A Two-Part Evening with Rachael Yamagata

Pt. 1: Riddle Me This (The Interview)

Rachael Yamagata emerged on the music scene as the vocalist for the funk fusion band Bumpus, in Chicago, IL. She spent 6 years with the band and recorded 3 albums but in 2001 left the band to pursue a solo career. It wasn’t long after this that she received a two record deal with Arista. With the release of her second album Elephant….Teeth Sinking Into Heart less than a week away this self-taught pianist stopped by Chicago for a few shows. Between performing and teasing her brain with riddles, I was lucky enough to spend some time with her, talking about her new record ETSIH.

You may remember her as the shamefully honest artist who spoke nakedly about love on her first album, Happenstance. And if you don’t know her by name, you probably know her by the sound of her tune. Her songs have appeared on the OC, the L Word, One Tree Hill and in an impressive list of films, including, Elizabethtown and the Last Kiss. She has collaborated with a slew of other musicians including, Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams, Rhett Miller, Jason Mraz and plenty of others. As the list continues to grow, she says she would, “love to have the opportunity to somehow work with Bruce Springsteen someday. I think he’s a fabulous everything. David Bowie, Tom Waits, Babs (Barbra Streisand). She would never do it but I love her to death; I worship her.” And the two I was most surprised to hear make the list, Jay Z and Kanye West. “Kanye would be insane. It would be amazing. I would love it.” Her upcoming release features appearances by Ray Lamontagne, Maria Taylor, and Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine.

Elephants….Teeth Sinking Into Heart is a slightly unconventional record: it is an album in two parts. When asked the obvious question of why she made this two part decision, Yamagata responded, it was a “totally unplanned, yet organically formed concept that happened very near late mixing stages of the record…and it started to take shape literally during mixing and it was a while after that, that I got the right sequence that I felt worked. But it just kind of came about that way; it wasn’t planned.” She says, the “two halves present a complete timeline of the emotions that revolve complicated relationships and the accompanying fallout.” Elephants is “taking a risk even if its not going to end well [and Teeth Sinking Into Heart] is rediscovering your backbone.”

Rachael recently celebrated her 31st birthday and she gained more than just another year. She accumulated that much more love, maturity and experience to purge into ETSIH. Once released, it will have been almost 4 years since the release of her first album and you will find a level of maturity not found on Happenstance. “The ballads got darker and more lush and the lyrics were kind of poetic so we could go the distance with cinematic production and the guitar driven songs are kind of a new territory for me in terms of putting them on a record…but because they were up-tempo and it seemed like it was a grittier lyric more kind of defiant and anthemic…it felt like it deserved kind of a gutsier more raw in your face production as well.”

In the title track of Elephants, she contemplates the animalistic relationship between humans and love, “you can flee with your wounds just in time or lie there as he feeds/watching yourself ripped to shreds and laughing as you bleed/so for those of you falling in love/keep it kind/keep it good/keep it right/throw yourself in the midst of danger but keep one eye open at night.”

While on the second half of the album, in ‘Sidedish Friend,’ she presents courage and its clear she’s not obsessed with the anguish that love might inevitably bring; she sings, “we can stay together till the very end of time/if its understood/I don’t want you hanging out with me/but I want you when I call/we stay together separately/and we wont be lonely at all.”

With Happenstance she found her voice; with ETSIH she refined it. “Its darker than Happenstance. Happenstance has kind of a mixture of things [where you] can be communal with your friends and talk about the songs. And I almost feel like Elephants goes even darker to the point where you don’t really want anyone to invade your space when you’re dealing with it. I think it would be kind of a cool listening experience, only speaking because I’ve done it, headphones, by yourself, once a year.” But, it’s highly unlikely that a singular listening session will be possible; the sounds are too sweet, too elegant, and too gorgeous to only be enjoyed annually.

