Boxharp Interview
March 28th, 2010
Boxharp’s superb new single ‘The Green‘ was released last week and is currently available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store. Snap it up – it’s an incandescent tune, rich in Scott Solter’s trademark production details and swimming in the dreamy vocals of Wendy Allen.
Ahead of the release of the album of the same name, I had a brief email chat with Scott and Wendy:
Tim: First up, how did you and Scott end up working together? You both have pretty extensive musical resumes…
Wendy: How we came to work together is really the story of how we met. Scott had just started engineering and was working on his first album, The Brief Light. He was looking for a singer and my roommate, who was working with him at the time, recommended me. We just kept working together in various capacities from then on.
What are your main sources of inspiration, musical or otherwise?
Wendy: Both melodically and lyrically, I most often start with a question; what would happen if I…? or What would it be like if were…?
Scott: I’m often moved by visual references from Francis Bacon, Joel-Peter Witkin, Brothers Quay, and Joseph Cornell. For music, I’m drawn towards the very dense or very minimal.
How does a Boxharp song come into being? Do you write separately or together? Is it a simple division of labour, with Scott covering all the music and you covering all the vocals? When do the lyrics come?
Wendy: We usually start with one of us introducing a very simple idea or element. We ping pong back and forth over a period of time, then sit together and collaborate to complete the piece in a few days. Sometimes lyrics come first; sometimes a rhythm comes first and the lyrics come last.
With The Green due for release very soon, do Boxharp have plans to tour?
Yes, we plan to tour.
Finally, coffee or tea?!
Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon, Jameson in the evening.
Boxharp – The Green Boxharp – The Green
