian writers Drummers from Boston