Renowned producer Tim Friese-Greene’s latest music project is Short-Haired Domestic with wife, musician and songwriter Lee Friese-Greene. Jason Barnard speaks to the duo as they debut double A-side single ‘A song in Latin… A song in Hindi…’.
When did you get the idea for ‘A song in Latin… A song in Hindi…’ and your forthcoming debut album?
Lee: These are actually two different songs – it’s a double A-side; ‘A Song in Latin about the importance of comfortable shoes’ and, ‘A Song in Hindi for insomniacs’. Musically the concept was Tims – to write an album with each song in a different language, exploring the idea of how much of the meaning and feel of a song can be conveyed musically when (most) people only have an outline of the lyrical content. Each of the nine songs on the album (which will be released in August) is in a different language.
Tim: The idea came to me piecemeal over a couple of years, and then when I felt I had sufficiently processed it I put the proposition to Lee. It seemed a good way to collaborate without stepping on each other’s toes, as we are both quite opinionated.
Lee: The song in Latin is about walking your own path, keeping your feet on the ground, not feeling like you have to follow the crowd. The song in Hindi was mostly inspired by a dream I had where I was walking along a cliff path at night because I couldn’t sleep and various people cropped up and said strange things to me. It morphed into a metaphor for be wary of living dangerously – Icarus flying too close to the sun.
Did you need help translating the lyrics?
Lee: Most definitely! A song in Latin…was the first song we created and for this I used an online translating tool – no idea how accurate it was. Then it became clear I needed help to make sure the translations were authentic so I thought of all bi-lingual people I knew I could call upon to help. Even then it was a bit of a challenge; when writing lyrics in English, I think about all the usual literary devices- rhyme , alteration , metaphor etc but most of this goes out of the window once translated, so as the project progressed I found I was writing more direct, straight forward words and then, with the help of the translators, things were tweaked to fit the melody.
When will it be released?
The double A-side single (A Song in Latin…. and, A Song in Hindi…) will be released on Bandcamp on June 5th. Followed by another single in early July.
Where and how did you record it?
It was all done in our home studio in Devon.
Tim: I Started with set of nine drum loops taken from 90s breakbeat vinyl and recorded only using the few instruments I already had, in order to limit choice and thus create a more focussed and singular sound for the album. The tracks were recorded the same way that everyone records tracks on their own; piecemeal – with a clear conceptual approach but fleshing that concept out very much on the fly.
How do you keep things fresh and spark new ideas when creating music?
Tim – I like to start with a different set of parameters and obstacles for each project, but to be honest I don’t start a project unless I can see a way of creating something that feels new; at least to myself. Luckily coming up with the musical flesh usually comes quite easily to me, whereas finding a satisfactory initial concept – the bones- is extraordinarily difficult.
How does writing and producing now compare to previous projects you’ve worked on?
Tim: It was no different, except that I liked having Lee contributing her side. I did always get a buzz from hearing her vocal on a track for the first time. Musically I was on my own, which is the only way I can really work, as I am so used to making hundreds of decisions a day; 99% without consciously thinking about them at all, or even having to acknowledge them as questions. I would find it really laborious to have to externalise these, and can’t imagine how I ever did it.
Tim – are there any albums that you’ve produced that you’re particularly proud of working on and why?
Tim: No, I don’t feel fondly about any albums I’ve made after I’ve finished them. The only album I ever like is the one I’m going to make next.
How did you settle for the name Short-Haired Domestic?
Lee: Just a phrase that popped into my head and seemed to fit; it has feline and marital connotations but also doesn’t really mean anything or provoke any particular genre so it seemed a good title for both the project and the album which is probably going to be quite a challenge for others to pigeon-hole.
Have you collaborated musically before?
Lee: Well the circumstances of us meeting were that Tim came to a gig of a band I was in in the early 90’s with a view to producing our first single and album. Since then, I have sung various backing vocals for Tim’s work and Tim has helped me to record my own material and even supported me live a couple of times, playing drums and melodica!
Tim, how does Short-Haired Domestic compare with the material you released as Heligoland?
Tim: It has a common thread in terms of what I consider to be emotionally involving, musically adventurous and yet as the same time somewhat primitive. It pays the same somewhat obsessive attention to nuance. It has something of a common harmonic language. I’m just not singing on it, which is a prerequisite for a Heligoland album.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Tim: I am in the process of preparing, setting up my next project which is an album of lounge dub.
Lee: I am working on a set of songs in (remote) collaboration with old friend and occasional songwriting partner under the name of Lemonade Sin. Hoping I can get together with my Devon band Pavlova again soon to play some local gigs. Meanwhile we are using lockdown to get on top of jobs around the house and hoping we will be able to get out of TQ9 sometime this year!
‘A song in Latin... A song in Hindi...’ is released on 5 June 2020. For more information visit: short-haireddomestic.bandcamp.com
Hear more of Tim Friese-Greene’s music at: heligoland.co.uk/listen
Photos by Jake Friese-Greene.
