Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
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Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Kurt & Brianna: We are marvelous, taking on the world, one song at a time.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Old Black Crow”
Kurt: We wanted an up tempo song to start the album, this one came together quickly in both the writing and recording, it was fun to put together
Brianna: i listened to Kurt hum this song here and there and I knew something great was brewing. I came home one day and he said go hit play in the studio and BAM it was there all mapped out. Even the scratch track was fun and infectious. I knew once we had the band playing on it it would be a fan favorite.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
Kurt: To be honest we were watching “Zootopia”with our son and talking about all the animals in the movie. It sparked an idea about animals being affected by climate change. It has nothing to do with the actual plot of “Zootopia”, but it’s where the idea came from.
How was the filming process and experience behind the video?
Brianna: the filming process started in John Roy’s studio in St. Paul where he makes these fabulous 3-d pieces of art that we used as our backdrop for most of the video. His enthusiasm for vintage treasures and displaying the soul of America is incredible. He’s a visual Americana artist. It was a no brainer to incorporate his artistry into our vision for the ‘Old Black Crow’ video and it was the perfect fit. I filmed his art and then made it come to life by layering it and adding flashing lights, moving cars, etc. Then I placed the band members into his artwork. It made it all come together. I also had a vision of Kurt sort of falling to this “Americana” type of world so we filmed the intro in one of our classic cars. Andra and I come rolling along a dirt road and pick up Kurt. I then created a port hole in which we drive through that spits us out into the Americana workings of John Roy. It was an absolute blast to out together. I enjoyed myself.
The single comes off your new album Americana Soul – what’s the story behind the title?
Kurt: I was a solo artist before Brianna and I met, I had an album out 20 years ago and a local writer Tom Surowicz called my music Americana Soul. It fit and I have used that title to describe the music so much over the years we thought it would be a great album title, so Thank you Tom.
How was the recording and writing process?
Kurt: We both decently write differently, I tend to work it all out in my head in terms of the music and lyrics before I even pic up a guitar to try the idea, so it seems like I write songs fast. Brianna writes slower, more thoughtful and methodical, she is always crafting a new song in-between parenting and keeping me in line ha ha
Brianna: Kurt Is right, I tend to be more methodical, even if the lyrics are there right away in my head I really work it out over and over again. Even though I would consider piano my main instrument I do a lot of the writing on guitar. Probably because I can pace the house while I’m putting my ideas together. I have a hard time sitting down. Once I have my initial ideas and melody put together about 60% of the time I then switch over and finish writing the song on whatever instrument I intend on playing live. I LOVE writing songs. A lot of time I think I feel intimidated by the recording aspect of things and that’s where Kurt truly shines. He has a passion for recording the songs and it shows. He’s a wonderful producer/engineer. Writing the songs and performing is where I feel pure joy.
How has the likes of Alabama Shakes influenced your writing?
Kurt: to be honest not all all, we caught a few songs on Austin City Limits a while back and they were wicked good, I guess the question will put them up at the top of our cue.
Brianna: Alabama Shakes are GREAT, although they weren’t an influence this time around for this album maybe we could tour together or something and inevitably become an inspiration to us both next time around.
What role does St. Paul play in your music?
Kurt: Well, its home! We love Saint Paul, truly a great city to live in.
Brianna: as much as we love travel, St. Paul is home and complete comfort for me. Feelings like that always spark creativity.
Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
Kurt: life, movies, other songs, friends, family facts and fiction, for me the trick is to pay attention to the world around me and react.
Brianna: reading, and other people’s life stories. I love listening to the moth hour on npr. People are incredible. All you have to do is listen. There is inspiration everywhere! Of course there’s always my own life experience to draw from and I most certainly do, but the older I get the more enjoyable it is for me to write about other people.
What else is happening next in The Jorgensens’ world?
Kurt and Brianna: We are performing, writing for the next album and raising our 5 year old son William, hopefully we will be doing some traveling for shows and recreation very soon!
