Name: Marla Hansen
Nationality: American
Occupation: Violist, violinist, singer, songwriter
Recent Release: Marla Hansen's new album Salt is out March 15th 2024 via Karaoke Kalk.
Recommendations:
Eva Fàbregas - Devouring Lovers
This work took over Hamburger Bahnhof here in Berlin, and it was just amazing, weird, beautiful and funny. I highly recommend seeing her work in person if at all possible, but her instagram is pretty cool too.

Barbara Morgenstern - In anderem Licht
Barbara’s new record is beautiful, and completely acoustic, a wonderful new direction!

If you enjoyed this Marla Hansen interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Marla Hansen interview about the Magic of Sound.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I think the impulse is always there. If I make time and space for it then something is almost always going to come out. So it’s more about finding that time and space than finding actual inspiration.

But also for me, oftentimes going to live music performances will get things rattling around so much that I feel a really strong need to get to work and experiment.

Once I get started on something that seems like it is turning into a song, then the impulse turns into more of a need to work on specific sections or get certain things done. So there is this strong need to finish it, to get it to it’s best state, on top of that natural urge to create.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

In terms of a finished record, that concreteness only comes at the very end of the process. I just keep making songs until I have a lot of songs and then finish them as best I can, and then at that point see if and how they fit together. So there is a strong element of chance there, trying not to judge what’s being made and just making stuff.

I think though with individual songs, there is some sort of soul to each one of them, and the process becomes about getting them to express whatever they have in them in the truest possible way. So perhaps that is a bit more concrete.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

I do like to have a clean desk and instruments that are accessible without too much extra work. I really hate it when I have to slow down the process in order to deal with phyiscal/technical stuff. But, sometimes that means I have to learn something new, which leads to new ideas anyway.

But most important is just getting myself to sit down and either open the session or pick up the guitar or whatever instrument it is. If I can do that, then something interesting almost always happens.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

Green tea gets me super high, I am pretty sensitive so that is like my perfect stimulant, I’m feeling it right now answering these questions!

I do free journaling for about 20 minutes most days in the morning, and I stretch every day with a little yoga. If I don’t do those things, my mind feels clogged up the whole day. I also go for a run or a walk pretty much every day, that’s really important again for clearing out the clattering mess that builds up in there.

When I do those things I feel good for creating and living in general.

What do you start with? And, 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?

I often start with messing around with an instrument, so in that sense I think I am discovering the ideas. I discover them through the instrument.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

Lyrics come in different ways, often they come in fragments when I am working out the vocal melody. Sometimes they stick to the song, whether I like it or not, and I build the whole song around them.

The song ‘The One Time’ was like that, a couple of lines came early and refused to leave, so I built the whole song around them (“All your lives and all your lovers, turning up to blow your cover” for example.)



But often I just get a feeling for what the song is about already when I am working out the music, just an idea or emotion, and then write the lyrics once I have the vocal melody sorted out.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

I try to keep it real, and not too specific at the same time which is tricky. The lyrics have to be true, otherwise it feels weird to sing them. If it’s not true for me, or too true, I make the song about someone else, or at least pretend to!

I think I also protect myself in a way, I want to be honest without revealing too many specifics. I think this is a good balance to strike though, because then listeners can interpret the lyrics however makes sense to them.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Oh I am definitely a follower, I think that leads to the most interesting and most honest songs. I guess I believe there is somewhere a song is naturally trying to go to, and fighting that, trying to control too much, doesn’t usually result in anything good.

Maybe I clean things up later, or shape them somehow. But I would initially always try to follow naturally what seems to be the direction or mood of a song.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

This is one of the goals for me really, I love it when this happens. I try to follow the ideas too, and not think too much about things like ‘is this any good?’ or ‘can I get away with this?’

I think the song ‘Chains’ is a good example of this. It started with me jamming at home on electric guitar after watching Jack White (kill it) on SNL during the pandemic.



I came up with the bass line for that song first on the guitar then, and I really liked it but thought it was way too rock and roll for me to actually want to write a song with it. Then later I played it on a bass synth and it made more sense, and came together into something.

That song is a total departure for me, but I love how different it is.

[Read our feature on the pleasures of not seeing Jack White in concert]

When you're in the studio to record a piece, how important is the actual performance and the moment of performing the song still in an age where so much can be “done and fixed in post?“

I usually feel pretty insecure when recording vocals, and the process can be a bit torturous. So if I went with how I felt in the moment I would never get anything done. What’s important then is the evaluation afterwards, the next day or the next week, to see if it worked even if it felt bad in the moment. It works more often than it feels like it does thankfully.

With instruments I feel more secure, but I still often can’t judge if it’s good or not until I listen later. It really helps to have a producer at that point,

I’m super grateful for Simon Goff who produced ‘Salt’, he was great about judging quickly if takes were keepers or not.

Even recording a solo song is usually a collaborative process. Tell me about the importance of trust between the participants, personal relationships between musicians and engineers and the freedom to perform and try things – rather than gear, technique or “chops” - for creating a great song.

I need to write the songs on my own, do as much arranging as I can first in solitude. But then I like to get as many friends involved as possible, to spice things up and add more energy and ideas.

I am lucky to have excellent musical friends who I collaborated with on the Salt record. Simon was an essential ally, he really understood right away what the songs needed, to get to their full potential. Andi Haberl played drums on the record, but that is really an understatement - he took a lot of time working out the beats, and figuring out how to incorporate real drums with the electronic ideas that we already had.

And I’m super excited about how ‘The One Time’ turned out, with Andi and Simon and many friends playing instruments, but especially the element that DM Stith brought with his beautiful vocals.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?  

I love arranging so much, I get so excited about the effects it can have. Most of my songs exist as simple songs, with one instrument. But they just get so much more interesting with arranging, at least I think so!

I learned the basics of electronic production for the first time with this record, and through that was really experimental with the arranging of the songs.

Once a song gets really full, like “All The Things You Know,” then mixing especially is super important. In that song I wanted it to feel intense and full and on the point of breaking out into chaos, so the mixing was crucial for that.



Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Personally for me yes, I mean it’s clear for me music is my best and most favorite creative outlet. I have been making little videos for this record, and I find that really fun and creative. But those are more like a nice creative break from music making than something unto themselves.

Objectively though, I think there is no difference overall between different ways people are creative. It’s just a personal thing, and I love seeking out examples of great creativity in other aspects of life, from visual art to food to comedy etc.