The timing of my collaboration with Charlie can be attributed to the death of a 1960s folk music icon and the power of modern social networking sites. For the longest time, I tried to convince my vocal cords that I really was an alto in hopes that I could pull off the female vocals on a Peter, Paul & Mary tribute album someday. When the awesome and awe-inspring Mary Travers died last fall, I was devastated. I had known she was ill for a long time but it was still a terrible shock to read of her passing on September 17, 2009. My grief found its way onto Facebook where I posted, “I love all kinds of music but the one group I never hop past on my iPod is Peter, Paul & Mary. They give me Happy. Thank you, Mary Travers.”
Charlie was quick to comment on our shared loss and a Facebook correspondence ensued, first about PPM, then folk music in general and then on to my own plans to record an album of folk music. After a decade of friendship and offhand “threats” to jam together whenever I was in the Bay Area, that was all it took. Two months later, I was on a plane across the country to move into Chill Records and start recording. I brought ideas, lots of scribbling, lead sheets arranged in Finale music notation software and a whole lot of fear that Charlie would take one listen to my songs and regret the invitation. The first song we worked on was “Human Rights” and halfway through the first rehearsal, Charlie rubbed his hands together and said “Oh, this is going to be fun!” My initial fears were alieved (although plenty more fears popped up throughout the recording process!) and we dug into the work.
Our collaboration was made easy by our long friendship and by a strong mutual respect. Charlie has 50 years experience in the music business and has a killer ear for mixing and I knew that even if the album was a complete bomb, I would learn a lifetime of lessons in listening, recording and what it takes to craft a song from simple “words & music by Isahrai Azaria” to a complete piece of art. I took copious notes, tried to process everything and felt myself becoming more assured, organized and creative with each studio session.
But wait! I had something to teach Charlie, too! Charlie’s studio was an analog set up and it quickly became clear that if we wanted to record with any efficiency, especially as most of my songs required layers of vocals and a lot of improvisation, we need to convert to a digital process. I’m a geek and a Mac girl through and through so I led the way, researching interfaces and software, tracking down the right cables and setting up each song’s workflow. The digital studio I set up empowered me to lay down tracks even while Charlie was off at his day job (gotta love those keyboard shortcuts) and it gave us a lot more time to actually collaborate rather than wasting half the night on technical details. It didn’t take long for me to lure Charlie over to the sunny side of the street and make Chill Records a Mac-powered, Logic-driven studio.
Having written all of my songs in a vacuum, the most important part of our collaboration was hearing Charlie’s interpretations of each song. Sometimes that interpretation opened my eyes to all new possibilities, verses, instruments and tempos. And sometimes that interpretation only solidified my own view of how the song should be. Charlie gave me the freedom and support to play with each song, to hem and haw a bit and, in more than one case, to hit delete and start completely over. It was liberating to be given such trust and it was probably the most compassionate and happy space I could have imagined to birth this album. So while all of the lyrics and music in Making It Up As I Go Along are mine, Charlie’s influence, talent and patience were all essential parts of its manifestation. There was never a question in my mind that although this is my first “solo” album, it would be labeled “Isahrai Azaria with Charlie Phalen.”
Charlie, his oh-so-wonderful wife, Vikke and I happily co-existed in one house for 3 months while we recorded. They not only gave me a place to stay but they also kept me well stocked on Jack Daniels and vegetarian breakfast sausage, got up early on Sunday mornings to get me to Esctatic Dance and cut my hair in the backyard on Christmas Eve. We inspired and indulged each other with music, movies, countless cocktail hours, a very delicious crab season and one very decadent French food fest. There were, or course, difficult creative decisions to make, difficult tracks to lay down and difficult recipes to master, but we survived it all… with great ease and great love and, thank you, Julia Child, a great amount of butter.
– 5 March 2010
