Simply Six: Haikaa

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

Much more than one defining moment it was about one type of moment that made me decide to become a singer. It was during moments I spent with myself - studying in my college dorm room late at night, waiting for a bus or just walking. Music always kept me company taking me to a reality that was bigger than the one I found myself in at the time. That transcending nature of music slowly grew on me until the point I realized that music was a path towards the freedom that my heart has always seeked.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites

I have different favorite artists for different activities. When I´m working out and cooking, I like to listen to Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias and dance music in general. When I´m meditating, I listen to real new agey music because in addition to relaxing me, it also helps me time my meditation. I love Krishna Das and Deva Premal. When driving, I listen to the artists who inspire me like Kate Bush, The Renaissance, Andrea Bocceli, Mark Knopfler, Tin Hat Trio, Yann Tiersen and Beck.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

One moment that I remember very clearly was at the studio working on the song “Everything I Know About Love”. After months of pre-production, I was ready to drop the song because we had tried it like a ballad and it was sounding like Aerosmith, then we tried it faster and it just took away all the magic from the song. My producer, Ross Leitner, is a relentless person and he decided to call in a guitarist named Michael Bradley to just come in and play. It was a sweltering and sticky summer afternoon in LA and Michael was in a bad mood because like me, he´s very sensitive to heat. Ross briefly talked to Michael about how he was hearing the chords in his head and as soon as Michael started playing, I knew that his sound was perfect for the song.

In essence, music is nothing but waves and when you find a person who´s on the same frequency as your music is, then magic happens. As a songwriter sometimes you have already been living with the song for many months before going into studio. It´s very touching when the song finds the right arrangements because it´s like you have taken it home. Michael ended up co-producing the album and singing background vocals as well. Both Michael and Ross have become very dear friends and I feel very fortunate to have found them.

 
4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Music can inspire change because it is a powerful communication tool that speaks directly to people´s hearts. In my Work of Art Global Project, I was able to count on more than 40 collaborators around the world to help me do versions of my song Work of Art in 20 different languages. People opened themselves up to my music in a way they probably wouldn´t have had I been working on other causes, for example.

Having said that, the tool alone won´t do the job. At  an individual level, a song may inspire a person to have a different perception about reality. On a larger scale though, I think that once you get the message across through your music, you have to work to effectively promote the changes you sing about.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Absolutely, for one thing technology has made the music industry more democratic. Producers of all ages and social classes now have access to audio softwares. Artists of all types can create a website and a social network profile to share their music. Technology has made it possible for artists to find their fans directly without necessarily having the approval of the gatekeepers of the old music industry.

As an artist, I see myself as a "postwoman". I get the inspiration to write a song, I record it and then I have to make sure that that song gets to its final destination – the fan. The work is not complete without the fan because these songs were not written so I could sing them in the shower to myself. Technology has made it possible for me to interact with these fans who are undoubtedly the ones who complete the song. I see their faces, vacation photos, get advice from them and it´s a very gratifying experience.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Haikaa is the Japanese pronounciation for the English word “hiker”. If I were a shoe, I would be a good pair of hiking boots that would allow me to reach ever changing summits from where I could see and experience new horizons.

Simply Six: Davy Mooney

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

I wouldn’t say that there was a specific moment.  My two uncles played guitar and sang Beatles songs all the time, and my brother and I wanted to be like them.  I started playing guitar and singing when I was about 9 years old.  One eureka moment that I remember, however, occurred while I was watching the MTV show ‘Headbanger’s Ball’ one Saturday night when I was 11 (I watched the show every Saturday in those days, being an antisocial adolescent).  I was accustomed to the typical early 90s music: some thrash metal, some glam-ish metal, lots of hair; everything was fairly polished and slick sounding.  Then, out of nowhere I saw the video for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.  It freaked me out.  There was nothing like that on MTV at the time.  It was so raw, so real.  That really changed my life and shaped my music.  I know I don’t sound much like Nirvana, but the honesty of that music, and the raw quality of the singing; both were huge influences on my approach to my singer-songwriter material.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

I go through phases with different artists.  I always enjoy Sting’s music, it’s consistently sophisticated, intelligent, and unpredictable.  I love everything he’s ever done except 2004’s ‘Sacred Love’.  I don’t know what happened with that one!

