voice on the verge #53: heidi spencer & the rare birds

Introduced to Bella Union boss Simon Raymonde by his girlfriend and musical collaborator Stephanie Dosen, who once taught her how to mimic a crow, Heidi Spencer is an exciting new addition to the small, UK-based independent label and makes her debut live appearances this side of the Atlantic this week.

The daughter of underground magazine publisher turned psych-folk singer Jim Spencer (best known for his solo album Second Look and band Major Arcana), she has turned into quite the nomad since leaving school, criss-crossing America working various waitressing jobs, living in cars, and, most importantly, writing the songs that make up her forthcoming album, Under Streetlight Glow. It’s not her first record, but it’s the one that could finally break her to a wider audience. And deservingly so: just listen to that corking, soulful voice!

You’ll no doubt be hearing more of Heidi and her backing band The Rare Birds as they gear up for the album release early next year. In the meantime, then, get to know her better courtesy of our trusty questionnaire, and get down to one of the band’s upcoming shows.

* * *

What is your most loved item of clothing and why is it so treasured?

Any black underwear, any black slip. And the cowgirl boots my drummer / co-producer / creative partner / friend Bill Curtis bought me in Nashville on the main drag. It was buy two, get one free, and he went wild buying country wear. He got me and my guitar player Matt Hendricks each a pair. I wore them to the ground in two years. I walked in the store, and Matt said, “You got to see this.” Bill was having the time of his life in the store, before buying anything, wearing western boots, belt, shirt and hat. It’s the memory of when I got them, and the memory of that week.

Which female musicians have most inspired you?

Dolly Parton for heart; Joni Mitchell for words to emotional delivery; Edie Brickell for lyrics and melody; Tracy Chapman for honesty; and Amalia Rodrigues for getting me completely out of myself.

What did you listen to when you were growing up?

Dolly Parton, ‘The Sound Of Music’ soundtrack, ‘Grease’ soundtrack, Simon & Garfunkel, ‘Muppets Christmas’ with John Denver.

What’s your tipple?

I had to look up ‘tipple’ and now it’s my favourite word. Gin and tonic with a lime; rum and Coke with a lime; whiskey and ginger beer; dark beer.

If you were the answer to a crossword puzzle, what would be your clue?

“Rainy, mysterious, quirky, Wednesday afternoon kitchen table singer/songwriter/dreamer.”

I love and do crossword puzzles, though I’m not great at them. Scrabble is also a favourite.

What did you want to be until you decided to become a musician?

A banker because of the pens attached to the chains/coils, attached to the counter; a cashier because I like the tension/friction of the springs in cash registers of the money clips, and I find the tension/friction of the buttons to be stimulating to this day; an archeologist; a news anchor; a detective (I had an agency in fourth grade); a casting directer; a cinematographer; a digital editor; a film director; a college professor, teaching the film class of my design (I still want this, as this is recent) – VISUAL AESTHETICS: Experiments in Individuality

What would you be if you weren’t a musician?

Lost.

What’s your middle name?

Heidi Leigh Spencer…the only thing i never wanted to change.

What’s your top household tip?

I have a friend named Lisa Gatewood who is willing to clean out your refrigerator because you never do and have let it mould and go south. And cleaning out the refrigerator is the only thing that makes you throw up.

What’s been the best moment of your career so far?

Three things: my second CD release party; a Myspace comment from Edie Brickell (“‘Texas In A Drawer’ rocks!”); and completing grad school for film.

What’s your funniest studio memory?

I don’t know if it’s the funniest, or even funny – there have been too many – but [this was] while recording my first record with Bill at the Shorecrest Hotel. I was about to record ‘Witness’ (I was a solo player at this time) when Bill suggested we try to play it live with percussion, so he jimmy-rigged one cymbal on a tall, empty water bottle, set up a little mic, and played it with brushes. It set the tone for what would become our creative partnership.

