Expectations for the upcoming single, “Bridestep” from Brooklyn-based indie/R&B dynamic duo Moonheart are rising as each day prior to the release are mounting exponentially. Not only does the group have a sound unlike any other, they also have a message in their music of longing and endless romanticism that is haunting and beautiful. This track is the first to be release from their forthcoming debut full-length album Feel it Out. Although they are busy getting ready for the release, Moonheart was able to say a few words about who they are and what fans can expect within the next few months.
What would you consider to be your greatest success on and off of the stage?
Onstage, I’m really happy to feel very connected to my voice and what it sounds like. For a long time I was singing mostly jazz, and imitating all of my favorite singers when I learned the music. Doing that taught me so much about music in general, and about phrasing, rhythm and expression, but for awhile I was worried that I was without my own point of view. I definitely felt closer to my authentic voice and self when I started writing my own songs, and it feels good to be communicating that onstage.
Although you must be busy writing, producing and performing your music, when you do have free time, is there something that you like to do that may be out of the ordinary in order to destress and prepare for upcoming events and gigs?
I think this is probably pretty common, but I’ve found that for sure the most essential thing for me to get in the right headspace to play is lots of space and quiet. I live in Brooklyn and space and silence can feel sparse, but there are magic pockets of it everywhere. I’m lucky to live very near two of them, the botanical garden and the park. This is probably gonna sound so corny, but being in awe of nature’s design in the form of a flower or a tree or whatever it is is so humbling and I try to be surrounded by that stuff as much as I can. I recently learned about this Japanese healing practice called “forest bathing,” where you basically practice mindfulness and hyper-awareness of all of your sensory experiences while taking a walk in nature, and I guess this is kind of what I’m doing, or attempting to do. It feels really good when you can carry that open feeling with you on stage; your ego’s out of the way and the bad nerves that come from wondering what people are thinking or worrying that you look silly or whatever evaporate, leaving just the good butterflies to work through you.
As you continue to work towards your dream, do you have defined goals for Moonheart, or are you just enjoying the ride that your love of music has brought you on?
I wish I was cool enough to say that I’m not hella Capricorn and have notebooks and spreadsheets full of plans and goals but I do. The most immediate goal at the moment is to put out Feel It Out, our first full-length, in a way that we’re proud of. We’d also really like to start touring in a more serious and extensive way, so there’s lots of planning around that. Trying our best to enjoy the ride even in the planning stages, though 🙂
What news do you have for friends and family that are anxiously awaiting new music, tours and performances?
It’s coming! We’re releasing Feel It Out very soon, and we hope to be playing lots of shows to support that. Until then, anyone in or around NYC can come see our “Bridestep” single release show on Wednesday, April 4th at C’mon Everybody in Brooklyn.
As you have worked so hard to obtain something that, at one point, seemed so unobtainable, have you ever faced opposition that you thought that you wouldn’t succeed in overcoming?
My mental health is sometimes my biggest hater, so I’m unfortunately my biggest opposition, ha. Now I take good care of it and treat it like a baby, but I didn’t always have the ability to do that. When I didn’t, there were times I didn’t think I could turn my brain on or get out of a hole long enough to keep making music, but I’m grateful not to have been in that place for a long time.
What is the writing process like? Is it easy to sit down and write, or is it a spur of the moment occurrence?
The act of sitting down to write is actually the hardest part about writing in my experience- giving myself the space and time, sticking to the routine, and quieting the voices that would rather I procrastinate or do something else instead, those are the first hills to get over. Once there, though, the process depends on where I’m at that day. On the magic days it just flows, and those are songs I can’t really take credit for- some songs are already there and just need you to show up and be a vessel for them to come out. On days where nothing’s coming, I’ll try to do a writing exercise or read something beautiful and copy down phrases that are inspiring or words that feel good. The physical act of writing something pretty down on paper can sometimes wake up something dormant. Once I have a skeleton of a song, I’ll play it for Michael or send him a rough demo, and I don’t often give him much direction for the first attempt at building the world around the song. We have a lot of creative trust and a really open, intuitive channel between each other, and the majority of the time he just knows what I’m going for. He’ll usually work alone until things are in their place, and then we’ll iron everything out and edit together until we both feel the song is done.
