Growing up in a musical family, with a mother that had a beautiful voice and could play guitar, musician Lisa Hammer explains “The family would have “Hootenannies”/singalongs when we gathered.” With this background Lisa went on to study Medieval/Early Music, baroque, Opera, Choral, Experimental, Rock, Pop, Folk and Indian Classical Music. “I ate up discovering new types of music and researched any era/style I could get my hands on” Lisa admits. During her school years she joined various bands and even opened for Ministry when she was a teen.
Attending college in Boston Lisa joined Requiem In White. “The 80s Boston music scene was incredible”. From there she moved to NYC and when Requiem In White split in 1994 her now ex-husband, Doc Hammer and her started Mors Syphilitica and the NCS. In 2004 when her husband and her split Lisa moved to Hollywood and met her current husband Levi Wilson, and she started composing for film and theater. Lisa also started a side project with her half brother, director James Merendino who directed American comedy drama movie SLC Punk!. The siblings side project was called the “Terror Twins”. After moving back to NYC and hanging out with childhood friend Steven Deal, who had been in indie Pop-Mod bands Bleached Black, Chopper and Absolute Zeros they both expressed admiration for the others work. They “wondered why we had never collaborated! The rest is history” according to Lisa.
When it comes to her creative process Lisa explains “I hear songs in my head and sing them into my phone recorder. I then open up Logic Pro and start tapping around on the keyboard.” Lisa writes the song on bass and then finds a tempo drum loop and replaces it later with a drummer. Lisa works with collaborators from bands Wheatus and Late Cambrian, Paul Ash from Unto Ashes and also her husband Levi Wilson who plays many instruments.
By exploring themes through her music that allow her to express herself as a woman with a disembodied soul searching for answers as well as someone that has been through traumatic experiences Lisa believes she is helped to process grief and anger. “Many themes involve destruction and regeneration, loss, sadness, loneliness, the spirit world and most importantly love”. Lisa says.
Transcending traditional music genres Lisa describes her music as a mix of influences and a hybrid of Classical, olk, World Music, Experimental and Ambient Sounds. She was influenced early on by 60s Pop to Classical and Punk and she learned to sing opera by initially imitating Klaus Nomi, Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen and opera singers like Marilyn Horne, Marian Anderson and Joan Sutherland.
She explains “I think a lot of artists these days are experimenting by combining styles and I love it.”
Of her new album Lisa says “I was approached by The Circle Music, and they offered me color vinyl double albums, so how can I say no?” The new album was a difficult time inspired be deep emotions with Lisa loosing her beloved mother, Roberta Stockton and her guitarist and oldest friend, Steven Deal, a founding member of Radiana. The album reflects what Lisa describes as “the deep well of unending grief and the feeling of being rudderless, like a ship with no direction.”
When considering the cover art for the album, with an adoration for Symbolist Art, Lisa chose a Jean Delville painting as well as a talented graphic designer at The Circle Music who transformed it into something more beautiful then she could have imagined.
Although she used to love live performances Lisa’s film work has taken front seat to performing. She also explains “The amount of work and expense to put a live show together is staggering. I will however, most likely perform in Greece where my record label is. Maybe from there it will reignite my flame.”
With her music heading in a darker direction Lisa attributes this transformation to “I feel like the losses just keep coming. But suffering is the human condition and I am merely documenting it. There is so much beauty in raw emotions, whether in grief or in joy.”
The Circle Music will be releasing a follow up to the album Dakini, which is almost completed. They will also be releasing all of the Requiem in White on vinyl and perhaps Mors Syphilitica. Lisa is halfway done with a new Radiana album that she says “without Steven Deals Indie Pop sensibility, is going to be much darker and Post-Punk-Shoegazey then the bands debut album.”
“If you want to just lie down in the dark and be transported to another time”or you would like a soundtrack for Dungeons and Dragons play, have a listen to Lisa Hammer’s music. It’s a dark and transformative ambient musical journey with an otherworldly feel.
Links :
Webpage : https://www.lisahammer.com/
Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/artist/4dQQTdGPkdHk16uLwJL5Fl?si=92CllLmWSo-TVxTaGh_Mqg
No comments:
Post a Comment