Lewis & Clarke - Explorations of the Soul

I apologize for this first, rather trivial question, but I'm very curious about the project's name. What is it in the correspondence between these two authors that inspired you?

Besides being a play on the names of the two American explorers, I admire both writers. Especially because they come from different perspectives yet found common ground. They raised important questions, almost premonitions, about technology. Will our society move forward, or will it be destroyed by it?

I write what I feel, and that can encompass a range of emotions that are sometimes simple, sometimes complex. Anyone with a task in front of them will learn new skills and how to use the tools of the trade. Over time, you learn the craft and connect better with better ways of expressing yourself through your work. The goal is to communicate more deeply with the people who experience it. I'm drawn to music that tries to do the same thing, and that's opened me up to a lot of good music.

Could you name a song, not your own, that might describe the music of Lewis & Clarke, or perhaps what you'd like it to be?

No, not a song. It's too abstract a concept for a single song. It's like a song you know you love but just can't remember where you heard it. Maybe it's something you heard in a dream, but it's something that's both new and familiar.

"Triumvirate," besides being a reference to the political power of three, is the name of a 100-meter-high cliff near my home that overlooks the Delaware River. You can climb it if you keep your mind clear and don't look down. It's a reflection on keeping a calm mind and staying positive.

Yes, I'd say so. I feel that part of that focus comes from having had time to breathe. I mean both in the making of the record and in its length. It's a matter of what comes through. That's also why I let the record run longer than an hour, so that all the musicians and concepts could have time to fully develop their ideas.

It wasn't a deliberate choice. Eve Miller (who lends her name to "Eve's Wing") was away for long stretches and wasn't able to work on the record. Her cello was undeniably a voice I wasn't able to work with. Ian O'Hara offered to work on the string arrangements, which have some very interesting and moving parts. It was because of Eve's absence that Ian and I went in this direction. So we brought in Mollibeth Cox and Gretchen Lohse, who both contributed some very beautiful and interesting violin and viola parts. We asked them to play the parts we'd written, then to improvise according to their own taste and instinct. It worked.

Can you tell us a bit about the writing of "Triumvirate"? Generally speaking, do you write songs starting from guitar or piano? The album sounds incredibly coherent — can you tell us about the period in which the songs were written?

I wrote the main parts on both guitar and piano, along with the vocal melodies. Then Ian and I worked out counter-melodies. From there, we'd arrange and rehearse with Shane (O'Hara) on drums and put together a demo. Then Ian and I would add the string or horn arrangements. All the while I was writing the lyrics in my little notebook, connecting themes, meter and melody.

It was a difficult period, when I was going through family problems and felt incredibly isolated from the whole business of putting out records and touring. I loved spending my time at home raising my son, but I knew that the more time I spent out of the game, the harder it would be to get back into it. That's also because of how immediate everything is now, technologically speaking. I decided to cast aside what was traditional and predictable, and just do what I wanted on my own terms and my own schedule. I would only create what I wanted to create, content with where I was. It was a struggle at first, but soon everything became clearer.

It was an evolution born of choosing to have no limits. Looking back, it was a bit dangerous, because when you work with that kind of length it's easy to become bloated or self-indulgent. But at the time I didn't see any other option than to make "Triumvirate" exactly the way I wanted it to be.

Yes, they both listen and contribute to what the other is saying, each with their own voice.

With me are Ian O'Hara (keyboards, synthesizer), Shane O'Hara (drums) and Anthony Lavdanski (double bass). I'm very happy with how we represent the music live, we try to expand it and take it to other places. I'm getting better at enjoying the solo experience when it's needed. I miss the interaction, because a lot of the meaning in music develops in the way the instruments relate to one another. Playing solo lets me bring out old favorites or songs I'd been saving for a rainy day.

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