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Sounding the siren of jazz: An interview with Sirena Riley

Written by Stephanie Sadler
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 00:00

Washington D.C. is the home of renowned jazz composer Duke Wellington – and London’s latest jazz sensation, Sirena Riley. At an open mic event her first night in London, she sang a “room-silencing” version of Ellington’s “Solitude” with pianist Tom Donald. A collaboration was inevitable.

Sirena Riley spoke to Seven about creating her own record label and writing her signature poetic, yet “confrontational” lyrics that seem to belong to a more rebellious genre. But first, she shared the story of how the title of her new album came to be, like a midsummer night’s dream.

SS: Is there a story behind the title of your album, The Lunatic, The Lover and The Poet?

SR: The title comes from a passage in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, though the album title isn’t directly related to the play. Before I left the US, I read a book that contained an excerpt from the play and I wrote down a few lines. I thought it captured the similarities of the madness and frustration of being in love and being an artist. After being in London for over a year, I returned home for a visit. I was sitting in that same room where I’d first come across the passage, reading a completely different novel, but my thoughts drifted back to that excerpt. When I stopped daydreaming and returned to the book, there was the passage on the very next page.

SS: You grew up in Washington DC, home of the famed Duke Ellington, and later moved to London. How do the jazz scenes compare in these two cities?

SR: Washington, DC has a rich jazz heritage which includes Ellington and one of my favourite vocalists, Shirley Horn. However, it’s quite small with fewer than one million people living in the city. London is so much bigger, so the music scene reflects that. It’s also such an international city. Musicians are bringing their influences from every corner of the world which it makes it a hotbed of creativity. All of the musicians who recorded on the album are from different countries: Tom Donald (pianist/composer) from Australia, James Kaye (percussion) from South Africa, Vanessa McGowan (bass) from New Zealand, and Mark Buckingham (reeds) from the UK. It wasn’t something that we planned; it just came together that way.

SS: Tell us a bit about your background. How did you get into jazz?

SR: I’d been singing in choirs since I was about four years old. They were a great training ground and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was in the gospel choir at the beginning of university and then joined an all-girl funk-rock group as a backing singer. While I loved the music, I realised it wasn’t quite my voice; it wasn’t what I should be doing. There’s a big difference between loving a certain kind of music and doing it yourself. I didn’t grow up listening to jazz, but came across a few vocal jazz compilations and singing along to the standards felt right. I loved the complex melodies and phrasing; it was absolutely delicious. I started taking voice lessons with jazz singer Lisa Rich, and she encouraged me in that direction. 

SS: Alfred Einstein is quoted on your MySpace profile: "Greatness means the construction of an inner world, and the communication of this inner world to the physical world of humanity." How does your music exemplify this idea?

SR: For me that quote is about gaining a greater sense of yourself and being comfortable in your own skin. Coveting some amount of solitude, a quiet inner space for art to grow is an important aspect of that.  Technical skill is important, but valuing your own unique voice is what gives you the freedom to express yourself fully on stage and on recordings. It’s not just about practice, but believing in yourself and the work.

SS: Your lyrics have been described as “often confrontational”. Can you give us an example of some of these confrontational lyrics?

SR: The lyrics are emotionally confrontational. They have more in common with the lyricism of a singer-songwriter like Joni Mitchell than traditional jazz songs. People often put on vocal jazz as background music. But if you’re listening carefully, you’ll hear that the songs aren’t simply romantic. The lyrics I get the most comments about come from the tracks “A Patient Woman” and “Perfect Darkness”.

“A Patient Woman” ends: “This is a murderer’s confession/I am not a patient woman/I am writing this in fire/You will perish in the flames.” Fans have often mentioned the visual imagery of “Perfect Darkness”: “Like a string of pearls you broke right off in my hands/Crashing to the floor where I still scramble on my knees/But every time I swim in the black waters of your skin/I see a perfect darkness where our love first began.”

SS: What most often inspires your lyrics and do you write them yourself?

