1. Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nurtured.
In all honesty, music for me has been on again/off again for as long as I have been playing. I started out playing an old pedal organ of all things, which was when I was about 8 or 9, and tinkered on the piano as well. Then I asked for a guitar when I was 10 and my parents obliged, I think mainly to keep me out of my sister's room because I'd sneak in and play her guitar! They gave me a book of chords and a handful of lessons, but I mainly taught myself by plunking out melodies to the radio one note at a time, and I remain mainly self-taught. I played all throughout elementary, middle, and high school but infrequently during my college years so I could focus on my degree. I started back up after college and played in bands for a few years, but took 8 years off before I started back up again 3 years ago.
2. Were there any events, people or catalysts that were musically influential?
There isn't really one person or musician that was musically influential on me. However, the first time I heard the late Michael Hedges' "Aerial Boundaries", I fell in love with the acoustic guitar because I had no idea the instrument could be so beautiful and powerful!
As for influential events, the reason I started writing songs and playing again was to heal emotionally and physically. An ex-girlfriend of mine committed suicide a little over three years ago. Two days after I found out, I broke a bone in my hand playing goalkeeper in a soccer game. A friend of my ex gave me one her guitars, and convinced me to start playing again. Actually, we ended up playing as a duo for a while. I used guitar playing at the time as additional physical therapy to heal my hand, but I didn’t realize it was also helping me heal emotionally, because it really gave me an outlet for my grief. It is so bittersweet to think that it took something so horrible to bring me back to my music, which has been so wonderful for me since then. I still shake my head about the whole thing.
3. Describe the feel of your new CD entitled, "Lust Love Lost" and how you were sparked to write the songs on it.
(Chuckling) About 6 of the songs on the CD are influenced in some way by someone I was romantically involved with, both during the relationship and after its unnecessarily ugly end. The listener can clearly tell that there is heartache, bitterness, and anger, but a nice change is that the CD is also spiced up with a couple of lusty songs as well as one about falling in love, and there is an instrumental as well. Each of the songs is stylistically a bit different, and I'd like to think that it reaches out to people with a number of different musical tastes.
4. How involved were you in the recording and production of your latest CD?
In every facet of it! I'm such a control freak that I would not have had it any other way!
5. What recording equipment did you use?
No clue actually, I just let Steve Friedman at Melville Park Studio set everything up. I do know that he upgraded to ProTools 7 either right before or sometime during the time we were recording, and it was sometimes a lot of fun trying to use the old shortcuts he knew from other versions of the software. Sometimes they didn't do quite the same thing in the new and we would laugh and go back to try to fix what we just did. He was good enough to not charge me for the time he spent fixing things like that!
6. How did you record your guitar parts?
For my acoustic guitar tracks, we used a combination of mics and direct input, and then played with the mix to get just the right tones while keeping a very natural acoustic sound. On my instrumental "The Look", we tried about 10 different combinations of positions and microphones before we could get a decent sound. That particular song was so challenging because I play it with a pick instead of finger-picking (I’m awful at finger-picking), and we were getting some really harsh sounds. I ended up playing it with a very heavy pick and having the mics about 4 to 8 feet from the guitar before we could get a good sound. I don’t remember if we went direct with that song at all.
For Joey Ammo’s acoustic guitar tracks, we’d use the same setup I used, but for the electric guitar, we just put a mic on the amplifier. I wanted a clean sound for the recording, so we did very little in the way of effects processing, even on the electric guitar parts.
7. How did you record the rhythm section?
Those were fun (and very long) sessions! Don "DC" Culp had already laid down his parts on a portable recorder before coming into the studio, and would sometimes listen back to those before he would record his tracks. We sometimes had up to 10 different percussion tracks from which to choose and mix. Most we used, but some we didn’t, and what we didn’t use was because we just couldn’t get it to sound right in the mix. DC did a fantastic job prepping and recording, and I could not have been happier with the way everything came out. Deb Blackadar also laid down some djembe and shaker tracks, and I played shaker on one of the songs. Basically, we went in, we put it down, kept it if we liked it, redid it if we didn't, used what we could, and trashed what we couldn’t!
