7 posts tagged “hl blog”
I’m sitting here in the loft of a log cabin, high atop the Smoky Mountains. It is the night before we travel home from a 3-night “get away” mountains. This is the second time we’ve been to this very structure in the woods, and each time it has resulted in a great unleashing of musical output. Something about the purely natural surroundings and (admittedly) isolation from any distractions, is very conducive to letting the creativity soar.
In the past 2 days I’ve written 5 new pieces, each of which Christa has given the thumbs up. We’ve been working with a slightly new technique lately of approaching each new piece as a story, rather than a song. For each of the Smoky Mountain pieces, for example, Christa sat listening and describing the visuals that came to mind in text. With that description and a musical sketch in place, we can embark together on completing lyrics (if appropriate) and a more polished arrangement. It’s less about making a 3.5 minute pop song, and more about the story of the thing. I’m sure some will end up as 3.5 minute pop songs… some, perhaps not. These visual descriptions may or may not end up in the finished product, but they are great stepping stones to the next part of the journey.
Now, returning to “civilization” and routine, the task of keeping the distractions at bay is upon us. Stay tuned.
Happy New Year to all.
2008 has been an odd year indeed. An entire year passed by and there is little tangible to show for it. We performed just 2 shows and put our weekly podcast, “Tea with Hungry Lucy” on hold. Reflecting, as one does, on the past year, though, so much happened and so many lessons were learned.
Among them, we learned that “good enough” is anything but.
We learned that change is essential for growth.
We learned that transparency can be stressful, especially for introverts.
We learned to experiment without placing expectations on the results.
We learned that simplicity is often the most powerful and appropriate path forward.
We learned that “getting it wrong” is valuable and useful thing to do.
We learned to learn.
I know many of you patiently awaiting a new album. You will get one in 2009, you will also get back “Tea with Hungry Lucy”. We spent much of our time since pausing the podcast working on new songs, gradually easing them towards completion. We came within striking distance of a complete album. Many of these songs were good, but not great. These songs are now filed away somewhere and may or may not ever see the light of day. This took us quite a way back in the whole process, but everything we have ready, is truly some of our best work. This also means we still have quite a way to go. No one but Christa and I have heard these songs, and no one will until the album is complete.
So, with the lessons of 2008 behind us, we move forward. We are both very excited about 2009 and our current frame of mind/heart.
What can you expect from Hungry Lucy in 2009? Expect nothing. Expect everything.
Happy New Year to all.
“… the best way to predict the future is to invent it”
- Alan Kay, Pioneering Computer Scientist“Following a trend just means you’re always behind”
- Lydia Hutchinson, Editor, Performing Songwriter Magazine
War-N Harrison, from the band Hungry Lucy, speaks about his views and support of Creative Commons licensing.
Today (Sunday) was spent working on a new song (called “Just Imagine”) that started life as “Futurist Space Car”. We actually played bit of it on TWHL #102.
I spent today cleaning up the arrangement and we just recorded Christa’s final vocals about 30 minutes ago. The song started life as a little drum loop from Matilda (our affectionately named Alesis Micron) and a somber, yet spacey, synth pad. If memory serves correctly, Christa wrote lyrics on the spot for this one and we recorded scratch vocals right away. The lyrics and whole feel of the song speaks of life(?) after we are all gone for this world. Christa’s melody is really beautiful in contrast to the cold music bed. With this in mind, I decided that Christa’s lone voice should be the only real human element to the song. I added some very mechanically played electric piano… playing only the first and fifth of each chord. I’ve always liked the way fifths leave enough space in a chord progression for the melody to really dictate the tone. Is it major or minor? There is also a certain sterility to this method of harmonizing that lends itself well to this song. For a nice lift (but not too much) on the chorus I added some very stylistic TR-808 and CR-78 cymbals. Nothing screams early electronics like these percussive sounds. There’s a 8 bar break between verse and chorus that needed a little something. So I added a very cold sounding CS-80 synth (well, a virtual version of it). The song ends (quite dramatically I think) with just Christa’s voice and the ambient synth pads, so a nice crescendo is needed to build up to this. The crescendo still needs a bit of work. I’m thinking (and Christa agrees) that some strings might fit the bill here. That will add another human element besides the voice I suppose, but what are rules other than things to break?
