Emily May 10/21/21 Emily May 10/21/21

Interview: Silver Relics

Silver Relics

Interview By: Emily May | Photo: Gail Thacker

New York-based singer/songwriter/performer Alex Sepassi knew from a young age that he wanted to make music. He honed his raw talent as a vocalist and performer at the age of ten and as a songwriter in his late teens. Heavily influenced by the British songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s, he later discovered psychedelic and brooding 80s indie rock. In late 2017, he and drummer Justin Alvis formed the New York psych-rock band Silver Relics, an art project that centered around the music and which blended classic and modern sounds. They released their first album, generic., in May of 2019. The album was produced by acclaimed producer Howie Beno, whom Sepassi met in 2016, and was well-received in the US and Europe. After a successful tour of Ireland and The UK that summer, Alvis made the decision to depart the band to pursue other things and Sepassi brought on bassist/composer Mark Crozer [The Jesus and Mary Chain], drummer/producer Brian Young [Fountains of Wayne], and drummer Hitomi. In what could be labeled a period of rebirth for Silver Relics, working with the new line up has given Sepassi a fresh perspective and excitement for the new music being written. Silver Relics is currently finishing their sophomore album, mixed and produced by Brian Young, is due to be released in early 2022. The band recently released “Tails”, the first single from the new album, with the concept being based on the union between the human and animalistic traits that exist in all of us. With plans to finish the album by the end of this year, the band is very music looking forward to playing the new songs live and on tour. Make sure to follow Silver Relics via the links below to stay up-to-date on all upcoming album and tour news!

You started honing your talent as a vocalist and performer at the age of 10 and as a songwriter by your late teens. What can you tell me about your childhood and discovering your love and talent for music at a young age, as well as developing an interest in your other artistic mediums, such as painting?

Alex: It's been an obsession since I can remember. I naturally gravitate towards artists and the community, so in a lot of ways, not much has changed. My teachers have always been encouraging and have helped me develop an aptitude for writing. I surround myself with music constantly. When it comes to painting and my other areas of interest, I naturally take a much different approach. With music, I know how something should sound, whereas with painting, the process and outcome is more open and undefined. It's all about expression and intention when it comes down to it.

Having started writing songs at a young age, what was that process like for you in the beginning and how has it evolved over the years?

Alex: When I first started writing, I was very particular about how the songs compared to the bands I listened to at the time. That's how I gauged how far along a song was. It's a practice, just like anything else, so over time I refined my sound and mysteriously lost or did away with the idea of comparison towards existing artists. It’s been one big freeing growth experiment.

You have said that songwriting is your expression and interpretation of your conscious and subconscious. I have heard other artists discuss how at times they have had songs write themselves. Have you ever had songs of yours write themselves, almost like being channeled from your subconscious?

Alex: Yes! That happens frequently. I think the key is understanding and managing my relationship with my subconscious. If you're a musician you've probably heard the phrase “don't overthink it.” It's annoying but true. In my experience, songs that write themselves happen when my mind has already made the decision for me not to overthink. It feels like I'm at my most creative in those moments.

You formed Silver Relics in 2017 with drummer Justin Alvis (who has since left the band) and have said that the band operates as an art project centered around the music. What can you tell me about incorporating painting, fashion, photo and film, and poetry, as well as live shows, into the project and how all of those other modes of art inspire and influence you?

Alex: I like to surround myself and my life with art/artists. The art-based concept is meant to express our vision for art and the community. It seems natural to incorporate conceptually for this band. Music outside of the scope of music while incorporating it into the music.

You have said that Silver Relics has a "songs first" approach. How would you describe that approach?

Alex: Yes, I do say that a lot. It's true. When I write a song, it's usually just me and my guitar, so I develop a certain relationship with it from the beginning. It's important to me that we're mindful of the roots of the tune when we're working out parts as a band, so that the integrity remains intact at every stage. I've been told it's a classic rock type of philosophy, and it serves as a guide even if or when the arrangement, key or tempo changes.

You met and started working with renowned producer Howie Beno in 2016 and soon after started recording the material that would comprise the band's first album. What can you tell me about meeting and working with Howie and what you have learned from working with him?

Alex: Working with Howie Beno was brilliant. And it happened to coincide with a pretty large and creative growth spurt for the two of us. Howie's philosophy, focus and work ethic were exactly what I was looking for while writing “generic.” He pushed and challenged me on pretty much every vocal take and was in constant pursuit of growth and perfection. He was a lot of fun to work with behind the booth. One of my favorite things Howie has said is that a song is just an ongoing conversation up until the point of release. The cement doesn't settle until then, as he put it.

Justin recently left the band to pursue other things and you brought on Mark Crozer, Brian Young and Hitomi. What can you tell me about meeting these artists and bringing them into the band? What influences did they bring with them and in what ways have they informed the sound of the band? Have they changed your perspective on how you approach the band and the music you write?

Alex: I love everything about this team. Working with Mark, Brian and Hitomi has brought so much definition to this band. During the pandemic, it took time to reexamine or redefine the concept of team. I feel very lucky that we're collectively working on this album together. It's been an easy adjustment for us to mesh stylistically from the beginning. Right now, Hitomi, Mark and I have been working with our engineer, Brandt Gassman, in his Williamsburg studio. Brian and I worked together in his LA studio last month and have our next sessions scheduled at the end of October. And with that I can say my perspective has grown quite a bit while working on this record with this team.

In August, the band released it's new single "Tails", from your upcoming sophomore album, inspired by the instinctive aspects of humanity and the non-verbal communication we use daily. What sparked the inspiration to write on that topic? What led you all to choose that song as the first single?

Alex: The concept for “Tails” is based on the union between the human and animalistic traits that exist in all of us. I started to observe the way people communicate with each other on a non-verbal level. The lyrics are inspired by this form of communication and observation. All the things we say and don't say to one another but can easily communicate through body language and how those interact with our primal human nature. I brought it to Mark and Brian once I thought it was in a strong place and I think we collectively knew it would be the first single.

You all will be releasing your sophomore album later this year. You have talked about how quickly the first album came together, as well as how the new album took on its own shape based on how the 4 of you play and work together and how navigating the pandemic really made you all think about how you were going to approach the new album. What has the process of writing and recording the new album been like and do you feel as though the timing for this album is more spaced out?

Alex: I love this question. The approach for this record is entirely different from “generic.” in a lot of ways. Of course, the pandemic has had an effect on the process to a degree, so there have been some new challenges. Challenges that have been a really great education in a really bizarre way if that makes any sense. The pace has definitely quickened since July, and the space between sessions with Brian in LA have actually been perfect timing.

The cover of your first album Generic was painted by you and you also did the artwork for "Tails". What influenced those pieces of artwork and do you have any other artwork planned for the new album?

Alex: I'm in museums and galleries often, which inspires me a great deal. I enjoy painting because it pushes me in ways. I gravitated towards abstract when I set out to capture “generic.” and I wanted to keep it simple. With “Tails,” I put the focus on the color and mood. I set out to capture something with obscure imagery and a dividing point to represent the mind while blending/creating separation between both sides.

What's next for Silver Relics?

Alex: We're in the studio right now working on the back half of our sophomore album. It's a mad dash now that we're in October, but we expect to have the record completely by the end of 2021. We're also really looking forward to performing these new songs live and on tour. Thanks so much for having us. We're big fans!

Emily May 10/6/21 Emily May 10/6/21

Interview: Audrey DuBois Harris

ADH 3.jpeg — Audrey DuBois Harris

Interview By: Emily May

Based in Montreal, Canada, opera singer Audrey DuBois Harris has the stunning ability to perform a wide array of musical styles, including jazz, Gospel, folk, Broadway show tunes, popular standards, among others. Born and raised in Miami, Florida in a vibrant and diverse neighborhood, exposure to the sounds of merengue, kompa, salsa, reggae, mariachi, and many others informed her musical growth and journey from an early age. Her mother discovered her talent for singing at a young age and nurtured that talent, enrolling her in classical vocal lessons that helped her voice to naturally grow and flourish. Her mother was a member of an all-female acapella choir called The Agape Choir, an exciting group of women who sang negro spiritual songs in concert. The time that DuBois Harris spent as a child listening with rapt attention had a profound impact on her musical journey, as well. She attended the New World School of The Arts in Miami as a teenager and later received a full scholarship to Julliard, both of which gave her the freedom to explore her artistry and gave her the desire to grow musically and artistically.

Among her many high-profile engagements, she holds the distinction of having performed on several occasions as “The President’s Soloist,” singing the National Anthem, as well as at “Christmas at The White House,” and has performed both the American and Canadian national anthems for The U.S. Consulate General Montreal on many occasions and performed at The White House-hosted Florida Highwaymen exhibit at the Montreal Art Center. As a classically trained vocalist, she has performed internationally and also assayed a number of operatic roles. DuBois Harris has performed on some of the world’s greatest stages, including St. David’s Hall (Cardiff, Wales), Carnegie Halls’ Weill Recital Hall, The Apollo Theater, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Avery Fischer Hall, to name a few. Her recognition as an artist of note was underscored when DuBois Harris joined the Reverend Jesse Jackson for a series of MLK50 events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee. She sang an inspirational rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” for the national television broadcast of the events ceremony at the Mason Temple COGIC, where Dr. King delivered his historic “Mountaintop” speech the night before his untimely death. DuBois Harris also participated in “A Day of Remembrance” event at the National Civil Rights Museum. “To listen to Audrey is to hear the soul and science of music,” noted Jackson. “Her singing, interpretation, and presentation is what music looks and sounds like.” Jackson also invited DuBois Harris to perform at the annual Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee service in remembrance of “Bloody Sunday” on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, where Jackson and U.S. Representative John Lewis led the march. DuBois Harris met and was selected by "The Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin early in her career to take part in Aretha’s 3 'Aretha Franklin Presents' concert events and, in turn, Aretha became a longtime friend and mentor to DuBois Harris.

DuBois Harris has released the 5-song EP God Bless America, that features the title track along with classic and contemporary compositions, and in 2012, she debuted as a recording artist with her release of Testimony, a soaring collection of inspirational music and hope-filled hymns. Testimony not only saw her singing and performing, but with the album she also took on the roles of producer, songwriter, and arranger. Most recently, she has released her latest album Lift Every Voice, a collection of songs that celebrates America's rich cultural heritage and history and uplifts and celebrates our diverse voices. With plans to record more music, including more mainstream music, and videos, as well as schedule more live performances, make sure to follow Audrey DuBois Harris at the links below to stay up date on all upcoming music, news, and performances!

You grew up in Miami, FL and a passion for singing and performance was stoked in you in your preteen years by your mother. In what ways, if any, do you feel that growing up in such a culturally and musically diverse city influenced you and what can you tell me about your journey into music?

Growing up in Miami most certainly played a huge impact on my musical exposure, influence, and development. I didn’t have far to travel to be exposed to different cultures and music from around the world. My neighborhood was vibrant and full of people from across the globe! I was certain to hear merengue, kompa, salsa, reggae, mariachi, and so many other styles of music coming from my neighbors’ homes on any given Saturday morning. I attended a French speaking church that further exposed me to classical music, anthems, hymns, and French gospel singing groups. I was later exposed to American gospel music when I started singing as a soloist at several African American churches throughout Florida. My mother sang in an all-female a cappella choir called The Agape Choir. They were an exciting group of women that sang negro spirituals in concert. I can recall quietly sitting in the pews during rehearsals and taking in their full sound as a little girl. This was my introduction to the negro spirituals. I also played the flute in the orchestra and jazz band. My musical journey and growth as an artist was organic due to my exposure to a wide array of culturally diverse music from such an early age.

You have said that when you started taking vocal lessons, you had hoped to sing pop songs (like Mariah Carey) but were told by your teacher that you didn't have a pop voice, but rather a classical one. What was that like for you, to adjust the hopes you had for the kinds of songs you would sing and do you have any plans to try to incorporate some pop songs at some point into a performance or an album?

