Half-handed Cloud

John Ringhofer is undoubtably one of the more gifted songwriters of his generation.His music can be chaotic and short but it's filled with a genuine sense of wonder, and while drawing heavily from the music of The Beatles and from Brian Wilson's love of harmonies, it manages to remain fresh and exciting. Never short of brilliant, Ringhofer uses all sorts of instruments to create bizzarre and multifaceted songs that release their wonders over time and are at the same time profound and naive, enfueled by his religious fervour in a very sensitive and clever way. Affiliated to the Sounds Familyre imprint and very close friend with Sufjan Stevens (he has toured the USA as part of Sufjans Steven's Michigan Militia), his talent fits perfectly the ever wonderful roster of Ashmatic Kitty. In this interview he talks about the wonders of song-fasting, his love of the Beatles and his next projects (a 7" EP with Sufjan Stevens and HHC's fouth album).

Much has been said about the shortness of your songs, but listening to your albums, from "Learning About Your Scale" to this last work it seems that often a song just flows into the following like it's a single one. Do you reason in terms of songs when working on an album or do you care most about the overall feel of the record?

Oh, i think that "the album" and "the songs" are both in the back of my mind in the creative process, although "the album" might weigh more heavily. There are moments during each release when a song or two needs to be written in order to provide a better transition. I'm very interested in the "feel" of the album or e.p., yes.

Listening to "Scale" I can't fail to notice how much more song oriented your last album is. I'm not saying it's a regular pop record but sure your sound has changed much from the beginnings. Would you say you're more song-oriented as time progresses?

That's interesting... I don't know for sure. Probably many of the "Thy" songs can stand on their own somewhat better than the "Scale" songs could, but I also think that "Thy" flows better album-wise. Here's something else though, in another sense, I wouldn't say that Half-h is song-oriented or album-oriented. It might be more about the body of work as a whole. There's a bigger picture...

While previous albums were more open in praisings of the Lord, in this one you retell bible stories. And the original working title was "Bible Verses With a Bad Name". Why did you choose this approach?

"Thy" was an experiment in narrative song-writing, and many of these were being written along with the ones for "Loved" (second Half-h album). "Bible Verses..." still exists but it's made up of completely different recordings (of pretty much the same songs).

I react strangely to your records. I mean at first I quite grasp the beauty of it all yet it all flows too fast for me to get a grip on it, and then I cherish every listening 'cause everytime I hear the record I know I discover something new. Do you ever think about the way people react to your albums or assimilate them?

I think that it's great that you're willing to listen through more than once, and spend some time with the records. I'm not sure if I can expect that from most people though. Sometimes it's fun to listen to one of these albums and imagine how one of my friends would process it, sure.

It seems melody is the most important thing for you, some may say it's more important than structure, but what critics perceive may often be wrong. What are the key aspects that define a HHC song in your opinion?

Well, you're right, melody is so important to me. It seems like a melody will always start the song, and then I'll begin to create arrangements to go with that. I usually try to think about making songs/albums as i would make a painting, so I'll get a sense of how the song/album is supposed to work-out in the process of writing/arranging/recording it. Maybe you're asking about chorus, verse, and that sort of thing, but it can be hard for me to think about "key elements" without my mind going straight towards the creation of the album, and the dialog that happens with melody, and really, being open to almost any direction the song says to go.

Are there any aspects of your work that you feel are overlooked? Something you would like people to say "Hey, he did that," but instead no one seems to notice?

Gosh, I'm probably not a very effective communicator, and a lot gets lost, but I'm also pretty sure that I'm no innovator, so there isn't much to note. However, there's something going on with Half-handed Cloud that I've yet to see in print--it has to do with the entire body of work. Many of my friends know about it, so it isn't a total secret or anything. It might be more interesting for people to figure it out on their own--it's only a matter of time before it becomes obvious and possibly hokey.

Brian Wilson is often mentioned as one of your strongest influences, as can be heard especially on vocal harmonies of this record (i.e. "Let's Go Javelin'"). Have you heard "SMiLE"? Have you got any opinion on it you would like to share?