8. Did you enjoy creating the CD? Any obstacles?
The main obstacle was that we were delayed for a month while I was recovering from a very nasty cold. I couldn't speak let alone sing, and had to cancel a number of sessions (even the ones where I just had to play the guitar) because I had a wracking cough and just felt awful and tired all the time. I enjoyed the mixing sessions more than my recording sessions. I felt so pressured during the recording phase, but mixing was a lot of fun because we could be creative with it. Working with Steve was very easy, and he has such a great ear for what works and what doesn't. Luckily, he and I were very much on the same page with that. His philosophy is that if it doesn’t sound right, it’s just *wrong*. It sounds like such a simple statement, but when I mention that to musicians, it’s like a light bulb goes off over their heads, and they usually nod in agreement and say things like “Yeah, right on”!
9. Who else plays on the CD?
Joey Ammo (Boston, MA) played both acoustic and electric guitar - he did a lot of layering with a second acoustic guitar part that added a lot of depth to the songs, and then played all of the acoustic or electric lead solos. He also played bass guitar on 5 songs. Allison Hale (Boston, MA) sang harmony vocals on 6 songs. Lisa Annunziata (Providence, RI) played bass guitar on 3 songs, one of which she convinced me to write, which was “Three Doors Down”. Don "DC" Culp (Providence, RI) played all the percussion on 5 songs while Deb Blackadar (Boston, MA) played percussion on 2 songs. Three songs I did solo, either just with guitar or with guitar and vocals. It’s a nice mix, in my opinion.
10. What vocal microphone did you use in the studio?
(Grinning) I have no idea, whatever Steve set up for me! How’s that for paying attention?
11. What is your main guitar?
My baby is a Taylor 410CE. It has great sound and I think I will have it forever. I hope someday to own a Taylor T5 as well, for its great sound, and versatility that I may need more of down the road.
12. How would you describe your sound?
That question is so tough for me to answer, and I still don’t have a good one! I have been told I have a very unique sound, and maybe that’s because I don’t have any particular influence. I’ve heard that I am a mix of Ani DiFranco, Melissa Ferrick, Joni Mitchell, and Dave Matthews - how’s that for a love child!
13. How does a song come into fruition for you? The lyrics first or the music first?
It’s usually the music that comes first, where I’ll start playing and then generally sing out the first words that come into my head. If I like what I hear, I’ll work on it some more, musically and lyrically. If not, I’ll generally let the whole thing die and move on to something else. I hate trying to force something to work, because it usually ends up sounding trite and I won’t be happy with it anyway. Kill the bad ones early, nurture the good ones even earlier! Writing lyrics does not come naturally or easily for me, which is why I absolutely can’t try to force it. It’s a recipe for disaster for me!
14. What venue have you played that you enjoyed the most?
I love the atmospheres at the 5th Street Coffeehouse in Philadelphia and Tazza Caffe, in Providence, RI. The crowds I’ve had there have been very supportive and appreciative. I generally enjoy everywhere I play, because you never know what kind of crowd you’re going to have so you have to be on your toes to keep their attention, and I love the challenge in that.
15. Is there a venue that you play regularly at?
No, no regular place, but I love doing the coffeehouse open mics in the Boston area. They’re a lot of fun, and I’ve met some really great folks through them.
16. What does your live set up consist of?
It’s usually just me with a guitar direct through a PA. I had a trio for my CD release party (me, Joey Ammo on guitar, and a percussionist named Steve Nilson), and I played one show with guitarist Steve Rapson. I really feed off the energy of a duo or trio so I think I need to examine that a little and think about that for the future.
17. What music organizations are you affiliated with?
I am a member of Indiegrrl, GoGirls Music, Gay Guitarists, Indie Guitarists, and Outmusic, I love the networking that goes on, and I’ve learned a lot. I am also involved with a Boston based group trying to get a new acoustic music event launched for 2007.
18. Do you have your own record & publishing company?
(Laughing) You mean CatzEye Records? Well, I own the website at least! We shall see what happens with that in the future, but it can’t hurt to have it as my own right now. I’m the only one “signed” right now, but I have some ideas for it in the far future.
19. What are your plans for 2007?
I’ll be writing some new songs and would like to get some vocal training as well, and improve my songwriting skills and stage presence. I’ll also be working on getting my name out more in the Boston area and beyond. I am already working on setting up a mini-tour in April, and have a couple of dates confirmed. I will also be working with a group of Boston area musicians to launch a new once-per-month acoustic music event in a house concert type format called “JP Unplugged”.
20. Do you usually appear with a band or as a solo act?
It’s all me, most of the time, but that may change in 2007 or 2008.
For more info on Carlyn Hutchins visit:
www.carlynhutchins.com
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