"I am lost by design", sings Alanna Eileen in The Mirror and the Mime. In this moment we already know the landscape here will be deep, its path winding. The musicality which is threaded through both of Eileen's two haunting EP's, Absence and Keepsake, is layered like artful strokes of paint to canvas; pulsations of heart and sound reverberating between the vulnerable chest cavity and the floor. Hushed phantom tones of emotive swirl make tipsy the entry into Eileen's soundscape. Displaced, yet sure-footed, these are soft, mournful compositions of the in-between. One imagines a light step through dark space, a poet's heart clearing way through underbrush toward an unknown shore laid out against the thick fog of one's travels. Songwriting become equal parts processor of reality and repository for longing. There is an almost sacred element at work in Eileen's lyrics. "The sky is more than I know how to see". A painter's heart in awe of the everyday. "It’s such a mysterious procedure", says Alanna, "there’s a touch of alchemy or magic to it. It feels like a gift, almost, because it can’t be planned. It’s like a storm brewing." Rain broke loose from the soul tarries along the edges of the unknown, and in that place these songs hesitate to name their maker. Yet "something always remains," grafted onto the mystery is that place where the light and dark share their kindred stories long into the night, and in that night one can only but hope to pocket these tokens from the wayside, reminders, for later, of all that has been lost and all that has been found. The song - here - is a canvas of endless possibilities. *** AHC: The shape of your path towards songwriting, take us down that road a bit. What/who were some of the first seeds planted? What has called you, throughout the years, to this astonishing place of sound and soul making? Alanna: My father was a musician, so some of my earliest memories involve music being performed live. I was always encouraged to sing. When I was sixteen, someone gave me a guitar, and songwriting grew in conjunction with teaching myself how to play. It took me several years to feel like I could actually write songs. Now, it has become invaluable; writing songs is how I cope with the world, with feelings and events. I’m called to it because it’s the way I process reality, and I feel like I couldn’t live happily without it. AHC: There is a very painterly aspect to your songs, each one feels carefully layered and labored over. There's a tone and taste of canvas behind your mesmerizing songs, it's no surprise to learn that you also paint as well. Can you tell us how/when this passion first came about, before, after or around the same time as songwriting? Do you feel a connection at all between the songs and the paintings? Who are some of your visual inspirations; painters/photographers? Alanna: Music has been my passion for many years, but visual art has always been there as another outlet. I'd say they've existed symbiotically for most of my life; they feel dissimilar, but they interact. Visual art is often the first avenue of creativity we all have in childhood. Some of my earliest memories involve sitting down with a piece of paper, pouring over a sketch, completely absorbed. It preceded music-making, for sure. I think the connection between music and visual art is that they are both expressions of the same creative energy. Even though music is my primary focus, painting is something I intend to do a lot more of in the future - I dream about studying it in-depth and having exhibitions and so on. I'm also developing a strong interest in photography and sculpture. As for visual inspirations, some of my favourites include Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Odilon Redon, Sally Mann, David Lynch, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrew Wyeth, Tove Jansson, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Francesca Woodman and John William Waterhouse. AHC: Literary qualities thread throughout your music, I have the impression that literature influences your work, am I correct about that? Who are some of the writers that have haunted the margins of your own path and vision? Alanna: Yes, literature has been a deep love of mine for a long time. I started writing prose and poetry many years before I attempted songwriting. I love the works of Hermann Hesse, Federico Garcia Lorca, William Blake, Fernando Pessoa, Virginia Woolf, Knut Hamsun, Carson McCullers, William Faulkner and countless others. ![]()
AHC: Absence and Keepsake are your first two EP's. Both very haunting records. Can you take us back to the moment in time that crystallized these works, what was filtering through your heart and mind then, the sounds, colors events that birthed these works?
Alanna: For me, they both feel like products of a young mind attempting to grapple with new experiences. They are a collection of moments I endeavoured to crystallise in song-form. I’ve moved on from the time in my life that birthed those songs; I feel very different now, older and more assured. The songs on Absence and Keepsake were written between August 2014 and June 2016, but recording Keepsake marked a change in my life and my writing evolved rapidly after that experience. Absence makes me think of many things, it feels awash in blue tones - it reminds me of Melbourne, where it was written, and the tropical humidity of Far North Queensland, where it was recorded. Keepsake was composed in Melbourne - with the exception of 'Stay' and 'Elias' - but all it reminds me of is New Zealand, as that is where we recorded it. The songs aren't about New Zealand, they are very much in the same realm as Absence, but the way they sound, the production, everything - it all takes me back to the time spent recording it, as opposed to the time spent writing it. The journey of going to New Zealand and seeing that landscape for the first time and everything else that followed was quite potent and life-altering. AHC: What do you think makes for a good song? As you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak? Alanna: Almost nothing gives me as much joy as when I’ve written a new song; I feel an enveloping sense of well-being and happiness when it works - but it’s such a mysterious procedure, because it can’t be forced or predicted. Without wanting to sound pretentious, there’s a touch of alchemy or magic to it. It feels like a gift, almost, because it can’t be planned. It’s like a storm brewing. I don’t know what makes a good song; I know I write countless bad songs, songs I battle with and invariably toss aside, because they seem lifeless or disjointed. A good song makes you feel something, it has a spark in it. You want to play it again and again and live inside the little world of words and melody. But I don’t know why. AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, a slightly imperfect vehicle through which to translate our innermost feelings, states of rupture/rapture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener, however imperfectly? Alanna: Yes, absolutely. That’s an excellent description, and that’s precisely how I think of it. It’s a form of therapy I couldn’t live without. Truly, it’s how I cope with reality - by transmuting feelings, observations and thoughts into songs. I know it’s the same for many songwriters. AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road? Alanna: My early life was characterised by lengthy road trips with my father - we crossed Australia eighteen times, went up and down the east coast and all over the island of Tasmania in a dusty, unpredictable vehicle with a kelpie pup in tow. We would busk on the street and play gigs in outback pubs. These were my first experiences of playing music live, and also the inspiration behind my initial songs - being on the road for days on end, I’d make up lyrics in my head as we drove. The road was an integral part of my growth as a person and an artist. Other fond musical memories include shows I’ve played in New Zealand, where the audiences are almost always amazing, and performing in Ireland in 2014. ![]()
AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are trying to find (and sometimes stumble into) their voice and their way in this world? What are the kinds of things that you tell yourself when you begin to have doubts or are struggling with the creative process? Or what kinds of things have others told you that have helped push you past moments of self doubt/creative blocks?
Alanna: Self-doubt is probably the most detrimental thing. I’m naturally shy, so I’ve struggled with confidence for a long time. It’s been hard for me to share my work, my thoughts, anything at all. But as you mature, you begin to worry less. My advice would be to honour yourself wholly and respect who you are. Go to the core, always, and speak from that place. Be fierce, be compassionate and be honest. Loyalty to your own truth is paramount. It isn’t easy and it’s something I’m only just learning to do. But I think it’s vital. AHC: What's next for you? Are there any new projects in the works you'd like to mention? Alanna: I have written a full-length album and I’ll be recording it in the US later this year. It has taken me almost two years to write it and it means a lot to me, all my energy is going into it now. I plan to release it by mid-2019. Alanna's two Ep's Absence and Keepsake are both available for purchase via Bandcamp. Visit www.alanna-eileen.com/ for more. Follow Alanna on Facebook and Twitter. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2024
Categories |