When I started taking vocal lessons with my first teacher, I was a young girl at the beginning stage of my studies. As a classical voice teacher, she believed that my voice would naturally grow and flourish through classical training. My mother agreed. Although I wanted to sing pop music, I trusted both of their advice. In my opinion, it was the best direction for me. Classical vocal training gave me a solid foundation to sing classically and have the freedom to sing in various other styles as well. Yes, plans are in the works to release mainstream songs for my future albums.

You were accepted into the New World School of The Arts as a teenager and later into Juilliard. What ways did they shape you as an artist?

Attending both The New World School of The Arts in Miami, FL and The Juilliard School in NYC were amazing experiences! To be surrounded by other gifted artists daily stirred up inspiration and creativity within me. Iron sharpens iron. Both places allowed me the freedom to explore my artistry. My desire to grow musically and artistically were greatly encouraged and supported as a whole within both communities.

You have a rich and diverse repertoire that encompasses opera, jazz, classical, oratorio, sacred songs, gospel songs, and inspirational hymns. What can you tell me about developing your repertoire over the years and what influences have informed your diverse musical tastes?

Great music inspires me! I’ve always believed that my vocal study should free me to explore a wide array of musical styles and genres. I also believe in singing music that moves me. My exposure to so many different types of music and cultures as a young girl naturally broadened my views concerning my diverse musical tastes and perspectives.

You debuted as a recording artist in 2012 with your album Testimony, and in addition to singing and performing, you also took on the roles of producer, songwriter and arranger. What inspired you to transition into a recording artist and what was the transition like for you, as well as taking on the roles of producer, songwriter, and arranger?

Becoming a recording artist was a natural progression for me and my career. I truly enjoy the entire process of recording and working in the studio. I started arranging music as a kid and writing songs as a teenager. These are musical gifts that flow pretty naturally for me. However, taking on the role as an album producer was new territory for me. I took on the challenge because I had a clear idea of what I wanted “Testimony” to sound like.

You recently released your new album Lift Every Voice, a collection of songs that celebrates America's rich cultural heritage and history. What can you tell me about the inspiration behind the album and the message you hope listeners take away from it, as well as what inspired you to include a cover of Mike and The Mechanic's "The Living Years”?

The creation of “LIFT EVERY VOICE” started with my manager Eric Palmquist and I. Coming out of the height of the global pandemic and social unrest that we experienced in 2020, the importance of creating such a project became even more evident to us as we moved further into the recording phase. “LIFT EVERY VOICE” is intended to uplift and celebrate our diverse voices and rich history. Witnessing so much hurt and pain in America and across the globe, I wanted my artistic offering to the issues at hand to be that of peace, unity, and hope for the future. Each song was intentionally selected to highlight our humanity and connectedness as Americans in particular.

My manager recommended I record “The Living Years” by Mike + The Mechanics. It is an amazing song and I immediately thought it was a great idea to record it. The original version explored relationship conflicts with a father from the perspective of a son. However, I wanted to explore the same resistance and communication barriers that occur with a mother from the perspective of a daughter.

You have said that "The Living Years" is vocally and stylistically different from the rest of your album and signals a turning point in the direction of your music. In what ways does this signal a turning point for you?

“The Living Years” and the songs that will follow post- “LIFT EVERY VOICE” are considered mainstream music. Up until this point in my career, I have not publicly released music in this style. I’m currently preparing to release more mainstream music in the very near future and I’m very excited about it!

You met and were selected by "The Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin early in your career to take part in her 3 'Aretha Franklin Presents' concert events and she, in turn, became a longtime friend and mentor for you and offered encouragement for your new album. What can you tell me about your friendship with Aretha, having her as a mentor, and about singing at her memorial service?

I cherished every moment I spent in Aretha’s presence. As the world knows, she was truly a one-of-a-kind artist and human being. With such an iconic career of her own, I was and am still amazed at how supportive she was of my singing and career. Her encouragement meant the world to me. As our relationship developed, she asked to manage my career. I thought it would be a remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime experience to move forward with her in that capacity. Sometime later, after the contract was drafted and contract negotiations started, she told me of her unfortunate illness. At that point, I was more concerned about her well-being than anything else. We prayed together often over the phone during that time. Her faith was strong and we both believed she would pull through. It was my great honor and privilege to sing at her homegoing service. I will certainly continue to honor her memory and carry her words of wisdom with me always.

Last year, you participated in Black Opera Live: Canada, an online broadcast that explored the experiences of Black artists who work in the classical arts in Canada. What can you tell me about the event?

Black Opera LIVE: Canada was an event created by Black Opera Productions, LLC and hosted by Metropolitan Opera Baritone, Kenneth Overton. The event highlighted three classical/opera sopranos who were either natives or residents of Canada. Some of the discussion’s highlights were our music careers in opera, classical music, and beyond in addition to our roles as working mothers.

You have cited Leontyne Price and Marian Anderson as influences and have said that in their time, not only were Black opera singers not represented, but they were considered less than. In what ways have you strived to be a role model and representation for the younger generation of Black opera singers?

Representation matters! It is important to see oneself represented. Leontyne Price and Marian Anderson set the bar of artistic excellence on the highest level while doing so under the extreme situations of their time. Giving back to the younger generation through masterclasses, panel discussions, fundraisers, and scholarships is of great importance to me. My hope is that my music is an inspiration to past, present, and future vocalists of any genre.

What can you tell me about 'Vital Voices: Conversations with Audrey DuBois Harris and what inspired you to have these conversations? What can you tell me about the kinds of guests you speak with?

VITAL VOICES: Conversations with Audrey DuBois Harris were created out of the need to offer inspiration during the height of the pandemic and social unrest via a LIVE interview/conversation on Facebook. I wanted to connect with artists of various genres as a host to discuss ways that they have remained inspired and hopeful during such a time of great change in our world while highlighting their music and careers. It gave the viewing audience a unique opportunity to hear these wonderful artists share personal life insight and career strategies in an intimate setting and conversation.

What's next for you?

More recordings, videos, and LIVE music!!! Stay connected through my website and social media pages for all ADH updates.

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Emily May 8/23/21 Emily May 8/23/21

Interview: BriaR

BriaR Press Photo Photo 3 Credit Nick Rufo.jpg — BriaR

Interview By: Emily May

Rising singer, songwriter and performer BriaR has always loved and been surrounded by music. The daughter of legendary rapper Mack 10 (also known as part of Westside Connection alongside Ice Cube and WC) and former step-mom T-Boz of TLC, she had plenty of guidance to help navigate her own career in music and people to go to when she needed advice. She recently released her debut single “Breathe Fire” from her forthcoming debut album Finding BriaR, out this fall. “The song came about during the pandemic. I was going through a tough time and I felt as though I wasn’t being heard. I created ‘Breathe Fire,’ an autobiographical record, explaining who I am and what I can bring to the table,” shares BriaR. Although the record contains personal lyrics, I still wanted this to be a groovy track that makes you want to dance, hence the bass heavy record in the background.” The process of writing and recording the album involved collaborating with her brother, rapper District 21, in their home studio . “Recording this was like my therapy and it still is my therapy,” says BriaR. “The EP is about discovering the different sides of this individual. These songs helped me realize everything I want.” Having transitioned over the past few years from more of an alt-rock sound to what she calls “psychedelic soul”, BriaR blends multiple genres including R&B, hip hop, and dance with art-rock, punk, and hooky pop. Having family who turned their own dreams into reality helped her to realize that anything is possible and has allowed her to strive to achieve her goals and dreams. With plans to release more music and music videos and to hopefully perform some live shows later this year, BriaR has plenty of great things coming up! You can follow and connect with BriaR via the following links.

INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | ITUNES/APPLE MUSIC | YOUTUBE | TIKTOK

You grew up in a family of artists, musicians, and entertainers and have said that you've been obsessed with music since you were 2 years old. What can you tell me about your childhood and cultivating your love for music from such a young age?

I certainly had an unorthodox childhood, just from having family members in the music industry. With that being said, my world was very music-based. Not in the way where my parents wanted me to do it, but just in the way that it was very important to my family. My mom, who is not an artist, always played music. Always. I mean, she and I used to do our own little music videos with our VHS camcorder back in the day! It was so fun. And with my dad, I explored different genres of music. And with my uncles and my siblings and my grandparents. Music is very, very important in our family. I feel like I pretty much didn't have a different choice but to become an artist because I was surrounded by it so much. Music has always been an integral part of my childhood and upbringing for sure.

You have said that you dream big because you come from a family that turned their own ambitions into reality. With your father and former stepmom being such prominent members of the music industry, how did they help to support and guide you with your own dreams of music growing up?

It pretty much just showed me that anything is possible. To me, there's no such thing as limitations and you should always reach for the stars in everything that you do. So, having my father be who he is and my sister's mom, my former stepmom, be who she is, they really reached such high levels of success in their careers, so there were no limitations for me. I think that's why I am the way I am today when it comes to dreaming big. I've seen what dreaming big can do and what it can turn into firsthand.

In having a father and former stepmom who are so well-established in the music industry, do you feel like you have been given the space to be your own artist with your own sound?

I definitely feel like I have been given the space to be my own artist for sure. My father was a prominent figure in the Gangsta Rap world, which is certainly far from what I'm doing. As far as Tionne goes, she is a very prominent figure in the pop and R&B world, but I think that she and I are very different in our styles. Did she influence me? Absolutely! She's been around for my entire life, so of course, she's influenced me. I definitely don't have to worry about comparisons or pressure of being like them or being compared to them, because I really have created my own lane, and my dad and my family have allowed me to be exactly how I want to be as an artist.

A few years back you performed in a band called BMR that had a more alt-rock sound. What can you tell me about that time for you and about transitioning sonically with your current solo project towards what you call "psychedelic soul"?

One of my favorite genres of music is an alternative music and I was in a band, BMR, and it was a lot of fun! It was me and my neighbors I grew up with and my cousin and we had such a great time re-creating songs and just creating great music. I kind of just felt a transition in my life in 2020, as I think all of us did, and that's where I discovered BriaR. Just me, myself. Not myself in the band, but just me as a solo artist. I really explored my feelings and I explored sounds that made me want to groove and that were different from any other music I had done before. BriaR is very different from BMR, but the transition was very organic. And actually, I still created records that were similar to BMR, but I had to make a cohesive project, so that's why some of the records didn't make the EP. I always keep that alternative sound somewhere in my catalog.

You recently released your debut single "Breathe Fire", as well as a music video, and have said that you wrote the song during the pandemic while were going through a tough time and felt like you weren't being heard. What can you tell me about the message behing that song, as wel as the music video?

The message behind that song is really just explaining exactly who BriaR is. I quite literally describe my personality and I have a very strong personality. With that being said, I am fiercely loyal. At the time, in the pandemic, it was a transitional period for be because I was going from being an alternative artist to being a psych-soul artist. A lot was happening in my personal life and I just wanted to create a record where it was, like, "Hey! This is me and this is who I am" and I know I've got this fierce personality, so let me put it down in a record. As far as the music video, at that time, since there was so much going on in 2020, I really just wanted to escape reality. I really dove into the stars and galaxies and just space. So, with "Breathe Fire", with the video, I wanted to emmulate like I was in a spaceship and what I would do if I was in a spaceship. I would dance my ass off (laughs) and just sing and be one with myself. So, that's where the video came from, kind of elaborating on this idea of escaping reality and diving into space and just going abroad and above earth.

The single is from your forthcoming debut album Finding BriaR, which you have said was your therapy, helped you to discover your different sides, and realize everything you want. What can you tell me about the process of writing the songs for the EP and the message you hope people take away from it?

The writing process was really organic. My brother and I, during quarantine, pretty much...we have a home studio and just locked ourselves in the studio and dedicated hours and hours a day to writing and creating a project. The writing process was really fun! It really forced me to bring out my best songwriting thus far. It forced me to collaborate with my brother, because I trust his musical ear very much, and the writing process was great. My brother and I, kind of formed a Billie Eilish and Finneas thing, as I like to say. He's not really a producer, but he is an artist himself. We just wrote and we'd get the beat first. We'd listen to the beat and then would come up with the song. I personally feel like the beat will tell you what you need to write about. Once I had each beat, I was writing and it was just coming out and my brother would help me speak lines here and there. Some songs I wrote completely on my own. It was fun and was really awesome to collaborate with my brother so closely on this project. We really pushed each other’s boundaries and it was an ideal writing process, honestly. I can't complain.

