Needles & Grooves AotM /// Vol. 11 - May 2020 /// Kendra Morris - Mockingbird

Thank you for agreeing to an AMA and taking the time out of your day!!! I have two questions

1. Given that the album chosen was a covers album, I'm curious what some of your personal favorite covers are?

2. What are some of your musical influences that people may not expect?
 
Enaz Fox said:
Spent my morning with the album and I am floored to be quite honest. I haven't got to keep up with the thread so I went in blind and I am honestly so happy I did. These are some fantastic, soulful takes on these tracks and with my next check this will be getting added to the collection. Thanks to @AndySlash for putting this together this month. Here's my question as a live music fan...

Curious if you have a favorite venue that you've had the chance to perform in? Be it for its acoustics/locale/architecture, whatever the case. And to follow that up, any venue that you would consider a dream venue? Really hope to catch you out on the road once all of this clears up. Thanks so much for stopping by and for giving all of us some great music.
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hey thanks! glad you're enjoying it!!! I had so much fun making it.. I'd love to take a stab at a part 2 at some point.. there are so many other songs I'd love to put a spin on.. as for a live venue that I loved.. there was this amazing place in Hamburg that I played back in 2013 and it was so beautiful.. it was medium sized with crazy old balconies and I guess Nirvana had played some historical set there in gteh 90s.. I wish I could remember what it was called. It was just one of those places that you could feel the stories of all the shows when you walked in. I love playing a cozy, old venue that has a story.. I'd prefer something special like that to some corporate glossy sponsor named venue that have taken over the states any day.. I also loved Beechland Ballroom in Ohio that I played when I was on tour with Dennis Coffey .. it felt like a 1960s school cafeteria timewarp
 
gaporter said:
Thank you for agreeing to an AMA and taking the time out of your day!!! I have two questions

1. Given that the album chosen was a covers album, I'm curious what some of your personal favorite covers are?

2. What are some of your musical influences that people may not expect?
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My favorite covers from Mockingbird? That'd be 500 Miles ( I had a lot of fun flipping it and Godforbid on the duet is a good friend of mine and an incredible artist so was fun teaming up).. also Shine on You Crazy Diamond because it's such an epic tune in general and Don't Talk.. I love Brian Wilson so much! Its hard I loved doing all the songs for different reasons! Covers that others have done.. I love Gary Jules cover of Mad World by Tears For Fears also Shirley Bassey does an insane cover of Light my Fire by The Doors!!!

Influences some might not expect... I love weird old movie scores.. anything Ennio Morricone, Les Baxter.. sometimes I just want to listen to accapella choirs, I love old obscure halloween music!!!
 
AndySlash said:
speaking of touring, when we first started communicating, you mentioned you were going to be touring the midwest a bit in may, right around now. obviously things changed pretty quickly after that and the tour was off, unfortunately.

can you tell us a bit about what your shows are like, your band, and the things you like to do on tour to keep sane?

also, you are in new york city, which has been hit hard by the effects of covid. beyond just the cancellation of your tour, can you tell us from your perspective how covid has impacted your daily life in nyc, your music plans, and anything else that might come to mind?
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Funny you should ask! I was originally set to leave for a midwest tour starting tomorrow! my best bud and artist pal Julia Haltigan was supposed to go too as well as That Handsome Devil .. that changed real fast!!! waaahh..

my band lineup is we are a 4 piece ( Jeremy Page; who also produced my last albums on guitar, Jeremy Siegel on bass or our friend Nikhil if Jeremy Siegel can't do it and Andy Bauer on drums.. ) for any other sounds like keyboards..we use a track.. we have had a fair share of keyboardists over the years but it gets expensive and it's just one more personality on the road and can get tricky.. ..

Things I do on the road to keep sane.. make weird B horror movies on my phone.. especially if Julia is on tour with us.. her and I have a B horror movie instagram for all our weirdo movies so we'll shoot and edit in the van on our downtime.. I also eat a lot of candy.. too much.. gross amounts.

Daily life effects of Covid.. well.. im home ALL the time now! It's just balancing! I have a 5 year old maniac too so in the first part of the day it's me trying to keep her brain stimulated.. then I work on writing, or a visual project then at night I try to connect with my fans and friends with my now 5 nights a week karaoke happy hour variety show on instagram live that in a ways feels like crate digging because I try to find great sings to cover every day now!!! oh yeah.. and I wear my mask all over the place
 
bfly said:
loved reading the notes and prior questions with @AndySlash, and have enjoyed exploring your music through streaming. looking forward to getting my hands on the wax next week! thanks for hanging out and sharing with us.

