Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Hunting Unicorns
What is your earliest memory connected to music ? I think that would be a Disney film. The Jungle Book, Mary Poppins or Dumbo. The first record I brought was Givin Up, Givin In by The Three Degrees which still sounds fabulous.
How did your passion for creating music begin? The first song idea I remember having came after I went sledging for the time in aeons. It was near Christmas. I thought that on one Christmas Eve Santa Claus was faced with a unique problem. He really wants to dance but he has to deliver toys and presents to everyone. I found a guitarist pal to help write the song and we had a group of children add their voices to it. I thought it was great that you could have an idea and with a bit of help you could get a song recorded. That felt good.
Whats the story behind your current music project. I am hoping to finish recording a couple of new songs Ain’t That All Coaches Job? Is about a high school sports coach who has to contend with all kinds of off field problems to keep his team together. The other idea is a western movie disco anthem that started out as She Only Loves Gunfighters but has somehow become about the lost souls and desperate characters who inhabit a city dog pound. Ahh well..,
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before. It keeps changing. I have worked with a bewildering cast of guitarists and composers so the songs have all become impossibly varied. I would love to find a sound that was ours alone. What’s In My Blood? Has a feeling of mystery that I would like to go back to. For me it depends on finding another idea that works with that particular approach.
What is the one thing you have learned that completely changed the way you make music. I found a composer and producer who really understands how sounds work and helps to structure my thoughts. I did not know about those things.
What tools, instruments or software are essential in your creative process. Keith Muir, the producer I have been working with uses Ambleton software. The old BBC radiophonic workshop has online tools and programmes that I would like to learn more about.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now? I listen to a lot of compilations. Italian and Japanese girl singers from the 60s has been a recent discovery. Missing Persons did a wonderous thing called Walking In LA which I have just rediscovered. I have been going back to Mike Oldfield, Kirsty McCall and Vangelis as well. Perhaps they don’t all qualify as Indie but let’s not be too strict with that.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision. My enthusiasms lead me to ideas that inspire songs. Angel of the Ocean is about the surfers from California who were drafted to fight in Vietnam. Some of them went to the war, their friends went AWOL. The Vietnam war helped to change surfing culture. I wanted to explore that after watching surfing movies. Surfing has helped many vets to reconnect with the boys they were before the war. I took all of those ideas from my interest in surfing.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work. I try to avoid being too specific about messages. I hope there is a feeling of empathy with the experiences of everyone in the songs, sports coaches and dog pound strays included.
What is the most important lesson music has taught you so far. You are not really in control of where things go. I should try not to pre judge the outcome.
What is a dream festival or venue you would love to perform at. I like the idea of playing at one of those festivals in the desert just when the night is falling. Somewhere we can watch the stars.
If you could collaborate with any artist past or present who would it be and why? I was in the Classix Nouveau fan club. Quite a small fan club but dedicated. I felt that they wrote their songs just for me. I would have to chose Classix Nouveau and Freddie Mercury with Trevor Horn on production.
Where can listeners follow and support your music? Soundcloud, please look for Prairie Song. You Tube, please look for Hunting Unicorn, Dancing Brings Communion.
Looking towards the future what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey. I would like to record a couple of new songs, Divorce Law (My Carnival) and Even the Rich Cry. I am always looking for musicians to work with so if you like what you hear please get in touch with me through the Euro Indie Music Network. I hoped you might let me pitch that idea.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way? I will need to think about that one. I hope they’ll get something they haven’t found before but I don’t know what that is.
