Name: Temple Haze

Nationality: American, Berlin-based

Occupation: Songwriter, vocalist
Current Release: Temple Haze teams up with Sepalot for their single "Colder," out via Eskapaden. He also has a new full-length album out, Dreams.

[Read our Sepalot interview]

If you enjoyed this Temple Haze interview and would like to stay up to date on his music and releases, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, and Facebook.
 


Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in your voice and singing? How and when did you start singing?

I grew up in a household full of music. As a child I idolised Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, etc. My mother had original vinyl LPs form the 60’s/70s and I remember listening to them growing up and loving the unique sound from that era.

I have been singing all my life, but I would say I really started working on my voice and songwriting craft from age 13 onwards when I started playing guitar and researching songwriting greats like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and so on.

If you're also playing other instruments, how does the expressive potential of these compare to your own voice?

I love playing guitar, bass, making breakbeats on the drum set, experimenting with indigenous instruments (flutes, singing bowls, etc) producing in Ableton, etc. Each instrument has its own unique resonance and quality, especially acoustic instruments (such as the guitar). I love using the acoustic guitar as a drum for percussive element, or taking everyday objects and turning them into unique percussion.

The voice, however, is the most unique instrument we all have. Everyone’s voice is different, has its own timbre, tonality and range. And there are so many ways we can change the emotion and feeling of our voice. There is something incredibly special about the human voice, with its ability to touch us so deeply, to create goosebumps on our skin, to connect us and elevate our vibe.

My voice is truly the most therapeutic instrument I have, and I feel blessed to be able to express with it!

Singing is an integral part of all cultures, and traditions. Which of these do you draw from – and why?

I grew up presbyterian in the US, going to church most Sundays. I remember when I was 12 or 13 we began going to a church in inner city DC where they also sang gospel. This music touched me so deeply, the soul, the joy, the fun and the rapture of the community through song.

The Blues was born from gospel and I grew up playing the blues. There is a deep tradition of afro-american music that I had the opportunity of connecting to, whether in church or travelling through hotspots like New Orleans and observing the greats. Gospel music brings out the soul, gives glory to all that is, a celebration of life and faith - I love it.

Over the past decade I have also been connecting to indigenous singing traditions from Brazil and Peru, having the privilege of studying with maestros of medicine music. These traditions have a unique focus on the energy and frequency that accompanies the vocal. The intention behind the sound. Letting go of understanding the contents, but really feeling the resonance of the vocalisation.

These traditions give me a foundation to stand on, to trust the expression of my voice, to allow my voice to expand in connection with all that is. Listen to some of my “medicine songs” that I wrote with Alisa Reimer in Spanish based on South American traditions in the songs “Fluye” and “Me Entrego”



What were some of the main challenges in your development as a singer/ vocalist? Which practices, exercises, or experiences were most helpful in reaching your goals – were there also “harmful” ones?

My main challenge was being in my own way. What I mean is judging my own voice, thinking it should sound like another artist I admired, getting caught up in the voice needing to sound perfect.

One thing that really helped me in my development was recording myself and reflecting on the tonal quality of my voice. I would realise what I liked and didn’t like in my vocal tone and could change it accordingly. In this way I also just heard my voice over and over again in recordings so I got used to hearing my voice and over time I got less annoyed with the sound of my own voice, haha.

Most people naturally have an aversion to the way thier voice sounds recorded, we immediately say ‘turn it off’ or judge it. After a while I realised that my voice had different tonalities to play with (whisper voice, belting, gravelly voice, falsetto) and that I could explore how to combine and morph these different techniques into tones I really loved and made me excited to record!

How do you see the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? Do you feel that honing your sense of rhythm and groove has an effect on your singing skills?

100%. Rhythm and groove have a profound impact on singing and creating melody lines. To be able to flow in and out of the beat or find unique melodies that counterpoint the beat, can make or break a song.

Songs as we create them in the western world are in effect mathematical equations, subtracting and adding beats, morphing patterns of rhythms and chordal structures. That is one of the most beautiful things about composing a song. You unconsciously make thousands of calculations to “feel” the rhythm or swing of a song and add to it.

