48 posts tagged “music”
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.
It's hard for me to believe that Hungry Lucy turns 10 years old this month (Nov. 2008). Although our cover of Depeche Mode's "Blue Dress" kicked everything off earlier in 1998, November of that year marked the first time we put pen to paper and fingers to keyboard to create our first original song, "Bound in Blood". I remember getting up one morning and finding that Christa had left the lyrics with a little description of the "sound" for me. It was like a little present. Using that description as "instructions" I began to form the music. And Hungry Lucy was born!
We've sure come a long way since those days. Working in our own little bubbles was the way we both dealt with the very personal work of songwriting back then. The shear distance we've come was reinforced this past weekend when Christa and I (close to giving up completely) threw away several of the songs we had for the next release. Although this seems rash, it was just the catharsis we needed. Within a few hours of this decision, we had sat down together and created what is my current favorite song, "Pulse of the Earth". Gone are the attempts to emulate the artists we love and respect. Frankly, that was the problem with the songs we threw out. It can be tough to trust one's own instincts when you're creating something for which you know people are waiting. Casting all the expectation aside is what it takes, and where Hungry Lucy is headed (once more) as we go into our 11th year as a band. We've never been a normal band. We never will be... and that's OK. We are nothing more than husband and wife, creating the little pieces of art of which we can be proud.
Coinciding with our 10 year anniversary, we recently took a trip down memory lane for the excellent "Music for Midnight" podcast. Austin Beeman (our gracious host) did an excellent job of producing something that provides a lovely audio scrapbook of our past 10 years.
You can subscribe to Music for Midnight or listen directly to the Hungry Lucy - Feature. "In Their Own Words" (MP3 link).
Thank you Austin for shining a light on what we do!
In the absence of our podcast, "Tea with Hungry Lucy", I'll be writing more about the album's progress in the next few days. For those of you that have emailed, TWHL will be back... just not yet! For all the people that have emailed and commented with your supportive patience, we thank you. Something special is brewing and we'll share it with you all very soon!
That is all... as you were.
War-N
By popular demand, we are making "The Teatime Sessions" available via digital music channels. The release is already online at, Amazon MP3 Store, Napster, Rhapsody and Lala. iTunes (Worldwide) and eMusic will follow in the coming weeks (if they aren't already there).
The Teatime Sessions is a collection of 9 live recordings made during the Tea with Hungry Lucy podcast over the past year and a half. These are nicely mixed & mastered versions of the original recordings and sound much better than the low quality podcast MP3.
TRACKLIST:
- we won’t go (#66, mar 25, 2007)
- good girl (#98, jan 13, 2008)
- love vigilantes* (#115, may 25, 2008)
- open window (#57, jan 14, 2007)
- rebirth (#93, nov 11, 2007)
- shine (#113, apr 27, 2008)
- softly (#118, jul 6, 2008)
- stay (#116, jun 18, 2008)
- to kill a king (#110, apr 7, 2008)
all songs by c belle/w harrison except * originally by new order
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
This past Monday (Bastille Day) we went to Chicago to see & hear one of my early influences (Yazoo) perform. The team of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke have embarked on a "Reconnected" tour after disbanding 25 years ago (bloody hell). It was quite an historic event given Yazoo's short career of 2 years and the major influence on many bands that followed. Vince Clarke, of course, went on to form the hugely successful duo of Erasure. Although Erasure also had a large influence, in my opinion, their songs have never had the depth of Yazoo's material.
To make the concert even more special, my brother was there with me. He (David) and I had a synthpop duo (Studio II) during the late 80s/early 90s and it's fair to say that without Yazoo, we probably never would have existed. I think we covered nearly every Vince Clarke penned song at some point. So, it was major groovy to be sitting next to him as Yazoo took to the stage after all these years. Goosebumps-a-plenty! It has inspired me to seek out and digitize all of the Studio II material and get it online. History is too important to simply sit in boxes in the basement! Watch for synthpop goodness soon.
The concert was excellent and featured many "true to the original" versions of classic Yazoo tracks as well as a few updated (and up-tempo) versions. Alison's voice has never sounded better and she genuinely seemed to be having a great time. Vince Clarke was, well... Vince Clarke. I think I saw him smile once, but he's not the most animated of fellows! The packed house at the Chicago Theatre was extremely enthusiastic, prompting me to ask David, "Where were all these people when we were playing?". In his usual witty way, he responded, "Chicago". :)
Anyway, a fun time was had by all and a much needed boost to the creative juices followed. That is all.
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 week, the duo explain their most recent “Life with Hungry Lucy” episode about the new song called “Erase Her”. You may view said video at this link. In their travels of the week, vinyl is rediscovered in a glorious way and new OPM’s are found! CB’s new (but old) finding was Demis Roussos. A lovely large fella with a sweet voice, who (we are happy to learn) is still going strong. War-N’s OPM’s this week are Coldplay and their new free release “Violet Hill” and Clara Rockmore. Clara was THE theremin player of all theremin players! See for yourself down below.
Many other fine tidbits are mentioned. You’ll just have to listen for yourself! You can also go see what Christa Belle is thinking and how War-N is twittering.
Until next week, not everyone is Lily Allen!!
DOWNLOAD the episode #114 MP3
Subscribe: via iTunes
Clara Rockmore - “The Swan” (Saint-Saëns) - Theremin performance
Demis Roussos - “Forever and Ever”
In this week's Tea with Hungry Lucy War-N & Christa share a preview of a new song (working title: Pajamas), likely title "The Best Day of Her Life". We get to hear the original noisy piano recording, and the newly arranged music.
Time to return to my ongoing musings (or endless rant, depending on your viewpoint) on what I'll call "music freedom".
I came across a wonderful article by Andrew Dubber (via Derek Sivers) entitled "Should I Be Worried About Piracy?". Andrew thoughtfully and eloquently explained the point I've been trying to make for some while.
Instead of battling hard against this new consumer power to copy and share music...why not embrace it?
Hungry Lucy has been doing so now for about 1 year. Aside from my peace of mind (in which I place great value) we have seen greater interest in our music and, yes, a gradual but steady increase in paid (yes paid) downloads. Granted, I have no evidence as to what has caused this. I quite firmly believe, though, that our "please copy & share" attitude is at least partially to blame. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I don't worry about all those lost sales anymore, and that...is priceless. ;)
