Q&A: hemlock’s 444 reminds us to embrace the quiet moments in between the chaos
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY MARLEY SCHELD ☆
HEMLOCK IS ALWAYS IN-BETWEEN – in-between cities, in-between genres, in-between a band and a solo project. Their most recent album, 444, takes us in between the beauties and agonies of life, pausing the rhythm of life’s movements and asking us to take a moment to consider, or at the very least, to breathe.
Hemlock is the project fronted by Carolina Chauffe, who is from several places all at once, with the full band – comprised of Andy “Red” PK, Bailey Minzenberger, and Jack Henry – finding a home base in Chicago. Their second full-length album was released this past October, but fans of their music have heard these songs before. These twelve songs have been released previously as part of a song-a-day-for-a-month project that Chauffe started in 2019, choosing one month out of the year to write a song each day. It is a project that forces discipline and takes the pressure out of songwriting, driving the songwriter to succumb to some of the most immediate ideas they have. The result of Chauffe’s project is five “demo” albums — February, May, August, October, and December – and now 444, a compilation of twelve full-band versions of songs chosen from different months released this past October.
The songs on 444 are meditative; rarely are any moments repeated. Chauffe meanders through their thoughts and observations as they happen, between gentle quiet and abrasive chaos. “I will go to therapy again this Monday evening, talk about how hard it is to strike some balance in this life,” they drone in “Drive & Drive,” one of the more bitter songs. This imbalance, this juxtaposition of life is the heart of the album. Because with every moment of agony, there is gratitude, there is peace. We hear it mostly in the hushed moments of the album, in songs like “Lake Martin” and “Thank You Card to the Band,” which leaves us on a note of quiet gratitude.
Luna spoke with Chauffe of hemlock about 444 and the song-a-day project. Read the interview below:
LUNA: First, I want to say congrats on the album release! How has it been? How does it feel? What's it like having that out in the world?
CHAUFFE: Thank you so much. The short answer is it feels really good. The whole band and I, I think we're all really proud of what we made together. It's a little chance for a sort of comprehensive look at all the selection of the song-a-day stuff that I've been doing for so many years now. It's nice to have pushed something to be more sonically expansive than anything in hemlock's discography so far, but that is still so connected to the rest of the body of work. I've felt really honored by and touched by everyone who's reached out so far, who has listened to it and lent an ear and spent some time with it. I think it feels good for it to take on a life of its own.
LUNA: What feels different about this album that you might not have experienced with the previous albums or music that you've released?
CHAUFFE: Part of the inherent difference is that all of these songs were previously released as some sort of demo in their very infantile state on the day that they were written, like I was saying, in that song-a-day ongoing saga. And so it's sort of a revisitation, but it feels like these are the songs in their all-grown-up form, instead of in their infancy. I also think that with this kind of core band of Andy, Bailey, Jack, and me, there was this really strong spirit of collaboration that was also well-rehearsed because of our [experience] playing live together. So we went into the studio, kind of with everything already mapped out. It was also like a genre variety pack, in a way that not a lot of the other releases are in the hemlock multiverse. This one pushes the envelope. It's got some more raucous, fuzzed-out songs, and also honors the little, gentle, quiet ones as well.
LUNA: You're currently on tour. What has it been like to play these live now that they're out in this way? And how has everyone been receiving it?
CHAUFFE: It feels like it's been really well received. The songs are not new, and so it's nice to revisit them and bring them back from the archives. Some of them are so old to me now, like five years old. It's been nice to let them spread their wings, show them off a little bit. And because I play solo most of the time on the road, there's also a total freedom to the set list, where I can try on different songs for size, depending on what the room is feeling like. A lot of songs off of 444 are in my rotation right now. It's interesting because they were written solo and put out initially as a solitary version, and then they got fully fleshed out with these band versions on 444, and then I'm playing them solo most of the time again. I try to meet somewhere in the middle, where it's taking the original versions, and then taking the new versions and finding a way to incorporate both of those and push [the songs] forward into the future. It's been a fun exercise of playfulness and creativity.
LUNA: The name of the album, 444, evokes the idea of angel numbers. Are you a spiritual person? Do you believe in angel numbers? Why did you want to name the album this number specifically?
