How has the tour been for you?
It's been so much fun! Definitely a whirlwind two weeks, but it's been very exciting to play in so many new places to an entirely new audience.
When was your first live show, and how was that experience?
Our first live show as "Savoir Adore" was about 3 years ago at a small club called Pitt (underneath the Plum) in NYC. We played with 2 great bands, Chief and Rumspringa. It was exciting, but also full of technical difficulties and nerve-wracking! Deidre and I had done all the recording ourselves, so to recreate our studio work in a live setting with new members was definitely a challenge at the time.
When you play live now, in what ways do you think you've developed from when you first started to perform in front of an audience?
We're definitely able to enjoy ourselves more and focus on the performance and the music itself, whereas we used to worry more about how everything was coming across (and the technical aspects). It's great because it allows us to really focus on the performance and I think that comes across to the audience. Also, because we're less worried about the technical aspects we can experiment more with the setup and arrangements.
How was it that you came to work together on this project?
Had you been in previous music projects at all? Deidre and I had been involved in musical projects for years, both band and solo-songwriting/performing. We met at NYU, and we ended up playing shows together and struck up a friendship. The project began as a challenge between the two of us to step out of our respective "shells" and write and record together. We had no idea what would come of it, but we're certainly glad we did.
Listening to your album 'In the Wooded Forest' is the result of some really sophisticated song craft. When writing songs do you go into the process with a set agenda or does the music come organically to you both?
Most of the time, it comes organically. Many of the songs on 'In the Wooded Forest' are the result of recording sessions in which we came in with nothing and came out with a fully produced song. That said, there were also a few songs that we developed differently - either passing back and forth or writing in portions over the course of a few weeks. As the record came together, we really enjoyed pushing each other to write in different forms. The vulnerability that comes from experimentation can be really exciting and inspiring.
What would you like listeners to take away from listening to your music?
For us, our music is very much about exploring imagination, so we hope that people might sense that magical quality and be inspired themselves.
I read that for your debut EP 'The Adventures of Mr. Pumpernickel and the Girl with Animals in her Throat', you challenged each other to make a concept album in one weekend. How true is this?
100% true! The EP was written and recorded in 48 hours.
Do you enjoy taking your record out on the road, or do you prefer your time spent working in the studio?
I think we enjoy both for various reasons, and balancing the two settings is what makes us happiest. I think when we find ourselves only doing one or the other, that is when we get a bit "frumpy". The studio setting allows us to create and express ourselves in a very different way from live shows, and vice versa. But I can tell you that the spontaneity that exists in both settings is what we enjoy most!
As I mentioned earlier, you're currently playing your first run of UK shows. How have they been for you?
They've been great. It was a definite challenge coming over, we had to rework our set for 3 performers (from our usual 5) but it was fun re-imagining the set, and I think the shows came across very well. It was also a dream to play Koko, it was pretty amazing performing in that space.
Finally, with your Secret Garden Festival appearance this weekend, what is it that you like and dislike about festivals?
We really haven't had much experience with festivals, but I'd say we enjoy the overall atmosphere of togetherness, creativity, and eccentricity, but probably dislike the overwhelming aspect of hygiene. Secret Garden was certainly a special event... We were all pretty astonished with the environment there. It was imagination realized in thousands of forms in an English field. Definitely hope we can play there again next year.
article by: Anthony Hetherington
published: 27/07/2010 18:46
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.