Sorry if I’ve been a little too music theory/tech geek in my description here. I just wanted to document what we’ve been up to today… in the only language I know. All-in-all… a good day of creative work. It’s been along time since I’ve had such a productive and rewarding day, musically. So I wanted to share.
This past weekend I watched a good portion of the Live Earth Concerts starting with The Soweto Gospel Choir in South Africa. Their performance included an amazing percussion ensemble. Nothing but rhythm and glorious syncopation. This started my mind wandering (along with the book “This is Your Brain on Music“) about the importance of rhythm. So much of the more recent Hungry Lucy material has begun with melody or harmonic progression. I used to start a lot or writing purely from a rhythmic place (”In the Circle”, “You Are”) and wanted to get back to that. So, with nothing but rhythm, syncopation and a lot of swing I started to construct something. I wanted to capture the feel of this massive percussion ensemble with their heavily syncopated “high-pitched” parts and heavy, thunderous hits emphasizing the downbeats. This was working for me and providing the momentum I’d hoped for. Being a lover of contrast I added an oddly arpeggiated synth-bass figure. So far, sounds like nothing I’ve heard before … perfect! Now for a little matching. Christa has quite a library of song fragments that she has recorded vocals for. One in particular is called “Hill”. I think it’s about 2 years old. The vocal melody has a celtic/Middle-Ages feel to it and has always felt like it should be something cool, but I’ve never found a satisfying setting for it. So, I tried dropping it in against this rhythmic piece … with a little time-stretching, it works. So, I went about figuring out a chord structure for it … came up with something very Bach sounding … not right for this. I tried dropping out every other chord change … getting better. The oddly arpeggiated bass now follows the chord progression. After adding some counter-melodies (way in the background) and some sweeping pads I feel I’m on to something pretty cool. I have an intro, verse section and chorus and then kick the whole piece in with some standard fair “rock drumming”, splashy open high-hats and all along with a Depeche Mode styled synth riff. After going back and anchoring everything with some “felt, but barely heard” bass, the piece is feeling nice and full. A good day’s work.
I’m sure we’ll talk about this on this week’s podcast (to be recorded and posted Monday eve, July 9) and maybe play a bit. I’ve tried to capture the way I work here, so I apologize for the many sentence fragments … this is how my brain works. 
We played our 40 minute set on Fountain Square yesterday evening. We were pleased to see so many folks come out in support. It was also great to reach a few new fans.
Thanks to Laura Smith for the photo!
I must admit, it felt very strange to be playing in a sea of concrete in the broad daylight. It actually made it difficult to get lost in the performance, especially with the passing fire truck sirens. The set went well, despite a few hiccups. The last 3 songs is where the set really kicked in. That is mostly due to the “emptiness” of our current live setup. I think we’re both ready to bring back the video and laptop … it just feels richer that way.
Nevertheless, we had a good time and want to thank everyone that came out as well as Puck (for booking us) and Bill Donabedian and the 3CDC for bringing the event together.
This morning I wandered down to one of my employers “Am Buzz” sessions. These are usually interesting presentations on topics that pertain to this advertising and marketing industry in which I find myself toiling daily. This morning’s presenter was Todd Henry of AccidentalCreative.com. He only had a scant 30 minutes to share his wisdom on the creative process, but he still managed to blow my mind! A key point that stuck out was the importance of protecting one’s”creative core” while outside forces are trying to scoop from it. He put it much more eloquently than that, but that’s why he was at the front of the room.
In reading the AC blog I find this same point that was illustrated in the fabulous “Before the Music Dies” film.
(Ever wonder why pop music is bland?) This is because things that evoke a strong response in research, (a “5″), tend to be polarizing. Either you love them or you hate them. Therefore the goal is to be “just good enough” that a listener won’t change the radio station, but not so good that the song is polarizing. You’re “shooting for the 3.”
Thanks to Todd for giving my mind a good shake this morning!