CHAUFFE: I feel like I am a spiritual person in the way that I was raised Catholic, but then very much divorced myself from the church in my teens, and then kind of had to come around full circle to a point where I was okay orienting spirituality in a way that felt truer to me. I think I'm a big fan of Coincidence with a capital C, these winks from the universe or from whatever is out there in the ether. I also try to be a pretty keen observer of the things that repeatedly present themselves in my environment. Angel numbers are a fun way to engage with that, just noticing what's around you. I appreciate the sentiment of it being like divine protection. I can use a lot of that on the road, you know, being in a different place every day and driving as much as I do. 444, in a way, was just the easy way out of not having to figure out what to name the album. Which is the same thing I did with hemlock -- it was just a word that kept repeatedly presenting itself to me and has taken on meaning from that.
Planning the album mostly independently, 444 was a nice way to lean into numerology. 4+4+4 adds up to 12. There are 12 tracks on the album. There are four members of the band. There are 12 months in the song-a-day project. It's a way to nod to that as well. There was significance in that spiritual way, and also just a logistical way. So this total left brain, right brain, kind of meeting in the middle there.
LUNA: Is there a single defining lyric, or maybe song on the album that you think really captures the heart of what 444 is about?
CHAUFFE: That is so hard. I think it's hard to sum it up into one little thesis statement, given that it's part of a project that spans so much breadth and so much time and so much distance in my life. The first thing that comes to mind is in “Drive & Drive,” the lyric, "people are so generous, it's true, people are kind, and I can count on change — its constancy, its malleable dependency." The through line in this whole body of work is that everything about making music, releasing music, touring music, and even sometimes writing music, depends on generosity and kindness and patience, both with myself and other people. Also, the cliché of the only constant being change. That feels like a summation, in a way, of the entire project. It's got this kind of hopeful flavor to it. I feel like some of the songs are complaining, but also some of the songs are really tender love songs, and some of the songs are just about shared struggle. I feel like when you put it all in a blender and pour it out, it's really, really dependent on hope. It's trying to push hope as the heart.
LUNA: I also love that you ended the album with a thank you card to the band. I love, based on the sentiment you just shared, that it brings it all together. It's about the people around you.
CHAUFFE: Yeah. I mean, to that end, you could also say that another line that sums up the whole thing is the very last line of the album: "I don't think I know how to thank you for what you have given me – clock in, drive safe, I'll see you soon, and you'll see me too." That was part of the May song-a-day that was written in 2023 after a gig that we played. It just kind of fell out at 2:00am on my porch, because I was reflecting on how much it's meant to me, how honored I feel by all of the time and effort and care that the band gives each other and gives to me. It's the cherry on top of the whole thing. I think that song has made all of us cry at one point or another. And it may have been the first one we recorded in that session, if I remember correctly, either the first or the second. We kind of set the tone for the whole recording by starting with that very tender gratitude song. It's a love song for the band. What better way to end the record?
LUNA: On the topic of your songwriting, I noticed that you never have a traditional way of structuring your songs. Is that intentional? Do you have a specific approach to your songwriting in terms of how you want a song to be structured?
CHAUFFE: I feel like I'm not too conscious when I'm writing and trying to do some kind of non-traditional song structure, it's more of just following what feels intuitive and interesting to me. I feel like I typically err on the side of prose, so it doesn't feel like things need repeating or a narrative arc. Sometimes I feel like focusing on repeating lines like a chorus is too on the nose for the point that I'm trying to make or the point I don't realize that I'm making yet. It feels more open to interpretation by letting the song just breathe and kind of ebb and flow in whatever direction it naturally wants to. But it's something that I also want to give myself the ability to challenge and box myself in a little bit more in terms of structure, and see what it feels like to have verse, chorus, verse, chorus, with the bridge in there somewhere, you know. I just think about Sheryl Crow and how that song, “If It Makes You Happy,” is one of the greatest songs of all time. That's like the perfect example of just like a pristine pop structure. I'm kind of long-winded, as you've probably noticed, so I think [with] the songs not being short and sweet or succinct about anything, the thread unravels in a way that doesn't beg for repeating or for defined structure. I'm all about breaking down the boxes that we try to put ourselves into.
