We had the pleasure of sharing a video from Southern Resident Killer Whales for Fall Essay, a song off their newest EP, Wave Forms in January and now a chance to ask a few questions about the new EP. Give it a listen when you want a gentle distraction or mini-vacation in your brain. The music is lovely; the imagery and vignettes will touch you like a Dreamsong.
Your newest EP, Wave Forms, seems to paint pictures of love stories from a distance, even if the lyrics are first person. Would you agree? Is that purposeful, an unintended natural perspective or just fitting of the stories?
That’s an intriguing observation, and not something I’d considered. I would say that the only song I would call an intentional “love story” is “With Love, Always” and maybe “Play’s the Thing” (though if that’s a love story, it’s a tragic one). But “from a distance” is an interesting perspective. I tend to use songs as vehicles to convey my own philosophies. But I think I often tend to end up writing, in the end, from a perspective that intentionally embodies somebody that is not entirely myself. The songs themselves are quite different from one to the next, and maybe there’s a “shifting of identities” that naturally follows in that “fitting of the stories” you refer to. Or maybe it just feels safer to truth-tell if you’re play-acting as someone else.
I love the level of detail in the scene setting of Dreamsong. The stories have such clarity, yet seem improbable, in a fun daydream kind of way. Is that a glimpse into how the songs get made – glimpses of clarity in a fuzzy world?
Thanks for the kind words! The funny thing is that the “origin story” of “Dreamsong” is entirely unique in my songwriting history in that I literally dreamed a guitar lick, woke up in the middle of the night and sang it into my phone, then hoped it would make sense the next morning. The lyrics were lifted directly out of events I recalled from the dream (ergo, Dreamsong!). It was only later, after the song was recorded, it occured to me that I may have been dreaming I was in the Huey Lewis and the News music video for “Heart and Soul.” But back to your main point – I think “glimpses of clarity in a fuzzy world” (for songs OTHER than “Dreamsong”) is a good way of describing my favorite lyrical style. That is to say, my songs often have a message of one sort or another, but the main focus is in trying to evoke and maybe stir through compelling phrases and imagery. The message is there in the lyrics, but you may only be able to discern it if you’re both paying attention and vibing to it in just the right way. That’s the idea, anyway. Paul Simon was/is a master of that sort of lyric writing.
With Love, Always is a very tender love song. It could be romantic, familial or platonic. Can you tell me about the inspiration please?
Definitely familial! This one was directly inspired by my daughter’s first extended time away from home, working for a summer with Conservation Corps. She’s now off galavanting around the world, but in that first experience had to overcome a really challenging first few days, including a moment where she finished off the cookies her younger sister had sent with her “I just had that one thing from home, and now it’s gone!” (which became a lyric in the song). The song itself became a love letter to her, attempting to convey this general idea that “Hey, I’ve done pretty much what I can do here. I think you’re ready for the big wide world out there. And, if something doesn’t go the way you want? Well, now you know. And hopefully you had some amazing experiences along the way.”
Where can folks see you play or even find you online? Typically, you can see us play at breweries & festivals around the Twin Cities. My mom recently entered hospice, so we’re pretty cautious about shows in the immediate future, though we are lined up to play a Minneapolis Music in the Parks event at Minnehaha Falls this June. Other than that, “Wave Forms” is available for streaming everywhere (Spotify, Apple, etc etc) and there are two released music videos from the EP, including one for “With Love, Always,” featuring actual footage of the daughter in question in her natural habitat. Everything, concerts dates, videos, and even a signup, is available on our website at southernresidentkillerwhales.com.
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