With Waiting Room, I was listening to a lot of Sparklehorse, and I loved how his lyrics are kind of surreal and dream-like, but very emotional and raw. It’s like he’s saying a lot, but he’s not really saying anything at all. I really wanted to capture that feeling on this record, where there’s a lot of depth and emotion, but it’s not always clear what I’m talking about. I want people to be able to interpret the lyrics in their own way and find their own meanings in them. So I think the language on this record is definitely more elusive and subconscious, and that’s intentional. I want it to be like a dream that you can’t quite remember, but you know it meant something important.
Can you talk about your experience recording Waiting Room in Iceland and how that environment influenced the music?
Yeah, Iceland was such an incredible experience. I had never been there before, and I was just blown away by the landscape and the isolation of the place. I was staying in this tiny fishing village on the east coast, and it was so quiet and empty. I spent a lot of time walking around and exploring the area, and I think that sense of space and emptiness really seeped into the music. The songs on Waiting Room are very spacious and atmospheric, and I think that’s because of the environment I was in while I was writing and recording them. I wanted to capture that feeling of being alone in a vast, empty place, and I think the music really reflects that.
How did you approach the recording process for this album, especially since it was self-recorded?
Recording this album was definitely a challenge, especially because I was in such a remote location. I had to bring all of my recording equipment with me, and I had to set up a makeshift studio in this old fish factory that I was staying in. It was a very basic setup, just me and my guitar and a microphone, but I think that simplicity really helped to focus the music and bring out the raw emotion in the songs. I wanted the album to feel very immediate and intimate, like I was right there in the room with the listener. So I tried to keep the recording process as simple and natural as possible, and I think that really comes through in the music.
What do you hope listeners take away from Waiting Room?
I hope that listeners can connect with the music on a deep emotional level and find their own meanings in the songs. I think the album is very personal and introspective, but I also tried to make it universal in a way that anyone can relate to. I want people to feel like they’re being taken on a journey through this strange, dream-like world that I’ve created, and I hope that they can find some comfort or solace in the music. I think we all need a little escape sometimes, and I hope that Waiting Room can provide that for people.
What’s next for you after the release of Waiting Room?
Well, I’m already starting to think about my next project and where I want to go musically from here. I think Waiting Room was a big step for me in terms of finding my voice as an artist, and I want to continue to explore that and push myself to new creative heights. I’m always listening to new music and seeking out new influences, so I’m excited to see where that takes me next. I definitely want to keep challenging myself and pushing the boundaries of what I can do as a musician. So I think the future is wide open, and I’m excited to see where it leads.
” There were a lot of old machines and tools left over from when it was a herring factory, and I found those very fascinating. It felt like a ghost town in there, with these machines covered in dust and cobwebs. I remember one room in particular that had an old conveyor belt still intact, with fish hooks hanging from it. It was eerie but also really cool to see these remnants of the past. The whole place had this mysterious energy to it, like it was alive with stories of the people who had worked there before. It definitely added to the atmosphere of the album, being in such a unique and isolated space. But after coming back from Iceland and giving myself some distance from the music, I started to see it differently. I felt like I was able to appreciate it more, to hear it with fresh ears. It was like rediscovering something I had forgotten. It made me feel proud of what I had created, and it made me excited to share it with others. So in a way, my time in Iceland helped me to reconnect with my music in a deeper way. It allowed me to see it with a new perspective and to appreciate it in a way that I hadn’t been able to before. “Regresando de Islandia y escuchando de nuevo, a veces pensaba: “No sé qué estoy escuchando”. Y luego, en otras ocasiones, podía convertirme en un oyente. Recuerdo una vez, cuando vivía en San Francisco, que salí a caminar y puse mi álbum para escucharlo a través de mis auriculares. Pensé: “Expresé lo que quería expresar. Esto suena bien”. Me puso la piel de gallina. Y luego, ya sabes, volvía a escuchar y pensaba: “Sí, no me gusta esto”. [risas] Pero tengo que tener mucha fe en esos momentos en los que puedo escucharlo, no como yo mismo, sino tal vez como alguien más. Es un proceso muy difícil, pero creo que todos los músicos lo atraviesan.
El EP de Holly fue producido por Madeline Johnston de Midwife. En términos de producción, ¿fue un proceso diferente para ti tener menos influencia externa con este disco?
Sí, fue realmente maravilloso poder soltar mi música y dejar que Madeline la tomara en sus manos y trabajara en ella. Eso requirió mucha confianza y fe en Madeline. Fue hermoso dejar ir ese control y experimentar lo que se siente al ponerlo en manos de alguien en quien confío, pero también fue difícil. Definitivamente me encanta cómo resultó Holly, y aprendí mucho de Madeline. Siento que he utilizado ese conocimiento en Waiting Room. Hacerlo todo yo mismo puso más presión sobre mí, pero también tenía todo el control, y creo que en el pasado, no me he confiado realmente para tomar el control total. Con As If, no sabía lo que estaba haciendo en ese momento, y está bien que suene como suena; a algunas personas les gusta que suene tan lo-fi. Pero con Waiting Room, fue difícil, y perdí la noción de cómo suena, pero simplemente confié en mi oído. Me permití hacer lo que tenía que hacer, sin renunciar al control, y creo que salió bastante bien. En el futuro, me encantaría trabajar nuevamente con Madeline, o con alguien en quien confíe y admire. Tener el control total versus ceder el control a otra persona y confiar en ellos: esas son dos experiencias maravillosas y diferentes en la música.
¿Cómo lidias con permitir que una pieza de música alcance un punto de finalización mientras te mantienes fiel a una experiencia que todavía se siente fragmentada? ¿Es eso un desafío para ti?
Definitivamente es un desafío saber cuándo una canción está terminada. Siento que me resulta bastante natural saber cuándo una canción está terminada. Por lo general, sucede cuando estoy exhausto y ya no puedo escucharla más. Estoy como, “Esto está hecho. No hay nada más que quiera mejorar o cambiar”. De alguna manera, simplemente se reduce a eso. Ya sea que la canción sea una expresión exitosa o si es una buena canción, no puedo pensar en esos términos. Después de tanto tiempo con la canción, tengo que confiar en que, “Bueno, esto salió de mí hace un tiempo. He dedicado mucho tiempo, trabajo y enfoque a ello, y simplemente lo voy a sacar”. Incluso si no es particularmente exitoso para mí, quizás afecte a alguien más. La música se trata de sacar las cosas, no de matarlas.
Esta entrevista ha sido editada y condensada para mayor claridad y extensión.
Waiting Room de Kathryn Mohr se lanzará el 24 de enero a través de The Flenser.”