- you have worked with many incredible and diverse artists- is there a current artist dream collab that you've never worked with before?
- if you weren't making music, what would you most likely be doing?
- what's your favorite NY slice?
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-hey thanks so much!!!! hmmm dream collaboration?? oh man tough one.. Danger Mouse, Rick Ruben, hmm I'm drawing blanks right now as I write on the spot but I'm gonna think of a bunch in the next hour and add to this1!!!
- if I wasn't making music I'd be doing the some of what I've actually been doing a lot of now too.. directing films, stop motion animation, building weird sets to film or take photos in.. lots of art projects !!!!
-I love Paulie Gees in my neighborhood of Greenpoint.. Hometown Brisket slice with pickled onions and pulled pork.. OR Vinnie pizza.. the chicken nacho slice with sour cream!!! yummmm
 
AndySlash said:
a couple vinyl related questions:

what was the first lp you ever bought yourself?

if you were picking an album of the month to share with a group like this, what album would you choose and why?
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Hmm I can't remember the first one I bought for myself BUT I could tell you that I grew up with my parents crates of records and when I got my own place for the first time I took some of their records with me and listened to these on repeat:
Tower Of Power Bump City
Half Pint In Fine Style
Jackson 5 Third Album
WAR Deliver The Word
Crosby Stills & Nash.

If I was picking an album of the month I'd actually tell you to go listen to my friend Julia Haltigans new album TROUBLE because its an incredible work and more people who've never heard of her need to check her out.. she's a true New Yorker that really found a way to blend her influences of riding motorcycles while growing up in New York, Rock n Roll, little bit of gritty soul, obsession with the apocalypse ..She's a truly unique artist and storyteller. I just think as an independent artists its really hard to get new eyes on your music without a label, lots or money, playlists , publicists.. so when a friends album is well deserving to be heard I gotta say,... check it out! but I guess since its a guessing thing maybe you guys would get stuck figuring who it is!!!,... so then second choice..

Beach Boys Pet Sounds.. my favorite!
 
ThePakoBuelna said:
What is an artist/band you would love to work with and haven't worked with yet? Some personal heroes or favorite musicians?
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Hmm.. I'd love to work with Michael Kiwanuka... his music is so great.. I love his voice too! Thom Yorke for both questions.. a dream would be to somehow work with him AND also he's a personal hero for his independence , keeping his footing in the craziness of ,major labels and streaming not paying their artists properly also I love the way he writes, his voice as well as the melodies he hears...
 
KendraMorris said:
Daily life effects of Covid.. well.. im home ALL the time now! It's just balancing! I have a 5 year old maniac too so in the first part of the day it's me trying to keep her brain stimulated.. then I work on writing, or a visual project then at night I try to connect with my fans and friends with my now 5 nights a week karaoke happy hour variety show on instagram live that in a ways feels like crate digging because I try to find great sings to cover every day now!!! oh yeah.. and I wear my mask all over the place
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ooh, what are some your little girl's favorite songs you get to sing to her? she going to be on one of your records anytime soon?

and to anyone that doesn't know, kendra's instagram is KENDRA MORRIS (@kendramorris) • Instagram photos and videos

as she mentioned, most every night around 10 eastern she goes on instagram live and does a little solo variety show, singing karaoke tunes, reading poetry and old journal entries, puppeteering, and more. it's a wonderful time!

kendra also just reposted a great interview she did last year:

 
cul8er said:
According to my USPS tracking, I should have your record today! :)
Hopefully I will be listening to it as you are answering questions, so here are a few from me.

What personality trait has gotten you in the most trouble?

Do you have a pet? and if so, if you could ask your pet three questions, what would they be?

Would you judge an album by its cover?
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I hope it arrived today!!!! Let me know when it gets there!!!
personality trait that gets me in trouble: STUBBORN, and I hear I can be a little bossy .. ahhahahha .. also workaholic if that's a trait..

I have 3 pets! Roger; a French bulldog with everything wrong with him.. poor guy! , Willie Nelson.. a wienie dog, min pin mix; and Sal a carnival goldfish that I won almost 4 years ago and he's huge now!!!

3 pet questions.. 1. for Roger: why do you sit with your face against the wall all the time.. 2. for Willie: my are you so picky about wear you poop and pee and why do you circle so much before you finally do?? 3. For Sal: Are you secretly plotting to take of the world when you stare at me like that??
 