ETSIH is more robust and composed than previous releases. Rachael naturally went to extremes on this record, “the first side is a very personal, intimate, kind of solo experience. Its not background party music by any means. But its maybe the headphones, rainstorm, your walking by yourself contemplating something your going through experience. I think that’s how it would be very magical. The second half feels more collaborative if you’re sharing it with other people. Driving in your car with a bunch of friends. It feels like it invites rallying of sorts. The first one is so tender in a way.”

She calls her songs “autobiographical interpretative. They are not always me as the central character even if I make myself the central character in the song. In terms of personal experience inspiring each one, they do, but its sometimes my personal observation of something or a close friend or several relationships rolled right into one song coming from my point of view.” But Rachael is not exclusively inspired by relationships and love. Apparently, ghosts can be just as helpful as a broken heart when composing music. The studio in the mountains where Yamagata and her band spent their time recording ETSIH was believed to be haunted. “A lot of the guys in the band, who were staying in this house that was a part of the studio area. When they would do laundry, their clothes would be piled up on the washer then when they would come back, they would literally be curled up into balls and thrown into different corners of the room. Our drummer woke up wearing sunglasses the first morning he was there and he had not unpacked. His sunglasses were in his bag…’Over and Over’ is actually a song that I did kind of inspired by what I thought was a ghost playing trumpet. I heard this trumpet horn in the studio in the middle of the night. So I sat down and traced it on the piano and that became the instrumental part on ‘Over and Over.’ So just random things, but absolutely haunted.”

Unsurprisingly, Rachael believes in ghosts and admits prayer is not one of her nightly pre-show rituals but you may be amazed to hear she’s “extremely and totally, absolutely” stage fright. “I kind of try to forget that I’m performing them live. It’s a real delicate balance of not psyching yourself out in those respects but that’s why I have a drink every now and then.”



Pt. 2: Conversations and Love Songs

The show opened with singer songwriter Kevin Devine from Brooklyn, NY. His songs are stories backed by guitar and set to tune; it was a conversational performance. In ‘Love Me I’m A Liberal’ he openly sings about his democratic party affiliation, “oh I cant get enough of Obama/his message of change speaks to me/sure Naders right about most things but he caused Gore that election you see/so love me love me love me I’m a liberal”. In his Concrete Blond cover, Joey, he sings softly about love, “oh Joey if you hurting so am I/and if I seem to be confused/I didn’t mean to be with you and when you said I scare you well I guess you scare me too/but we got lucky once before and I don’t wanna close the door/so if your somewhere out there passed out on the floor/oh Joey/I’m not angry anymore.” Varying the distance from mouth to microphone, he exhibits complete control over his vocal range. It’s the sort of music that might be enjoyed while tangeled up in a lover or at a Palin protest rally.

Yamagata’s performance was equally as conversational. When I met with her earlier in the night she was drinking whiskey, pineapple and honey as a soothing remedy for her sore throat; it became immediately apparent as she stepped onto stage, she had consumed a few more whiskey’s (sans pineapple and honey) since I had spoken with her hours ago. She admitted to being “totally drunk” multiple times throughout the night. And although I have nothing to juxtapose the evenings performance with, the alcohol seemed to positively affect every ounce of the show. Although she claims to be stage fright, it was not obvious in her demeanor. She alternated between playing piano and guitar while presenting the audience with works from ETSIH and Happenstance.

She entertained by speaking uncensored about love, having conversations with the crowd and freestying on her piano. When a man named Dean called out for her to stop telling stories and play a song, she retorted with, “come up here and I’ll give you a kiss.” And instead of playing a classic, Dean became the character of her affection. She remained playful while reminding the audience, this was her show. She gave some attendees’ hugs and kisses and joked about being single because she always misinterprets what guys say; during her hour and a half set she was witty, charismatic and an explosion of emotions. Seating less than 330 at a sold out show, it was a uniquely intimate experience that is often lost when the crowd gets any larger. If doubt existed, Yamagata proved herself as a musician as well as a performer.

www.rachaelyamagata.com
www.myspace.com/rachaelyamagata
www.myspace.com/kevindevine

photos courtsey of Jim Kopeny at www.tankboyprime.blogspot.com