A nationally touring throat-singing, slide-guitar playing, one-man-band by Matt Lorenz.
This project was born out of a desire to make one person sound like many. No loops or effects, just me contorting myself into a full sounding ball of music. I also wanted to fit everything into a suitcase. Everything.
So, sitting on my old accordion case, using it as a bass drum with my heel, I started playing this old junker parlor guitar that I pulled out of the trash. Then I added a gas-can with a baby-shoe kick pedal (baby shoe is for tone), a hi-hat, a washboard and my voice. I began piecing together rhythms and song ideas and eventually started working in some of the overtone singing that I'd been practicing in the car for a few years. I discovered it accidentally. The throat-singing that is. I had learned a word in a south-Indian cooking class with Jay Pillay at Hampshire College that had a retro-flexed R in it. (tip of the tongue goes to the roof of the mouth as you say R) Later, while singing and improvising in the car, this new mouth shape happened and I heard an overtone. Just one pure little note up there above the rest. So for the next 5 years I practiced in the car, slowly expanding my range one note at a time and stubbornly pursuing this odd melodic phenomenon in private. Finally, when I heard the buzzing drone of the old guitar, I saw that it was time to add this strange thing that I'd been practicing to the mix. There are many cultures that have developed over-tone singing throughout the ages and part of me feels some old kind of pride, like I got into a club of kinship that I didn't know existed. However, I have avoided listening to other people's throat-singing with hopes to maintain and develop my own style without outside influence. I also recognized the perils of cultural appropriation and argued to myself that if I'd never heard it then I couldn't have copied it. For now I continue my pursuit of this art in the dark with self-imposed ignorance.
At some point in the future, when I feel confident in my style, I will open my ears and learn.
Recently I have added some foot-drums and amplifiers to make the sound bigger but the purity of the project remains; one guy making a racket.
I try to write good songs that are fun to sing and I try to sing them like I mean it.
I have recorded two albums of original material.
Sever and Lift in 2009 and Knock It Down in 2011.
So, sitting on my old accordion case, using it as a bass drum with my heel, I started playing this old junker parlor guitar that I pulled out of the trash. Then I added a gas-can with a baby-shoe kick pedal (baby shoe is for tone), a hi-hat, a washboard and my voice. I began piecing together rhythms and song ideas and eventually started working in some of the overtone singing that I'd been practicing in the car for a few years. I discovered it accidentally. The throat-singing that is. I had learned a word in a south-Indian cooking class with Jay Pillay at Hampshire College that had a retro-flexed R in it. (tip of the tongue goes to the roof of the mouth as you say R) Later, while singing and improvising in the car, this new mouth shape happened and I heard an overtone. Just one pure little note up there above the rest. So for the next 5 years I practiced in the car, slowly expanding my range one note at a time and stubbornly pursuing this odd melodic phenomenon in private. Finally, when I heard the buzzing drone of the old guitar, I saw that it was time to add this strange thing that I'd been practicing to the mix. There are many cultures that have developed over-tone singing throughout the ages and part of me feels some old kind of pride, like I got into a club of kinship that I didn't know existed. However, I have avoided listening to other people's throat-singing with hopes to maintain and develop my own style without outside influence. I also recognized the perils of cultural appropriation and argued to myself that if I'd never heard it then I couldn't have copied it. For now I continue my pursuit of this art in the dark with self-imposed ignorance.
At some point in the future, when I feel confident in my style, I will open my ears and learn.
Recently I have added some foot-drums and amplifiers to make the sound bigger but the purity of the project remains; one guy making a racket.
I try to write good songs that are fun to sing and I try to sing them like I mean it.
I have recorded two albums of original material.
Sever and Lift in 2009 and Knock It Down in 2011.
|
"Knock It Down" was recorded and mixed at Signature Sounds with the brilliant ears of David Goodrich and Mark Thayer.
The album is full, grimy, raw and honest. Built upon the same foundation as Sever and Lift, Knock it Down is bigger, badder and more balanced. Tracking was done in a day and a half and took place right on the heels of a 7-week nationwide tour. The Junket had never sounded so practiced and solid. The album was recorded live with no overdubs. There are two exceptions to that: one voice on a harmony track and one can-fiddle solo. The voice and guitar were run through amps with some distortion and delay and then mixed with the clean sounds from the instruments themselves. Strong songs and solid sounds. |
"Sever and Lift" was the first album as the Suitcase Junket. It was recorded onto half inch tape by Max Adam at Bank Row Records in Greenfield, MA. It is vulnerable and rich with imagery. It is split into an A and B side. Sever being more raucous and Lift being more reflective.
Everything is on a knife's edge in this recording. Partly because I was still new at my craft. |
