Part 1

Name: Mermaid
Members: Brittany Campbell, Candace Quarrels
Nationality: American
Current release: Mermaid's Iridescence is out via Fat Marker.
Recommendations:
Candace: Read Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. It made me hold my breathe even though I knew how the story ended.
Listen to Ethiopiques, Vol 4: Ethio Jazz 1964-1974 while you’re washing dishes or making dinner.
Brittany: Watch Death Note (the anime). Watch Endless Summer if you find water particularly inspiring … Read The Watchmen to gain an awesome perspective on human archetypes … Read ODY-C to see colors. Read Plato’s The Republic ... Listen to as much MOTOWN as possible.

If you enjoyed this Mermaid interview and would like to keep up to date with the band and their music, visit the duo's official homepage. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Candace: I like darkness if I’m really trying to focus in on music. I’ll close or cover my eyes so I can be as present and undistracted. If I’m just listening casually though, I’m definitely a foot tapper, immediately imagining the music video in my head type.

Brittany: It depends … sometimes, I listen to music and just look up to the sky or the ceiling. Sometimes, I picture an imaginary movie, always grainy and nostalgic. When I’m listening to new music with strangers, I’ll often look at the ground to keep the experience as private as possible lol. The experience is always visual for me.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

Candace: My first steps in music happened very young. I was singing in my family church’s choir since I could talk. Singing, music, and communion was such a large part of my upbringing. Later I became interested in classical music, musical theatre and the study of vocal pedagogy. Movie musicals and the glitz and glam of Broadway took hold in my teenage years.

The training started there—in high school and college. Voice lessons, and regional competitions. Experience came in the form of professional work at 19. Performing 8 shows a week. Molding my craft, into something to make a living from.

But even with all of that, I still feel as if I’m just learning to be a real artist. Mermaid has gifted me that. A space to play and discover pieces of me I’d covered up and hid away. It’s a release and a return all at once. Training could only give me so much. The rest comes from destiny I believe.

Brittany: I was submerged into a very specific world of music at a really young age ... the Metropolitan Opera at 7. I want to say that those years were so formative because I literally got to see and hear how each part of an orchestra, how each part of a choir, comes together to form a composition. I attribute this to why I can imagine harmony and why I attach chords to specific feelings.

Apart from that, I come from a family that deeply loves music—heavy vinyl collectors and DJs—who loved to share and communicate with each other through records.

I was primarily a singer for so long ... I toured with some shows as a kid, did some Broadway, and listened to my own little collection of music that I found through my mom, Aunt Denise, and Uncle Lloyd. I played the piano, hated piano lessons, gave that up pretty quickly, but taught myself what I was inspired to learn using my ears. I composed a lot of silly songs on the piano growing up. Guitar came in high school ... I went to a performing arts high school and had a crush on this guy who was a beast on the guitar ... but then I fell deeply in love with the instrument and forgot all about him, lol.

I went to college for Musical Theatre, but was desperately drawn to music ... I just hadn't considered that path since my life had been so ingrained in theater. My best friend in college introduced me to Garage Band, and that's when I started to mess around with producing and writing songs ... it changed everything.

I begged my mom to let me drop out of school, but she wasn't having it. When I graduated, I showed her my music, and she sent it to a random friend who forwarded it to this guy, Rich Keller (mixer extraordinaire and producer), who took me under his wing and developed my very first EP with me. I learned a lot about songwriting during that time ... a lot about what I wanted to express, how I wanted to express it, and what I wanted things to sound like. I began developing my taste (which is so important).

Once I had that EP, I started performing my music anywhere they would let me in NY, because that's what I thought you had to do ... that's what the movies said to do ... so I was gigging my ass off for so long, in so many different environments, which was once again helpful in learning what I liked and didn't like. Living in LA really shifted things for me, for better or for worse. I can't really explain why. I LOVE music ...

Now I am a published songwriter and am in a lot of sessions. Sessioning has really made me aware of the kind of artist I want to be and what I want to hear, period. It has often pitted my own taste against industry standards. I feel like my ears are now more open to hearing the deliberateness and decisiveness of producers and songwriters that I deeply admire.

I think someone can train themselves to be an artist through commitment ... there are so many ways to be an artist, but I truly believe it's first and foremost about commitment, message and a willingness to transform. That's also something I've come to realize recently as well.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Candace: Music was pretty firmly split between what I heard from my family—heavy emphasis on RnB ranging from the 60s to the 2000s, and gospel music, while at the same time I was discovering sounds I liked on my own (pop rock, indie, classical, musical theatre). Music always playing, but then, it was for more passive.

I think I absorb it a little differently now. I see myself in it now, and the things I like, I really want to support and be an active fan of.

Brittany: Everything ... I was discovering everything ... Prince, No Doubt, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hot Hot Heat, The White Stripes, MOTOWN, Pharrell, Andre 3000, Erykah Badu, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Kelis, and, for some reason, mad 80s music ...

Everything was new, and it all felt like it was weaving into the fabric of my identity. I'd become obsessed with a song ... like listening to it for 72 hours straight. I'd get so into it that I'd even start dressing in a way that reflected the vibe of the song. When the music changed, so did my style, lol.

I remember in high school, I'd often cut class (which was right in Times Square) to go to Virgin Records (RIP) on a quest new … music to flip out over  … and …I remained this was for a long time … probably until I was 23.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Brittany: Honestly, it's other music that drives me—it's like an ongoing dialogue. I thrive on responding to sounds and drawing inspiration from songs I love. I relish in referencing classic tunes and embedding little Easter eggs in my tracks.

I have this deep sense of nostalgia —nostalgia for eras I've never lived in (lol) but have only imagined and heard stories about, like the 60s and 70s. I'm constantly seeking to blend the wisdom of musical legends from that time into what I’m creating now. Artists like Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Earth Wind and Fire, Donna Summer, and so on, fuel this passion.

Also … and lately, clarity has been on my mind. While I often live for a maximalist approach to music, I've been feeling the urge to refine my music—to make its message resonate more clearly on a sonic level. I'm surrounded by incredibly talented producers, like Sam Hoffman, and songwriters, like Justin Tranter. Their precision and intent is something that I’m learning a lot from.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Candace: It always feels like a discovery. Anything that’s really good, always feels like I’m pulling from a deep memory, or something I’ve heard before.

Brittany: You’ve discovered it, and because it is being filtered through your being, it can transform into something that is nuanced but I don’t think ever NEW.