Had you and your brother collaborated in the past or was it the first time you had done so?

We've actually done a lot of records together in the past, but they were records that he wrote and wanted me just to sing on. So it was never really a collaborative effort, but more like "Hey. Can you be featured on this?". This was the first time that he and I actually started from the beginning of the process of creating a record. So this is the very first time we really started from the beginning together and ended it together. Typically, with all of our other records, it's at the tail end when one of us joins.

Do you have plans to collaborate more going forward?

Definitely! That is certainly in our plans for the future. We are very different artists but we are both music lovers and love creating, so there's definitely a possibility of my brother and I working together in the future, for sure.

What kinds of things do you like to do for fun outside of music?

I love dancing and going to take dance classes. I love pilates. I love hanging out with my family. I have a big family, so I love hanging out with them. I like being outdoors, like at the beach. The beach is not far from my house, so I love being at the beach. But definitely dancing and any sort of outdoor activity.

You have talked about the influence of fashion on your art. What can you tell me about your love for fashion and it correlates with music? Who would you name as some of your favorite fashion idols?

For starters, my most favorite female icon is Gwen Stefani! She is it for me. She just gets it and she's so cool. Another female fashion icon I totally adore is Rihanna! She is totally and unapologetically herself. Her fashion is just incredible. I love ASAP Rocky and think he is a phenomenal fashion icon. Even people like Janet Jackson. You know, she's had a lot of really cool styles. And Aaliyah, from back in the day. I loved her sense of style, as well. Fashion means a lot to me. I personally have a very eclectic taste in fashion. My friends always say "You know, only you could pull that off" because I love platforms. I love platforms and I love really cool pants, whether they are baggy or even a satin material or latex material. I love exploring fashion and taking fashion risks. It plays a huge part in my music, as well, because my music is very eclectic. It's not just pop or R&B. It's a mix of so many different things, and that's how my fashion is, as well. I like to take cool pieces that...you know, some pieces are worth a lot and some pieces aren't worth a lot. But if you can mix it together and create something that's totally different, unlike anything else that someone is wearing, then I think you've done your job. So, fashion plays a huge part in my life and my music.

Do you see yourself incorporating fashion into your live shows and doing crazy costumes and things like that?

I would think fashion will be a big part, but I'm probably not going to give you a Lady Gaga meat dress for live performances (laughs)! I still have to be able to dance and everything. But my space outfits will definitely be a huge part of my show because I want people to understand my aesthetic and relate to it and be inspired by it. All of that comes with the live show, so fashion will definitely play a big part in my live performance.

What's next for you? What are some of your goals going forward?

To get on the road. I'm hoping that this Delta variant kind of dies down. I'm ready to hit the road and put on some more performance for everyone. Also, the release of my EP, Finding BriaR, will be coming in the fall. And also just releasing more music and music videos. I have some more music on the way that I'm super excited about. I just want to keep giving to the fans and just keep giving to everyone!

Photo Ladies 8/19/21 Photo Ladies 8/19/21

Interview: PremRock

PremRock

Interview & Photos By: Edwina Hay

Rapper PremRock has been a part of the independent scene in New York City for years now and has performed alongside rappers such as Open Mike Eagle, Armand Hammer, milo, and others. He’s impressively released two albums in 2020 and 2021 as a solo artist and with Curly Castro as a duo called ShrapKnel.

His newest album, Load Bearing Crow’s Feet, was released by Backwoodz Studios in June 2021, the independent label created by billy woods, that also put out ShrapKnel’s self-titled record in March 2020. In this interview, we learn more about PremRock’s newest album, how he met some of his colleagues, and what he read and listened to when New York, and most of the world, shut down.

PremRock, you just held a record release show for your latest solo record, Load Bearing Crow’s Feet, which was your first live performance in 16 months. How did it feel to perform in front of an audience again?

PremRock: Definitely was a mixture of emotions. It felt great to actually perform but the rust felt a little apparent so leading up to the event I was a little nervous in terms of the actual logistics of everything. It came together remarkably well and I really appreciate the fellow performers for being on time and being incredibly positive. It goes a long way when producing a show.

At the show, you remarked, “Before COVID, I brought my own mic, now I doubly do it.” Can you tell us more about your microphone? Why do you use this specific one? When did you start bringing your own mic to shows?

PremRock: Yes! It’s a great idea I recommend to all artists, specifically touring ones. Actually in the market for a new one at the moment. Willie Green got the one I use now from the company and he graciously has let me hold it for…damn maybe 5 years now.

Your record release shows always seem to have great rappers sharing the stage with you for a night. How did you select the acts and special guests for the LCBF show? I hadn’t seen Fatboi Sharif before and excitedly texted friends about his entrance music before his set began.

PremRock: Sharif has entered my artistic orbit since he released Gandhi Loves Children. Since then we’ve been super friendly in our communications and I could tell right away he was a good person on top of being an incredibly creative and talented artist. It felt like a natural progression to get him involved. Zilla and Castro are obvious for me, that’s the team. Always enjoy having them up here. I specifically wanted to get Brainorchestra involved after his contributions to LBCF. I really admire his work ethic and quality of output. Anyone can drop something consistently but very few can do it at the level he does. Jarv, I met a few years ago on the road and was blown away by his live show. He’s truly a gem. He recently moved to BK so I thought it would be a nice maiden voyage and guessed correctly!

This album was another one of yours recorded by Willie Green. How did you two first meet? What was the recording process for this new record like?

PremRock: Green and I met in early 09’ at an open mic called BondFire at Bowery Poetry Club through the grace of Warren Britt. The indie scene here was really pretty vibrant and supportive, we clicked pretty naturally after the initial meeting. I recognized his talent pretty early on but what really sealed it was his organizational skills and professionalism. He’s got it down and he expects you to do the same which is why we became fast friends and creative partners in that respect.

Since you’ve worked with Green numerous times in the past, do you find that he knows the sound you are looking for and that you have a rapport with him? Can you tell us how this album was recorded? Was there a particular sound you were looking for with LBCF? When I listen to the record, I noticed horns on certain tracks like “Death on the Installment Plan,” “Prairie Burn,” and “Soft Machinery,” and I don’t recall that sound being on your prior records as much.

PremRock: He definitely knows how to mix my voice and has done so more than any other engineer. It’s a lot of trust for me but to set it and forget it so to speak is such a luxury. I will never have to peer over his shoulder or nudge him for any reason. He knows what needs to be done and does it. Good call with the horns! Didn’t particularly notice that myself. I love reggae and that’s where I went with “Prairie” as a producer. “Machinery” had a wonky drunk trumpet I like and felt was missing from my catalog and “Installment Plan” is just such a banger. The signature song it felt like immediately. The sound I am looking for is sort of ineffable. The kids might say it’s about vibes but it really is. I know what’s missing and seek until I find it. Probably why I don’t release solo albums often. It’s a process and Green is there to guide me.

You recently released the first video of the second track from Load Bearing Crow’s Feet (“REMORSE” featuring ELUCID) which begins with you on the ground, rapping in a chalk outline, but also features you throwing rocks in a train tunnel and other interesting visuals. How did you choose the director, Ariandé King, and how did you create the concept for the video for “REMORSE?”

PremRock: Interestingly enough, I was approached by my younger brother’s childhood friend Josh Layton who worked on the video and they asked if I’d be down to come to Philly and shoot a concept they had in mind after hearing some unreleased songs. They settled on “REMORSE.” Incredibly professional bunch...they had every minute mapped out to a tee on the day of the shoot. It was a lot of fun and I really hope to work with these guys again. Fun fact, there was someone living really close by on that train track scene, they just shouted, “What’s up?!”

Your music gives listeners insight into your influences due to references to literature or other musicians. Two examples that come to mind are one of your previous records, Mark’s Wild Years, which demonstrates your love of Tom Waits, and on the new album, a song called “Apollo Kids Meal,” a reference to the Ghostface Killah song, “Apollo Kids.” Since we all spent more time at home during the pandemic, I’m curious what were some of the things you listened to and/or read over the past year?

PremRock: I read some interesting stuff. More Baldwin, Marquez, Tom Robbins. Nafissa-Thompson Spires and Tommy Orange were the new-ish writers I checked out. Tried to diversify and really started out guns blazing but faded as each day felt just like the last, I mean we all went through it. Music-wise, I dug into Scarface and David Bowie a lot. Khruangbin, Serengeti, Quelle Chris, Shabazz Palaces, Boldy James, Stove God Cooks. Big Thief, Japanese Breakfast, Mount Eerie/Microphones---anything Phil Elverum related, and of course all the unreleased stuff from myself and the crew. Watched a TON of movies and that’s probably a separate interview altogether. I think I did the most my mental bandwidth would allow. Should’ve listened to more Neil Young and Reggae. Everyone on earth should listen to more Reggae.

In March 2020, your duo with Philadelphia rapper Curly Castro called ShrapKnel released a new album but unfortunately, touring came to an abrupt end that month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. How did ShrapKnel start and how do the two of you write songs for this project with him being based in Philly while you live in New York? Were you able to do any live shows for this record before events were banned across the US and the rest of the world?

PremRock: We really didn’t get that chance, unfortunately. We had more than a couple of things lined up and like for many people, it all came crashing down. We were able to link for the follow-up throughout the pandemic strategically. It was tough, but we made it work. Then since we both got vaccinated, it felt easy to traverse back and forth without a lot of fear.

How long have you known Curly Castro and when did you begin making music with him?

PremRock: Castro and I met at a battle-type event in Philly back in like 2013 or something. It was definitely a “can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” scenario. We hit it off pretty well immediately but I don’t think either of us ever saw this happening. It was a pleasant surprise that the chemistry was as pronounced as it is/was and we are certainly running with it. Making music together comes very natural to us and it’s always a fun process.

On Sunday, August 15, 2021, ShrapKnel will take the stage at SummerStage in Central Park with other Backwoodz Studioz artists for your biggest hometown concert to date. Are there any sets you’re looking forward to seeing that day? Are you ready to go from playing an intimate record release show in Brooklyn at the end of July to a large outdoor stage in Manhattan almost a month later?

PremRock: I am extremely excited in general just to take in the whole scene. I mean it’s Alchemist! Backwoodz has come such a long way. It's really inspiring to watch it all unfold and to be part of the movement means extra. The magnitude is definitely not lost on me and I hope it isn’t the last time we play a stage this big but I like to think I’ll be at home in both settings. I like to perform.

Emily May 8/16/21 Emily May 8/16/21

Interview: Heavenly Reyna

Heavenly Reyna - Press Photo (credit Jeanne Dee)-2.jpg — Heavenly Reyna

Interview By: Emily May | Photo by: Jeanne Dee

Using her music as a cultural bridge to bring people together, LA-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Heavenly Reyna was raised in 48 countries as her family traveled the globe and documented their adventures as travel bloggers. She began violin lessons at 23 months, piano lessons at 3 years old, started writing songs at 4, and began her travels at the age of 5. Having grown up in a musically rich environment, Heavenly was a lover of music in the womb. Raised in a trilingual household, speaking and crafting songs in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese, she cultivated her musical skills throughout different cultures during her worldly travels. She has been called a “prodigy” and a “phenom”, having wowed crowds across many cultures with her incredible musical talent. Heavenly shot a lead in two movies and a pilot that was released in 2020 and sings 5 of her songs in one of the movies. She did a TED Talk, starred in the Brat series “The Talent Show”, won a Best Actress Award for her dramatic lead in the film “Rose”, was featured next to Ariana Grande in her “God Is a Woman” music video, appeared on MTV songwriting with Bebe Rexha, featured singer in Halsey’s as well as Lindsey Stirling’s documentaries, and won several film festival awards for writing/filmmaking/editing her Music Videos of her original songs. She played a lead in a TV series pilot and is working on her debut EP with Grammy-winning producer Mikal Blue. Having gone by the moniker of Mozart Dee for her childhood and young adult life, she is thrilled to now be releasing music under her name-Heavenly Reyna. She has done extensive live performances around the world at such venues as Carnegie Hall, House of Blues, Disney Hall, Six Flags, Four Seasons Hotels, Royce Hall, and Hilton Hotels and is a winner in the International Songwriting Competition and winner in the Unsigned Artist songwriting competition. Although the pandemic was hard on many in the music industry, Heavenly became a partner with Twitch TV, which has helped her to move forward with her music career despite industry restrictions over the past year and a half, as well as grow an intensely loyal fan base. With more music, music videos, and an EP on the way, Heavenly Reyna is certainly an artist to watch! You can connect with Heavenly Reyna via the following links.

