Review and Interview: Smoke Fairies @ First Unitarian Church 8/19
Image by Maria Mochnacz, from myspace.com/smokefairies
I had never been to the intimate little chapel that serves as one of the music venues at Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church, but it was perfect for a rainy night performance by British folk and blues duo Smoke Fairies. The name alone evokes images of vast landscapes, tinged by the mystical colors of fall. Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies filled the room with rustic electric guitar picking, and warm, image-drenched harmonies- oddly perfect for damp weather. The chapel’s Victorian architecture was a perfect visual companion to the duet’s texturally diverse riffs and lush, poignant vocals. Their singing transported me to a realm in which trees bear vibrantly-colored leaves, reflection suffuses the mind, and hints of that cool-weather-charcoal smell begin to permeate the air.
Even though the two had “one of those days” where they left DC seven hours before they arrived in Philadelphia, none of their exhaustion or distress seemed to impede their playing. Their complementary voices engulfed the room, like a cathedral swallowed by the sea. Everything about their performance rang true to the recordings I haphazardly stumbled upon and quickly grew to love.
Coincidentally, a few of the songs in Smoke Fairies’ repertoire are laced with a water motif, like “After the Rain” and “Storm Song”, paralleled by “Morning Light and “Sunshine”. “Summer Fades”, the first track of their latest effort, Through Low Light and Trees, and the first song of the evening, pertinently alluded to the soft tones of fall, not far off, perhaps having prematurely surfaced on that cool, rainy night. The song “Living with Ghosts” seemed to have awakened any eeriness that lay dormant in the grooves of the chapel’s intricate woodwork.
When the two songstresses played “Gastown”, introduced as “…one of those drunken night songs…”, I realized I had never really listened to the lyrics or thought much about the storyline of the song until I heard it that night. I suddenly became aware of lines like “I knock them back and slam them down”, instead of taking in the blending guitars and voices as a whole. “Yep,” I thought to myself, “this song’s definitely about drinking…” To preface the album’s jazzy, upbeat “Hotel Room”, and to cap their set, Katherine recalled an intense but amusing story involving one hotel room they stayed in during their travels: “…there was a huge storm, and the window of our hotel room blew off…. I guess the weather is more extreme over here.”
Throughout the entire set, Katherine and Jessica’s voices in tandem resonated like an echo in a deep canyon, or smoke from a dying flame. Within their tunes lie introspection, wisdom, apprehension toward the unknown, and poetry both lyrical and instrumental. Their music may not immediately grab you like poppy, instantaneous radio hits, but keep listening. Even if you don’t walk away humming their tunes, the melodies seem to weave their way into the soul, slowly and unexpectedly.
Katherine Blamire talks meaning behind the album, her experience working with Jack White, influences, and the imagination behind the music:
Michele Zipkin: What’s the core, overarching meaning of Through Low Light and Trees?
Katherine Blamire: While we were thinking of the name of the album, we kind of came up with it after we finished recording it. We spent a while thinking about it, and we decided that this [title] would sum it up the best. It’s quite autumnal in feel, it’s that kind of shifting of seasons and weather- that kind of nostalgic feeling you get this time of year when you’re sort of thinking backwards and forwards at the same time. A lot of the songs were written in that frame of mind.
MZ: I read that Jack White produced the Gastown/River Song Double A side. What was it like working with him?
This is my rendition of a blurry photo that captures more of a feeling than an image.
KB: At first it was very surprising that we were in that situation, but extremely exciting. I was worried I’d get too over excited or nervous or something, but in the end, it was both fun and easy because the things I thought might worry me didn’t at all. It was exciting to be able to play with someone like that. He played the drums for a couple tracks. I just kind of sat there playing guitar looking over at him on the drum kit- it’s a moment I’ll probably never forget. For us it was a great encouragement because we would listen to his music a lot and for him to be interested in us is just something you’d never imagine. It helps you to feel like you’re on the right track.
MZ: When you first write a song, how long does the “honeymoon period” usually last?
KB: It’s the other way around for me… I seem to write them and then I think- this is an absolute load of crap. I hate showing it to other people; I hate the bit where you have to [break it out...] I find it kind of awkward even playing it to Jessica sometimes. I need some sort of reassurance before I can think it’s good. I think being someone who puts anything creative out in the world, your relationship with what you created is always one of turmoil because it goes up and down with however confident you’re feeling on a particular day. It doesn’t take much to knock that. It’s a long and difficult path to achieving what you want, and the thing you want changes all the time anyway, because when you achieve something, you want more. I think that affects your relationship to what you’re creating.
MZ: I feel that a fantasy/supernatural motif is very present in a lot of your songs. Are you interested in that kind of literature?
KB: I don’t really consider it to be a fantasy thing. Things can be metaphorical… People can interpret it how they want, but it references other things. There is a song on the album called “Dragon”, which I think conjures up that fantasy idea. It was never meant to be a fantasy kind of thing- it’s like looking back on the past and imagining how things could have been. I think it has more to do with imagination.
MZ: Your riffs and harmonies are very image-heavy; do you consciously have nature images in mind when you write or perform your music?
KB: We very much use a lot of the natural landscape, weather and themes like that to express feelings. A landscape can reflect how desolate you might be feeling inside or how you might be missing something…
MZ: How do your emotions affect your singing- in the studio and during performances?
KB: If you’ve written a song that is very emotional that relates to a real event or a real feeling, then to some extent when you’re performing or recording it you disconnect from that original feeling because you can’t keep conjuring it up- it’s too much. In a way you kind of channel the emotion that it was originally written about through your voice… I think I try to disconnect myself form the original thing because it doesn’t help me to perform. Sometimes songs start off being about one thing, but your life changes so much that you can’t quite get back to what that thing was, so you find on different days it has a different kind of feeling. That’s why live performance is interesting because the song is always going to change- you’re just the instrument by which it comes out.
MZ: Any guitar heroes who have been particularly influential to you?
KB: Originally the first guitar bands that we heard when we were younger were Crosby Stills and Nash, Joni Mitchell- people who had quite an intricate plucking style. I think [the idea of a lead guitar] is what a lot of those groups did- it was more that idea that influenced us. We wanted to make sure our guitars complemented each other rather than one person stepping out.
A lot of folk singers/players inspired me guitar-wise. We went to a folk festival when we were younger and volunteered as car park attendants, because we couldn’t get in. When we weren’t showing the cars around I saw this one guy called Johnny Dickinson, an English slide guitar player. He really impressed me- he had these folk melodies, but with a slide guitar- I just hadn’t heard that before. I thought he was great. He was using a glass slide and the sound was really pure. I listened to him the other day again, and I thought- that’s where this started, but it’s kind of gone somewhere else.
Smoke Fairies continue to tour in support of Through Low Light and Trees. Check out their music, merchandise and upcoming show dates here: www.myspace.com/SmokeFairies
Preview Through Low Light and Trees right here on iTunes.
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