Jen Turrell
We have been waiting so long for the
first full lenght by Jen Turrell, after a handful of precious
Eps. And "One night the stars began to fall and would not
stop" is the loveliest effort yet from Jen, gracious and somber
while developing an upbeat attitude that her previous releases
lacked. It's also a welcome opportunity to speak to her about
her album, her indiepop marriage with Stewart "Boyracer" Anderson
and the state of her lovely Red Square Recordings label. Here's
Jen Turrel.
Can you remember the first time you felt the urge to put
your words into music? What compelled you to do that?
I think that I was about 16 or 17. I'd been writing typical
teen-aged angst and trauma poetry for years, but I think the
Smiths made me want to put it to music. I related closely
to Girl Afraid at that point in life.
I've read that your mother plays the harp. In what kind
of musical environment did you grow up? How did you started
making music and did your parents encourage you?
On my mother's side everyone is a classical musician. Grandma
played the harp, mother played the harp, my sister played
the harp and piano, aunts, uncles and cousins played piano,
cello, violin, viola, organ, etc. I was a bit of a misfit
growing up in that sense because although Mom tried to put
me on violin at 3 like she did my sister, it just didn't work.
Piano at 5, cello through grade school, none of it stuck.
I hated practising, got bored by the exercises, and was frustrated
with my apparent lack of abilities and talent in the face
of so many fine musicians, the least of which was not my sister
who could play anything she heard from a very young age. When
I wanted to quit it wasn't too big a deal. I didn't play music
again until I was almost out of high school and discoverd
how much easier it is to play guitar than violin or cello.
And I started playing guitar because I had these words I'd
been writing that I wanted to put to music.
Your album sounds is very cozy and serene, like it's been
recorded in a very familiar place. How much important is your
family and their support to you?
My family is very important to me, and the album was recorded
at my mother's home. We intended for her to play on this album
as she has on several other releases I've done, but a number
of things intervened so it didn't happen, although we do hope
to record together again soon. It's difficult organizing her
concert schedule with our tour schedule, and the fact that
she recently became a grandmother shifted priorities around
a bit while the album was being recorded.
 The
cover art of your album is so lovely! And it fits perfectly
the mood of the album. Was it drawn especially for the record?
How did you get in touch with Jen Corace?
Yes the artwork was made especially for the record. Jen Corace
is one of my favorite artists and a friend. She has done the
covers for all 6 volumes of "The Way Things Change" 7" series
that I just completed and released this past year on my label
Red Square Recordings, as well as covers for her brother Jason
Corace, aka A Boy Named Thor. Jen also illustrates children's
books, magazines, and always has several very intersting projects
up her sleeve. Her website is www.jencorace.com.
I first got in touch with her when I lived in a shared band
house (The Red Square House) with her brother Jason in Philly
and we have remained friends since then.
I couldn't quite catch all the lyrics in the album so I
may be wrong, but to me this record sounds somewhat like a
collection of fantasy and dream stories. Like the ones a child
could make in her bedroom... is there a concept uniting the
songs? Have you written the song with a sense of unity in
mind?
Well, no, not exactly. I'm wishing now that I had included
a lyric sheet. I always mean to do that and then somehow forget.
A lot of the songs were written at different times over the
past couple of years during which I've experienced a lot of
life changes (moving, traveling, leaving friends, getting
married, being forced to leave the country for a year because
of immigration laws, watching friends go through hard times,
etc.) so it's kind of like seeing snippets of a time line
I guess. For awhile Stew and I were separated because of immigration
laws while we were trying to work out getting married so that
certainly shows up in the album, and a lot of the songs (like
Frank's song, Dreams of Drowning, Hope, Go To Portland, and
Reindeer Games) were songs about friends who I used to live
with and be very close to, but who I now only hear about in
e-mails and phone calls, or maybe not at all and I worry about
them.
The mood seems to be shifting. It starts in the most gentle
of ways but I feel towards the end there's a mood shift and
it ends on a sadder note. Is that true?
The mood does shift, but I think it kind of goes back and
forth a few times. While I was writing these songs I was traveling
and on tour with Boyracer for most of it. I usually only write
songs in quite introspective moments when no one else is around
which is part of why it took me so long to finally complete
a full length. I think a lot of these songs were written when
I was tired, or had news of someone I was worried about, or
when Stew was gone and I was missing him, so I think that's
the reason for the somber mood when there is one. But I also
think that I managed to be a bit more upbeat in this album
than on other releases. I'm much happier in my life now than
I was a few years ago and I think that shows.
 Is
"One night the stars..." a record about solitude? I mean solitude
as a chance to be with yourself rather that someting bad?
Is it introspective that way?
Hmm. I never really thought of it that way, but maybe so.
I feel like I am a pretty social person in life and I do love
going on tour and seeing friends, but I feel like solitude
is my natural state, something that I'm always striving towards
despite how much I love being with the ones I love.
You and Stewart make a very nice indiepop couple. How do
you work together? do you discuss new songs over breakfast
or something like that?
I think we work together very well. Stew is always going on
a million projects at a time at a million miles an hour and
I'm usually the one who has to say, okay, which thing do we
do first, when should we schedule it, etc. We both play in
each other's projects, but for the most part we just back
each other up. I write all the jen songs and put down tracks
and then he adds stuff, and with Boyracer, he writes all the
songs and then I play on the recordings and at shows. Stew's
the recording wiz, and I take care of more of the biz stuff,
booking, bookkeeping etc. It makes a good balance I think.
How much was Stewart involved in the arrangments and the
outcome of the record?
Well, like I said, I'd record the songs, usually to a click
track if we thought that beats might work, and then we'd listen
and talk about what to do with it. He'd add percussion which
I think does drasticly affect the feel of a song, and we'd
both add the other backing insturments and vocals.
We have reviewed some excellent Red Square stuff (Bill
Ricchini, Gravenhurst). How is the label doing at present?
Unfortunately the past year has pretty much hamstrung Red
Square financially. We're having a very hard year. Our distributors
in France, Spain, Germany and Sweden have all either gone
out of business or stopped taking overseas stock, sales in
the UK have dropped drasticly and not quite as drasticly in
the US. So because of all that we're doing some downsizing,
cutting back on releases for awhile, and just trying to ride
things out until we are more certain what will happen next.
Many other labels that I know, including Stew's 555, are all
having the same problems. Quite a lot of our friends are just
not making records anymore because it seems like no one is
buying them anymore. I hope that this is wrong and that it
will get better again some day, but who knows. However, Stew
and I will keep making and releasing our own music even if
we cannot afford to do releases for others. Our own music
we can at least sell on tour which is where we do the best
anyway. So all hope is not yet lost.
Salvatore
Links:
Jen Turrell@indiepop.it: bands/jenturrell.htm
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