Photo by Jimi Giannatti
Katie Haverly's music emerges from a time, which we now take for granted, in the late 90's, when women were creating a revoution in the industry, crafting songs that were unabshedly, unapologetically about their own lives and the often painful confrontations with a world of double standards, tricky obstacles, and all the while bucking conventional expectations, these were songwriters who fought back, forging paths that are still blazing to this day. Katie's first album 'Face Down' came out in 1999, at a time when the spot light was waning on this songwriters reneissance. "I can still do good with my guitar yet" she sings in "I forget" and has continued to do just that. Releasing three more albums since her debut 17 years ago, most recently The Aviary, of which Haverly writes “There’s this sensation in a large aviary that there is freedom and movement with the exotic plants and flowers and water and different types of birds. But the fact is: the birds are not free. The songs in this album explore how we cut off our own ability to have an expansive life, especially as women. I’m interested in how we allow ourselves to be limited or confined by others’ expectations and assumptions, or too often, by our own.” The Aviary is threaded with a desire for women to be more fully honored and supported in a culture that does not always value them. Some of the songs’ tensions deal with Haverly’s experience and the experience of so many female musicians who have met with obstacles and condescension while pursuing their art. The message is clear: women artists need to be heard. AHC: What has this journey in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what sort of life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way? My friends and I often talk about how living life as a committed musician or artist is a life of high highs and low lows. It is not for the meek-hearted or non-possessed. I feel like the life of a musician is honestly a certain spiritual path with the ever-present lesson of letting go and opportunities to be more present. You have to in order to connect with your audiences in a real and lasting way. For me that has required a substantial amount of letting go. Of other people's expectations, of a spectrum of fears, of my physical body at times. The highs are the moments of profound connection with an audience, inspiring collaborations, and the moments when a song pierces me through the bones. The lows are all of the colorful roadblocks along the way that seem to test you into answering the question, "Are you a slave to this craft? I am a fool and always say yes. AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them? My family was very musical: piano, guitar, trumpet, and voice. My father taught me my first chords on the guitar. Everyone sang and we would sing harmonies around campfires when I was young. The spark that drew me to music was Mrs. Aaron in the first grade. She was my music teacher, and we were singing a song out of the standard music book for my grade. At the end of class she approached me and said I had a nice voice. She offered me a solo in the upcoming school concert and I sang for my first audience. I think that was when I realized that singing felt right and was something that I could do well. I did a lot of musical theater when I was a child and teen. I loved belting out songs on stage and dancing and acting. In high school I fell in love with the Seattle sound and all I wanted to do was be the female Eddie Vedder, Layne Stanley, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell. Then of course there was Maynard. But what really flipped me into wanting to be a singer songwriter were Fiona Apple and Tori Amos. I heard these powerful women affecting me in even stronger ways then these dudes. I knew what I wanted to do. I have so many songs that have floored me. What comes to mind right now is Tom Waits "Lonely" and "Martha" off of Closing Time. Lonely because I started to understand I had an affinity for dissonance and jazz, and I learned that a song can be extremely powerful when it is sincere and brave. Martha because it is the first song I ever listened to that made me sob. Still does. And Tori Amos's record Boys for Pele. That record was sheer brilliance in my opinion. She was unabashedly herself and made one of the most interesting, provocative, intense records to date. I admired her weirdness and fearlessness in that work. AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote? Or that first moment when you picked up a pen and realized that you could create whole worlds just by putting it to paper? The first song I wrote was a finger-picky song in D minor called "Golden Hands" about this homeless man that would walk up and down 35th ave in Phoenix, AZ where I grew up. I saw him wandering the streets for my entire childhood and adolescence. I had moved up to Flagstaff to college and wrote the song there when I was 19, wondering if he was still wandering. Wondering about him. Kind of sounded like a dirge :/ AHC: Which musicians have you learned the most from? Or writers, artists, filmmakers etc? Joni Mitchell, Nai Palm from Hiatus Kayoite, Laura Marling, Anais Nin, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Bjork, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Mark Kozolek, Nick Drake, Amy Winehouse, Miles Davis, Lianne LaHavas, Pearl Jam, A Perfect Circle, Robert Glasper, Billie Holiday, the list goes on.... 