A Mosaic of Fear, Sadness, and Anxiety “The Haunting” // An Interview with CLAIRE BIRCHALL

• Your voice is beautiful, evocative and you use it in experimental ways, How did you learn how to sing?

I’ve never been super confident as a singer.  My whole family sings, but I’m the youngest, and it took me a while to find my voice.  Strangely, as an extremely shy teenager, feeling more confident with my guitar playing, I took it upon myself to start busking in the mall in Geelong.  I did that for quite a while, playing ‘90s stuff like Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Palace…. And it helped me to gain some confidence in singing.  Also, I bought a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder when I was 17 and spent a hell of a lot of time at home writing songs and experimenting with sounds.  The home-recording side of things was an absolute revelation, being able to try absolutely anything in the comfort of home, with no one else listening.

• How did your sound develop and shift from early guitar-driven with the Phantom Hitchhikers to the synth-laden solo venture over time?
  

I’ve experimented with loads of different styles over the years.  Once I got the 4-track, I started filling up a ridiculous amount of tapes.  I’d even mix down each batch of songs to a master tape and make my own ‘album’, complete with a title and one-off album art.  There’s so much unreleased material, from acoustic Folk to trashy Lo-Fi, moody Ballads, Synth-Pop, Rock and Roll, you name it. 

I think forming a band (my first one was Paper Planes) took me away from my experimental side somewhat, feeling like I had to write songs to fit the band.  My bands would always start out more mellow but as time went on they would get louder and more rock.  As much as I loved playing the loud indie rock stuff, I feel like I’ve come back to my old experimental self these days by going solo again and recording at home.   

When the Hitchhikers looked like they were disbanding, I distracted myself with diving back into home recording.  A little song idea I had walking one day got me thinking about my little Casio keyboards, and I came up with “Dead Air”, from my first full synth album “Running In Slow Motion” (2020, It Records). And that was the spark that set me off with that album. It’s just been developing from there, as I gradually venture deeper into synth land, with more and more gear.  This new album, “The Haunting”, definitely shows I’m well and truly hooked.

• Let’s talk about your experience with Aussie R’n’R/Punk legend Kim Salmon of The Scientists and Beasts of Bourbon fame. Do you have any curiosities to share?
  

I’ve been playing with Kim in Smoked Salmon now for about 5 years, and not once have we done a gig with a setlist.  There’s generally a vague list of songs we might play, but not in any specific order.  As I’m playing both keys and guitar, I would probably find it very helpful to know what song is coming next!  All I know is I need to be ready for anything.  Songs can be randomly added to the list with no notice, or the whole song structure could change any time.  I’ve had to learn to read Kim’s body language and listen for cues.  He certainly keeps us on our toes.  Kim’s the most hard-working musician/artist I have ever known, and I draw so much inspiration from him. I’m a better musician for playing with Kim, and I’m still pinching myself every time I get to play his incredible songs.  And now, I’ve even got to write/record together, so that is really something. The debut Smoked Salmon album is set for release in early 2025.

• You just released a new album, “The Haunting.” Walk us through your creation process from inspiration to final cut. 

It really was a long process, 4 years in the making.  I was kind of intimidated by how well received ‘Running In Slow Motion’ was, but I decided I also needed to step things up.  I wanted it to be more slick and produced, so I made the call to step away from the 4-track and go digital.  A scary decision with a real learning curve.  It was still a simple set-up, I’m almost ashamed to say, it was the iPad and GarageBand I used initially to get the ideas down. In the early days, there was a bunch of songs that ended up on the trash heap.  

I think “Quiet Time”, the last song on the album, was the first one that felt like I was onto something. I had an idea that the drum track needed to be a crackly record loop.  So I went through all of my most scratched up shop records, playing the run out groove on my little portable turntable, to find something with a good rhythm.  Then I built the song around that.  I was really happy with the result, and I feel like that was finally the true beginning of the album.

I ended up really getting into GarageBand, it is so much better than it used to be. I mean, there are easily programmable 808 and 909 drum machines that I ended up using a lot on this record.  But also, I have bought a lot of extra analogue gear, in particular a few of those Behringer drum and bass modules etc. They’re actually pretty great copies of the old Roland gear. Coming from years of 4-tracking, I really enjoy writing songs as I’m recording them, and piecing them together.  A bunch of these songs came to me like that, mucking around with instrumental tracks, and then coming up with lyrics and vocal melodies afterwards. Not everything worked of course.  But I feel like this is the closest I’ve come to fully realising the sounds I hear in my head.  

My husband James Saunders was a huge help with all of this.  He ended up co-producing the album, and really pushed me to get the best out of the ideas and performances.  He’s come from more of an engineering background, and taught me a lot about recording.  The two of us worked long hours together.  As the project went on we really went all in, forking out for a nice digital interface, studio monitors, compressors, plugins etc. I’ve lost track of how many hours we spent on this record.

photo by @markjpanizza

• You say this album is more personal, emotional, and moodier than your previous LP “Running in Slow Motion.” Please tell us about the changes and the themes of loss, fear, grief, sadness and anxiety.

Between “Running In Slow Motion” and “The Haunting” it’s been, shall we say, a pretty eventful time.  High emotions, that’s for sure, for me to draw on. A long-term relationship break-up, moving out of the house I lived in for 20 years, as well as a new relationship and marriage.  And let’s not forget the pandemic.

• The song “Trigger”, and the visuals by Cael MacLeod-Smith, bring attention to the physical feeling, headspace, and vision of a panic attack.  How did you accomplish this? Did it help you work through personal issues? 

It took a lot of work, that song.  I must have recorded 4 different versions of it.  Every time, I just wasn’t feeling like it had the right intensity.  It all hinged on the drums.  It needed dramatic dynamic shifts and a chaotic end, but working out how to achieve that took a lot of trial and error.  I even added extra drum parts in the very dying moments of mixing the album.

Did it help me work through personal stuff?  Yeah, I have a long history of suffering from anxiety and panic attacks.  It’s something so many of us don’t ever really talk about, you know, it’s kind of an embarrassing thing.  But I’ve been living with it for so long I’ve just had to accept it as being a part of who I am.  It felt really rewarding actually when I finally achieved the right combination of sounds/dynamics I wanted to with this song.  And then Cael went and made that amazing video.  I got all choked up when I first saw it, she totally understood where I was coming from.

• What do you enjoy most about performing live? Your highs and lows so far?
  

Gosh, it’s so nerve wracking.  I get so nervous, I sometimes wonder why I do it to myself.  But when it works, and you get those rare goosebumps on stage playing your own stuff, then you know it’s worth it. 

• What are you listening at the moment?
  

I work in a record store (Dixons Recycled Records), so I’m always listening to a huge variety of stuff.  Let me think…some things that I’m listening to a lot of lately are Judee Sill, Suicide, Bert Jansch, Kris Kristofferson, Nilsson, The Replacements, Ghostface Killah….

• Are there any big plans in the foreseeable future?

There’s big plans for all of my musical projects. But the one big plan that’s closest on the horizon is my album launch show this Saturday December 7th at the Cactus Room in Thornbury. I’ve got a couple of wonderful supports on the night, Hearts & Rockets and calyx, so it’s going to be a fabulous night. 

• Any parting words? 

I heard AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top” in an Uber on the way to a Smoked Salmon gig on Saturday night.  Absolutely perfect.  I’m still doing it, and I will keep doing it.  It’s hard, but I love it. I wouldn’t give it up for the world.

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