music
FROM THE FARM TO THE OPERA HOUSE Ahead of his forthcoming Australian visit, James Vincent McMorrow tells Jazmine O’Sullivan about the recording of his latest album and how it can’t be compared to his debut of 2010.
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rish songwriting sensation James Vincent McMorrow literally went to great lengths to bring his latest album Post Tropical into the world, leaving his home country to finish off most of the work on a secluded pecan farm in rural America. Reflecting on his decision to make the journey, McMorrow recalls. “I have my own studio in Ireland which I usually work out of, because that’s what I always thought I wanted – I thought it was my dream to build my own studio. But as I was working on these songs and they were starting to come together I felt like there was something missing. Then I started to realise that while I was working out of my studio I was always going to be safe – I could be there for as long as I needed and there was no clock on the wall, which I think is something you really need when you’re making a record. “So the guys that were managing me in the US at the time mailed me and said they knew of this studio where all these amazing artists had been through, and so I ended up speaking to the guy who owns it and he was like, ‘I’ll fly you down here,’ and this was in El Paso, [Texas] which is such a difficult place to get to! I could have just looked at photos but he insisted I come down and have a look at it, and I just thought that was an amazing thing to offer, so I booked it immediately for 46 days and just went without really thinking about what it meant. It was the greatest thing I’ve ever done from a musical perspective.” As McMorrow relays, the environment he found himself in on arrival was both bizarre and inspiring. “If you’ve ever seen those vineyards or olive gardens where it’s just rows and rows of straight trees that go on for miles, that’s what the farm was like. They had these hollowed rows to allow for the trees’ roots, and from time to time they fill the hollowed-out recesses with water because the trees need a lot of water to grow. So you go to bed and it’s like a desert, then you wake up and you’re on an island surrounded by water. “At the studio there were these planks of wood that connected one thing to the other,” McMorrow recalls, “and for the first week we couldn’t figure out why they were there, until one day we woke up and realised we needed to walk across the planks to get to the studio 30 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
because the grounds were flooded! It was absolutely crazy and it’s not something I’ve ever experienced before, but I loved. [It’s] the most compelling environment I’ve ever worked in.” The finished product is something McMorrow is extremely proud of, as he feels the sound is a truer representation of
a musician though there are things that really resonate with me, particularly hip hop production and the work of people like Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, so that was really what I wanted to do with this record – apply texture and feel to the songs, and kind of delve into that world in a level that I haven’t before.” Having already wowed Australian audiences with the material off Post Tropical earlier this year, McMorrow reveals that he is thrilled to be coming back to Australia, particularly to be playing at the Sydney Opera House as part of this year’s Vivid Festival. “I thought people were making a joke when we were first talking about [playing the Opera House]. I don’t go on
“IT WAS THE GREATEST THING I’VE EVER DONE FROM A MUSICAL PERSPECTIVE.” his musical aspirations than that of his debut Early In The Morning. “I don’t really connect the two records,” McMorrow admits, “because they weren’t made from the same perspective. I’ve always been the same musician, but with the first record I just wanted a record, and I had a guitar and a microphone, so I just used them and made something out of it. As
the internet much so I rely on people around me to tell me what’s happening, so with somewhere like Australia that’s so far away, I don’t really know what’s going on there at all. So when the idea of playing the Opera House [came about], which is like one of those hallowed venues like Carnegie Hall, I started to realise that everything’s getting real. Part of me still feels sure someone’s messing with me because it feels so surreal, but then the first show sold out real quickly! So clearly something amazing is happening there in Australia and I’m really excited to come back and find out what.” WHAT: Post Tropical (Dew Process/Universal) WHEN & WHERE: 27 May, Forum Theatre