Pro7ect founder and songwriter Lisa Fitz takes Headliner inside the organisation's Night Crow songwriting session with singer, songwriter, artist, producer and social anthropologist, Estère.
Some days when you walk into a writing room it feels like all the stars have aligned. Today’s session was one of those days, when all the puzzle pieces just lined themselves up, ready to be arranged.
Singer, songwriter, artist, producer and social anthropologist, Estère had joined us from Wellington, New Zealand for the 2018 Pro7ect Residential Songwriting Retreat. Estère’s music is described as a brand of Electric Blue Witch-Hop, that transports listeners to a vivid sonic landscape.
As Featured Artist on the session, Estère had a clear brief and was looking for material for her new album Archetypes: “I was interested in making a concept album and around that time I had been introduced to the idea of archetypes through talking with my grandmother,” Estère says. “I like the idea of a universal concept like Archetypes being a vessel through which the humanity of the album can be discovered.”
The session was led by headline producer Ian Wallman and included songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Will Cox and me (Lisa Fitz – singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer). I had worked with Ian and Will previously, and we were all looking forward to collaborating with such a clear-headed, conceptually motivated, enlightened songwriter.
Ian set up the writing room in his usual manner, making us all feel comfortable and welcome. With the aid of strong coffee, we began by talking about various archetypes in our lives, and how they have influence us consciously and subconsciously. We discussed how ‘Jungian archetypal theory’ claims that these stereotypes are universal symbols derived from the collective unconscious. The morning’s session was spent deliberating over whether these symbols are mystical or real.
The conversation flowed from the legacy of cultural traditions to Celtic mythology and the archetypes of crows and ravens in stories and songs; how they can represent bad tidings or a message from the divine, as well as their association with the warrior Goddesses.
Will and I played a folky chord progression on our guitars whilst we were discussing these historic interpretations, when Estère started singing a repetitive topline melody that sat right inside the chords, as though it had always been there. Almost like she was remembering it somehow. I know it sounds strange, but after talking about mythology and ancestral endowment for a couple of hours it’s almost as though the song was conjured up magically.
Ian started programming tribal beats in response to the topline, but the rhythm bed really started building momentum when Estère added sounds and beats from her trusty MPC (named Lola)… and Night Crow was born.
Estère went on to perform Night Crow live whilst supporting Grace Jones just a few weeks after it was written at Pro7ect. In 2020 Pro7ect headline producer Stew Jackson travelled to New Zealand to co-produced Archetypes with Estère. The album was released in January 2021 and is currently being toured throughout Australasia and Europe.
Now in its seventh year, Pro7ect songwriting retreats at the world famous Rockfield Studios offer music production in the room and an opportunity to collaborate with internationally acclaimed writer/producers.
Pro7ect headline producers include Stew Jackson (Massive Attack), Youth (Sir Paul McCartney, The Verve, The Orb), Roni Size (Reprazent), John Fortis (Razorlight, Ellie Goulding), Iain Archer (Snow Patrol, James Bay), Andrew Levy (Brand New Heavies) and Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh.
For more information and to apply for Pro7ect songwriting retreats and masterclasses: www.pro7ect.com
For exclusive Headliner reader discounts on Pro7ect songwriting events put ‘Headliner’ in the How did you hear about Pro7ect question on your application: www.pro7ect.com/apply