musical trades (aka surviving quarantine)

I have found the perfect way (at least for me) to motivate myself creatively during quarantine. As I mentioned in my previous post, the first month was very hard for me, as I believe it was for a lot of other people. Perhaps it’s still hard. And I’m not saying I don’t still have moments of frustration with being stuck at home most of the time and not being able to see my friends or PERFORM in venues with actual audiences… But I have begun to be creatively productive in a way that I haven’t been in a long time (maybe since grad school at CalArts?) because of this new project I’ve started.

It’s called - Musical Trades! I was at first calling it “Musical Trades with Molly”, but that sounded a bit silly to me, so I took that last part out. Basically, this is what it entails: I reach out to a musician friend (or just someone I admire musically even if I don’t know them) and ask if they are willing to do a musical trade with me. They usually say “what does that mean?” and I explain that we’ll each record a new musical idea - it can be as composed or improvised as we want - and send the recording to each other. Then, we’ll record on top of each other’s recording, adding to the song. The songs can be done at this point, OR we can keep passing them back and forth, adding more ideas and adjusting the piece as we see fit. The end result is two brand new pieces that we wrote together. I also ask each of my collaborators to make a video of them recording the song, and I do the same, and my husband Pete helps me edit them into a music video! Sometimes we get carried away and the video turns into something more involved than that… In fact here’s one from my first release of this project that is an example of that:

This one was a collaboration with guitarist Alkis Nicolaides, and the video ended up being a really fun performance art piece that I performed in my living room - I listened to the recording of the piece Alkis and I made together on repeat for FOUR hours while collaging. The music informed the collage, and the end result was an ekphrasis of the music itself. To view the final collages, go to my Instagram @mollybutterfly.

I just finished a collaboration with a Hello Forever band member of mine, Joey Briggs, and I’m really excited about it! We just released the first of the two tracks today, on SoundCloud and YouTube. It’s called “summer dream”, and I’m hoping it will give people some happy feelings right now. This track was a result of Joey making a bed of lovely guitar sounds and claps and such, and then me writing a melody and lyrics to go on top of it. The lyrics were inspired by my favorite part of my morning routine - sitting outside and basking in the sun on my new chaise lounge chair. I have been really appreciating the outdoors lately. Pete and I did a little photo shoot to go with this video, which was also fun. Here’s a few photos from that:

I have three other people I’m working on collaborations with right now - that sounds overwhelming, but it’s weirdly not! I have spaced them out a bit with only a little overlap. And it keeps me making music with people every day, even though it’s remotely. I realized I was really missing making music with others during that first month of quarantine… I had gone from doing that pretty much every day to not at all. This project doesn’t give me the same feeling as making music in a physical space with others, but it does help me cope with this strange situation.

How are you finding ways to cope? Would love to hear what others are doing (even if you’re not a musician) below in the comments.

Thanks for reading :)

Molly

Sweet Land - an opera that erases itself, but didn't let Corona Virus erase it

It has been 44 days since I went into quarantine (with the rest of Los Angeles), and the same amount of days since I’ve been able to perform in the way that I’m used to (for an audience in a real-life venue). I have had a lot of ups and downs (definitely more downs) since March 14th, but I’m adjusting and am finally able to reflect a bit on the project I was so engulfed in leading up to quarantine.

