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Hi Jenn and welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hey! Thanks for having me. I’ve been well. It’s getting super hot here in Boise, but I’ve been getting out as much as possible since getting vaccinated. Hope you’re well too! And the band is all vaccinated, too, so we get to play together unmasked. I’m feeling for everyone who isn’t that fortunate yet.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Flaming Gold Piano”?
Sure! As with so many of our songs we started out by followed the sound and seeing where it led. I can’t remember who brought in the initial chord progression, but we went with it. And then I started doing this syncopated octave thing and we were like, “Whoa, yeah, let’s go with it” and Brent added this really fiery guitar. Then I wrote lyrics that reflected where we were at that moment, which was in the midst of a traumatic regime here in the United States. Lyrically it came to me to call in the power of the fire to break down old systems that have been harming the most vulnerable for a long time.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
I saw a photo from a magazine of the head of this regime with his now-wife sitting at a piano, which kind of looks gold and the whole room is gold. I started to think of the metaphorical fire and how “You can’t pay a fire to stop,” as I wrote in the song. Like, when people are so money and power focused and use it to hold people down, it felt empowering to think of things that held power that couldn’t be bought and sold. That is cathartic to sing about.
How was the filming process and experience behind the video?
Super fun. That was a great day. We went to this lovely spot in Boise called Hulls Gulch and just got a bunch of shots of us walking around through the high desert plants and sage brush and looking at praying mantises and snakeskins and stuff. I shot and edited it and Steve, Brent, and Hyrum were very cooperative. Then I ran some of the shots through this cool app and fit everything together where it felt impactful story-wise. At the end I used a photo I doctored of a fire poppy, which is a flower that can only bloom after there’s been a fire. As I was creating that I was thinking about the hope of what happens after that which doesn’t serve us is destroyed – what can only grow out of that process.
The single comes off your new album Lacewing – what’s the story behind the title?
I don’t know if you know what a Lacewing is – it’s this beautiful, translucent green winged insect. I never saw or knew about them until Brent and I moved to Boise. Steve, our drummer/baritone guitarist has a special connection with Lacewings which is this (Stephen Samuelson talking here): ‘When Shawna and I were in the hospital for a month leading up to Otto’s birth, I kept seeing them around. I was also curious about beneficial insects, and always loved the insect wing, which the lacewing is mostly the beautiful wing. Then I decided to get a tattoo of the lacewing kind of representing Otto.’
How was the recording and writing process?
I LOVE writing with these guys. I would say the recording and writing process is my happy place. Most of the songs we wrote together while jamming or one of us would bring a fairly finished song (that was the case for “Everywhere,” which I brought in and “Sea Waltz,” where Brent brought that music in). And then songs like “Beach Steed” and “Garden City” started as snippets of bass songs Steve had written and we recorded and fleshed those out in the studio, and I went and wrote lyrics and came back in to do the vocals. “Garden City” in particular I’m proud of because Steve had this wonderful bass bit that I wanted to do justice toward. He had mentioned that what we recorded reminded him of this super eight film of him as a kid running around with no sound and I tried to write lyrics that captured that. I think Zach House, who is our engineer and owns Rabbitbrush Audio where we recorded, said it sounded like a warm bath and the big sweet empty or something. So, I tried to capture that with my Rhodes and lyrics. When Brent put those background vocals on it made me cry because it really spoke to the preciousness of life and who we love. And then there’s the part about recording with Zach, who is an absolute wizard and a joy to work with. We can’t wait to get back in and record the new stuff we’ve been working on with him.
What role does Boise and Boston play in your music?
I met Brent (we’re married as well as in Trippy Hearts) after he and Steve moved to Boson from Idaho like twenty years ago. I had been there already for college. Hyrum moved to Boston at some point too, so I got to know those guys back then in the early aughts. They’ve known each other since they were kids. Eventually Steve and Hyrum moved back to Idaho. Brent and I would come out to Idaho to visit Brent’s family and then play and write with Steve in Boise. And then after I had a health scare a few years ago we were lucky enough to answer and act on the question: “What do we want?” We figured we were in Boise every six months or so anyway, and how cool would it be to be able to write and play music together more? We wanted a change, even though we do really miss our friends back east and my family. It’s hard to say if there’s an audible east coast influence there, but probably – I’m from New Jersey and I know growing up close to New York definitely influenced what I’m into and what I write. And then being out here and it is more laid back, well, there’s something in that which I’m sure can be traced sonically. I always say I can hear myself think here.
Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
I would say we are on the hopeful edge of the existential ache, so that’s generally where most of them came from. Steve had some basslines as I mentioned that had been kicking around awhile. Brent had some guitar riffs that we fleshed out. I had a few songs that I brought as well. Besides the songs and lyrics I’ve already talked about (thanks for asking!), things like “Everywhere” came about because I really missed my family and had had a lot of loss in the past few years and wished I could just instantly be everywhere – that one is really about the existential ache to me. “Attic Rooms” is ruminating on some old teenage trauma and thinking about reframing it. My therapist told me about the “Samskara,” which is a psychological imprint, in one definition. Most of us have some of those. “Beach Steed” is in part about wanting to see someone we’ve lost again and looking to all the places we might see them, while musically trancing out. And we called it “Beach Steed” because once we recorded it Steve was saying it sounded like a horse running on the beach tossing its mane and all the water is flying up. “Sea Waltz” started as a bit of a meditation on the C Major Seven chord, which just feels pretty good to bathe in and somewhere I’d like to stay and rest for a while.
What else is happening next in Trippy Hearts’ world?
We have a show in July which we are looking very forward to. And then we’re doing a live show for Radio Boise which we’ve been trying to get recorded but might just wait until they have bands back in the studio. We just finished a video for “Attic Rooms,” shot by our friend Jason Sievers. We’re thrilled that our music has been included on a good number of college and community radio station’s rosters. We’ve also been playing weekly again after a good chunk of time where we were unable, besides a few masked winter practices in our garage with the doors open and fans going. We’ve been writing a decent number of new songs and I’m really happy about how those are turning out. There’s not much better than stumbling upon some riff on my Rhodes or the perfect harmony with what Brent, Steve, or Hyrum are playing on their instruments. There are few places I’d rather be. It feels magic.