After performing, is there a specific activity or tradition that you have to celebrate a “job well done?”
If we feel bad about it, we try not to let it feel too heavy and make sure to listen to the voice memo recording we always make of shows and take notes on how to make it better next time. If we feel good it about it, same thing 🙂
Pierre Marie-Maulini is a man for all seasons. His previous musical experience includes post-rock project A Red Season Change and touring with M83, but he formed STAL in 2011. STAL has put out We Are Two EP and Young Hearts LP. Their upcoming new EP, Fresh Blood, will be released this summer, and follows Maulini’s 2017 decision to move to Los Angeles from his native France. Maulini is not always a one man show; Renaud Rodier has been playing drums for STAL since its formation and Jeff Di Rienzo brings his guitar skills to form the trio. While previous records were full of spontaneity, Fresh Blood is the result of meticulous production (thanks to producer Eric Palmquist) and is Maulini’s creativity at its finest.
Today, STAL has just come off of an exciting time at SXSW, and are thrilled for their forthcoming EP. Their brand new single, “Magic”, is just a taste of what is to come. Lucky for us, STAL was able to answer a few of our questions about music, must-haves, and their upcoming EP.
Sum up your new single, “Magic ”? Magic is about what we can do for each other as human beings. You can count on me, I can count on you. Be yourself, there’s no judge here.
What’s the best part of being a musical artist today?
Thanks to the internet, you can easily share your music with millions of people. The other great part is touring. Touring has become more and more important. STAL is definitely a “stage” band, so I love that!
Biggest influence for your upcoming EP? My life these past 3 years.
What is a must-have when recording? An amazing producer, some great guitars and a brain that works.
Dream collaboration? The National
What do you want new listeners to know about your music? I want them to feel that STAL is true and sincere and hopefully this EP makes htem wanna come to our shows.
Biggest takeaway from your time at SXSW? The Paradigm showcase with Pale Waves was great. Otherwise, we totally fell in love with Austin and this Salt Lick BBQ!
David Rosales was waiting for me on a street corner in Austin when I meandered up to him for the second time that day. In fact, he had been waiting patiently as some of my other interviews ran late, his back certainly weighing heavy with his luggage and guitar strapped on him and sitting next to him. Despite the 88 degree weather – and what should have been the most aggravating conditions – he brought with him a sense of ease and a feeling of calm that I hadn’t felt yet on 6th Street during SXSW 2018. He was kind, and ready to chat freely about his SX experience, his musical journey, and everything in between.
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Let’s do this. I know – get your stuff situated, or hold it on your back the whole time, that’s fine too.
David: I’m sweating. I’m not used to this. I’m used to California.
Right? OK, so speaking of, how long have you been out here for South By? When did you get in town?
David: A couple days ago I got in on a Greyhound from Dallas. I flew to Dallas and then took a Greyhound down here with like my guitar on my lap, you know, because I didn’t want it to sit underneath with luggage and didn’t want it to sit in the overhead. Cause it’s not like a plane, you know, it’s a bus…
That’s scary.
David: So I’m sitting there with like a book in one hand and a guitar in the other, cramped up, you know, I’m six foot one so it’s uncomfortable. Those Greyhounds are kind of small. But, yeah, I know, it sounds like the beginning of a song. I think it’s got a song in there somewhere. I got into Austin on a Greyhound. And it was late, it was like three hours late, so…
Meredith: So everything was going correctly?
David: You just need to be mellow when you’re touring. You’ve just to realize that, you know, you just got to flex and flow. You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.
Did you come into the industry with that thought process or did it take a while for you?
