Pikelet

Fri 28th May, 2010 in Features

Evelyn Morris has been pretty busy lately. Besides shouting down 20,000 people at the recent S.L.A.M rally and touring around Australia with artists as renowned as Devandra Banhart, Kaki King and The Dirty Projectors she has also been playing a little bit of music with her no longer one woman band Pikelet. Her second album Stem on Chapter Music and it has breakout written all over it. FL recently caught up with her to discuss the album and all other things Pikelet.

What have you been doing in the wake of your wonderful album Stem? Any shows coming up that you want to tell us about?
I’m about to play in Adelaide on the 28th of May. I’m excited about it as that’s where my whole family is from. My parents moved to Melbourne just before I was born. So there is a giant crew of Aunties, Uncles and cousins coming to the show. I don’t get to see them very often so it’ll be quite overwhelming!

I saw you a couple of months ago supporting The Dirty Projectors and you also toured last year with guys like Devendra Banhart and Kaki King. Has playing with such renowned artists influenced your music at all?
Oh, I just played with Devendra and Kaki in Australia. I did do some touring overseas with Sarah Blasko, Jeffrey Lewis and Jens Lekman though which is equally as exciting. I think the influence those shows have had on me as been more social or intellectual as opposed to musical. Realising that people who seem untouchably talented in a way that’s almost intimidating are just normal human beings having a crack at something they also find difficult to understand… I mean… music is a never-ending series of questions following questions… I felt as though I could relate to all of these people. Rather than feeling I was looking up at them. It was both humbling and confidence-boosting.

The reviews for Stem have been almost universally positive, you’re fanbase seems to be steadily growing, at least in Melbourne. Do you ever feel under pressure to live up to the expectations of these fans/critics when you play/write music?
I don’t think I would describe it as pressure… Any pressure that I feel I’m usually well aware of it being something I’m generating. So if there’s pressure it doesn’t tend to connect with what reviewers or the public think of my stuff. Pressure that I experience generally comes from worrying about what my band-mates or peers think, and also what I expect of myself and my future. I tend to spend a lot of time freaking out over the future. It’s a terrible trap.

But writing is always such a rapid and instinctive unfolding torrent of feelings/thoughts that I don’t generally have time to really control it. I suppose once it gets to mixing a record though I would think about how it might come across as a whole and probably edit things somewhat at that stage. But then again, the mixing/editing process is so long and gruelling that you tend to get to the point of not giving a damn just coz you want to finish it! I guess my answer is. I’m not sure!!

I noticed on Stem that you sound like more of a band than a solo artist, for example on tracks like Red Pleather, can you tell me how the addition new members has changed your song writing process?
The song-writing process has changed dramatically. The way I think of the songs is entirely different. Often I’ll write something and leave it very bare and basic so that the boys can just fill that space with what they do best. Other times we jam together and play off each-other, and sometimes those riffs stick and evolve into songs. However song-writing is an entirely improvised process that doesn’t seem to ever develop a standard formula. At least for me it doesn’t. These are two ways in which we have written songs recently, but there are many other ways they can unfold.

Is the band lineup something that you want to retain for your music in the future?
Yes! Definitely! I have been talking with my drummer a little bit lately about how delightful and fruitful it is when you allow musical relationships to grow over a lengthy period of time. I feel as though we are still learning things about each other every time we rehearse or write, or even hang out! So it’s going to be exciting to see how it all develops. I really hope they stay with Pikelet as long as they can. At the same time, I’ll definitely still be doing solo stuff as well, just so I can have a little area that I feel I can do anything in and be the boss of. Ha.

Your music uses loops to great effect, is the loop usually the starting point for you? Do you build around it or insert it later?
I like responding to loops as a writing tool. It’s been a very effective way for me to understand music better. My understanding of it at this point is that any sound at all – even just plain speech – can sound like a song as soon as it’s repeated three times or more. Hence the reason I think loops create interesting ideas in my mind.

When you have little accidents, they are then repeated three or more times and hence become ideas rather than mistakes. I like to allow plenty of room for chaos and mishaps in songwriting, but even better than that is finding a way to harness that randomness. I tend to think that pop music is all about organising chaos. That’s why it feels especially comforting to me when I’m going through an overwhelming or chaotic experience.

There seems to be a less abstract slant to your lyrics than on your debut – especially on songs like Elbow Equals Bend, Weakest Link, Allergies – did you alter your lyrical focus at all from your previous work. Are there any themes that tie the album together?
I didn’t attempt to have things tie together in any way, but I think that any album is just a snapshot of someone’s perspective of a period of time. So it makes sense that there would be some cohesiveness to it. I guess the main theme is dealing with loneliness and feelings of insignificance or inferiority. Not too sure where that all came from. Something that was a conscious choice though was being less hidden behind lyrics. Being less ashamed or afraid about expressing myself. That is why they seem more obvious I guess.

You’ve had a varied and interesting musical career, playing in very un-Pikelet sounding bands like Baseball and True Radical Miracle, what elements of these old bands have you carried over to Pikelet?
Both those bands are incredibly challenging in a lot of ways for me. Partially just physically, as the drumming is very fast. Also in terms of songwriting. It’s incredibly difficult to approach that kind of music and try to find a voice that is your own. Trying not to sound like all the other heavy or thrashy trashy bands around is a challenge I think.

I’m still playing with True Radical Miracle, and I have come to the conclusion that it’s an essential thing for me to do. Partially because I require an outlet for frustration and anger. I tend to find life quite frustrating… dunno if that’s the same for everyone… I hope it is!

Also because the challenge of writing that stuff is so good for developing my skills as a songwriter. So one thing I think is carried over to Pikelet is an understanding of the darker/frustrating elements of my musical personality.

Pikelet is like a strong reaction to loud/heavy/angry music. It’s an attempt at escaping from those parts of myself rather than an attempt to harness them. Both approaches seem valid and valuable to me. I also hope to find some middle ground between the two at some point.

What can we expect from Pikelet in the future?
More full band stuff, and more solo stuff. I’ll be putting out a seven inch or two of solo stuff within the next year or so, and that will be closely followed by the next album. Not sure yet what that will be like! Although we have a few songs cooking.

Lastly one thing I’ve always wondered is what is the significance of the name Pikelet? Is it a favourite food? Why not flapjack or pancake?
It’s to do with my childhood. Mum used to make Pikelets when she was broke and wanted to give us a treat. I was extremely broke when I make my first Pikelet recording and had to borrow all the equipment for it… even the 4 track machine I recorded onto. So it made sense. I made the first recording for my Mum whilst she was suffering from cancer, so it was like my return Pikelet offering. Or something like that!