You have said that you were born with a love of music, learning the violin at the age of 23 months and the piano at 3. You also grew up in a trilingual home and traveled the world with your parents starting at the age of 5 and performed and sang in many different countries. What can you tell me about your childhood and how world travel and different cultural immersions have affected you personally and musically?

I have always loved music. My mom says I even kicked in time to the music when I was in the womb! Growing up trilingual and traveling the world as a digital nomad with my family was unique and wonderful, but it seemed perfectly normal to me at the time. It is all I had known. My mom went to weekly community singing sessions for pregnant women and we went to music classes when I was three months old as well as Kindermusik classes as a baby. I grew up in a very musically rich environment and loved going to concerts even as a toddler. I started learning the violin at two years old because all the kids in my neighborhood played violin and we had an amazing local teacher who taught everyone. Seeing everyone else play made me want to do it as well and I was lucky enough that the teacher let me start early a few years early. I had an innovative piano teacher as well. Sometimes it was challenging taking a piano around the world with me but we had a full digital keyboard in our small camper van. Finding child-size violins in foreign countries, shopping in different languages, and finding people that would teach online when Skype was just starting to be used was also tough. But music was important to me, even at five years old, so when we started traveling non-stop around the world, we found ways to adapt. Being around such enriching global environments and having the freedom to explore and listen to all kinds of local music definitely impacted me greatly.

You started writing songs at the age of 4 and became really serious and prolific about songwriting when you were 10. What drew you to songwriting and how do you feel it has evolved for you over the years?

My mom says I just always really liked to write and make up songs. When I was about 3 or 4 years old, I was enrolled in a Kindermusik writing music class because I was really interested in creating music. That taught me some basics really early on. I really didn't like rote learning that is typical with classical piano training, so I studied with a jazz piano teacher whose method helped me get to know chords and expand on the basics of creating music. That was my passion even as a little kid. I got even more passionate about creating music and writing songs around 10 years old. I was living in Asia where I did a lot of karaoke, and I joined a choir at my local Chinese school. When I was 13, I was accepted to the same music school program that trained Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez in Dallas. There I worked with many songwriting teachers who helped teach me the craft of songwriting and song creation. I was also lucky enough to have many opportunities to perform in some amazing venues. From that point on, I’ve really just learned by doing. I’ve worked with some amazing professionals in L.A. and around the world and I am thrilled that some of my songs are in movies and on TV. I have more than 100 unreleased songs, and I just keep creating!

From 1st-4th grade, you traveled around Europe with your parents for 7 months out of each year and lived in a village in Spain for the other 3 months. What can you tell me about that time for you and how did spending so much time in Spain help you to connect with your Spanish roots?

I love, love, love Spain and I am really grateful that I was able to spend so much time there growing up. I would not have such a deep connection to my Hispanic heritage, language, and culture if I had not grown up there, going to school in a local Andalusian village. My roots are there and also Barcelona, where I spent much time every summer. Flamenco dancing starting at five years old and participating in all the amazing community and cultural holidays and events that the whole village participates in really became ingrained in my consciousness on so many levels. I went back when I did my 10-city European tour, and it was as if time stood still and I never left. That village girl, and that village life, lives within me no matter where I am, and I think you can hear it when I sing in Spanish!

At the age of 12, you and your family moved back to the US when you were presented with the opportunity to star in your own tv show about travel, leading you all to travel more around the country to get to know your home country better. What was that experience like for you and having been abroad for so many years, what was it like for you to travel around and become familiar with the US? Was it easy to adjust?

I think I adjusted fairly quickly as we stopped every two years in our travels to stay at my grandma’s house in California. I had stayed connected to those friends even as I traveled. With the internet, I could stay connected with various friends around the world even when I was traveling in another country. I love traveling and exploring new places, be it another country or across the U.S. Some of it was a cultural shock, but I adapt quickly to new environments, and it was wonderful to travel all over the U.S. and finally see it. I was almost 13 when I traveled across the U.S. and had been living in Malaysia before we returned. SE Asia is a very different lifestyle and environment, but I think it was the perfect age for me to explore my home country.

Aside from singing, you also act. What led you into acting and what can you tell me about the films you have been in and what you enjoy about acting? What was it like for you to win a best actress award for your role in 'Rose', as well as getting to feature 5 of your songs in 'Fame At A Deadly Cost'?

I fell into acting by accident. My first acting job was for a Japanese TV show. I met the producer and film crew in Croatia, and they asked me to be a part of the show. Then, when I was performing my song “Ashes” on the violin at a GRAMMY night gala, a casting director saw me. She was casting the movie Rose, where the lead was a teen who is a violin prodigy. She and the director ended up casting me in the role which I ended up winning an award for! That was definitely when the “acting bug” bit me. I really enjoy acting and really love doing films. I love that acting and songwriting are collaborative efforts. It is hard sometimes to juggle both careers, as they both take a tremendous amount of time and effort, but I do love them both. I also love when I can combine both like I did in Fame at a Deadly Cost. I had the best director, cast, and crew, and they ended up using five of my original songs!

You recently were made partner at Twitch Music. With the music industry having been so devastated during the pandemic, what can you tell me about your partnership with Twitch and finding ways to move forward with your music despite the restrictions? How have you utilized an online presence to grow your career and gain a loyal fan base?

I absolutely adore Twitch and my community there! The music industry and the film/TV industry were devastated because of the pandemic, like so many other industries. It was very hard for me because I live with my parents who are high risk, so I felt very isolated and sad that I wasn’t able to connect with friends or perform. Finding Twitch really was a lifesaver! It is really hard work, with really long hours where I’m singing. It is very tech-heavy to get started and I had a lot of challenges in the beginning, but I stuck with it. I started going viral on it and just broke over 2 million channel views, which is crazy. I have found the most amazing, supporting community and friends there. I've also been working with producers around the world from my tiny bedroom studio, so that has me stretched thin, but I am grateful to have found new ways to connect to the world and create and perform music. Twitch allows me to be my quirky self and I love the chat because I can connect with people in real-time.

Having performed live many times throughout your life, what was it like for you to adapt to livestreaming instead?

Livestreaming music is so different from performing live in many ways. I didn't really like livestreaming at first, but I had only tried it a few times on Instagram. The pandemic made me push past that resistance and try Twitch. I didn’t really have any real equipment when I started, just my mac webcam. I kept trying and met some really generous people on Twitch who believed in me and helped me. Now, I have so many deep bonds with my Twitch family, and I think I like livestreaming more than any other way of performing – or at least as much as performing in person! There is a special intimacy to connect virtually, partly because of the chat aspect and partly because the audience chooses the song choices. Sometimes mistakes are part of her performance – especially with “live learns” - and I’m a perfectionist, so that was hard for me at first. Being live for many hours, five times a week, and learning new songs in many new genres, will lead to mistakes. I think making mistakes in public and still being supported by my audience has been very healing for me. Performing on a livestream is very vulnerable in many ways and long hours can be a challenge vocally, especially when you can’t rehearse everything, but that spontaneous and close connection makes it very special.

What can you tell me about your new show Dark Springs that you created on Tik Tok with 3-time Emmy winner Bernie Su? How did you meet Bernie and come to work with him?

I met Bernie when I auditioned for his award-winning Twitch show "Artificial." I got called back, but ultimately didn’t end up getting that job – but Bernie and I hit it off, stayed in touch, and then co-created Dark Springs! Right now, Dark Springs is on hiatus, but it was so much fun making it as it’s completely interactive.

You have also received acclaim for your music videos! How would you describe your process in creating your music videos and what inspires your approach to and ideas for them?

Yes, I have! It’s really exciting because I do them on no budget, don’t have much experience as a director, or have really had professional filming equipment! Like my songs, my music videos just pop in my head and then I have to figure out how I can do what I want to do with no money! That is the biggest challenge.

You recently released your new acoustic single "EXIT." What can you tell me about the song, as well as it being your first single released under your birth name? What led you to decide to stop performing as Mozart and start performing as Heavenly Reyna?

“EXIT” is a quirky breakup ballad that compares a traffic jam to the moment in a relationship where you realize it is not going anywhere in a cathartic and empowering way. My Twitch audience loves the song and urged me to release it. I had always wanted to use my real name, rather than my nickname, but “Mozart” was used to protect my identity when I was younger as I have been a public person since the age of five. Now that I am older, I am thrilled to be going by my real name Heavenly Reyna - it feels so right!

What has the experience been like for you to work with Grammy-winning producer Mikal Blue on your upcoming EP? What can your fans expect from the EP?

I really love working with Mikal Blue! He is a very talented and supportive artist and producer. I think my fans will love my upcoming singles as I’ve been very busy and have a lot of songs I want to release, but I’d love to work on releasing the EP in the near future as well!

What's next for you?

The next step is creating the produced, official version of “EXIT” and doing the proper music video. I have some big surprises in store and already have the next two songs ready to go!

Emily May 8/4/21 Emily May 8/4/21

INTERVIEW: Mackenzie Shivers

Lissyelle x Mackenzie Shivers 2-2 copy.jpg — Mackenzie Shivers

Interview by: Emily May

NY based singer, songwriter and pianist Mackenzie Shivers has always loved music. From a young age, she told her mother that she had music inside of her that needed to come out and has always written and performed music as a means of expressing her emotions. She wrote her first song at the age of 4, started taking piano lessons at the age of 5, and grew up singing harmonies with her sister. She has released three full length albums, 2014’s Neverland, 2019’s The Unkindness, and Rejection Letter, released in April of this year. She has also released 3 EPs, 2016’s Living in My Head, 2017’s Ravens and 2019’s Holiday EP, Midwinter. Last year, she took what she thought would be a short vacation with her husband to a friend’s home in Cape Cod at the onset of the worldwide pandemic. They ended up being there for 3 months, and the change in scenery and the serenity of the resort town inspired her to write what would become her most recent album, Rejection Letter. Although she would normally write songs on her piano, the only instrument she had with her was a nylon stringed guitar that her father had gifted her, causing her to focus on honing her skills on the instrument and exploring it in ways she had not done before. Her time in quarantine allowed her to shed the self-imposed pressures she normally operated under and guitar tutorials by UK singer-songwriter Laura Marling inspired her to experiment with alternate tunings and take a much more freeform approach to her playing. Although Shivers had already written the 13 songs that she thought would comprise Rejection Letter, she returned to New York with a new batch of songs and worked with her producer/engineer Kevin Salem to rethink the approach to recording the album. In the interest of safety and social distancing, they decided to record the album piecemeal. Her bandmates Yuka Tadano (bass) and Cody Rahn (drums) recorded their parts separately, while she joined via FaceTime, and her cellist Oliover Kraus sent in his parts virtually from LA. Shivers sees Rejection Letter as her way of combatting her nature as a people pleaser, taking ownership of her voice and her ability to speak up and speak out, and embracing her rebellious spirit as an artist. Shivers has created a 3-part music video series for the album, comprised of videos for “Martha’s Vinyard”, “Afraid”, and the soon to be released “Butterscotch”. She also recently took part in The Woodstock Sessions, recording several of the songs live with a grand piano. With plans to release more music, Shivers plans to release an EP and then head into the studio to record a whole new batch of songs. You can connect with Mackenzie Shivers via the following links. Photo credit: Lissyelle Laricchia.

At a young age, you told your mom that you had music inside of you that needed to come out, having written your first song at the age of 4 and started piano lessons at 5. What can you tell me about the pull you felt towards music from a young age and about singing harmonies with your sister growing up? In what ways do you feel that writing and performing music has helped you to express yourself and release your emotions?

