A Conversartion with If By Yes’ Petra Haden – HuffPost 4.12.11
Mike Ragogna: Hi, Petra. So? How did the If By Yes project come together?
Petra Haden: Yuka and I started writing songs together nearly ten years ago. I would visit her in NY and stay with her at her lower east side apartment and we would just sit and write songs almost every day. It was a lot of fun and very relaxed. Eventually, we had enough songs for a record and thought it would be a great idea to release them. A couple years ago, we played some of our music for Hirotaka “Shimmy” Shimizu and Yuko Araki from Cornelius. They loved it, so we all decided it would be great if we collaborated together. Yuka and I are such fans of them, so it made sense to work together.
MR: David Byrne is one of your guests, how did you snag him?
PH: We were listening back to one of our songs originally called, “Carry Me Away,” which I sang in gibberish. I was working on lyrics to the song, but was having trouble. I thought David Byrne would be perfect to write words because the song has a special kind of groove to it, I thought it needed his touch. So, we sent him the song and asked if he would be interested in helping out. He wrote back and said he would work on it, and he recorded his vocals and sent them to us just as a guide. “Eliza” became the name of the song. Hearing what he wrote in place of my gibberish was a trip. I thought it would be cool if we were singing together, so I asked him if we could use his track and he was cool with it.
MR: How would you describe the music of If By Yes?
PH: Electronic, smooth rock.
MR: How did this group assemble?
PH: One day, back in the 90’s, I stopped by the offices of our record company. I heard a song called “Sugar Water.” It was being played so loud, it vibrated the window shades. Usually, I cover my ears if someone plays music that loud, but this song was different. It put me in another world. My mind was blown and all I could do was close my eyes and wonder, “Who is the genius behind this?” The song was by Yuka Honda’s band Cibo Matto. Soon after that, I met Yuka and her band. We started hanging out and became friends. Yuka played me some of her music. It was so pretty and moving, I thought we should work together. We made each other laugh and I knew we would work well together.
Yuka gets me. That’s what makes us writing together so special and different. One of the many things I love about her is that she appreciates my using random syllables instead of lyrics. She wanted to work that into our music. I have been self-conscious about writing words and she was always supportive on our process of writing words to our songs. Whether it was collaborating with friends/family, or writing on my own. After we had something recorded, I’d write describing a dream I had. My sister Tanya is a good creative writer, so I gave her one of the songs and she came up with the lyrics.
When I wasn’t in New York, Yuka would email me tracks when the arrangements were done. If I had another vocal idea, I’d add it. She’d incorporate it and send it back and I’d approve it. I loved everything she did. She made the original demos of the songs in her apartment on the Lower East Side. Sometimes she’d fly to L.A. and we’d record in a studio out here, or in Keigo (Cornelius) Oyamada’s studio in Japan.
MR: How did the group get signed to Sean Lennon’s label?
PH: Sean is a good friend who I have known and worked with for years. Somehow, it just made sense.
MR: Petra, who are your influences?
PH: My musical influences come from artists I’ve grown up listening to, such as Pat Metheny, Bach, The Bulgarian Female Vocal Choir, Steve Reich, Michael Jackson, Cheap Trick, Erik Satie, Rachmaninoff, Debussy… There is so much!
MR: Being the daughter of jazzer Charlie Haden, did you study jazz more than any other field of music or did you have more of an appreciation for it over other forms of music?
PH: The way I studied jazz was by growing up around it. I love all kinds of music. When I listen to Bill Frisell, Miles Davis or Keith Jarrett, I also hear classical in there too. Some popular music these days, I feel has classical and jazz influences and when I recognize that sound, that’s what draws me into the music more.
MR: The album opens with the smooth “You Feel Right” which seems like the album’s emphasis track, and it was mixed by Cornelius. What were the recording and creative processes like?
PH: The original version of “You Feel Right” was recorded a long time ago and it sounds quite different than the remix. The original has more of a “lounge” feel to it, I think. It was so interesting to hear what Keigo did. It was like listening to an Albert Einstein new math equation. He turned it into something so different, yet kept the same emotion. So, that experience to me was pretty wild! When I first heard it, I said out loud, “OH MY GOD! How did he DO that?”
MR: What were your experiences like in Japan?
PH: Yes, I’ve been to Japan. The first time I visited Japan was in 2005 when I played with The Foo Fighters. It was a short stay and our show went very well. The second time was when If By Yes played a show with The Goastt and Yoko Ono about a year and a half ago. This time, my stay was longer so I was able to do some cool sight seeing with Yuko Araki who was kind enough to show me around. It was beautiful and can’t wait to go back!
MR: Is “Eliza” about anyone in particular?
PH: It’s about someone living in a mobile home out in Lancaster or Barstow or someplace like that–only freeways, powerlines and semi-abandoned developments around.
MR: “Imagino” is a beautiful mix of pop, electronic and trance, and it represents the passion that flows through the album. Did you find that this collection of songs touched you more deeply than perhaps some of your earlier work?
PH: “Imagino” was one of the first songs Yuka and I wrote together, so it does touch me in a different way than some of the other songs on the album. It makes me think of memories. Plus, my sister Tanya helped me write these lyrics and that makes it even more special.
MR: On a few of these tracks, you challenge your vocal range. Do you feel this project made you grow as a vocalist?
PH: I’m growing as a vocalist every time I sing. I learn something new about my voice everyday. From singing while being on hold, to recording a sea shanty. A song so simple can be even more challenging than trying to sing three octaves!
MR: Do you have any advice for new artists?
PH: Take care of yourself and have fun.
MR: What does the future hold for Petra Haden and If By Yes?
PH: I try and focus on today and am so happy that we made a great sounding record. I’m looking forward to playing our up coming shows.