Interview
Consenses Interview with Sally Taylor:
What was your mood the day you got this picture? What were you feeling about the task of creating a song from an image? The project kicked in when I had just finished an intensely busy semester and was looking at an equally busy summer of work. I welcomed a creative project as a breath of fresh air, and liked the idea of the multi-media collaboration. But I was also, frankly, exhausted and worried.
What was your first thought or guy reaction to seeing this picture? What thought/sound/memory/lyric came first? I was struck by the visual echoes in the photograph – the swoop of the ropes, the rhythm of the pilings retreating in the distance – the time of day. It made me think of arrival and departure at once.
Was there a specific place in the image you were drawn to? There was no one focal point – rather a kind of counterpoint between the ship and pier which certainly wound up reflecting in the song.
How did you use the image to create this song? (aka. Did you pin it up in your studio? Only look at it briefly? etc) I looked at it intensely for one session while free associating some written material – then in a second session relied largely on memory.
What does your song mean to you? Tell me the story about it’s meaning?Curiously, the song and photograph became metaphorical to me about some of the very responsibilities that made doing the project a bit difficult.
Did you enjoy this project? Yes – but to do the project to my satisfaction was a surprisingly intense effort – probably just my process weirdness.