It’s interesting you bring up both my sister and my introduction to music because my first memories consist of those two things: visiting the hospital just after my sister Sarah Wells (Swells, as I call her) was born, and playing a Muppet Babies keyboard at a friend’s birthday party. I was just shy of three years old in both memories. Singing with Swells is my favorite thing to do. We grew up singing together all the time, and I didn’t realize how special it was until I became an adult. We can harmonize together without thinking, without rehearsing. It’s completely effortless and a reflection of how close we are. When we both lived in NYC, we’d perform together as The Shivers Sisters. In terms of growing up playing the piano and composing, they were always my outlets to express feelings I didn’t quite know how to approach otherwise. Sadness and pain especially. When I was sad, I played the piano. When I was heartbroken, I wrote songs. And I still do. It’s a way to process. But now that I’m older, I’m learning other ways to process and cope with these feelings. Therapy has helped me a lot. I truly believe it’s allowed me to be a better songwriter. Music is still cathartic, but now it’s not my only outlet.

You took a vacation to Cape Cod to stay with friends right as the pandemic hit, leading your planned week-long vacation to turn into 3 months. You have said that you found the change in scenery and the serenity of the environment to be very inspiring, which led to songs pouring out of you. What can you tell me about that experience?

I find few things more inspiring than being on the water. The light was constantly changing and different every day. I tend to be a prolific writer when I’m in motion, whether on a train, plane, or in a car, and I think the movement of the water inspired me to write a lot. I found it to be a powerful reminder that nothing is stagnant and change is inevitable. That was especially poignant during the pandemic.

Although you typically write songs on the piano, the only instrument you had with you was a nylon-stringed guitar gifted to you by your father. What was that experience like for you, exploring that instrument in ways you never had before and writing songs in a different way? Do you feel it changed the way you will approach songwriting going forward?

It definitely changed how I wrote! I was playing chords and progressions I don’t usually gravitate towards at the piano. The textures were new and the ways my fingers formed chords were new. Writing on the acoustic guitar gave me confidence and emboldened me to try writing on different instruments going forward. The piano will always be my main instrument and I will always compose on it, but now I’m eager to play around with the electric guitar and try writing on that. The sounds will be completely different, and who knows what songs will come from it. I find that exciting.

You have said that in quarantine, you shed any sort of self-imposed pressure that had always imbued you as a songwriter and that you experimented with alternate tunings, guided by online guitar tutorials from singer/songwriter Laura Marling. What do you feel that you learned from those tutorials and how did they lead to a newfound sense of fun and joy for you?

Piano lessons shaped my first two decades as a musician, but I haven’t taken formal lessons since college. So these Laura Marling tutorials were like taking guitar lessons except much more casual and incredibly fun and cool because, you know, it’s Laura Marling and she’s doing it on Instagram. She would demonstrate different tunings and then teach a song or two in those tunings, so often times I would learn the chords and then would find my own voicings or chord progressions in that tuning and a song would be born from it. That’s how I wrote “Martha’s Vineyard” and “Gold,” two songs on my latest record.

You recently released your 3rd album Rejection Letter, and before heading to Cape Cod, you had already written the 13 songs you thought would comprise your album. You returned to New York from Cape Cod, however, with a new batch of songs. What can you tell me about your shift in approach towards the album and having to rethink your approach to recording your album with your producer/engineer Kevin Salem?

Originally, the record was going to be tracked live with the band. But we didn’t feel that was the right way to go once the pandemic hit for several reasons. Safety was the biggest issue. But I also had these new songs that I hadn’t rehearsed with the band yet because we were all in lockdown! The album ended up being about half and a half - songs written pre-pandemic and songs written during. So Kevin Salem and I had a meeting and asked ourselves, “How can we make this album right now? And how can we do it safely?”. A record is always a moment in time; a slice of life. So we decided to record in a way that reflected the times we were in: everyone recording separately. But we still wanted to be able to record in studios and use professional recording equipment, so we tracked at two different studios in the Woodstock area, The Hidden Quarry and Kevin’s studio The Distortion Tank.

What can you tell me about the recording process for the album and the decision to record the album piecemeal, with you and your bandmates recording your respective parts separately? How would you describe that experience for you, on having to just focus solely on your part rather than having everyone playing together in a room?

I started things off by spending a week with Kevin in the studio, so I was able to just focus on my parts instead of multi-tasking like I do when we’re recording live as a band. And that gave me the freedom to explore and try lots of different things. We really dug into the sound and made sure we had a very solid base for the band to record over. Then Cody Rahn came up to Woodstock to record drums after my parts were finished, and Yuka Tadano followed on bass. We were all given more time and attention than we do if we’re recording together live, and I think that’s reflected in the final product. A couple moments that are my favorites are Cody on “Mess” and Yuka on “Kids.” They really shine.

In what ways do you feel that the process of writing and recording the songs for Rejection Letter helps you to combat your nature as a people pleaser and take ownership of your voice and your ability to speak out and speak up? Having also described this album as you at your best and most complex to date, showing new sides to you a darker, angrier, and moodier side, while still feeling whimsical-what do you feel you learned about yourself in the making of this album?

I learned that I am a very multi-layered person, and there are so many aspects of myself to discover, explore, and embrace. We as humans are multifaceted and complex, and I think that’s a beautiful thing. On Rejection Letter, I shared things that were a bit uncomfortable, like questioning whether or not I wanted to become a mother and then having difficulty conceiving. Those topics aren’t discussed very much in music or in life, and it’s important to me to not shy away from things just because they’re messy or considered taboo. It’s a part of my story, and it’s honest.

You have talked about taking a lot of time to reflect on the shifting state of the world and how you want to move through life in this new phase of Covid that includes vaccinations and re-openings. What does that look like for you and do you feel that your views of life and the world have shifted significantly post-Covid from what they were before?

I’m trying to put a lot less pressure on myself than I did pre-Covid. I’m more mindful of how I use social media, I’m trying not to compare myself to others, and I’m allowing myself to rest. And I’ve discovered that when I do that, it often fosters a lot of creative energy. Before the pandemic, I tied my self-worth into things like how many people came to my shows or how many people engaged with my social media posts. I don’t want to do that to myself anymore. I’m working on being kinder to myself, knowing that my value as a person and an artist is not based on things like ticket sales or Instagram likes. But it can be hard. I’m still finding that balance with social media in particular. I really like connecting with people on Instagram, and I’ve met some wonderful people through that platform. But I don’t like fighting against the algorithm for visibility. That’s especially hard when I’m promoting an album. The rules of social media and its algorithms are always changing, and it’s easy to feel like you’re never doing enough. And that’s an unhealthy mindset to be in.

What can you tell me about your concept for a 3-part video series for Rejection Letter and how you chose the songs to do videos for? You most recently released the video for "Afraid", the second video in the series, which was influenced by Brittanie Bond's haunting and evocative images for her photo series "we move lightly". How did you come across her work and what can you tell me about working with her, Marco Pitruzella and dancer/choreographer Candice Schnurr and the idea behind the video?

The videos match the singles - “Martha’s Vineyard”, “Afraid”, and then “Butterscotch” will be released soon. I worked with Lâle Teoman on two of the videos and Britannie Bond on the other. I wanted to work with them because I thought their aesthetic really matched what I was going for - whimsical, moody, surrealist. I’ve worked with them both before and find them to be incredible collaborators and people. As far as working with Britannie on “Afraid” goes, I’ve known her for a long time and was already familiar with her “we move lightly” photo series. She told me she also had video footage to go with the project that featured dancer Candice Schnurr. So she and her partner Marco Pitruzella created this film just for “Afraid” out of that footage. And I love how it came out and think it captured the grief, longing, and internal struggle depicted in the song so beautifully.

You also took part recently in The Woodstock Sessions to record several of the songs from the album live with a grand piano. How did that experience come about and what was it like for you?

Applehead Recording has hosted The Woodstock Sessions since 2013. They invite people to sit in as artists play a set and record it live. So it’s essentially a creation of a live album at their studio. But when Covid hit, they re-worked it so that artists came in and performed a set without an audience, and it was recorded and turned into videos. The studio owner knows Kevin Salem, and I had also recorded at Applehead before, so we were all connected in that way. When they found out I was recording a new album, they thought having me in for a pandemic session would be great. And it was a complete blast. I just released this video for the album’s title track.

What's next for you? What are your goals going forward?

I’ll be releasing an EP, and then I’m going back into the studio to record a whole new batch of songs. So it’s safe to say lots more music is on its way! My goals are to continue making and releasing music and to stay very much in love with the process of it.

Photo Ladies 6/3/21 Photo Ladies 6/3/21

INTERVIEW: The Accidentals

front of tunnel normal faces.jpg — The Accidentals

The Photo Ladies Interview - by Emily May

Sometimes bands can start out in the most unexpected ways, which was the case for Michigan band The Accidentals. Formed by Savannah Buist (violin) and Katie Larson (cello) while in high school, the self-described musical soulmates live and breathe music. Writing deep and catchy songs from the very beginning, it didn't take long for them to gain a loyal and devoted fanbase, referring to their core supporters as "The FAMgrove". Releasing their first album Bittersweet in 2013, funded by a successful crowdfunding campaign, Buist and Larson met drummer/percussionist Michael Dause in 2014 and recruited him into the band, cementing their lineup. Upon finishing high school, the band toured extensively, playing 200+ shows a year that included various festivals, and shared the stage with artists such as Brandi Carlile, Andrew Bird, and The Decemberists. On the heels of their 2016 release, Parking Lot EP, the band signed a deal in 2017 with Sony Masterworks label and released Odyssey, an album they have described as a culmination of 6 years of being a band and that signaled a new chapter for the band. In 2018, they began work on their 4th full-length album Vessel. When the pandemic hit, and the music industry came to a halt, the band paused work on Vessel in lieu of their pandemic EP Time Out, which was written during quarantine over zoom with legendary writers like Tom Paxton, Kim Richey, Dar Williams, Maia Sharp, Mary Gauthier, and Jaimee Harris. With the music industry opening back up, The Accidentals will be completing Vessel, slated to be released in the fall of this year. The Accidentals also host workshops around the country in an effort to inspire other young musicians, and in 2020 they formed a non-profit called Play It Forward Again and Again, providing instruments, lessons, and mentors to aspiring musicians. With plans to release Vessel, tour the album and write new music, they have plenty of exciting things in store for their fans! You can connect with The Accidentals via the following links:

Savannah and Katie- You both met and started playing music together in high school and have talked about the tremendous support you received from your local music community. What can you tell me about the local musicians who took you under their wings when you first started out and gave you pieces of knowledge and genre that inspired you to keep exploring? What did you learn in those early days that you have carried with you over the years?

Sav: We were really lucky to grow up in such a music-and-arts-loving community. I got my start in a family band with my parents (both are professional musicians who met in Nashville, where I was born), who taught me to improvise. There’s a huge festival scene in Michigan, and at most of those festivals, you’d find me under the workshop tents, learning traditional fiddle tunes from other violinists. There was also a weekly jazz jam that I took my electric violin to jam at, and the cats there were incredibly welcoming and accepting of a young kid who wanted to learn more about the genre. There was also a strong orchestral presence at our public high school, where I met Katie in the after-school “alternative styles club” (where we would cover Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, and more on our orchestral instruments).

After we were thrown together to represent the alternative styles club for an upcoming concert, we quickly became friends and from there a duo. Katie and I swapped skill sets - she’d written original music and played multiple instruments, but hadn’t performed live or improvised as much; meanwhile, I’d grown up in a live improv scene but didn’t write original music or play multiple instruments. We inspired each other and helped each other grow.

Once we had established ourselves as The Accidentals, we played all over the place - coffee shops, breweries, wineries, bookstores, anywhere that would take us. As a result, we met a lot of local musicians in the community, who took us under their wing. They’d have us open their concerts, or connect us to local studios and engineers. Whenever we needed help, we didn’t hesitate to ask someone in the community to teach us a bass riff or lend us an instrument. We still do that to this day. It’s actually our motto - “Ask for what you need.” No one ever does anything alone. To collaborate is always more fun than to compete.