There's lots to love about Brian Wilson's updating of some ideas explored by George Gershwin in "American in Paris", "Rhapsody in Blue," and elsewhere. The way they both use percussion is pretty great, though neither may have been the first to use it in that way. I'd be curious to know what would've happened if SMiLE had been completed in early 1967. I wish that it had, but the 2004 version is the next best thing. And in some ways, the material seems even more fitting for Brian Wilson's cool older voice, like he's singing in a rocking chair or something.

Your favourite Beatles song? And why.

The Beatles have been my biggest influence--there's no question. My friend Joel and I have been rediscovering early Beatles music lately, and one that comes to mind is "I'll be on my Way," a song that they wrote for someone else and only recorded their own version on a radio show in 1964 or something. It could almost be a campfire folk song if it weren't for the weird not-so-simple chord progressions.

How would you describe the benefits of song-fasting on your songwriting? Do you believe this way of working suits your music better? And how did you work before trying this approach?

Song-fasting wasn't my idea in the first place-I found out about it from Dan from Danielson. Maybe its biggest benefit has to do with creating more songs from which to choose when it's time to assemble an album. The significant difference between pre-song-fast songs, and song-fast ones has to do with more space between writing cycles; writing more songs at once instead of one every once and awhile..

Can you tell us about how song-fasting works exactly?

Okay. This exercise is probably similar to what a lot of song-writers participate in. During a song-fast, I intentionally try to be open to melodies throughout the day, and if I receive a melody while walking or something (if I don't have a recorder along), I'll call home and leave a little idea on the answering machine. I'm usually reading scripture and taking notes during song-fasts too. In the evening, it's time to sit down and refer to all of the notes and melodies from that day (or from a growing archive of ideas/melodies) and assemble them into a song for the mini-disc.

Do you feel your music is going toward a particular goal? That you are growing along with your music? Looking back to your first album can you discern a path going through your songs?

I think you've picked-up on something. When looking back there definitely appears to be some sort of "growing" that's going on in the themes of the releases. The "goal" (if you want to call it that) of these themes is to tell different aspects of the same story.

Do you enjoy playing live or do you feel you can express yourself better within the studio? Do you believe records and live shows complement each other?

I feel that I'm a somewhat awkward performer, and usually prefer making the songs slightly more. But there's something I really enjoy about the chance to present these songs to people in a live setting. It's fun to get to travel around the country and visit friends during tours too. I enjoy playing in my friends' bands a lot also: Danielson, with Sufjan, Red Pony Clock, with Joel Pickell, Vollmar, etc... A "band" version of Half-handed Cloud is more fun for me than the mini-disc backed version, but I enjoy both. It seems like there are at least a few songs that translate well into versions we can play at shows, with somewhat new arrangements.

What can you tell us about the "What's The Remedy" EP? What will it sound like?

"What's the Remedy?" is made of piano songs written in Berkeley late in the Summer of 2002 when I first moved to California. It's an e.p. of five songs, and I recorded the demo versions on my friend Joel's 4-track cassette. This was just before the "Loved" album was released. Sufjan Stevens had once said something about wanting to record Half-handed Cloud, so I sent him the demos for "Remedy" and "Bible Verses With a Bad Name", and he chose "Remedy" to record after we toured together in early December 2002. We did most of it in a single day at New Jerusalem Recreation Room, and then he recorded drums on another day in January 2003. He spent another evening finishing overdubs in October of 2004. We're pretty pleased with how everything turned-out. I got to create the initial arrangements, but Sufjan embellished them with his own ideas. It's going to be released on a 7" record in the Fall on Asthmatic Kitty Records. They're waiting for me to get back to California so that I'll be able to finish the artwork. The songs are an attempt to answer the question, "In light of the Gospel, what should be our attitude towards Law?"

And how do you feel about songs from the fourth album, of which we heard a wonderful mp3?

I feel really happy about what will be the fourth Half-handed Cloud album. Most of the music is about my relationship with an instrument from the early 1980's called the Omnichord. The tunes and lyrics were song-fasted in the early part of this year. At this point it exists as a demo, but I'll be able to record the album with my friend Brandon Buckner a few days from now in Iowa City, Iowa. If things go well, the album will be out in early 2006.

Salvatore

Links:

Half-handed Cloud Website: www.halfhandedcloud.com
Half-handed Cloud@indiepop.it: bands/halfhanded.htm