We literally “feel” the math of the groove, and the muscle memory of our fingers plays out the bass line, the muscle memory of our vocal cords sweep up and down mathematical scales to create harmonious music. Incredible …

What are the things you hear in a voice when listening to a vocalist? What moves you in the voices of other singers?

The key is the feeling. If I can feel the soul of singer, I resonate with it. It is hard to describe, it’s something that can only really be felt. The technique doesn’t matter so much for me.

For example, I love Bob Dylan as a singer because I can feel his vulnerability and his inherent poetic being in his voice, though he is technically not a great singer. I also love Jeff Buckley, his vulnerability and power, and incredible singing technique.

What moves me is the authenticity of the singer and if that can be felt.

How would you describe the physical sensation of singing? [Where do you feel the voice, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or tension etc …]

It all depends on how and what I am singing. If the song calls for loud belted vocals, then I feel it in the centre of my being, lots of deep breathing and control in the solar plexus region. In my latest single with Sepalot, “colder,” you can hear this type of vocal performance.

When is sing softly or in falsetto I feel it resonate in my head. Singing is always a release of tension for me, a feeling of expansion! It’s an intuitive space of safety and joy, a safe space. Get a feeling of this in my track “Vibin’ To It”



What kind of musical settings and situations do you think are ideal for your own voice?

The Ideal set and setting for me is a quiet room, well lit, where I know I have space and I know no one else can hear me. Then I feel safe to really let my voice shine.

We have a speaking voice and a singing voice. Do these feel like they are natural extensions of each other, ends on a spectrum or different in kind?

All depends on the kind of music you are making. They can be connected or almost the same (such as Serge Gainsbourg) or completely different (take Mariah Carey for example). I’d say they are natural extensions of each other.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

Songwriting is one of my favourite processes. These days I try to empty my head and allow the words to flood in as they naturally occur. I then take the stream of consciousness text and “make sense of it” - changing and combining words and phrases (a great example of this process can be heard in my track “Blank White Page”, where most of the improvised first take lyrics are still in the final recording).



The tonality of voice very much depends on the energy of the production and the beat. My first takes are always the basis from which I then work the rest of the song out. Seeing what my initial vocal energy is in reaction to the music.

Strain is a particularly serious issue for many vocalists. How do you take care of your voice? Are the recipes or techniques to get a damaged voice back in shape?

I started my singing journey playing and belting on the streets. I had many days where I broke my voice, and could barely speak the next day. What I tell all my students, don’t worry! Your voice comes back, as long as you take care of yourself and take in proper nutrition and liquids.

The key is to warm up before singing and never “red line” your voice, notice the boundaries that your body naturally has in place, you inherently know when you are singing too loud, loo long. Trust the signs from your body.

How has technology, such as autotune or effect processing, impacted singing? Has it been a concrete influence on your own approach?

I’m a huge fan of flowing with the technological innovations. I am not a huge fan of Auto-tune but love plugins like AlterBoy or Ozone Vocal Synth where you can morph the voice into an instrument or play with octaves/saturation without pitch correction.

I see these effects as part of the composition and production process, and great ways to find inspiration when stuck in the songwriting process.

You can hear a lot of Alter Boy and saturation on my vocal in the song “Pace Yourself”



You can hear use of Vocal Synth in my Track “Gravitate”



Motherese may have been the origin of music, and singing is possibly the earliest form of musical expression, and culture in general. How connected is the human voice to your own sense of wellbeing, your creativity, and society as a whole?

The voice is the direct expression of our being, a direct connection to our emotions. When I sing, I allow myself to be heard, I allow myself to take up space. And if I am tuned in, I can surrender to the melody that flows through me.

Many of us have blockages when it comes to singing. The truth is everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has the capability to sing, it’s just about training our singing muscle. This is why I became a Holistic Voice Coach, to share the incredible power of opening the voice with all who feel called.

You can join my 21 Day Voice Activation Challenge (Online Course) if you are interested in harnessing the power of your own voice. Join form anywhere in the world. The next one is happening Sept. 2 - 23, 2024.

Learn more here.