David: I don’t know, I guess I’ve been in the “industry” for a long time. I was in a hard rock band for like ten years. I was in garage bands before that through high school, junior high and stuff. Just growing up in L.A., it’s a big market. So I did the whole Sunset thing and touring around the country on an indie label. Then at about thirty, my band kind of dissolved at that time and I had written this EP that was just because I had a baby coming and I went from writing songs about death, and just rock themes, dark and stuff like that. I went in the studio and started writing some about love and stuff I wasn’t really comfortable with before. And when my band dissolved, I was like “well might as well follow this because it is the only thing I have”.
It wasn’t meant for anybody and it was this first EP that I released called Smile. I just went with it because it was the only thing I had. I didn’t have my band anymore and I just had these songs and I just started playing them, people were digging them, buying them. I sing with a girl named Olivia and we kind of did our thing and then we came out with an EP, the duet EP. We were Dave and Olivia for a bit. I did another solo EP called Along the Way that came out in ’14. I’ve just kind of been playing a ton of gigs and stuff since then, writing this new material, recording it, and getting the cash flow up to come out and do something proper with it.
This album we have coming up called Brave Ones is the culmination of all that. It’s eleven songs of love, loss, despair, triumph, you know, everything that’s kind of like the human experience. It’s a lot of relatable stuff. It’s crazy looking at myself as this thirteen year old skateboarder that would jump off rooftops into pools and stuff like that with my garage band and go to like, where I am now. Music’s always been there for me, but it’s changed and it’s grown as humans do. We’re not the same people we were when we were thirteen…
What?!
David: Or even eighteen…
Yeah we are!! (laughs)
David: (laughs) So it’s like, that’s the beauty of life, is kind of accepting those changes and stuff, and just kind of walking kind of gracefully. Fortunately for me, this kind of step that happened six years ago just kind of came at the right time and you just kind of flex and flow with it.
So with your new work, how can you imagine someone listening to it in its’ entirety? With a glass of Scotch sitting by a fire Anchorman style, out with their friends, is there an atmosphere you want to create with this?
David: It’s crazy to picture anybody listening to a complete album anymore…
I know, but I do it. I still do it!
David: That’s why we write these albums and that’s why I am, like, going over and over and over sequencing the songs, because I believe in it. I believe in the story that I’m telling. I believe in a whole vibe of an album. My album’s very round. It has a beginning and it has an end. It has arcs and stuff of a story and it kind of follows this path. I’m a student of songwriting completely so I love the whole story telling. I read Stephen King “On Writing”. I read great writers, I’m a student of it so what do I picture?
I picture somebody driving. It’s kind of like driving music. I think it’s somebody who could be cruising. Maybe like on the 101 in California, or just a long distance where they have…they can just kind of…Did you ever start a drive and you, “OK, I got to my location but I don’t really remember too much of the in between. I was vibing on it, but I just got here.” I want to take people away. I want to have them kind of look at – and relate to – what I’m writing. I think that I’m writing about relatable human experiences.
That’s the great thing about songwriters. Songwriters are, we’re just like you or somebody else that maybe doesn’t play music or something like that, but we just kind of recognize these mundane human experiences. These day to day things and we kind of put them in a song so that you go “Oh I had that same experience” or “I can relate to that” or “I can vibe on that”.
Absolutely. Here’s a quick, off the cuff, question: What’s been your favorite food at South By?
David: I’m staying with my cousins, so my cousin’s chorizo. She makes it like my mom where it’s not too greasy.
Dammit. Makes us all jealous. I’m going to tell people his favorite thing in Austin is this, but you can’t have it, sorry.
David: I really haven’t eaten too much food – I’ve been drinking a ton here. I’ve been kind of hydrating, that’s what I’m doing. Hydrating. So I haven’t been eating a ton of food when I’m playing gigs. It’s tough to eat and play and talk to people, so it kind of gets lost. I’m one of those people where I forget to eat, just in general. I run a lot and I’m almost forced to eat, so that kind of keeps me eating. I forget because I’m just so busy. It’s tough. So being a dad, running, my wife, just everything, I think about myself last in a way because everybody else comes before me.
Meredith: You’ve performed already at South By clearly, you’ve been here a little bit…
David: I’ve done three shows and done some interviews and press and stuff like that and I have two more shows tomorrow. We’re playing at the Westin Rooftop on the 20th floor for Chive TV at 1pm, and then an hour later at 87 Rainey Street.