Katie- You have said that it still blows your mind how many things you and Savannah did before graduating from high school and that you both basically spent a lot of time saying "yes" to things. Was that a conscious decision on both of your parts starting out, to say "yes" to every opportunity to see where it led you? Are any of the opportunities especially memorable?

At the time we met, neither Sav nor I envisioned a career in the music industry. We were introverted overachievers with a lot of random interests. Sav was writing novels, playing travel soccer, and studying biology in her downtime. I was obsessed with documentary filmmaking, graphic design, and movie soundtracks. When we started playing music together I saw an entire new world open up. Music had the ability to introduce us to people, places, and experiences we would have never found ourselves in contact with otherwise. We ended up playing on a ferry in the middle of Lake Michigan, playing in a swimming pool, at weddings, electronic music festivals, punk clubs, onstage with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, teaching ukulele workshops to kids, jamming on live radio with a bagpipe player, etc. We performed before a movie at the Traverse City Film Festival and the directors from an indie documentary called One Simple Question asked if we’d be interested in scoring music for the soundtrack. It’s like Tina Fey’s quote: “say yes and you’ll figure it out afterward”. One of our first gigs was at Horizon Books in Traverse City. They cautioned us they didn’t have the license for cover songs, so we’d have to fill an hour and a half with original songs. We said yes and wrote 13 songs by the end of the week, which became the material for our first album. At times it was overwhelming, but we learned something valuable every time.

What can you tell me about bringing Michael into the band and how do you feel he has helped to mature and evolve your music, as well as your desire to "just try everything"? Michael- What can you tell me about joining the band in 2014?

Katie: We started playing with percussionists and noticed it completely changed our live show. Instead of trying to cover all the rhythmic parts, we had space for the arrangements to open up and the energy to jump off the stage. At the time we were writing original songs and mashing up gypsy jazz covers with versions of Muse and The Strokes on violin and cello, so finding someone who was as weird as us and willing to come on board full time was a challenge. When we met Michael, it clicked instantly. We were able to embrace a whole new level of energy, three-part harmonies, and more dynamic arrangements.

Michael: I had met Sav and Katie at a music festival in northern Michigan during the summer of 2013. I fell in love with their newest record at the time, Bittersweet, and listened to it almost every day for a while after. We became friends over the internet while I was in my first year of college, and when the summer of 2014 came around, they said they were looking for a drummer to play with them for the month of July. They asked if I was interested, and I said yes almost immediately. I had been sitting with their music for so long, I pretty much knew the songs by heart, and after playing with them for a month, they asked if I wanted to drop out of college and come on the road with them. It was an easy yes from me.

You have long operated as an indie/DIY band, crowdfunding early tours and albums. What can you tell me about signing with Sony in 2017 and releasing your first major-label album Odyssey. You've referred to the album as a culmination of 6 years of being a band. How do you feel that the album and signing to a major label signaled a new chapter for the band?

Sav: It’s funny - it’s been a total ride. Odyssey was definitely the culmination of 6 years. It was a snapshot in time of us signing with our first major label. We were nervous, excited, and when I think about it, incredibly young. We learned so much from that time of being signed. Particularly, we learned who we were, and who we weren’t. At this point, we are back to DIY - but definitely operating at a different level than we were. We’ve been able to work with some of our favorite producers of all time (John Congleton, Tucker Martine), play insane shows, travel the country, and meet amazing people. We’ve also learned to maintain who we are as a throughline, no matter what. There are lots of hands in every musical cookie jar. It can be really difficult to know which voice to listen to as a result. The key is to know who you are first, and what your goals are - then trust your instinct.

You have talked about how the music industry can feel very intimidating, having to constantly push past your introverted tendencies. How have you learned to exist in that realm over the years while still protecting your energy and making time for yourselves? What are your self-care practices?

Sav: One of the best things Beth Nielsen Chapman ever told me was to think of your favorite color, and imagine a bubble around you in that color, whenever you need it. I still use that all the time.

We may not seem very introverted - being in this industry requires some social flexibility after a while - but all of us very much get in the van after a show and put on noise-canceling headphones and read books by booklight and don’t talk for a while. Our idea of a party is playing Settlers of Catan at the AirBnB while doing laundry.

So yeah, being in the music industry - a world of noise, networking, and constant new faces - can be overwhelming. We’ve gotten pretty good at setting personal boundaries and being open and honest about our feelings. Once everyone is clued into a person’s emotional state, we know how to protect them better. There’s a lot of looking out for each other on the road.

Savannah- You have said that you are all incredibly accident prone and found that most of the accidents you get into lead to things you didn't even know were meant to be. What can you tell me about these "happy accidents"?

I think about it best in terms of zooming out. We’ve had lots of accidents. Everything from trailer theft, car crashes, tornadoes, breakdowns, wildfires, floods...I remember one time we were telling some of these stories at a school workshop in Arkansas, and one of the kids raised their hand and said, “Why are you so unlucky?”

What I realized in that moment is that you could look at every accident in two ways. On one hand, you think, “How are we so unlucky that we keep getting caught in natural disasters and vehicular malfunctions?” On the other hand, you think to yourself, “Man, I’m lucky to be able to continue despite that.”

I remember after the trailer was stolen from a parking lot in Tucson, we lost $70,000 worth of equipment overnight. Michael and I turned to each other and, somewhat nihilistically, joked, “Well, at least we got that particular scenario out of the way.” We played a show in Phoenix that night with our remaining equipment. As we sang the line “Sometimes I will lose all I have just to see what remains” from our song Crow’s Feet, holding the instruments we had fortunately brought inside from the cold on the night of the theft, we looked out to a crowd of music lovers and gathered exactly how lucky we were. Accidents themselves aren’t always happy. You have to choose happiness. Sometimes accidents make you even more aware of the happiness you might’ve been taking for granted.

You just released your new EP Time Out this month and have said it probably would not have been written if not for this time we're in now. Having described it as being a lot like the 5 stages of grief, what can you tell me about the how the idea for EP came to be and the guest artists you co-wrote the songs with? In what ways do you feel like the process of making the EP has helped you to process what has been going on in the world over the past year?

Sav: The TIME OUT EP is the culmination of co-writes we did with Kim Richey, Dar Williams, Tom Paxton, Maia Sharp, Mary Gauthier, and Jaimee Harris. It came about really serendipitously. Katie and I had moved part-time to Nashville to do session work and co-writing in January of 2020, and our first co-write was with HOF songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman, who showed us the ropes. When the world shut down, obviously our plans did a total 180 - instead of flying to Portland to record the rest of our album Vessel with Tucker Martine, we drove back to Michigan and tried to reconcile with the fact that our income for the rest of the year had disappeared. It didn’t take long for us to start planning how to bounce back. I started digging into live-streaming, and what started as a list of what not to do quickly became a 40-page manual on how to livestream to different platforms, notably OBS. I posted the manual to Facebook and it quickly made the rounds, picked up by Hypebot, Bandsintown, and the Recording Academy / Grammys, as well as circulating to lots of familiar venues. Club Passim in Cambridge, MA reached out and asked if I could talk to an artist about how to perform a livestream on their page - that artist ended up being Kim Richey. I was geeked. I’d been listening to Kim Richey’s music for years, and it was mindblowing to even be able to talk to her, as Katie and I had seen her sharing the stage with Brandi Carlile at Ryman Auditorium only a few months prior.

Naturally, the conversation led to the idea of a virtual show together, and then a co-write. The song Wildfire was written in two zoom sessions, before we had even met in person. Once the song was finished, we knew it needed to come out ASAP. We shelved plans for our albumVessel until we could tour it, and got to work on TIME OUT.

Other co-writes came about in different ways - Tom Paxton reached out to us after hearing us perform on our weekly zoom call with our booking agency, Fleming Artists, and now we write every Monday. We’d been writing songs with Maia Sharp back in Nashville, and those co-writes transferred seamlessly online. Dar Williams was a good friend already - we had opened and performed with her at the Birchmere as teenagers - and we were blown away when she accepted the invitation. Our friend Sharon Corbitt, who had connected us to Beth and Maia, organized the write with Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris, which led to us writing a song three days before Christmas called All Shall Be Well - a great sendoff for an EP all about dealing with grief and learning to heal after a turbulent year. It was therapeutic for us, since at least personally for me I was feeling creatively burnt - I was too busy compartmentalizing my feelings to fully talk about them, but something about music brings your truest thoughts to the forefront. Every co-write began with an honest, heartfelt conversation, and though the process was always different, the results were the same - we always walked away with something we were all really proud of.

The three of you basically built a studio and did everything for the EP yourselves-the engineering, production, playing and recording? What was that process like for you and how do you feel that it tested your commitment to each other and the music?

Sav: This was a new chapter for us. Michael and I both have academic backgrounds in audio technology, but this was like a final exam. We sketched out the attic space (hence the name Atticus Blue Studios) and figured out where to build. We used stacks of unsold CD boxes to build partitions. We thumbtacked blankets to the ceiling to pad the sound. We used our touring gear provided by our sponsors, Shure, Fender, Takamine, Boss / Roland, and more, to set up and record. Ultimately, we were really lucky to be able to utilize the time in a productive way, and to have the sources to make it happen.

I won’t say it was easy, though. We are all Type A personalities. We are perfectionists to a fault. Each of us carry different insecurities, and we had to learn to accept those insecurities within ourselves and each other. We also learned that we each have different strengths. As a result, we learned to rely on each other a lot more. What it eventually came down to is that we couldn’t make a record like this if any one of us had ego. The space had to be mutually respectful of each other’s thoughts and talents. The song had to be served in a way that gave it meaning. We wanted to be really intentional with this music. As a result, I feel like we’ve come away from this year as stronger people, and a stronger unit, than we came into it.

Michael: One of the silver linings of not being on the road last year was the time we had to really learn and work out how to record in the best possible way. I was able to dig into mixing more and have a really good feel for it now. We also dug into the engineering side of things in a big way. We would have whole days where we wanted, for instance, to get the best cello sound we could, so we spent a few hours moving mics, putting up blankets, taking down blankets, changing microphones, muffling the cello itself, trying every possible option to make sure we found what we were looking for. Like Sav said, we’re all perfectionists, so we had to settle on a sound eventually! It was an intense and informative time, and I think we came out of these recording sessions having learned some really useful skills.

You temporarily shelved Vessel, the full-length album you were working on, to release your Time Out EP. What can you tell me about the album and your decision to temporarily put it on hold?

Sav: We’ve been working on Vessel for a long time. Years, in fact. We recorded a portion of it with dream producers John Congleton and Tucker Martine, and we were excited to finish it out with them. COVID changed those plans. We ended up recording the rest of it ourselves. Right as we finished that project, the songs that would comprise TIME OUT started coming to fruition. Obviously we wanted Vessel out into the world - it had been a long time coming. But our gut told us to wait. The TIME OUT songs needed to come out when they did, capstoning a long year of isolation, wildfires, protests, quarantine, and loss. We hope that the EP can be used as something of a healing balm before we hit the road again in the fall to tour Vessel - an album all about perspective, and the way it influences your perception of time.

That’s also a good takeaway from the long year. Time is so fickle with this band. Sometimes it feels like we’re moving at breakneck speed; other times we feel like we inch along at a snail’s pace. More realistically, it’s more like a plane - when you’re on one, you don’t feel like you’re moving; when you see one in the sky, it crawls along; in reality, it’s moving incredibly fast. All viewpoints are true and real - it’s just a matter of where you’re standing. That’s what Vessel is all about.

You have said that pre-pandemic, you were moving through life at a break-neck speed, worried about "getting there" instead of being present for the journey. For the first time in 8 years, you didn't have anywhere to be. Having the time over the past year to reflect on your journey over the years, what have those reflections been like for you? What can you tell me about the experience of having to suddenly stop and to redirect your focus from touring to songwriting during the pandemic? What did you learn over the past year, personally and artistically, and do you feel it will change anything for you going forward?

