Spiderwebs and Skeletons (Through The Jungle EP RunDown)
I’ve decided to unleash some of my spider webs and skeletons to help you understand and get the most out of the songs from my new EP “Through the Jungle.”
To The Dreamers:
The birth of this song came on a day when I was exhausted by the idea of writing another song. I had been at the Alberts writers’ camp all week which had been stuck onto the end of a very fun month of musical adventures in Melbourne.
It was also during a time in my life when my emotions were probably at their highest peak and I wasn’t sleeping all that well. So much was going on in my life (and inside my head.) Luckily it made song writing very productive! But when we (Jarred, Wayne and I) were put into a room together one midmorning none of us were particularly inspired. I can’t remember who was inspired first… but I do remember Jarred was mucking around on one of Wayne’s acoustic guitars and I was flicking through an old Rolling Stones magazine when I came across an advert with the word “DREAMER”.
From there an idea was build. We wrote a love song to the wanderers, misfits and nomads. It was a lot of fun to record… most of what you hear is recoded with one microphone on the day it was written, (Jarred on guitar, the San Cisco boys’ knee slapping and a bit of kick by Wayne)… a few months later I came back and redid to vocals in the studio.
Paradise
I wrote this song this song in about 10 minutes when I was 21. Several people have asked me about the inspiration behind Paradise and each time I’ve tiptoed around the answer. I wrote it with the ‘idea’ of having a relationship with someone who, in my eyes, had everything: Money, fame and respect. I had this song plot in my mind where a girl lusts after the ‘so called’ perfect man but when she finally gets him the excitement fades. Once you have something, and the chase has ended, what is left? I suppose being 21 and completely naïve about relationships that’s what I was curious about. And there’s also ‘the grass is always greener’ obsession. I always wanted what I didn’t have. So I guess the song is also about challenging that and realising that not everything is what it seems. Even the immortals want to be mortal.
When I took it to the studio it had already bounced around on the radio as a totally different song. The first was a country track. Then Wayne took it and it morphed into an almost whimsical 60’s indie French pop dirty brass number. When I was listening to it being played back in the studio (before final mixes and mastering) I was hesitant. My hesitation quickly grew into absolute distaste! It took quite a bit of convincing and actual space away from the song to finally enjoy it. How crazy is that?! But now it’s possibly my favourite track. I love the way Bree plays glockenspiel. It just pulls the whole thing together in one massive explosion.
Salt
The way Salt came about unnerves me slightly. I wrote it about a week before my boyfriend at the time and I broke up. I didn’t see the breakup coming but obviously my writer-self did.
When I reviewed the song months later (after it went to the studio and I listened back to the final master) it gave me chills and I realised what had happened.
It describes perfectly what I refused to recognise: It’s just as hard having your own heart broken as it is to break theirs.
Through The Jungle
For those of you who don’t know. I am a little OCD. And when I say ‘little’ I actually mean ‘a lot’. I love tinkering around with production, sound and recording. I love tweeking sounds until they match the ones in my head. I love protools. Hey, I can’t use it to save my life but somehow it all works out for me in the end. I also know absolutely nothing about microphones and the correct way to set one up. I just tend to stick it where it seems to go and hope for the best. So when Alberts let me use the songwriter’s studio, I kind of went a little craycray.
Through The Jungle was written express. Like, really fast. I bought the ukulele (her name is Daisy) a couple of hours before and decided to write a song on my new instrument. Don’t ask me what the chords are… because I kinda just made them up.
The song came out fast. The production took all day but it was amazingly fun because most of the time I didn’t use real instruments to make up the sounds.
What I did use:
Daisy the Ukulele
Jam Jars
A very old set of keys that weren’t mine (and probably from a house that didn’t exist any more)
Glass milk bottles
One ancient honey tin
My legs
My voice (which can produce varied sounds. My favourite is ‘the seagull’)
A kick drum
One fork
A jar of rice
The song was written about an old flame and how when you break up with them you tend to blame that person for an extended period of time but then one day you wake up and realise they were probably not Voldemorte after all and you let go of all that baggage you have been carrying for the last five years. *pheww!*
I hope you enjoy the EP!!!
You can now buy “Through the Jungle” on iTunes now.
CLICK HERE TO BUY FROM iTUNES
