new palates // maya & lena collections
the maya and lena collections feature strings that maya and lena played while working on their records. the collections will both be available at new palates on april 9th at harriet brewing and 15% of your purchase will go toward lena and maya's cd funds. I asked them each a few questions about their process.
maya collection
what will the instrumentation be for your record?
I’ll be playing my guitar, both my electric and my twelve string acoustic. and i’ll be singing, and probably singing harmonies with myself as well. I have a banjo player who also plays mandolin, and steel guitar. drum kit, acoustic guitar, and a fretless electric bass.
how many songs are you recording?
six songs. hopefully it will be right about 45 minutes or so of content. most of the songs that I write end up being like 5-8 minutes long.
when did you write the songs?
all within the past year and a half.
have you been performing them for a while?
yeah I’ve been playing them out a lot and been mindful of people’s reactions to them, like how they’re received, if people stop paying attention, or if everyone gets quiet to listen, or if people start to dance, I think about what it is about that song that will spark that. I try not to play too many shows either to keep them fresh for the audience.
how are you approaching this compared to how you approach performing live?
definitely vocal harmonies with myself. I wish I could master a loop pedal so I could do that live, but it’s like a whole other instrument. it’s nice to hear stuff back. every practice we’ve done is at our drummer’s home studio and he’ll just hit record after we’ve practiced a few times and make a demo of it and I can hear it back and make notes and edit that way. that’s a really awesome treat, I’m so lucky to have that available to me. I’m trying to keep the recording process as similar to how I perform as possible. I’m going for a same room, facing each other, performance recording with the same feel, feeding off each other’s energies. that’s important for me to capture with what I write, that’s what it’s all about for me. but then to have the ability to go back in and edit, to turn separate instruments up or down, to fine tune or finesse as much as possible to the way I hear it in my head.
what are you most excited about, going in to the studio?
hearing my voice back, in a professional setting. that’s so rare. when you’re on stage, you can’t always hear your voice especially at bar venues.
when can we expect to hear the record?
it will be ready by revival festival (at the end of may). I'll also be hosting a cd release show in the twin cities.
do you have a title or a tentative title in mind?
I think it'll just be self-titled at this point.
are there any themes or concepts that you think of with these songs?
the theme is self-exploration. lyrics reflect new mentalities that support spiritual and emotional evolution for myself. I generally write from a first person perspective. I feel that within knowing oneself, you are able to understand others. these themes carry out in the lyrics mostly, and the song structures support the words.
support maya directly here.
lena collection
what will the instrumentation be for your record?
me on lead vocals, baritone ukulele, and piano. jeff krause on guitar and back-up vocals. dan staddon on drums, and taylor donskey on stand-up bass and back-up vocals.
how many songs will there be?
I'm thinking 5-6 songs.
when did you write the songs?
I've written all of these songs within the last two years.
have you been performing them for a while?
I've been performing them solo for the last couple of years, and now with the full band since last summer. it's been fun to see these songs become something new with them.
how are you approaching this compared to performing live?
I'm exploring what the style is going to be for the record. one of the most difficult questions for me to answer is, "what genre is it?" I'm trying to be true to my influences, all of them, and not just fall into a specific genre. when I'm playing live, I'm not thinking about that. I'm just playing my music and putting myself out there. it's just me.
what are you most excited about, going in to the studio?
I'm excited to really dissect these songs and perfect them in the studio. I've been playing these for a long time. it's time they get recorded properly. I'm just so excited to share the final product!
when can we expect to hear the record?
I'd say end of summer or early fall if all goes as planned.
do you have a title or a tentative title in mind?
"the line," or "in time?" not quite sure yet.
are there any themes or concepts that you think of with these songs?
I've grown a lot in the last two years. I think these songs are a reflection of that time.
support lena directly here.