Vesper Wood - Album Release, Touring, and More
You've most likely heard Christina Wood's voice on Kaleida tracks featured in John Wick, Atomic Blonde, CSI, etc.. Gaining over 45 million streams and touring the world with the likes of Roisin Murphy and Alt-J....Wood's debut solo album, Instar is fueled by her experiences with fertility and reproductive health, and frustration at the lack of support and awareness surrounding women's health.
We had the opportunity of chatting with indie singer-songwriter Vesper Wood - one half of UK electro-pop duo Kaleida, Christina Wood.
S&S: Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! Seems like you have been extremely busy with releasing new music and an anticipated tour. To start off, how did Vesper Wood come together as an act? VW: My partner in Kaleida took a bit of time off to have her second baby and I was feeling idle…thought it might be time to get together some of the more personal songs I had been writing and try a different approach to working and production…and keep learning, put an album together.
S&S: You will be releasing your album Instar in the coming weeks, can you tell us a little bit about the making of this album? VW: It was recorded and mixed in less than 3 weeks…I prepared for a long time in advance, going over the tracks and lyrics and arrangements and sounds I wanted…and then when Ali and I got together in the studio, we tried to keep a lot of the original feel of the demo’s, and also just tried out all sorts of instruments and sounds and added new parts. We followed our instinct a lot and didn’t spend too long perfecting anything...especially the vocals, which was a new approach for me. So it was a process that gave me a lot more confidence and definitely felt really satisfying, both creatively and personally.
S&S: When writing this album, was there any one particular inspiration when creating the tracks? VW: I just kept close to what felt personal and genuine. That was like my motto. I wanted it to be as real as possible. I’ll probably never do an album like that again – the next ones might have more concepts to them, more pretense. But it felt like I had to do this as the marker of starting out on a journey. That’s also why I called it Instar – which means a phase between two periods of molting, a transformation, growth.
S&S: What song are you most proud to be releasing on this album? VW: I don’t think there is one in particular! I see them all as a group.
S&S: What songs are you most excited to be playing live at your shows? VW: Probably the more intense ones…Chain of Heat, Black, Descend, The Wall, and a Bjork cover of Possibly Maybe…
S&S: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process for Instar? VW: I wrote the tracks over a long period. Actually I really just went back through all the stuff I had written over 2 years and picked out some that felt more personal, and then I added a few more songs. When I’m writing in general I don’t really have much of a process – I sit down and play around on the computer and the keyboard with various sounds and out of a weird internal fog comes some melodies, progressions etc. At the time I don’t have much of a clue what I’m doing. When I listen back after some space I can see what is good, what to refine, add to, complete etc. It takes a long time for me. It’s all very intuitive. Usually some words are there, some kind of essence of the feeling/meaning I’m singing about, but I have to complete them later, after the arrangement etc. I guess over the years I’ve learned a lot about structure and I follow some of that knowledge now.
S&S: Was there a specific moment in this process of creating the album where you really felt like this was it, your dream is essentially coming true? VW: Hm, I don’t know if there was a specific moment, but I definitely felt that at various points throughout the process. It’s just incredibly exciting to make something that is truly yours. I would encourage everyone to do it!!
S&S: Was there anything specifically rewarding that you will take away from this experience of creating your first album? VW: Just having made it feels like a huge accomplishment. You get in a groove and realize you’ll actually be able to keep doing this for the rest of your life, because now you know how! Which is the dream - being aligned with your calling so to speak.
S&S: After the release of Instar, do you have any plans of a larger tour or possibly starting up again on new songs? VW: I will definitely keep writing and releasing and maybe touring, if the tracks find more listeners and fans…
S&S: Finally, if you had to describe your album in one sentence, how would you describe it to someone who has never heard of you before? VW: An intimate and sometimes dark, but ultimately hopeful, journey into the heart of a modern woman. Cringe!
Check out Vesper Wood's new video for The Wall down below and her tour dates at https://www.vesper-wood.com/dates/