LUNA: You've mentioned your song-a-day-for-a-month project, which is the whole basis of this album. Were you planning on making an album like this for a while? And how did you choose which songs made it on this album?
CHAUFFE: I was not planning on making a song-a-day compilation album until the last minute. It was more out of just wanting to record something with the band, our Chicago band, before I moved away last November. It was mostly out of necessity that the idea even came about because we hadn't, as a band, arranged a lot of my newer songs, and a lot of the songs we had been playing were things that were already released. But I was like, well, we're playing a lot of previously released song-a-day things, and those are all basically demos. It felt just like an opportunity to take our versions of those songs and then kind of expand upon that. It just was the obvious answer for wanting to get our band documented before I skipped town. We recorded them less than a week before I left town. The songs were chosen, like I said, in part, from the ones that we had chosen to arrange live already and had been playing at shows. And those were chosen by what was interesting to each band member, or collectively. I feel really privileged to have a band who, I guess it goes without saying, likes my music. They like the songs that I write. So when they all joined, when we became this version of hemlock, they came with familiarity of a lot of those songs. We all just kind of picked out the ones we liked from the hundreds that existed. And there's plenty more to potentially do another kind of compilation album from in the future, which I think is a goal now for us.
LUNA: I would love to know what you're currently listening to. What have been your recent favorite artists or albums?
CHAUFFE: I'm on the road right now with Allegra Krieger and Greg Mendez. Greg's recent Alone EP and Allegra's recent album have been just playing in my head non-stop from hearing the sets. Also following that kind of trend, Merce Lemon's album, Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild. This whole year of touring began on a Merce Lemon tour with The Slaps, and that was in celebration of the This is My First Day at Drawing album, and that album has been a steady companion for me. It's the CD that stays in my CD player. And then there's more well-known, just truly famous artists that are huge inspirations to me, like Lucinda Williams. Like I said, Sheryl Crow is more of my summertime vibe. We're getting into autumn now, so I'll probably shelf that. Babehoven, I'm always listening to them. Dear Nora. I feel very privileged to be in a community that is so full of songwriters that just inspire me and keep my jaw on the floor. There's this band from Atlanta too, called Psaltery. They played one of my favorite sets of this past year when I saw them in August, and I've been bumping those live sets on YouTube, [as well as] their album that came out this year a lot. Yeah, that's some of what I've been spinning but I also do a lot of listening to silence on the road. I think that's underrated.
LUNA: Is there someone who's super underrated that you just feel deserves to be so much more loved than they currently are?
CHAUFFE: Lady Queen Paradise. That's my friend Clara. We went on tour together last summer, and I think that their songs are these distilled moments of divinity and clarity and honesty. They're just astounding as a person and as a songwriter, I cannot recommend Lady Queen Paradise enough. They're based out of Seattle right now. Definitely a hidden gem, a real treasure.
LUNA: What are your top three albums of all time?
CHAUFFE: Ok. Top all-time constant companion albums, I think: Thx by Lomelda, The Roches self-titled, and ANTI by Rihanna. They are “top” as in they’ve been there for me consistently for the longest amount of time. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams gets an honorable mention because she’s a hero to me, but her music found me some years a little later than those albums did.
LUNA: Do you have any upcoming plans or projects, or are you just on the road for now?
CHAUFFE: In this transition from fall into winter, I’ve been slowing down, at least in my driving and touring routine. I’ve been feeling towards the end of my rope and a little exhausted, honestly, over a year deep into this permatour journey now. After playing a few dates with Allegra and Greg, I trekked back down southward to finish out the year, besides the upcoming grand finale of our full band album release show in Chicago on 12/12 at Constellation, with Tenci. Then in the new year, for all of February I’ll be on tour with The Slaps, celebrating our own new full-length releases. I tend to always have something up my sleeve in terms of putting out more music, and just recorded another song-a-day this November, which will be out soon enough, before 2024 is over. Then there’s more recordings to pull off the shelf in the coming year, and surely some more shows in the other band I’m in, Little Mazarn. Plenty to look forward to.
