Stereoboard Talk To Rising Singer-Songwriter Lisa Crawley (Interview)
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Written by Josh Adams
After an exchange or two about our mutual love for The Office, it doesn’t take long to realise that (much like her music) she is a pure pleasure. Lisa Crawley isn’t your average songstress; rivalling a Colbie Callait heart-wrenching while simultaneously bursting through the threshold of mediocrity. She’s won the international Pacific Songwriting Competition, been nominated for a Silver Scroll for her track ‘Leaving’ and has opened for ‘Modfather’ Paul Weller and Jools Holland – this New Zealand ‘Kiwi’ has managed to rack up quite a few accolades of her own even before the release of her first full album. With everything about this girl oozing the great and good, Stereoboard wanted to see if what she said for herself was any different.
So Lisa, to start off with, for those who maybe haven’t listened to your stuff yet; how would you describe it?
I would describe my music as alternative pop with influences of folk and jazz, and whatever else I’m enjoying at the time! I’ve been getting into a lot of 60's girl groups lately and that’s had some influence in some new songs I’ve been working on.
Has being a New Zealander had any affect on the music you’ve produced you think? For instance, do you see any national characteristics in what you do?
I love New Zealand but don’t feel like I have a particularly ‘kiwi sound’. I try to sing with my own accent, but most of the music I’ve written has been while I’ve travelled overseas. New Zealand has so much great music but it’s difficult to get played on New Zealand radio if you aren’t overly commercial yet not extremely alternative. I don’t let that bother me, I just try to write good material and hope that others enjoy it!
Which artists have had the most influence on you growing up, and now, since you’ve become a professional yourself?
Hmmm, good question! The first CD I ever bought was a hip hop compilation in the 90s called ‘Mai Street Jams’ with Tupac and Boyz II Men etc! We had jazz playing in the background a lot at home, and back in the day I was heavily involved with playing music at church, but none of the music I write really fits into those categories.
I listened to a lot of contemporary pop music growing up, and around ten years ago the songs I wrote were – let’s just say nothing I’d like to release now! So overall I’ve had a wide range of musical influences, I did all my classical piano, singing and clarinet exams growing up, then went to jazz school for a year, then dropped out to sing and play piano at a Japanese Hotel in the middle of nowhere! In London I’d sing and play piano at the Ritz Hotel to sleazy businessmen then the next night play my own music in a run down pub at a songwriters evening. I’ve opened for Jools Holland, John Mayer and Paul Weller, that was lots of fun, and I’m a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to plenty of golden oldies, and have only really discovered the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, The Shangri-Las and Roy Orbison etc over the last five years so have been influenced by that music a lot lately, and some other current favourites would be Feist, Cat Power, Richard Hawley, Beirut, and Beach House.
Any dream collaborations?
Most definitely. I’d love to work with all my favourites I mentioned above, as well as as Fiona Apple, Mark Lanegan, Gonzales, Ryan Adams, Sufjan Stevens and Ron Sexsmith,
Your music makes brilliant use of instruments, when penning the tracks; did you conceive of a particular sound with each song?
The majority of the production on the album is more or less how I would play the songs live with the band. The tracking of bass, drums and guitar were done first, and after that it was me taking the songs away and working on for example backing vocal, string, clarinet, glockenspiel parts… I’m very lucky to have an array of musical friends who lent their musical talents to the project.
‘Blind Eyes’ sounds very happy-go-lucky, but the lyrics are a bit more melancholic. What’s the story?
I think that’s very common for me! I think sometimes the happy go lucky sound is there as I’m aware that my lyrics are far from happy, and if I was to give it a lot of thought I could use that as some sort of metaphor for my upbringing, ie being known for a girl with a smile on her face playing keyboards at church, yet internally was struggling with anxiety and depression and felt far from the person I was perceived as. But a less deep answer is that it just sometimes my songs just turn out that way, I’m not as naturally inspired to write when everything’s going fantastically, and also I like a lot of happy fun music as well as beautiful sad songs. I’m happy lots of the time too, so look out for some happy songs…someday!
‘Wish you well’ really threw me, it opened like a dance track, then sounded something like a Jack Johnson piece – until eventually it ended up into this really really catchy new-folk thing. How much of this genius is down to you?
That’s a first being described to sound like Jack Johnson! Haha. Wish You Well was the first track I wrote on my omnichord, and the recorded version still features that (the harp sounding thing). The drummer of my band at the time Alex Freer came up with the drum loop and I had a bunch of friends sing lots of backing vocals as well as guitar and pedal steel. Jol Mulholland helped with the production on this track, he came up with the keyboard sound, the one that sort of sounds like rain drops. It’s a lot of fun to play live, and for the kids there’s a special ‘clean version’ that replaces the word ‘fuck’ with an i-phone dog woof! I’m always trying to think of ways to get animal sounds on my recordings.
This being your debut album, is the entire process what you expected?
I’ve released 2 EP’s prior to the album, but It was a good learning experience as some of the songs I had assistance with the production from friends Wayne Bell, Jol Mulholland and Andrew Keoghan but the majority of it was just myself and the engineer in the studio and me going by my instinct at the time! It was a case of chipping away at things at the studio when I could afford it rather than an ‘epic few weeks in the studio’ that you see in the movies etc. I’m pretty happy with the result considering it was a self funded project, but I did feel somewhat on my own with it, but am looking forward to working with a producer on future projects to expand my musical horizons!
Any specific aspirations for the future? Artistically, where would you like to take your music?
I plan on travelling more with my music and live overseas again soon. I’ve been back from the UK in New Zealand for over three years now so really feel like it’s time to go on another adventure. Artistically, I’d love to collaborate and work with different songwriters and producers, as well as develop my own distinct style, which at the moment seems to incorporate elements of a variety of genres, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! As long as I’m writing and performing music that I’m happy and proud of, I’m a happy lady.
And finally, when are you moving to the UK? Don’t worry about leaving New Zealand, I’ve got a cardboard cutout, they’ll never know!
If I could get a visa to live there again, I’d be there next week, honestly!!! As much as I love New Zealand and feel very lucky here, I feel ready to base myself overseas again. I want to share my music with new people. I’m going to do some gigs in the States later this year and will also be going to the UK. If anyone has any suggestions or marriage proposals (must hold UK or American Visa) please get in touch…!
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So Lisa, to start off with, for those who maybe haven’t listened to your stuff yet; how would you describe it?