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? I think what makes a good song is authenticity. Not trying to make a good song. Your unique point of view. Your unique interest in rhythm, constellations, mood, color. Being real and unvarnished. That's what usually interests me. Lyrics are important to me, the story, the intention. Writing is somewhat addictive for me. I love the thrill of the chase. What will I find next? What is waiting to be born? I believe that creative effort is 10% work and 90% channeling. Songs often feel like fully formed eggs that move through my body, I just have to nurture them once they come out to make sure they are ready for the world. Over the years I have come to accept that the songs write me, and not the other way around. And sometimes total shit comes out. I'm getting better at letting those tunes go :) AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing-art, the perfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, a state of rupture, 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? Absolutely. Music is vibrational energy. It enters the body through the ears and skin. The energy and intention behind those waves is powerful and influential. Music is what begins when language ends and has the power to help all of us feel less alone. It aids us in recognizing our shared experience when we can feel isolated and unseen. Music can heal in that way - the thread that binds us. I lean on songwriting heavily as a coping mechanism during times of trauma and difficulty in my own life. It is my medicine, absolutely. It's so beautiful when you learn that a song is also another's medicine too. AHC: When you set out to write an album of songs, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell? It influences it absolutely. Everything I write is a reflection of my life experience and the context in which it exists. Sometimes I revisit the past in my work, but usually it is because it is relevant to an event in the present. My next record (to be recorded this Spring) is extending outward and is a bit more political and external in nature. My last record (Aviary) was very internal, documenting a process of expansion and breaking through pre-imposed limitations. For this next record, I feel like I will be taking this story to the next level, flying around the world, what I'm seeing, witnessing, what I'm concerned about, what I'm learning.... This new record is about a more expansive and longer view -out of the human form and into a point in the sky observing our solar system. Trying to make sense of it all. AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road? I have some great memories of my dad blasting Linda Rondstadt and singing along in Spanish in our house in Phoenix growing up. Playing the same record over and over again. I had the opportunity to open for Chris Isaak this year at my favorite music Hall in Tucson. It was a thrill of a lifetime to open for him and to play solo for so many wonderful people. I will never forget it. I have some amazing memories playing music with my other band Copper and Congress. We had a show that I will never forget at Dolores River Brewing Company in Colorado where the planets just all seemed to be aligned and we were gliding together as one. I don't know how to explain it. But I'll take that one to my grave. I have so many, but I will end with, the first time I ever had string instruments on a record of mine was with Aviary. I hired my friend Ben Nisbet to compose a cello piece for a song called A Ghost Like Me. This was a pretty vulnerable tune for me, a live solo piano performance. When Ben came into the studio with Ian (the brilliant cello player) and they laid down the cello line, I was overwhelmed to the point of sobbing. I felt so gotten in that moment and heard my music in a new way. It was very powerful for me in a lot of different ways.. Ben is now my talented guitar player in The Aviary, and also my dear love... AHC: With the traditional ways that we listen to music rapidly changing, does it affect how you write and put together an album? Too often people are downloading and engaging with singular songs rather than albums as on ordered and thematic canvas, do you regret that your work may not be received in the way it was intended or created? Honestly I do regret this. I am old school and I love making records that take the listener on a journey. I am meticulous about this shit. I am traveling right now and already I have 7 hotel notepad sheets filled with potential song orders for the next record that tell the best story. I can't help the way a listener will engage with my work. I can just be myself, who will forever be obsessed with records as a whole, as living breathing organisms. AHC: Do you have any words of advice for other musicians and singer-songwriters or anyone who is struggling to create something of value out there, who are just starting out and trying to find 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? I work as a life coach for creative artists and the crux of the work I do with my clients is to teach them how to have a genuine, accepting, deeply loving relationship with the self, no matter what. I believe as any artist, that is the most important skill you can develop in conjunction with your artform. It is teachable and doable to have a nourishing relationship with the self. When we care for that relationship, we free up so much space in the mind and body for creation and play! I think the other thing to keep in mind is to stay childlike, receptive, open, and work on mindfulness practices. I believe this helps with channeling creative ideas and moving forward in our work. Also, prioritization. We cannot expect to create masterpieces when we spend 5 minutes a day trying to write a song. Discipline and prioritization are key. AHC: Do you have any projects you'd like to mention? I will be launching a new fundraising campaign in February to help support my new upcoming record. My last Kickstarter for the record Aviary was unbelievably inspiring and successful, and I am hoping to continue to inspire my fans and supporters with my next effort. I have 12 songs ready to go and will be working with the incredible Gabriel Sullivan from XIXA who recently did the fantastic Crystal Radio and XIXA records at Dust and Stone. Gabe and I already are off and running with ideas and schemes and I am dying to get into the studio and start working My other project Copper and Congress will be reuniting in Tucson for a reunion show 1/19 at the Flycatcher and I'm looking forward to playing with those cats again. Good times. More from us will be coming up on the horizon... For more visit www.katiehaverly.com/ katiehaverly.bandcamp.com/ Comments are closed.
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