SR: Yes, I write the lyrics myself. They’re quite personal and I’m usually trying to write myself through a particular situation. The album focuses on relationships, but even those songs are more about what I learn about myself and life from relationships. The others are observational. “Songstress” is a character I created based on the sound of a singer with a haunting voice. I wrote “Wannabe” after reading an article about the east London scene where everyone’s accusing everyone else of trying to get famous. I’m making fun of aspiring musicians, including myself. I often write at jam sessions, something about the improvisation shakes words onto the page. I’m inspired by all art forms, not only music. I often write in art galleries. There’s something about being in the presence of paint. I also read constantly and when I’m in the middle of a novel there’s a shift in mood that affects my writing.

SS: What are the advantages and disadvantages of having your own record label, Remigrant Records?

SR: I founded Remigrant Records with pianist/composer Tom Donald. We met at an open mic on my second night in London and knew we had to collaborate as soon as we played together. Tom and I have different talents and interests, so we divide the work to reflect that. It’s great to have that flexibility.  Running your own label means that we are at liberty to choose the artists we work with. We’re in control of the songs we choose and the total sound of the album. Our sound engineer, Joe Davison was instrumental in ensuring that the album reflected the subtleties and dynamics of the music, something that is often lost in the recording process of major label releases. We also have control over the visuals and worked with designer Lulu Kitololo for the album cover and the Remigrant Records logo. We’re lucky to have lots of incredibly talented friends and as a label we see ourselves as a collective, supporting and promoting each other’s work so that we all benefit. That’s what you can do when everyone believes in the project. 

There are so many resources available to independent artists now. We utilise online networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, and the album is available on iTunes, CDBaby and through our mailing list. By releasing the album ourselves, all of the money comes back to us. 

Money is, of course, one of the major obstacles for independent artists. And while there are many ways to promote oneself as an indie label, the market can get saturated and it’s hard to get people in the industry, like club owners and the media, to pay attention. A lot of artists get so into the indie ethic that they shut out people on the business end who may be able to help them. Everyone has their role and there are good managers and publicists out there. We’ve started working with someone, and she’s really opening doors for us. Overall, it’s easier to be an indie label than it’s ever been and we’re looking forward to this new chapter in our lives.

SS: What sort of artists do you take on board?

SR: Since we’re a small label, we’re starting in the family with our band members, particularly Tom and Mark Buckingham, our reedist. While we’re all influenced by certain aspects of jazz or improvisation, we don’t want to feel limited by a genre as a label. 

SS: Who are your musical heroes or inspiration?

SR: It might be unusual for a jazz singer, but PJ Harvey and Mos Def are two of my heroes. They’re both consummate artists and are constantly challenging themselves. PJ is a vocal chameleon; there’s nothing she can’t do with her voice. The range, scope and emotional depth of her music are something to aspire to. I grew up on hip hop and Mos Def is a master of the art vocally, lyrically and musically. He understands hip hop as an idiom and pushes its boundaries.

On the jazz front, Cassandra Wilson, Abbey Lincoln and Patricia Barber are huge influences. Wilson and Lincoln both have such soulful, evocative voices and have really paved the way for modern jazz vocalists in their song choices and original compositions. Barber’s lyrics set the standard for me. They’re so witty and complex. She and her band members are stellar musicians and the atmosphere they sustain on her albums is mesmerising.

SS: Any upcoming plans in 2009 for your fans to look forward to?

SR: Now that the album is finished, we’re ready to get on stage and will be playing many more live gigs!  We’ve also shot a state-of-the-art video for our first single “Half Moon” with digital effects artist, Ephraim Mwakandu who has worked on films like The Dark Knight and was part of the Oscar-winning team for The Golden Compass. Tom has a brilliant new improvised solo piano album called After that we’ve just released digitally. Our reedist, Mark Buckingham also has some amazing recordings that will be out later this year. We’ve finished writing about half of the material for our next album, so recording may get underway this year as well. To keep updated on all these new developments just visit us on MySpace (www.myspace.com/sirenariley; www.myspace.com/tomdonald) and Facebook. If you join our mailing list, you’ll also get free downloads and sneak previews