If you had to pick one song from your repertoire to represent your entire body of work, which one would you choose and why?

‘I Slept In Cars’, I guess because I never get tired of playing it, and it was a song so unspecific and has been interpreted many more ways than I meant it. It’s really about how I would never take away the struggles I went through, as lost as I was in those three different verses and their subjects.

Recently I had band practice with my drummer, piano/harmony, and another harmony singer. These guys have known me forever; we have played the song so many times. And in the middle of the chorus, I noticed something went awry so I stopped and asked what happened. They told me I was singing it different. And for the life of me, I went over and over it and couldn’t figure out what they meant. Renee told me I was singing like I sang it on the record (which I don’t listen to) and Jesse said for all the years she’d been playing with me, I’d never sung it that way.

And in typical H. Spencer form, I told them I didn’t know what would happen at the performance. I guess I did it the old way. But can imagine how crazy I felt? To not understand that I didn’t know what they meant? Anyway.

What’s your biggest fear?

Getting eaten by a shark, finding a tick in me while camping, the moments before death, katsup, mayo, mustard.

What’s your favorite song to cover and why?

I only play covers twice a year; they are the only covers I know with the exception of ‘Oak Cliff Bra’ by Edie Brickell. Tribute to Bob Dylan and Songs of John Lennon – these are two local events. It’s a cross between ‘Ramona’ by Dylan and ‘Working Class Hero’ by Lennon. Both because of the words and melodies. ‘Ramona’ is interesting because I found an old tape from the late 1970s of my dad covering it too. ‘Working Class Hero’ is just so powerful.

Do you have an instrument you’d still like to learn? What’s stopping you?

Piano. I have a hundred-year old upright; I call it a honky tonk saloon piano. I just moved back in with it but I can’t afford to tune it, and I can’t afford lessons. And I have a fear that if I have to concentrate so hard on something new I will lose focus on what I actually do, and become so obsessed with trying to learn piano that I’ll lose the pull to songwrite.

What would you tell your eighteen year old self if you could go back in time?

A tough question, because to go back and do things differently would mean I have regrets, and to do things differently would mean I would not be here, wherever this is. And here is a good place to be. But I would tell myself not to get involved with a couple of people, not to leave Portland, lose anxiety, enjoy being young and stop feeling so old, quit smoking and stop your overall sense of worry.

How would you describe your new album in ten words or less?

True erratic moody flawed culmination of thoughts from three years

If you chanced upon Aladdin’s lamp what three things would you wish for?

Time travel to the 1920s and 1930s; to experience Europe; a warehouse in Milwaukee where I can live, write, record, work, make films…with a floor dedicated to store collections for costumes and set design. And I could utilise this warehouse for creative output.

Would you rather see a ghost or simply have a piece of toast and watch the evening news?

“I waited in the alley, where no one would have noticed. All I needed was a flash of you glowing…I avoided bison in the morning on the way to the hotel. All I needed was a flash of you glowing…”

There was a time I waited for the ghost of my father, for years and years I waited. There came a time I had to stop chasing it. If he was going to come, I think he would have already. And if he has in other ways – synchronistic ways, magical strange things that have happened in which I can’t explain – then he has. But to see the ghost, the only one I wanted to see, I don’t think is coming. So I’m going with sourdough toast with butter.

Tick tock, tick tock. What are you waiting for?

The stars to align, to cross into the unattainable.

* * *

Heidi plays her debut UK show tonight at the Windmill in Brixton, with several others lined up. Swing by the following venues and pay rapt attention to her glorious voice:

06.09.10 Brixton Windmill, London
09.09.10 The Luminaire, London
11.09.10 Larmer Tree Gardens, Wiltshire
13.09.10 Slaughtered Lamb, London
14.09.10 Latest Music Bar, Brighton

Keep an eye on Heidi’s Myspace for further developments!

Written by: Alan Pedder

Tags: heidi spencer, the rare birds, under streetlight glow

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