Meredith: That’s a quick turnaround! You sound fancy!
David: I don’t know if I’m fancy. But I love it!
Keep up with the wonderful David Rosales and his intricate and beautiful musical path here.
On Friday, March 16th, we met up with the incredibly talented Whitney Fenimore (That’s right – the one from The Voice.) to talk all things SXSW in the middle of 6th St. at SXSW. Her bubbly personality overtook the interview, and we fast found ourselves yearning to be her best friend.
But alas, not all pipe dreams come true. One thing is for sure… she is one to really look out for. We feel some big things coming.
Reaching new heights since the release of their second album is Melbourne-based band PrettyCity who have not only taken over the Britpop grunge scene in Australia, but have also been gaining radio traction here in the US. Most recently, this group has been busy writing, performing and producing their new album Cancel the Future which was released this month. Despite their busy schedule, the band members of PrettyCity took the time to sit down with us and talk about some exciting news, here’s what they had to say.
When you started working together, what were your goals and plans for the future? How have they changed since then?
When we started, we had all been in other bands that weren’t playing as many shows as we’d have liked. We were all kind of frustrated, so we just played as many shows as possible. We said yes to absolutely everything and started touring straight away. I guess it was a very explosive but scattergun approach. Over the years we’ve refined this to try and build a more of a global fan base and not limit ourselves to Australian shores.
Was there ever a time where you felt that you had achieved what you set out to do? Or are you still chasing that dream?
No. Never. We’re always chasing better song writing and better albums. I don’t think we’ll ever stop trying to create that piece of art that we think is perfect, which is the trap because there’s no such thing. I think the four of us are just those kinds of people. Are there any bands or artists that you like to model your sound or style after?
I don’t think there’s anyone in particular that we’ve tried to model our sound and style after but we certainly have strong influences. The four of us have really diverse tastes and influences, but the band has always been great at allowing those influences to shine through and take Hugh’s songs in interesting directions. I think we draw we draw a lot from other band’s attitudes and approaches to song writing. We all love the Beatles and the Stones and the art of simplicity, but we also love bands like the Killers, Jet, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre for how they were able to reinterpret older ideas and make them their own. From the grunge era there are so many bands but I’ve been prettyinfluenced by Green River, Soundgarden, L7, Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins. From an attitude perspective we love Black Sabbath and the Doors and T. Rex. It’s just sexy stuff. What does your writing process look like? Is it a team or individual effort?
Hugh, our lead singer and guitarist, writes the songs for the most part. Or he at least has melodies and some lyrics and then we work on structures and parts together. It’s really very collaborative and each of us is totally free to make our own parts and contribute to the song writing. Hugh’s got an incredible ear for melody and for capturing and distilling complex emotions into catchy sing along lyrics, which is such a hard thing to do. We’re very lucky to have him, and the group dynamic is really productive and supportive. As you prepare for your 27-day long European tour, what are your expectations? What are you most excited for?
I’m expecting a lot of time on the autobahn. I’m expecting to eat more cheese and pork products than I would usually consume in a year. I’m really excited to go back and experience the amazing European hospitality. We had such a great time last year and we can’t wait to get back and reconnect with all the friends we made. Now that you are looking to take your music and sound to an international level, what are your expectations as far as reactions from fans and crowds?
I guess we’re excited to share our new music with people. That’s the unchanging thing for all of us that is the same whether we’re in Melbourne, Austin or Hamburg, we are excited to play music and share our experiences with everyone. I hope more people will come share that with us, but at the same time, we love playing music so much, so we’re happy either way. I think the crowds will grow in Europe significantly though.
What can fans expect in the year 2018?
Well, we’ve already recorded our third album, so you can expect to hear an early single from that later in the year. Other than that, I think we’ll be doing some more touring back home and enjoying our home town for a bit 🙂
On a balmy 88 degree day, with direct sunlight beating down on us, the ever-extraordinary Elle Exxe sat down to do a quick interview and portrait session with us. You can check out the interview and a few of our favorite shots from that day below!