Katie: When everything shut down last spring and we landed home, we dove straight into recording, putting together music videos and 20 female cover songs on Youtube, starting events like Book Club on our Patreon, and live-streaming. A lot of summer festivals hadn’t cancelled at that point, so it seemed like we may be back on the road within a few months. We started doing short, once a day “check-in” livestreams we called “Daily Breathers”. Our friends on the frontlines and in hospitals were putting their life on the line every day and we were starting to feel useless to society sitting in our houses. The daily livestreams were our attempt to send some comfort to those who needed it. We lit a candle, we played a song, we recommended books from our local bookstore, and we shared one thing we were grateful for every day. After living in transit for so long I was immediately grateful to be sleeping in my own bed, able to do laundry any time I wanted to, able to cook homemade meals, wave to the neighborhood kids riding their bikes, plant flowers, walk in the woods. There was gratitude, but also a deep anxiety. We were working 10+ hr days and feeling the weight of the world build up. Once we started getting opportunities to co-write over Zoom, it forced us to set aside time to write. That’s when everything started sinking in for me. We were still new to co-writing and didn’t know what to expect, but when we got on Zoom with Kim Richey and started writing “Wildfire”, memories and feelings started flooding in. Our intention wasn’t to write a song about lockdown, but our shared isolation and nostalgia informed the songwriting. Once the song was done I went through 5 hard drives of tour footage taken between 2014-2019 to edit the music video, and reflected on so many of those candid moments that flew by in our late teens and early 20’s. One of our biggest lessons for the year is that we’re not in a rush. We can sit on new lyrics, process our emotions, re-cut a song 6 times. We’ll get back on the road later this year, but as things pick up pace we’ll carry that with us.

Savannah- What can you tell me about the manual you wrote during the pandemic on using OBS and Streamyard software? Did you expect it to become as popular as it has? What were some of the main lessons you learned and mistakes you made that led you to want to help others in this way?

If a future version of me time traveled back to March of 2020 and told me I’d become a live-streaming engineer with a 40-page manual under my belt, I would’ve laughed in my face. Everyone picked up one weird skill during quarantine, and that was definitely mine. It mainly started as a way to keep everything organized for personal usage. We were testing out live-streaming to different platforms, and it was getting really hard to remember how to do everything and all the steps without writing it all down. Then once I started trying to actually write that down in a detailed manner, it went from being personal to being more instructional.

Lots of musicians were struggling to figure out how to transition to the live-streaming format at the time. It was really hard watching so many friends lose so much income and feel like they didn’t know where to start. Publicizing the manual for free made sense, especially since the program I was writing about - OBS - was, and is, free to the public. From there it got picked up by multiple publications and circulated around the scene. I did tons of zoom consultation calls with venues and musicians and even spoke on a few panels for the Recording Academy / Grammys. I remember being on one of those panels with Rick Beato and Adam Neely and almost peeing myself (huge fans of both of them).

There were lots of mistakes - lots of technical minutia. We messed up all the time at first. Getting audio to translate the way you want it to sound from one computer screen to another is really tricky. Every musician had to become a sound engineer and a lighting engineer on top of playing the music. Luckily, I also had lots of people making suggestions and edits to the document, and even some of the platforms I was writing about reached out to tell me about new improvements and fixes they’d added. It’s funny - there really is a community in almost every niche thing out there, and a lot of those communities are just endearingly collaborative and kind. I really liked getting to be a part of this one.

Having talked about how you lived and breathed music from a young age, what can you tell me about the workshops you teach in schools across the country? What inspired you to open your nonprofit Play It Forward Again and Again last year, to help kids in school and make sure that the opportunity to play music exists for all aspiring musicians?

Katie: We were incredibly lucky to have supportive music programs in our public school. A duo called The Moxie Strings taught a workshop for our high school orchestra class and inspired us to become a band. Now when we tour and stop at schools, we try to encourage students to get outside of their comfort zone. We talk about songwriting, mental health, improvisation, alternative strings, etc. One time we had an epic jam session with a tuba player who turned out to be an incredible soloist. One time we wrote a song with a class about video games. Every workshop is different. Music was extremely important for our confidence, teamwork and self expression. We meet a lot of kids who can’t afford to rent an instrument or pay for lessons. Our goal with Play It Forward Again and Again is to provide students with an opportunity not only to play an instrument, but to be paired with a local musician who can mentor and provide support.

What can you tell me about your side projects outside of the band? What else do you have going on?

Katie: Sav and I have always loved arranging and recording violin/viola/cello/bass on other people’s records. We moved to Nashville part time at the beginning of 2020 to do more session work and co-writing, and luckily we’ve been able to keep it up over this last year from our home studio in Michigan.

Michael: Right before the pandemic hit, I put out a record under my project Treeskin called “Learning”. I was hoping to be able to do more of a push behind the record, but the world had other plans, so I’m hoping to move forward and put out another record under that name in the next year or so. I have a few projects with friends as well; a sea-shanty project with my friend Ben Traverse, and a yet-to-be-named collaborative project with fellow Michigan musicians Seth Bernard and Dan Rickabus (of The Crane Wives). After really digging into mixing and engineering this last year, I’m also hoping to start heading into the studio world and get my feet wet as a producer and engineer between bouts of touring in the near future.

What's next for you? What are your goals for the year?

Katie: Now that our Time Out (Session 1) EP is out, we are getting ready to release and tour our next full length album, Vessel! We’re co-writing new songs every week and looking forward to share new music.

Photo Ladies 4/19/21 Photo Ladies 4/19/21

INTERVIEW: Lizzie & The Makers

Lizzie & The Makers

The Photo Ladies Interview - by Emily May

New York musician Lizzie Edwards grew up surrounded by music. With a grandfather who was an opera singer, a grandmother who was a classical harpsichordist, and a father who was a sideman for artists such as Chuck Berry and was in a band himself, it seemed inevitable that a career in music would find Edwards. Going to concerts with her father from a young age exposed her to many different kinds of music, but the genre that made the biggest impact on her was jazz, with its ability to allow one to get lost in the music and allow it to take them over. Edwards studied music theory and classical piano at The New School in NYC, as well as music and English at Dartmouth College, and upon graduating from college she worked at The Jazz Foundation of America. During that time, amongst other things, she worked as a caretaker for two blues and jazz singers, Abbey Lincoln and Sweet Georgia Brown, who inspired her to develop a love and appreciation for the blues, later incorporating those sounds into her music. Later, she worked as a sound engineer at the legendary Brooklyn venue Pete's Candy Store, and organized Bourbon Fest, a day fest that she was supposed to play with a band she was in at the time. When her band broke up a week before the fest, she received offers from some of the venue's regular musicians to form a new band to perform, and thus Lizzie & The Makers were born. Although parts of the line up have changed over the years, The Maker's have solidified their line up over the years and currently consist of guitarist and songwriting partner Greg McMullen (who has been with Lizzie from the start), Brett Bass (Gregg Allman, Bernie Worrell) on bass, Steve Williams (Sadé, Digable Planets) on drums and Rob Clores on keys. Having sung with bands in the past, many of which heard her powerful vocals and labeled her a rock or power singer and tried to make her a certain type of artist that didn't fit who she truly was as an artist, caused her to struggle over the years to find her voice and stay true to her authentic self. Since that time, she has been finding her voice as an artist and has found a group of musicians with which she can shine as her true self. Lizzie & The Makers have been working in recent years with legendary producers Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie, Tin Machine) and Mario J. McNulty (David Bowie, Prince). Most recently, the band released "Mermaid", the first single from their soon-to-be-released new album. “It was right after Mardi Gras and there was still glitter, beads, and pieces of costumes in the streets, littering the wet, black pavement,” says Edwards. “I was nursing a broken heart and just started journaling as I was walking around. Pete’s Candy Store is like my home away from home, so I went there for solace, old friendships, and just started writing what I saw around me to try to process why my relationship with this person had suddenly shifted from close to distant.” The band also released a music video for the track that was mostly filmed at Art Factory Studios in Paterson, NJ and reflects the somber yet powerful sentiments behind the track, “emerging from a dark cave and going toward the light,” Edwards says. Recorded at Mission Sound Recording in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the new music threads shoegazey, psychedelic layers throughout its core. “I think we’ve been on this kind of ethereal tear,” mulled Edwards. “It’s almost like when we wrote these songs they went through a David Lynch portal, they and came out a little bizarre.” Infusing elements of art-rock, dream-pop, and a celestial atmosphere Lizzie & The Makers have spawned something entirely their own. The band is focused on their album release, with plans to also create some online live stream events and do some interviews that will also see them perform a bit. With plenty for their fans to look forward to, make sure to follow Lizzie & The Makers to stay up-to-date with all upcoming album and live performance news! You can connect with Lizzie & The Makers via the following links:

Your grandfather was an opera singer, your grandmother was a classical harpsichordist and your father was a sideman for artists such as Chuck Berry and was in a band himself. Growing up in such a musical family, what kind of influence do you feel that had on you as an artist and your love for music? Did you know from an early age that you wanted a career in music?

I think from an early age I knew that I loved music and it was in my blood a little bit and came naturally. It wasn't until later that I really wanted to pursue it as a career. I think it was something I just loved doing and it was therapeutic. As an angsty teenager, I loved playing Chopin and Rachmaninoff, and that was kind of how I would channel my mood swings (laughs). I think it wasn't until around then, at 12 or 13, where I thought "You know, I really want to sing and pursue this professionally."

You frequently went to shows with your father from a young age and have said that you developed a particular love for jazz. What was it that drew you to jazz in particular? Do you have any favorite memories from that time?

I think, growing up in New York City, I was just lucky to have access to a lot of great jazz clubs. When going with my dad, he would explain to me...I mean, it's not necessarily the most accessible genre of music, depending on what kind of jazz you're listening to. Cole Porter might be more accessible than Thelonious Monk. But when going with my dad, he would always tell me about the artists and give me their history. He knew so much, and so I think that kind of was part of what drew me to it. Also, I felt like there were a lot of female vocalists that I could really relate to and identify with, who I got to see perform live. I think I saw a little bit of myself in them and it kind of inspired me to pursue music, by seeing these strong female examples. I also just like the ability to get lost in jazz and kind of just close your eyes and feel the music and let it take you over. I feel like that is a genre that really does that and it's a little mysterious too, sometimes.

You studied classical piano and music theory at The New School in NYC, as well as music and English at Dartmouth College, and after college, you worked for The Jazz Foundation of America. How did that opportunity come about and what was that experience like? What kind of influence did it have on your singing and writing styles?

My dad actually had done some work with The Jazz Foundation. I was looking for a job and they had an opening to work on a program they had called 'Jazz In The Schools', which employed out of work older jazz musicians as teachers in schools because music programs had been cut. It was a really cool program that brought music to underfunded schools but also provided employment to these struggling musicians. It was just a perfect fit and I got to talk to the musicians a lot. I also worked for a little bit as a caretaker for Abbey Lincoln, the late jazz singer, and would go to her house and helped her buy groceries and walk her dog. She would tell me stories and sit at her piano and play for me and it was really an amazing privilege. I also became close with another female blues singer who goes by Sweet Georgia Brown. I think that talking to the two of them is really when I got into the blues and really started to find my voice there. After spending so much time with musicians like the two of them, when I started writing, finally, I found that most of the songs I wrote were blues progressions. It just kind of came out of me, so they definitely inspired me creatively and just in being a confident woman. They had great stories and it was a really, really rewarding experience and probably the best job I've ever had. It didn't feel like a job!

You've talked about struggling in the past with bands wanting you to sing in a key that didn't work for you and just how people wanted you to be a certain way as an artist. What has your journey been like in finding your voice as a singer and being true to yourself as an artist and not giving in to the pressure to be something you're not?

I think people have kind of their first impressions, just based on what they look like. So, there's that, right off the bat before you even open your mouth to sing that you have to deal with. I think once I sing and people hear that I have a powerful voice, they label me as a rock singer or a power singer. I like to sing soft songs too (laughs), and there are a lot of jazz songs I love to sing that aren't about blowing it out on every verse and chorus. I do think, at first, it's hard to find your voice and you're seeking approval from people and from the band. I worked with a lot of instrumentalists who are really talented and was always very intimidated by them. I feel like at first, I was trying to fit into this box of being a powerful singer or a rock singer. After a while, I just felt like I was following a script and not necessarily being true to myself. The more I wrote and explored music, I think I started to really develop my voice. It was challenging, but I would say it's probably like that for a lot of artists. You have your influences and you have mentors who want you to do a certain thing and you want to make people happy. After a while, you kind of start to listen to your own soul and try to translate your influences through yourself and into your own voice. It was a process, but I finally got there (laughs)!

