The Muse Page

 Q: Who are your musical influences?

  Bobby McFerrin, Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry),  Lisa Gerrard, Yma Sumac, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, Claude Debussy, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Sting, The Story, Ferron, Bulgarian women’s choirs, Tuvan groups, East Indian classical…

 Q: Who were your favorites when you were a teenager?

  Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Yes, Little Feat, Genesis (early), David Bowie, John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Todd Rundgren, Jan Hammer, Chick Corea…

 Q: What other interests do you have besides music?

  Gourmet cooking, clothing & accessory design, computers, traveling, reading (non-fiction), photography, rituals

 Q: What kind of childhood did you have?

  I grew up on a farm on the Canadian prairies with no one my age to hang out with. I went to a one-room schoolhouse, the only one in my grade. No competition! Consequently I spent a lot of time roaming the countryside daydreaming. I think it made me an independent person with an adventurous streak.

 Q: What countries have you been to?

  Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bali, The Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan (lived there for 4 years), Russia (Republic of Tuva), England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Greece, Crete, Egypt, all over USA

 Q: What is your approach to songwriting?

  I used to write with the same Rhodes piano sound for years, because I found it inspiring. Nowadays I tend to use grand piano (back to my roots?). For the lyrically based stuff, the music and melody come out at the same time. I’ll open my mouth and something will fall out (hopefully not drool), usually phonetically pleasing at first, which will evolve into a catch phrase. This could be a subject that’s been percolating sub-consciously for a while. If I’m lucky, a verse and/or a chorus will appear right away. It’s rare that the whole thing is finished in one sitting. After that it can be a chore. It’s easy for me to spew out a whole pile of incomplete ditties in quick succession. After a while, I can see how some of them fit together like jigsaw pieces.

  As for the imaginary language stuff, ('vocables'), I like to start out with a percussion track from various sources. Now this is expanding into the use of finger-picking acoustic guitar or electronic woodwinds. Then I might add keyboards for a basic progression or another rhythmic pattern. I’ll record several layers of improvised vocals, in groups of textural similarities. There might be overtoning parts or variations. Generally I like to think in terms of using the voice as an instrument.

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