DC-based quartet BRNDA is hitting the ground running, almost literally. While the band is on tour, they’re also set to release their new full-length – a collection titled Thanks For Playing – on March 30th. The preorder includes an instant download of two already available tracks – “House Show” and “Five Dollar Shake” – which just so happen to be perfect for this warmup our country is (hopefully) starting to experience for spring.
Despite the madness in their lives currently with the new release, the band sat down to chat briefly about the album, displaying their dry humor along the way for our eager ears. Check out our words below!
Each of you are important assets to the band. How did each of you get into music?
Actually, we’re not that into music. What we like is podcasts.
Fair response. Thanks for Playing is your third release. What makes this album different from the previous ones?
We haven’t released a record since 2015. This is our first time releasing a record in 2018. This is our first third release. This is the first time Christian has ever played bass on a BRNDA record – he is our bassist. This is the first record featuring a song where Leah sings lead. This is the first record we partially recorded at Alex’s house in Mt. Rainier. This is the first record featuring Dave soloing with guitar feedback. This is the shortest record we’ve ever made. We also worked with a different group of people this time, they are mentioned later in the interview so we won’t mention them just now.
What has been the biggest accomplishment that has come from Thanks for Playing?
Our greatest accomplishment of this record has been the collaboration with other cool people. Thomas William Rossi (Reyna Valencia) recorded it at lurch studios in DC; Justin Wm. Moyer (of so many of our favorite bands… Edie Sedgwick, Light Beams, Puff Pieces, Antelope, etc etc) mixed the record; TJ Lipple of Inner Ear mastered it. Christian’s sister Hadley Whittle painted the piece that is the cover art. Adam and Blake from Banana Tapes are putting it out. The National Film Board of Canadian Industry provided the footage for our recent music video for House Show. You’re writing about it. You’re reading about it. We’re collaborating.
What was the best part about developing the album?
Probably downloading the Adobe Creative Suite 10-day trial multiple times on multiple computers in order to create the album art j-card. We’re grateful for their love and support and collaboration.
We feel that! (Currently working on a trial of Lightroom.) You are out on tour right now. What sort of different experiences have you all had since being on the road?
Being on the road has a way of expanding your family. We kicked it with some truly wonderful people on this tour. We’ve been touring with Poppies, our forever buds from new York. We played the Community Records 10th anniversary celebration in New Orleans, a very special night in a very special town. We also played Mammal Gallery’s temporary location in this gorgeous former department store and shared the bill with 3 Great Bands (Breathers, Sad Fish, True Blossom). Touring around SXSW is like jumping into a giant vortex of favorite bands and friends that converges on Austin. We played three wonderful showcases. Dave saw Shopping and had a religious experience. All in all very good things and times.
What plans do you have after you wrap the tour?
Do laundry, vacuum the van, celebrate Torrey’s birthday, play our tape release show on March 29th, attend the melted mag release show at bathtub republic on March 31st, and then collaborate on some new songs.
Where do you see yourself as a band in the next 5 years?
Probably on tour.
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Preorder your copy of Thanks For Playinghere and Keep up with BRNDA here.
Having just released their brand new album Strange Times this morning, Los Angeles-based psych pop trio Hollow FortyFives – comprised of Lucas Renberg, Brett Incardone, and Travis Corsaut – is revving up to play their album release party tonight at The Troubadour. Which means they have absolutely no time to bask in the glow of their work and treasure the audience response, as they’re focused on what’s to come with the entirety of the week still to unfold.
Luckily, we got a hot minute to catch up with them to find out the inspiration behind their work as a whole, the album you’re probably about to listen to on repeat, as well as to poke and prod them with silly little questions that give us peace of mind. Check out our words below!
What was your first musical memory? Did it have any bearing on how you respond to or create music now?
Lucas: Listening to a Beatles cassette that my Uncle had made for me. Then seeing some footage of The Who play live, after that i knew i had to play music.
