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Seattlest Pix 09Nov07
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Seattlest Pix 09Nov08
We first caught Kym Tuvim opening for Tish Hinojosa at the Tractor a couple of years ago, and were so spellbound with her soulful observational songs that we tucked her name away in our memory and vowed to pay more attention to her career. Since then, of course, she's been locked up in a studio working on a follow-up record to her 2003 release On the Mend.
The result of those couple of years of work is Nothing Sweet Nothing, where she furthers her musical journey with another collection of lovely, exquisitely well-arranged tunes that call to mind artists like Kris Delmhorst and Catie Curtis. She'll be celebrating the release of that record tonight at Columbia City Theater. The show kicks off at 7 p.m., and tickets are $12 at the door (Hans York opens). But first, here's a snippet of what happened when Kym and Kim sat down for breakfast at Linda's one Sunday morning:
What motivated you to make this record?
I've never been the kind of songwriter who makes a record every two years and writes for a record. So far, in my little brief stint, I write and then there's this point where I go I have enough songs, let's make a record. The last record came out in '03, so that shows you how long it takes me to get enough songs. So, we started recording in '06. It took 14 months to make. It was actually done last spring, and was mastered by the end of May, but it had been such a long haul that I just needed nothing about it for a while. I put it on the shelf and hung out with friends.
When did you decide it was time?
I always had in the back of my mind—maybe a spring release. It would give me the summer to chill out and then, in the fall, I'd start working to finish the art work and get the run done and send it out to promote it, because it takes so long to promote it. I started sending records out in December for national radio and what have you.
So are you doing all that on your own?
Well, I have a radio promoter that I work with out of Philly, they're just wonderful. But, otherwise I'm a record label of one...so far. The good thing is that I was with a collaborative record label for a couple of my last records. Just doing this as long as I have, I've learned enough to plan ahead. I think that's the hardest thing for a lot of independents if you're just starting out—realizing how long things take. And how far ahead to say, Well, my record's done in September so I'll have a winter release. You can't do that. It's not enough time...well, you can do it, but it'd be insane and you wouldn't be happy. It's insanity. Even with a team, that's insanity.
How did you decide which songs to use on the record?
I went into the studio with a core group of songs and, of those songs, only one of them didn't make it, because we didn't know what to do with it. It could've become a freakshow kind of song. While there's nothing wrong with that, this wasn't the record for that. But, I think I went in with 14 songs that all felt solid. One of the songs on the record, I almost cut, but I got so much flak for thinking it shouldn't be on the record that it's on the record. And now it's the most played song. That's just so telling, it's like I have no clue whatsoever.
Isn't that the way it always works, though? The song you don't like is the one that everyone else loves?
Yeah, absolutely.
So do you think you'll pull that song back out for a future recording?
I hope so, it's a really fun song. I don't even know if I could describe it. It's kind of like funky Flamenco, basically. It's got Flamenco-style chords. It's very ooh la la. [It's one of those songs] where it was really important to make the arrangement right, or it just sounded too lame. It would sound too square or too done, or it would just lose the heart. I remember when we decided okay let's just not deal with it because we're so occupied with these other songs, and this'll be a hold-over.
One of the songs [that made it] on the record, I wrote like ten years ago. So I'm okay with having songs wait. I'm really glad that particular song is on this record. It's appropriate on this record. I wouldn't have been able to do with it what I did with it before this time in what I'm doing with my music. Maybe I'll be able, by the timeI make the next record, I'll know what to do with this funky flamenco number.
Do you find it's one of those things where you write it and you don't know yet what it's about?
Well, I knew what this particular song was about. Are we talking about this particular song?
Yes.
[laughs] No, this is a cool song. This is a song about a day where I drove from Charlottsville, Virginia, to Jacksonville, Florida, in a day. It was an awesome day. It was wild. I saw an alligator. I started the day and it was autumnal, winded up in a gas station in Georgia and it was like being in a swamp. It was really hot.
So where did you see the alligator?
Scuttling off the road, going through the Everglades. You drive through this National Park called the Everglades. There's the road, there's the freeway and then on both sides there are fields of [swampland].
You went to the Everglades on the way to Jacksonville?
Yeah, it's like the freeway goes through...unless I'm remembering wrong. This was a while ago, I could be totally wrong. Maybe it's a good thing you asked before you quote me, so I don't sound stupid.
Well, the Everglades are like four or five hours south of Jacksonville.
[laughs] Well then maybe it wasn't.
Maybe you were going through some kind of a reserve or something.
Yeah, it was definitely some kind of reserve. Maybe I just thought it was the Everglades. I remember them saying you can't pull over...and there was, after driving, it was like oh my God. It might've been a crocodile or an alligator, but it was an animal that I've never seen in person. It was like Oh my God! I've just never been to that part of the country, so it was really a trip. [laughs]
RIght on. So, what is your creative process like in writing the songs? Do you have to be totally alone? Are you listening to a lot of other kinds of music?
Actually, I don't have any kind of process. Sometimes I write really well when I'm on my own. Sometimes, when I'm with people, it's the best start for me. One of the songs on the record I wrote when I was on tour, on a tour bus with people, feeling all the juju from playing music. I like writing when I'm on tour because I'm already in that mindset. Honestly when I come home, I'm working. I'm in front of my computer way more than I am sitting with my guitar. That's a problem I'm trying to remedy. That's an ongoing challenge for me. Anyway, I've only collaborated twice. I like writing around people, but I don't have a lot of experience writing with people. Like if you're in the room, that's not a problem.
Wow, that's like the one thing I just can't do.
Does it just shut you down?
Yeah.
I think it's...maybe I like an audience, I don't know. It's not necessarily...I don't seek it out. I don't go to a cafe and write songs. The other day, we were trying to do some work together, my friends and I—a couple Terry and Sarah who are songwriters who i'm sharing four of the CD releases with. We were thinking we should put some songs together. I just started playing guitar and I got this thing going. So Sarah picked up her acoustic bass and Terry just started fooling around, and I wound up with this instrumental version of this song. I don't know what the hell it's going to be about. There are no words yet. I've picked up my guitar so much in the last six months and written nothing, though. So I don't know what that means.
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Everglades....Okeefenokee....
You say tomato... :)