A few years back, you were working as a sound engineer at the legendary Brooklyn venue Pete's Candy Store and put on a day fest called Bourbon Fest, which is how you have said that Lizzie & The Makers was born. What can you tell me about that impromptu formation of the band and the early days and how you have progressed as a band since then?

I actually had been singing with a blues band that was supposed to headline the festival that day, and the band broke up, like a week before the show was supposed to happen. So, it was really just a lot of timing and being in the right place at the right time with certain people. I think I was talking about how the band broke up, and through the rumor mill of the tiny venue, other musicians who play there found out and I would do sound for their set and they'd come up to me and said "Hey. I heard you need a band. I want to be in it." That's what Greg said to me, the guitarist in The Makers, and it just kind of was natural. Everybody who played there, or who worked at Pete's Candy Store, conglomerated characters from that scene to form a band. I think it just went better than we expected it to (laughs), for it is a last-minute, one-week advance show. Greg really motivated me to start writing and maybe have another gig and see where this goes. We did go through a few bass players at first because I find that the really good ones are in really high demand. We'd have someone playing bass for a couple of months and then they'd have to go on tour with someone, so we'd have to find someone else. Even my dad sat in as our bass player for a couple of gigs, because we had a last-minute need for a fill-in. Eventually, we found a drummer who was initially in the beginning years of The Makers. We were at a show at Spike Hill where Brett Bass, our current bass player, was playing and Greg said to me "That's the guy. That's the guy you should have in your band playing bass." I heard him play and said, "You're right." He joined us 6 months in, I think and has been with us ever since. Throughout the years, as our sound has changed, we've needed different things, from our drummer and guitarist-we used to have a rhythm guitarist and now we don't. We even had backup singers at one point and now we don't, so it was like a little puzzle and we were replacing pieces of it and seeing what worked. We found Steve Williams, who is our current drummer, I think it was three years ago, and it just really clicked. Our keyboard player has been with us for about 6 years. But other than that, it's been me, Brett and Greg, since the beginning. I think it makes a difference. We can all kind of read each other's minds at this point, so it helps.

You recently released "Mermaid", the first single from your upcoming album, and is described as emerging from a dark cave and going towards the light. What can you tell me about the track and the process of writing it? You've talked about how you journaled different thoughts you were having. Do you typically journal when songwriting?

I would say that is definitely how I would start an idea for a song. I try, first thing in the morning, to open up my notebook and I'll pick a random word from the dictionary and use that as my theme word and just write for 5 minutes. Once I get a lot of pages of those down, I'll go back and look through them and certain sentences or words will pop up and I'll think "Oh. That's an interesting idea." I kind of had a few passages of that which inspired the original idea for "Mermaid", and I had written a blues progression. Going back to the blues, I felt like we had a lot of rock and roll songs and not a lot of blues songs and I really wanted to write a more bluesy, soulful song for us. I brought my chords to Greg and he made it really groovy. I was going through a break-up at the time, I think, and it was at that confusing stage where you know it's ending but you're not really sure why or what happened and are trying to figure it out. I had some ideas for my journaling, but I went back to Pete's Candy Store where everything started and just sat at the bar and observed people and listened to their conversations and was kind of describing the decorations in the bar metaphorically. While I was listening to the track that Greg created, it just kind of came out. The story, I guess, is really just about longing and confusion and feeling like you keep ending up in this same place and you don't want to be in this sad place but you always somehow come out of it ok. And kind of getting lost in those feelings of sadness but resilience while also remembering the present and reality and being in touch with reality. So, like, this dreamy state of love lost but also being very aware of my surroundings and literally sitting at the bar, but just in general, in my life. And there are other things I have going for me and that this man is not the "be all, end all" of my existence (laughs)!

You all worked with producers Reeves Gabrels and Mario McNulty and have said that on "Mermaid", they had you sing the melody differently than usual and laying back a bit on the vocals, and showing vulnerability. What can you tell me about working with them and the influence they have had on your music and sound?

I think a great thing about Reeves and Mario is that first of all they loved our sound the way it is. They didn't really want to change too much. In working with producers, Greg and I really wanted to make sure we weren't going to work with someone that tried to change us. Being authentic and being ourselves were really important. But we knew that Reeves and Mario already liked the music and would have really good advice, as far as little details that maybe we didn't think of. Maybe a guitar riff should start out slow instead of really loud and tumultuous right at the beginning of a solo. Or with my vocals, one song, in particular, I felt it was like a soul song, so I was singing it in an Aretha-style vocal and really, really powerful the whole time. Having their perspective and having them be able to listen to the song and listen to the lyrics and add a new perspective to it, outside of mine and Greg's, was really interesting. Their experience working with amazing musicians and bands, they know how to create the arc of a song and I think that's why they wanted me to come in gently and not so forceful the whole time. One of the things they said was "You have nowhere to go and you want the song to build", so it was those little things, like in "Mermaid" but in other songs too, that just really helped to sharpen our sound. It was the missing link or missing ingredient in a recipe that we'd been looking for to really electrify these songs we've been working on.

You all also released a music video for "Mermaid". What inspired the idea behind the video?

I have to give all of that credit to the directors of the video and the studio we worked with called Alpha Wave Studios. I came to them with a song and really no idea. One of them is a really good friend of mine named David Malone, and I said "I need a video. Here's the song. I don't know what I'm doing." I knew I wanted to have some shots of the band playing live but that it would be cool to have a little storyline. He and his co-workers just ran with it and listened to the song and said "Ok. We have this idea. We're going to go to this place and there are Edison bulbs everywhere and it's going to magical. There's darkness and lightness and we'll get you on a trolley and we'll make a bar and you're sitting at the bar." They knew I had written a lot of the lyrics of the song sitting at Pete's Candy Store, and so I really had nothing to do with the concept. It was so lucky that they were so inspired by the song to kind of just come up with this whole storyboard. I really hope to work with them more. It's the same thing with the single artwork that we have, and even with the band. I usually don't give a lot of direction. I just give them the music that I have and let their creative flow run freely. It's worked out so far (laughs)! But yeah. They just felt inspired and came up with a story almost right away.

You have said that you all have been on a bit of an ethereal tear in writing the songs for the upcoming album, describing them as having gone through a David Lynch portal and coming out a bit bizarre. What can you tell me about the upcoming album and the process of writing the songs and the direction that the music went?

Greg and I have always been really big fans of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti and Greg does a lot of ambient guitar work as a solo musician. We've always had a fun time creating songs like that with each other. We never played them live. I felt like we always thought we needed to be rock and roll or be in a certain genre. People will ask "What kind of music do you play?" and I can never really answer that question accurately (laughs). I think that we finally felt confident enough to start bringing the ambient music and songs out. I think I was concerned at first because people can't really dance to it and it's not blowing you out and is not raging rock anthems, and asking "How are people going to respond to this? Are they going to fall asleep?". We wrote a couple of songs that were really rock and there were heavy guitars and powerful vocals, but a lot of pedal steel and howling and these other weird sounds. I think people liked it and, to our surprise, they liked it even more than the stuff we'd already been doing. We really started to indulge that part of our creative brains together. Again, I think that's why it makes working with Reeves and Mario a perfect fit, because Mario, having worked with David Bowie and Prince, there's always this weird, to me, outer space sound cloud surrounding their songs. It's not just a rock song and it's not just a blues song, but there's always something a little eerie or unsettling that happens, or there's a chord that you think is going to end or resolve a certain way that goes the opposite way. So yeah. I think that the more we write together, the more our songs take on that shape. I think that's really becoming our voice now. Our keyboard player Rob is great at just adding these bizarre tones that really take it to another planet and make it more than just a pop song or rock song.

You lost your father to Covid in April of last year, which I am very sorry to hear. You have talked about how he was memorialized in New Orleans alongside some other legendary blues and jazz musicians. What can you tell me about The Krewe du Jazz float that was transformed by Casey Lipscomb and other local New Orleans artists and to know that he had been memorialized in that way? I'm sure that was really nice to hear about.

Yeah. I was in shock, I think, for two days. I mean, my dad was an amazing person and really touched a lot of lives. That memorial is one of many that, throughout this entire year I feel like every week or so there's something else like that we hear about happening. People we haven't even met, who my dad worked with or helped or inspired, memorializing him in beautiful and touching ways. I remember, it was actually my former co-worker, who is now the executive director of The Jazz Foundation of America, who emailed me and my mother and brother to let us know that was happening. It felt like that is right where he belongs and felt perfect, but also just really...I don't know. I've always been in awe of my dad, but that really took it to another level. I think my little brother beat me to it. He reached out to the artist and said "I'll pay whatever I can to get that panel sent to me once you're done with it." I wish I had asked for that first (laughs)! It just speaks to the kind of impact he had on the music industry and on The Jazz Foundation and just on how much he loved music. He really loved all kinds of music and helping people, and so to see that appreciated in the form of a memorial was really touching and moving. He deserves it.

You also recently did a duet with Rembert Block for 'The Love Hangover'. What can you tell me about that, as well as the non-profit Sounds of Saving that the donations went to?

Rembert and I are actually neighbors and we've been singing together for about 5 years now. Time is really hard to measure (laughs)! This was an event that we had both done before and is usually done live and is done live at many venues around the world, simultaneously. They still really wanted to do something this year, but it all had to be virtual. It's always done the day after Valentine's Day and in February, and even now still people aren't really playing live. We reached out to each other, since we're neighbors, and figured that would be the easiest way to do a duet. She had picked the Richard Thompson song "Keep Your Distance", which we felt was appropriate due to Covid (laughs). There was a Buddy & Julie Miller version that had really tight two-part harmonies and so we thought that would be perfect. Sounds of Saving is really, and I don't want to paraphrase it too much, an organization that supports music but also supports bettering your mental health through music and the impact music can have on someone who is suicidal or depressed and how it can uplift someone and how music can really create hope in the most hopeless situations. Being able to perform and raise money for that, especially during this time when it's so easy while being isolated to feel down and hopeless, was really important to us. Rembert and I also have another group we're in, a female trio, so this was kind of us maybe laying down the groundwork for music to come.

Following "Mermaid", you all plan to release a single every month leading up to the release of the new album, so what can you tell me about the next single that will be released? What else you all have coming up?

I believe the next single to be released will be a song called "Bottle". It's another very blues-inspired song, but it has some weird, unexpected turnarounds in the chord progression, which I really like. It's about kind of a similar theme. It's feeling, like, a hurricane of emotions and being out a bar by yourself but you're broke so you have to go home and hope you have more to drink at home. The line I borrow a little bit from "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World"...the chorus is "Tell me how, darlin' how. I'm just trying to find my place in this bad world. Tell me how, darlin' how do you make it as a woman or a girl", so I think there's a lot of expression of how hard it is. I think I was having a hard time being a female in the rock genre, but just also in general. I'm definitely a feminist and do think that there's a lot of sexism still in music, but also just in general with the "Me too" movement. I hate bringing up "Me too" because it's been going on for so long, but just when you have that feeling of "Oh god. This would be so much easier if I were a guy." Like, what am I going to do? I'm going to go out and drink. Oh, I'm too broke to drink, because I don't make enough money because I'm not a guy, so I've gotta go home (laughs). It opens with this message, this SOS alert that Greg and I heard on the radio while driving from Austin to Houston. There was a tornado warning, so it opens with that message of kind of the alarm going off saying "There's a tornado coming. Move inside and close your windows." So, I guess in the song I'm kind of the tornado and trying too not get too angry and to keep pushing forward and not let my rage get the best of me, but it's there nonetheless. And trying to find the answers, somehow, somewhere (laughs).

Do you have anything else coming up or are you just focusing on the album release?

Yeah. We're focusing on the album release. I think we're going to have some online livestream shows coming up and some interviews where we'll also perform a little bit. We'll definitely post about that when those happen. They are in the works but not scheduled yet. Hopefully by June, when we release the album, we can have a real outdoor show!

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