Skalap said:
Other question. If you could make a second covers album, which songs would you pick (you have free budget, I'll cover artists rights).
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Great question! With all these karaoke nights I've been doing.. I've had a lot of time to think of some favorites...
1. Laura Nyro- Eli's Coming
2. Three Dog Night- One
3. Skeeter Davis- The End Of The World
4.Undisputed Truth- Smiling Faces
5. Beach Boys- In My Room
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Under The Bridge
7. Foreigner- Urgent
8. Black Sabbath- Planet Caravan
9. The Look Of Love- Dusty Springfield
10. Luther Ingram - If Loving You Is Wrong
 
and the last question from me today: one of the major things that attracted me to your music was the use of your voice as an instrument, with multiple harmonies and layered vocals on the vast majority if not all of your songs. these are especially noticeable when listening to your music on headphones, where you might have different things happening in each channel and voices swirling around.

when you're recording your vocals for tracks, especially more complex ones, do you have a good idea of what you're going to do going into the recording process, or is there a lot of experimenting that goes on to find out what best works for the track? what song of yours that uses these multiple vocies and harmonies are you most proud of or would use to show off your talents to the uninitiated?
 
AndySlash said:
ooh, what are some your little girl's favorite songs you get to sing to her? she going to be on one of your records anytime soon?

and to anyone that doesn't know, kendra's instagram is KENDRA MORRIS (@kendramorris) • Instagram photos and videos

as she mentioned, most every night around 10 eastern she goes on instagram live and does a little solo variety show, singing karaoke tunes, reading poetry and old journal entries, puppeteering, and more. it's a wonderful time!

kendra also just reposted a great interview she did last year:

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Hey!! Thanks so much again for having me!!! I just got her a little MP3 player and mostly she only wants to listen to Motorhead and Guns N Roses but she does have a few of my songs and really likes Pow and Concrete Waves off Banshee and Twist and Burn from Babble.. she wrote a cool song on her own called Snuggle In Your Bed and keeps threatening to sneak on the show one night ... hahah
 
AndySlash said:
and the last question from me today: one of the major things that attracted me to your music was the use of your voice as an instrument, with multiple harmonies and layered vocals on the vast majority if not all of your songs. these are especially noticeable when listening to your music on headphones, where you might have different things happening in each channel and voices swirling around.

when you're recording your vocals for tracks, especially more complex ones, do you have a good idea of what you're going to do going into the recording process, or is there a lot of experimenting that goes on to find out what best works for the track? what song of yours that uses these multiple vocies and harmonies are you most proud of or would use to show off your talents to the uninitiated?
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I've been hearing alternate melodies since I was a kid either harmonizing with my mom in the car or when I had a karaoke cassette machine and learned to bounce the vocals from tape to tape and sing with myself.. I would do it for hours and hours my room. When I'm writing or in the studio.. I usually hear the parts on the spot as I am tracking dummy vocals.. If I'm working with Jeremy on a new song.. we start an instrumental idea then I go in the studio and hum a rough melody then he develops the track around that more as I start on some rough lyrical ideas or an idea for a vocal sound.. even just some vowels.. then I go back in the booth and start to lay those ideas.. come out.. he works more and I start to hear harmonies.. then I'll go in the booth and do a bunch of harmony track takes and ideas.. .. other times.. I walk around my neighborhood or ride the bus and listen to a new track idea and will record different melodies I hear ASAP into my little note recorder.. I feel like as fast as I may hear something I just as quickly can forget it.. I'm so proud of the intricate rounds and harmonies on the verses to the song Old Photos off my record BANSHEE.. it came to me super quick but then when I had to relay all the parts for the final vocal.. I was stumped!!! It was a lot harder than I had realized it was when it came to me!!! I still listen back to that song and am proud.. also got pretty crazy on parts with some new material I've been working on.. and I love the opera voices in 500 Miles from Mockingbird :)
 
KendraMorris said:
Thanks again everyone for having me as your artist off the month!!! I walked another shipment of records over to the post office today.. gonna send out tracking numbers shortly.. gonna bring a few more to post office tomorrow as well!!! xx KENDRA
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Thank you for being here to answer questions for us!

And thank you for doing the karaoke shows. Those are wildly entertaining
 
alright, thank you to @KendraMorris for spending nearly 90 minutes with us today, and to everyone who asked questions and participated in this AMA! I do hope you give kendra's music a listen if you haven't already and, if you are able to, support her by purchasing her albums and merch directly from her on her website.

i also encourage you to check out her nightly instagram live karaoke variety show to get a live glimpse into her vocal and creative talents. with so many artists now streaming shows and performances and whatnot, kendra was one of the first to do so, and to do it so frequently. she is one of the most fan-friendly artists i follow regularly, and i am so grateful she was willing to go all in on sharing her record with members here and spend part of her day today with us.

thank you @KendraMorris!
 
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