While her 20 year collaboration with The Walkabouts has been a fruitful segment of her creative life, Carla says "there are still things as an individual that are not expressed quite in the way one would like, different avenues and alleys that you'd like to explore. Working in a new context allows me to do this."
One aspect of this exploration was Carla's interest in sound collage. From her earlier life in film making, she realized the power of layering different images and sounds and the moods one could create. And her palette extends beyond the traditional sounds of a musician, for example in the use of the sounds found in an environment, the doors of a subway closing or the rattle of coins.
"I look at everything as if it could be a musical instrument. The rhythm track for the song `Dreh Es Umī for example is in part the shaking of many keys."
The musical influences she found coming out in this album were memorable ones that resided within her for much of her life. From dancing to "ABC" by the Jackson Five at age ten ("I've always loved dancing") to her exposure in her twenties to Krautrock and punk music during her Freiburg University days to musicians like Omar Korshed. "Omar took Egyptian music, which I didn't know at all, played it on electric guitar and suddenly it opened up a whole new world for me. In 1978 I bought a cassette tape of his in Luxor and I still listen to it regularly. "
This spirit of cross-cultural influences is something Carla has always enjoyed. "In the Walkabouts we began by cross-breeding punk and folk, and many years later we found ourselves doing an album that explored European songwriters."
For the new release, Carla's love of gypsy music, slavic melodies, electronica, Byzantine and psychedelic atmospheres and American traditional songs are mixed into a deep swirl. These many paths and influences combine to make "Saint Stranger" a captivating and divergent musical journey.
Carla herself provides the following observations on the inception of "St. Stranger:"
"I had worked with Akis Boyatzis and his band Sigmatropic on a project in the Spring of 2001 in his home country of Greece, on an amazing album called "Sixteen Haiku and Other Stories." An interesting and ambitious project involving some 18 vocalists from all over Europe and the US (a veritable Who's Who of the independent music scene) doing the poetry of Nobel Laureate George Seferis to the music that Akis created for these words. Under Akis' vision this project had true life; smart, sophisticated, astonishing music. This is where the seed was planted, we can say. Three years later, near the end of a European Walkabouts tour, when I was asked to come back to Athens to perform live with Sigmatropic, I jumped at the chance. I should also mention here a Seattle friend, Michael Willet, who was on tour helping us with the backline, and I had been working on songs together prior to The Walkabouts tour and lyrics we came up with were just right for where I saw a new album going. Michael and I flew to Athens in November and within a week we had given Akis some lyrics to wrap some music around and see where things might go. Needless to say when, after returning to Seattle, we received a CD in the mail we knew we were going to love working with Akis...
"As far as the process of recording goes, many of the tracks for these songs were recorded by me with some of my best friends and favorite musicians in the studio here in my house. Michael and I would invite someone over and knock ideas or lyrics or some guitar chords around and just let things flow from there. Much of the vision for this expanding project was germinated here. We would send some of this on to Akis in Athens where he would add his ideas and touches and record some with Sigmatropic in his own home-based studio. And then send it back. This way, by the time we loaded up all the gear and mics and guitars on the plane for Athens in the Spring of 2004 we all were really close to the places this thing wanted to go. In Greece we got together and within days we were set up and recording. Many Greeks found their way onto this album and I must say I am stunned by the level of musicianship these people brought to the material. Things were really rolling fast very shortly and the material was really taking on a life of its own. We all felt something special was happening and truly loved the process. It was very collaborative, very supportive and very democratic in many ways. Although we each would have ideas and offer them to the process, ultimately these songs came together as one voice.
"Yeah, it was crazy at times, and the Greeks always like to remind people that "Chaos" is a Greek word -- we found plenty of chaos while doing this, believe me -- but it's been amazing and we pulled it off. Sitting here wrapping up the artwork I can't believe how much I enjoyed it all and it says quite a lot when I say I would do it the same way all over again..."
Carla