In this episode of the IMRO Podcast, Zara Hedderman meets songwriter/producer Elaine Howley backstage at The Sugar Club in Dublin.
Ahead of a sold-out show supporting The Bonk, Elaine spoke to Zara about her critically acclaimed debut album The Distance Between Heart And Mouth, which was released one year ago this week, and described by Pitchfork as "an ad hoc collection of songs that draw their muted power from everyday ritual—a testament to the magic of not making plans".
They also discussed Elaine's recent soundtrack work for the Charlie Joe Doherty film 'This Years Lull’, as well as exploring broader themes of performance, self-expression, home-recording and childhood influences.
With kind permission, the interview contains a number of songs from Elaine Howley's back catalogue, all of which are available from https://touchsensitiverecords.bandcamp.com/
1. Person Count
2. Live As I Saw It
3. Silent Talk
4. To The Test
5. See Saw Seen
6. SoSo
0:00 - Intro
2:45 - Supporting The Bonk in The Sugar Club
4:05 - Working on the film soundtrack of ’This Year’s Lull’ and the song ‘Live As I Saw It’
11:10 - 1 Year since releasing The Distance Between Heart And Mouth and the relationship with the material now
14:15 - Themes of the album
16:49 - Influences that fed into the album
23:15 - Role of music in self-expression
26:15 - The release of performance and first solo gig
29:05 - Writing and recording process
33:05 - Home taping and music in childhood
33:15 - Influence of Mary Black
37:00 - Improvisational music and Cork music scene
41:30- Influence of surroundings on music
45:15 - Plans for a second album