Drugstore emerged in the early '90s, at roughly the same time as several female-fronted British groups, whom I'm sure you've been quoted ad nauseum, as well as most of the Britpop vanguard -- Oasis, Blur, etc., people who've moved lots of units, as they say. You spend any time thinking, "With a more stable label situation, that could've been us?"
Funny you say that, cause I always felt a bit left out of the party -- but I suppose it paid off in the long run. To be honest with you, I never felt like we had that much in common with most of those Britpop bands, anyway. By the way -- I always thought Blur were very creative, etc., and deserved all that attention!

You were married and widowed before coming to England and starting to pursue music. I'm guessing that had to have been a rough time.
At that time, I was pretty desperate for a change, and I ended up coming to Europe as a way of having to avoid conscious decisions about what to do with my life. Like lots of teenagers, I really didn't know what I wanted to do, and wanted to do all things at the same time. I was only 19 and traveling round, working wherever I could find work, trying to speak English, trying to find a place to stay -- in retrospect, it was such a brave little thing to do! But boy, am I glad I've done it! I suppose what I've always dreaded more than anything else was to lead a boring life -- and sure, there were loads of lows, but…sorry, I'm going on about it too much now.

Let's talk about your well-known comment about having had a relationship with each of your bandmates. Any regrets ever about letting that detail slip, or has it been good for business? And does any of that history still have any bearing on the group?
My life is an open book -- a bit fucked up around the edges, but hopefully filled with good stories. Inevitably you end up getting involved with whoever is around you -- as it happens, I unfortunately have not yet met any great scientists, writers, etc. But no regrets -- ever!

If I hear right, you've expanded your occasional mid-show solo sets into actual gigs opening for other acts. How close is an Isabel solo record?
I never walk onstage planning or knowing how many songs I'm going to be playing … some nights it just feels right, and in my mind, all we do -- Isabel, Isabel and band -- is just part of the world of Drugstore.

Along the same lines, I think Daron was also working on a solo project? How's that coming?
As I wanted to spend time writing on my own, it's natural and cool that they all got involved with other stuff. Daron occasionally plays with Gina Morris, Mike's got an EP coming out soon -- Landspeed Record, pretty ambient lo-fi stuff, and Ian, our cellist, is always busy working with lots of good bands -- Lambchop, the Divine Comedy, the Delgados, Suede, etc…

You've worked with Thom Yorke from Radiohead. Dream duet partner?
Yes -- plus, what a bonus, the man is an angel, a lovely guy with a wicked sense of humour!

Finally: if you could see five years into the future and found that things were pretty much the same with the group (same lineup, but also the same label hassles, etc.), would you keep at it, or make other plans?
My life as a musician is totally independent of the fact of whether or not our name is on a piece of paper -- we'll keep carrying on for as long as I keep writing music that we feel connected to and moved by. As for the future, not even the brightest of all stars could show us where we're heading to…
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Dan LeRoy is the music and entertainment writer for the Charleston Daily Mail. He serves as an associate editor for Grafitti, a statewide entertainment newspaper, and has also written for several music-related publications including Launch.com, Boston Rock, and Lexicon.