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Kate Bush and a lot of Liz Phair.  They’re quite different, but I love Liz Phair’s honest delivery and her lyrics, as well as Kate Bush’s vision and the demented quality of ‘The Dreaming’.  That record is a trip!  On the jazz side I can never get enough Kurt Rosenwinkel.  And I always love Chet Baker, Tony Bennett, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong.  Finally, there’s a lot of great music here in NYC that no one’s ever heard of.  Especially my peeps from Denton, TX: Snarky Puppy, Sarah Renfro, Alastair Ottesen, Mike Maher.  Lots of us down in the trenches up here.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

My greatest moment was, without a doubt, the concert I did on April 15^th, 2009 as a member of the Brian Blade Fellowship.  I remember seeing the band live (with Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar) in New Orleans in November of 2004, and thinking to myself that if I ever got to play with the band I could die happy.  It took almost five years, but I made it! 

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

Pop music is a great mobilizing force, it can help organize people into large groups that can then be affiliated with various causes, but the music itself…I can’t think of any song that changed the world.  Bob Marley, Fela Kuti, various others, they’ve used their celebrity and music to organize people, but the songs themselves didn’t effect change directly, although if the songs hadn’t been good people wouldn’t have listened and organized around them!  So music can help bring people together, and people can change the world, but the music itself does little to influence current events.  

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Ah, technology.  I have mixed feelings.  It’s nice to be able to make my own records for cheap, but I want people to hear them, and it’s still expensive to promote things, even with the internet.  If you know from the outset that the record isn’t going to sell, and you’re not going to get picked up by a record label, or if you do that there isn’t going to be any reimbursement for production costs or any advance….The decline of the record industry cannot be seen as a good thing for the professional musician.  Most of us are short on cash, we can’t afford the publicity costs to be successful.  I’m a little bit skeptical of the idea that you can just make a great record in your bedroom, put it up on the internet, and then wait for it to spread through word of mouth, leading to hordes of people showing up at your gigs, licensing opportunities, etc.  Selling a record costs money, selling a band costs money, selling anything costs money!  And most of us don’t have that kind of bread.  So on the plus side, yes you can do a cheap record and put it out easier these days, but it’s harder to sell it unless you’ve got a large bank balance.  There’s no record label that’s going to take a chance on you….

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?       

A worn out pair of running shoes.

Lily Holbrook

This week’s Voice to Hear is another MySpace discovery. Though this time it didn’t come to me as a request. I found her site while browsing someone else’s site. I wish I could remember who I started off with to discover her, but it’s lost in my slowly senile drifting mind. Whoever it was I owe a big thanks, because I have become hooked on Lily Holbrook. As soon as I landed on her page and the music started I was entranced. She has one of those voices that just reach out and grabs ahold of you and doesn’t want to let go.

Lily Holbrook is a young singer/songwriter that started her career busking on the streets of Boston while she was in college. Busking is another name for those street musicians you see on the side of the street or in the subway stations playing their guitar and singing with the guitar case opened for tips while most people wander by without even stopping to listen. Lily started her career this way because she was too shy to appear on stage and figured this was an easier way to sing in front of others. She soon gained enough confidence and a following that she started to play the local clubs in the Boston area and began to attract a following. Local busker and now recording artist/singer Mary Lou Lord calls Lily “Boston’s best kept secret.”

In 1999 Lily released her independent debut Running From the Sky. Drawing comparisons to Tori Amos and Kate Bush with her writing style and her singing/playing the album creates it sound with simple guitars and some strings. Her voice reminds me of Jewel, hauntingly beautiful.

Next up Lily was featured as one of 16 street musicians in the documentary Playing For Change. This documentary featured 16 different street singers and told their story. Her appearance in the movie helped secure her a contract with Backporch Records, a subsidy of EMI/Virgin.

Her next album was the Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt. For my money this is one of the best album titles I’ve seen. I like it when an artist titles his album something besides the name of his latest hit song. To me it sounds better when they dig a little deeper and name the album for some feeling or emotion they’re trying to convey with the entire album. Lily captures that perfectly with the title of this album.

This album uses a wider range of musical equipment and her folkie tendencies are joined with a wider range of musical noise. Writing that makes it sound like a terrible sound, but Lily pulls it off. She doesn’t lose her sound from her first album, she just adds a bigger musical palette to paint with.

A lot of Lily’s music concerns itself with beauty and physical appearances and what today’s society expects of women. On her new album she does a cover of Ozzy Osborne’s “Mama, I’m Coming Home” in tribute to her late brother. This is a beautiful cover of the song that slowly builds to a stunning climax.

Lily has left Boston for the warmer streets of L.A. While in L.A. she was presented with the idea of becoming the “next” Brittney Spears, but decided she would rather make music that mattered to her and not just sing formulaic pop songs. She’s since left L.A. for a life on the road and is touring in support of her music. Her last album was released two years ago, here’s hoping she’s working on a new one and also that her tour will bring her down this way.

As an added note and bonus Lily is one of the artists that I sent an interview to and has already emailed me back that she's working on it. I'm looking forward to seeing her Simply Six.