Ambient/a cappella artist Julianna Barwick has hit the blogosphere with her amazing new EP. I caught up with her and asked her a few questions.
I think the fact that Florine was an eMusic select really helped promote it-- there are a ton of eMusic subscribers who noticed it because of that. That's the main thing I can think of- other than the fact that the songs are more structured-- a little easier to latch on to than the tracks from Sanguine, which were almost all one loop repeating itself.
I'm a little mind-boggled by the cover art for Florine. It looks like the game Mouse Trap made out of fabric to me. I know art doesn't really have to make sense but who did the art?
My boyfriend Julian Pozzi did the art-- he makes these beautiful paintings on paper composed of little tiny hatch marks- and tons of them-- I don't know how he does it.
I've never been to one of your shows before (and I'd kill to), so I was wondering what equipment you use live. I know that vocals are obviously a prime component but is there anything else? There's definitely piano on "Anjos."
My live setup is a mic into an effects pedal into a looper-- specifically a TC-Helicon voice tone create vocal effects pedal into a Roland RC-50. I always sing/overdub live but sometimes I'll use samples, I'll record guitar or piano into the looper ahead of time and just sing over them, like in "Youcatcher". I occasionally play with instruments though.
I've seen your music compared to Grouper, Panda Bear, and even Enya. Can you hear any similarities in your music?
Definitely-- I absolutely hear similarities to Grouper and Enya in my music- I get compared to Panda Bear a lot, and I don't totally hear the strong comparison there-- maybe it's the repeats in the background, or the effects on the vocals? Not sure. But i love Panda Bear's music-- all of it-- he's one of my absolute favorites. With Grouper it's got to be the wash-y, wordless, dreaminess quality that we sometimes share in our music-- she's one of my favorites, too. Just beautiful. I listened to a lot of Enya when i was a kid. A lot. I think our family had every album. Those layered vocals she's got going on-- and the ethereal quality-- I think people see a similarity there between us. I think some of Her stuff is quite beautiful, to be honest. I admire that she does her stuff all on her own and kind of has an edge on her genre of music, whatever it is.
What do you think your music sounds like? Are there any certain comparisons or influences you have?
Hmmm, I don't know. Maybe a boy choir on acid? No, I think it sounds like bedroom choral music I guess. If that makes any sense. I need to get a lot better at describing my music. I find myself describing it as experimental, pretty, layered vocal work but i'm not sure that accurately describes it either. Big influences are a capella church singing, even some of the groups we listened to growing up, on cassette. Here's one of my favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acf1un4nvyw. Also the choir music we worked on in high school choir, the opera chorus was in, and the music in Empire of the Sun really influenced/struck me-- I saw that in the theater when I was 7 or so, and was kind of blown away. It's one of my favorite things to listen to, that soundtrack. Other influences, for probably very different reasons, are Bjork, Radiohead/Thom Yorke, Tori Amos (at least my high school deep abiding love for her and her music), and Whitney.
Have you always strived for this kind of soothing and atmospheric sound or have you had other ideas of what your music should sound like?
I've never really strived for any particular sound- it kind of just comes out. I love the chant-y, more energetic bits that happen once in awhile, too. I'd like to develop everything I do as far as music-making goes-- so far it's been extremely lo-fi bedroom recordings so I'm pretty psyched to get my hands on some professional equipment/help from professional people to make the sound really clear and beautiful.
Were you ever in any bands?
I was in a band for a hot minute in high school. Like a.. rock band I guess? It was mostly for fun and pretty ephemeral. Generally I'm not awesome at collaborating.
What was the recording process of Florine like?
All of Florine was composed of bits I made with the looper and stored, then I went back and listened to it all and put it together in GarageBand.
Are you a part of any kind of music scene anywhere?
Hmm. Don't think so...
Is there anything you'd like to say before signing off?
Thanks for the interview, and have a great summer, everyone.
Have you always strived for this kind of soothing and atmospheric sound or have you had other ideas of what your music should sound like?
I've never really strived for any particular sound- it kind of just comes out. I love the chant-y, more energetic bits that happen once in awhile, too. I'd like to develop everything I do as far as music-making goes-- so far it's been extremely lo-fi bedroom recordings so I'm pretty psyched to get my hands on some professional equipment/help from professional people to make the sound really clear and beautiful.
Were you ever in any bands?
I was in a band for a hot minute in high school. Like a.. rock band I guess? It was mostly for fun and pretty ephemeral. Generally I'm not awesome at collaborating.
What was the recording process of Florine like?
All of Florine was composed of bits I made with the looper and stored, then I went back and listened to it all and put it together in GarageBand.
Are you a part of any kind of music scene anywhere?
Hmm. Don't think so...
Is there anything you'd like to say before signing off?
Thanks for the interview, and have a great summer, everyone.
oh wow :)
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