Brett: Driving in my dad’s car and asking him who the band was on the radio. Also, asking my brother which instrument was playing and him teaching me the different sounds.
Travis: Being taught to play the guitar by my uncle. I quickly gave up and when I got a drum set 5 years later was forced into lessons. I really grew to love it.
Where do you believe you pull the most inspiration from for your work?
Lucas: A big chuck of it comes from the music I listen to and care about, My two favorite songwriters are John Lennon and Bob Dylan. The rest i would have to say come from the way I see the world. Anything can spark a song.
Brett: My biggest inspiration for lyrics would be the people I’m surrounded by whether it be friends, family, or even strangers. For music, simply, it can be bands I like, a riff I hear, or something that just grabs my attention.
Travis: I’d have to say that Lucas and Brett are my biggest inspirations in writing.
What inspired the track “Return Ticket” specifically?
Lucas: “Return Ticket” came about from the feeling of wanting to leave and get away. I live in this paradise that is California, but it’s a huge world out there. Always nice to take a look around, and no need to fear when you have a return ticket back home.
Your album is finally coming out, and we are so excited about it. What was the process for creating this album like for you guys?
Lucas: It was great writing the album and giving these songs the treatment they deserve. As a band it was our first time not recording ourselves, which was a whole new experience itself. We didn’t have to worry about mic placement or levels, we could focus on just playing the songs. And that really helped us grow as a band.
Brett: The process was very fun and smooth. The creative process was an absolute blast to be a part of and recording the album was a lot how I had hoped it would be: lots of late nights, laughs with my band mates, and excitement for being in a professional setting.
Travis: It was eye opening creating this album. The most important part for me was seeing how the songs had grown into something we’re all really proud to show you.
How do you imagine people listening to this release in its entirety?
Lucas: In a smokey room, either laying on a carpet floor or dancing away as the music flows out the speakers.
Brett: Driving in a car on a nice, sunny day, windows down with a cigarette in your hand.
Travis: When you listen to this song, I want you driving to Joshua tree in the rain with one hand out the window. If your friends are awake belt it with them and if they’re asleep wake them up by belting it. Noise is for the boys.
If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why?
Lucas: As a kid i was obsessed with Robin. So it would have to be Robin! He’s got the bat bike and is the only one I know who can question Batman.
Brett: Spiderman because he’s been my favorite since I was a kid, I’ve always loved Spiderman stories, and no matter how tough his life gets he always finds a way to overcome his struggles. Besides, who wouldn’t want to swing from skyscrapers?
Travis: Captain Planet, let’s strive to always improve this world guys.
If you could collaborate with any artist on any medium, who would you choose and what would you make?
Lucas: I’d love to be able to do a split single with my favorite current musician Tim Presley of White Fence.
Brett: Co-writing an album with Jeff Tweedy at the Wilco loft. It would be the craziest thing ever.
Travis: I want to do covers of the Barenaked Ladies with the ghost of Buddy Holly.
Cats or dogs? Substantiate your claim.
Lucas: Dogs who act like cats and cats who act like dogs. Best of both worlds.
Brett: Dogs. I had a cat once when I was a child, but she was a demon. Now I’m not saying all cats are evil, but I have a dog now and he is an absolute angel.
Travis: Cats AND dogs, lil cuties are a damn blessing.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Lucas: Keep living life between the headphones.
Brett: Tip your bartender.
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Strange Times is out today and will be available here. Be sure to catch them at their album release show TONIGHT and keep up with the band here.
We’ve been inundated with a little too much fluff lately. And, while we’re all about being happy and upbeat and feeling free, sometimes you need to slow it down and enjoy a good song for what it is: emotional, dark, intense, and equally as freeing. This is the feeling you get from the first chords of Nathaniel Bellows‘ new track “To Wait”, which finds its exclusive streaming premiere right here, right now. As the song progresses, a dark and beautiful love affair brims within its lines for those who happen upon it.
If nothing else, this track reminds you that patience – even when you’re waiting for dissonance in instrumentals and the next line of a brand new song – is a damn virtue.
We caught up with Nathaniel himself briefly before the release of this new track to talk shop. Check out our words below!
