julianna barwick does it again

Her Ma Fama session was stuck on repeat for weeks, the Daytrotter session I already posted a couple of months back was equally obsessed over, and she even sent me a tracing paper drawing when I ordered her album – Julianna Barwick is my absolute favourite lady this year. Now she’s created one of the highlights of her small but consistently gorgeous catalogue in the form of a remix of Radiohead’s “Reckoner”, which the world and his wife are remixing as part of another one of their competition dealios. Barwick as usual sets her beauty phasers to stun, whacking layer after layer of near-wordless singing over each other like papier-mached gold leaf, resulting in a profoundly moving and gripping version of this already fine song. I interviewed her recently for the new issue of Flux magazine, and here’s what she had to say:

- When and why did you start writing music?

i always played the piano a little, just by ear, and started doing the same thing with guitar in high school. i played clarinet in grade school, took voice in high school, sang in an opera chorus…so i was always involved in music in one way or another. i didn’t actually start making up my own stuff until i was 18 or 19, messing around on a 4-track with guitar, keyboard and vocals. i didn’t totally love what i was doing, but moved to new york and eventually played a little here and there with electric guitar- just singer-songwriter-type stuff i guess. but i didn’t really fall in love with anything i was doing until i started looping stuff. that was back in 2005.

- Having listened to your live material a great deal but knowing nothing about performing music, I can’t work out how you perform! Is it that you record a loop as you go, leave it playing and record the next, and so on? Do you use prerecorded loops? What about drumbeats? Could you lay it all out for me, including what instruments/hardware you use?

well, when i perform i’m singing into an effects pedal (it gives me the delay or reverb that i want for the song) that goes straight into the rc-50, which is a loop station- i can create 3 loops at a time and weave them in and out however i want with it. some songs start off with something i’ve already recorded, like ‘youcatcher’ for instance. i already have the guitar and piano part in there then i just sing on top of it. with the looper i can sing over and over myself, making harmonies or beats (like beatboxing) or whatever with it. then with other songs i just sing the first part, hit a button then it starts looping and i sing over it, with nothing prerecorded.

- Repetition and looping play a major role in your songwriting. What is it about these forms that appeals to you so much?

i think that i didn’t get very much out of the singer-songwriter route- it just wasn’t for me. i couldn’t commit to lyrics and was generally uninspired by my own creations. but once i started looping it all seemed to come out very spontaneously and easily, and there was a lot of joy in that. i would, and still do, get very excited about laying one thing down and having absolutely no idea what the end result will sound like.
it’s a very fun way to make music for me. one thing i love about it is that i can do the same song live and every time it will be a little different. it keeps my brain happy.

- There seems to me to be a very unashamed reaching towards absolute beauty with your work. Is that accurate or am I just being silly?

no, you’re not being silly at all. i get a lot of joy out of making something as gorgeous as i possibly can, gorgeous to me anyway.

- Where do you draw your inspiration from?

everything! but to be honest i rarely, if ever, concentrate on something in particular, or make a song about someone, or anything like that. it’s usually just a stream of consciousness kind of thing that just comes out naturally.

- What other artists do you like at the moment?

i love grouper’s new record. i’ve totally worn out panda bear’s ‘person pitch’, MIA’s ‘kala’, dirty projectors’ ‘rise above’, and radiohead’s ‘in rainbows’ over the last year. i love a couple off of MGMT’s record. i’m also trying to school myself with some older stuff i wasn’t totally familiar with, like joy division, neu!, prince, and a few others.

- What advice could you give to a young female songwriter who wants to do something new and exciting? What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were starting out?

borrow some stuff from your friends! that’s how i created ’sanguine’, was with a guitar pedal that had a loop feature in it that i borrowed from a friend. get your hands on different things, try them out. think about the sounds you love. for me, i’ve always, always loved singing in a big open church, parking garage, or stairwell that had great reverb. so i found a great pedal that could make that sound for me. google your favorite musicians, try and find out what set-up they’re using (i’ve done this many times). it helps to know what other people are using. also, walk right into a music gear store and ask around. who cares if the guy working there rolls his eyes when you ask him what you need to make your vocals sound like you’re at the end of a very long tunnel, at night, in the winter with ice cracking all around and you want your guitar to sound like echoing, jangly gorgeousness? at least you’ll be pointed to something…

i can’t think of anything i wish i’d known. it’s been fun to figure it out as i go.

Radiohead – Reckoner (Julianna Barwick remix)