#colesbar

Tonight at Coles Bar

one of my fave spots in Chicago to play music and just plain hang out....

she speaks in tongues will be performing a set as BJORK for Halloween!

as part of.....

Clam Sabbath V: 2 Days of Horror at Coles Bar.

Facebook Event HERE -

https://www.facebook.com/events/200296753484647/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar

TONIGHT @ 10pm!

Also....

Gussied as Madonna ( geeking out.)

Panoramic and True as The Kinks

The Peekabooks as The Pixies

not to mention the famous performance by The Clams as Black Sabbath the following night!

Just to warn you...

There will be swan dress.... albeit rather....*spooky.*

Bjork has had a profound affect on me as a human, as a singer, and as an artist. You may have read my post of excitement about her performing at Pitchfork this Summer HERE - http://shespeaksintongues-band.tumblr.com/post/55893292446/bjork-tonight-at-pitchfork-this-woman-in-burlap-is

It has been a dream for many years to do a Halloween show as Bjork. This year, I just decided it was time to bite the bullet! It is a very intimidating choice...I hold each one of her albums so dear, and know practically every song by heart. What eased the pressure in the process was not getting too precious about anything and to challenge myself not to be too obvious. 

I knew from the beginning that I did not just want to do a bunch of straight covers of all the Bjork favorites, even though that would be fun. I wanted to be selectively indulgent. In classic she speaks in tongues fashion, I wanted to utilize Bjork songs to make a new creation, to tell a new story. I do this primarily through my voice, a looping pedal, and live instrumentation (Guitar.Bass.Drums. Respectively) 

To help me focus and narrow things down from such an impressive and extensive body of work, I decided to seize the "Halloween theme." I tried to imagine what a performance as "Bjork of the Undead" would look like. This helped me think of a underlining narrative and arc for the performance and narrow down my choices of songs based on themes, though really anything was fair game.

Let's face it. Bjork is an ambitious choice. But it wouldn't be as fun if there wasn't a challenge! To ease the pressure on myself, I simply went into the studio once a week by myself for about 2-4 hours at a time for about 3 months. I gave myself permission to "just play" and recorded everything I did and reviewed it later, eventually writing out structures for songs. As a Bjork super fan who is lucky enough to absorb information, music etc. aurally...I felt that I could access anything I needed without too much prep. Much of that prep had already been done after years of devouring "anything Bjork..." from her albums to interviews and videos of live performances. I decided to be as organic, resourceful and playful as I could in the process - relying exclusively on memory, my voice, my one looping pedal, and my love for Bjork and her work. The band contributed to two songs, as Adrian ( Drummer for she speaks in tongues;The Clams) had his plate plenty full preparing with The Clams for Clam Sabbath! This opened up even more opportunity for me to resourceful.   

The whole experience and the result was delightful! The 35 minute set will include up to 20 Bjork songs- a few full covers and then live mash ups using exclusively the voice and a looping pedal. Both the process of creating and the set itself became a sort of "Bjork stream of consciousness." 

The key I have found is not to be too precious about anything. To hold things sacredly and hold nothing sacred. Whether in reference to your own creations that you need to kill, edit or nix for the sake of a better piece; or as it pertains to sampling and referencing. It's a delicate balancing act on the string of nostalgia. Music is certainly no exception. One can get far too precious about what they are nostalgic for that it clouds their perception, their work and what they deem "good"...You can get far too comfortable and just straight up boring. On the other hand, nostalgia can be a very reaching and precious tool. One would do well when making their work to remember who they are, where they came from, their roots, and what they truly geek out about. Utilizing nostalgia in this way can make way for something perhaps more truthful, joyful, exciting and surprising.

So...here's to you Bjork.