How is your new LP, Swan and Wolf, different from your previous album?
With Swan and Wolf, I left the city and went up to Maine to record all the vocals and guitar tracks by myself. Being in that secluded environment, I was able to spend more time organizing, layering, and experimenting with how the background vocals interacted with the main vocal, which ultimately—hopefully—gives the songs greater emotional texture and depth. Another main difference is that, with Swan and Wolf, I worked closely with a mixer, Brian Losch, who really understood the mood and tone I was looking for, and which resulted in a more cohesive, consistent overall sound.
While The Old Illusions featured two of my drawings as part of the CD booklet, Swan and Wolf incorporates more of my visual art: I created ten illustrations that correspond to each of the ten songs on the record, which are available to view on the album’s website, and in a limited edition hardcover book that I produced as a companion to the music.
How would you describe the sound of Swan and Wolf?
As with The Old Illusions, I was looking for a very direct, spare, open-room sound, but this time, with a more polished, professional sheen. There aren’t that many elements in these songs, but I was eager to have each component sit within the mix in an organic, but ordered way. Overall, I wanted the sound to be clean and immediate, with a slight tinge of rawness, and the distinct presence of human imperfection.
Where do you find the inspiration to write?
I grew up in rural environments, so I’ve always been very inspired by the natural world. I live in New York City now and have written most of my music here, so maybe there’s something to the urban landscape that particularly inspires this work—perhaps the pervasive, invisible rhythms of the city? I’m not sure, but it’s definitely given me a lot to write/sing about (much to the dismay of my neighbors, I think!).
You are a poet, a novelist, a visual artist, and a musician. What got you into doing music?
Playing and studying music has always run alongside the other disciplines that I work in. I took piano lessons for 11 years when I was young, and I picked up the guitar when I went to college. I started writing songs around the time I finished college and went to graduate school as a way to explore a different approach to poetry, which I was mainly writing at the time. Ever since then, songwriting has slotted in among my other artistic pursuits in a pretty seamless and satisfying way.
How do you differentiate yourself from your music and your writing?
There is a definite overlap in my music and my writing. But with the songs, I tend to include more vernacular language than I would in a poem—the rhyming is more forceful and structured, and there’s a more deliberate symmetry in a song’s verses and choruses, which are choices I don’t employ so overtly in my poetry. Sometimes I use quotations in the songs in a way I might when writing fiction, but the songs tend to be blurry, abstract meditations on emotion, memories, events or images, so I don’t feel any need to crystalize these spoken scraps into something more narratively realized, the way I do when writing a short story or a novel. In all my work, I aim for clarity, specificity, and vividness, but with songwriting, I like to explore the tension between exactitude and ambiguity.
What was the inspiration behind your first single, “Keep in Mind”?
It takes me a long time to write songs, because they evolve as a slow accrual of ideas, generated in fits and starts, over months and sometimes years. I’m also unable to write lyrics in the absence of the guitar—the lyrics and music tend to evolve in tandem. I practice a lot and record drafts of the songs on my phone, and walk around listening to them to try to figure out what the music is attempting to evoke and express. It can take a while. Given all of this, it’s a little hard to pinpoint what the inspiration is for any one song, except that they usually begin with a central image or phrase, around which the song slowly congeals. In the case of “Keep in Mind,” I think it was the image of the seabirds mentioned in the second verse—the idea that they have an innate sense of where they are headed, how they are meant to live, all in their own mysterious and unknowable ways.
What is next for your career?
I am looking forward to playing these songs live in the upcoming months, after the release. I have also been working on a new novel—a contemporary ghost story set on a small island off the coast of Maine—and I’m in the process of finishing my second collection of poetry.
I frequently collaborate with the composer Sarah Kirkland Snider—our first record, Unremembered, a song cycle for 7 voices, chamber orchestra, and electronics, based on 13 of my poems and illustrations—came out in 2015. We are now working on a Mass for Trinity Wall Street, about endangered animals and the environment, which premieres this spring, and we’ve also begun work on an opera.