Photo by Pete Agraan

The process of creating Sweet Land in rehearsals was chaotic, creative, uplifting and tiring. The performers, along with directors Yuval Sharon and Cannupa Hanska Luger and composers Du Yun and Raven Chacon were basically workshopping the piece in rehearsal and creating it from scratch. Blocking and music changed daily in rehearsal, and if you missed one (I think I only had to miss one rehearsal), you came back and had to learn a section over again because of the recent changes. This process could be frustrating at times but was also extremely rewarding because of how deeply involved I felt with the creation of this brand new opera. I really enjoyed being in the room while Yuval and Cannupa went back and forth about what a particular passage of the libretto (written by Aja Couchois Duncan and Douglas Kearney) should really mean and how it should be portrayed in the blocking. I loved seeing Du Yun and Raven frantically rewriting an orchestration or rethinking a vocal passage so that it would fit with the new blocking. I learned so much from being a witness to this process. As far as my roles went, I was lucky enough to be involved in almost every scene in the opera in some way. I was cast as Scribe, a character from the “Train” scenes, and was to split that role with an incredible performer - Peabody Southwell. I was also cast as Rosa, a character only present in the final scene, during which she told the tragic story of her murder through a beautiful aria written by Du Yun. Last, but not least, I was a member of the ensemble in the “Feast” scenes. The original plan was that I’d be switching from “Feast” to “Train” (these are the two tracks in the opera, which occurred in different spaces - the audience split up and got different experiences depending on their track) halfway through the performance schedule. However, our schedule was cut short by COVID 19, and I did not end up getting to perform in the “Train” track as Scribe, even though I prepared and rehearsed the role. This was a bit of a blow for me, but again, after having time to adjust and reflect, I am left without bitterness about this, and only gratitude for the experience I did have performing in the “Feast” track and as Rosa in the final scene in every show. I felt deeply connected to those two characters.

Photo by Pete Agraan

In “Feast”, I was a greedy, hungry and desperate arrival, waiting impatiently to be fed by the hosts. The two scenes were immersive, both for the performers and audience. In the first scene, audience members sat across the table from me, and during each performance, I stared them down, communicating my desperation and hunger with them, unable to consume the bounty in front of me. Instead, I had to sit through an intense ceremony that I didn’t understand, and then cringe with horror when one of the other arrivals, “Jimmy Gin”, stood up and said things that angered and offended the hosts, making it increasingly less likely that I’d be given any food. I was so HUNGRY!

Photo by Pete Agraan

The second scene was different - I could hardly see due to the white bag over my head. I was no longer hungry, but the greed and entitlement to my character was so strong that I continued to eat, filling my plate whenever it was empty, on repeat. On the table in front of me, just beyond my plate, was the last remaining host, “Makwa”, writhing and gasping and trying to escape her impending marriage to Jimmy Gin.

In the closing scene, while performing the “Rosa” aria, I was surrounded by three women who really became my sisters by the end of the show. We all had different stories to tell, but the intensity with which we all felt for our characters permeated the room, and we fed off of each other’s performances. During this ending scene, we were separate from the audience, unseen ghosts, singing into microphones with our voices projected out to the audience who sat on bleachers outside, watching the words of our stories projected on billboards and bridges in the background. Each night, I felt that I learned more about my character through the performance. Rosa was an indentured servant who was purchased for a modest price, and eventually brutally murdered by her master, Mrs. Basset, with a broom, and left to rot in a dumpster. Though the story is so extreme that it was hard to find something to relate to, I felt close to Rosa through her fragility and anger that was expressed brilliantly through Du Yun’s writing. I was given permission to do my own thing with the piece vocally, and my performance morphed throughout the run of the show as I grew closer to the character. I still feel sad and angry when I think of the stories of the women depicted in the final scene, especially because I know that there have been many women throughout history who’ve been treated horribly. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to communicate one of those stories through Sweet Land.

Photographed at Sweet Land’s opening night reception with composer Du Yun (center) and performer Carmina Escobar, who played Coyote (left). Photographer unknown

Right before the quarantine began, we were able to spend a day filming all of Sweet Land, so that the opera can live on beyond just our memories and the myriad of great reviews. It’s good that we did, because we were then shut down (just as all other performance projects were in Los Angeles) and are now able to offer a streamed version of the show to those who were planning to come see it in person! It’s a different experience to watch it on a screen rather than in person, of course, but I think the story was communicated beautifully through the film, and that’s what counts. You can stream it here: stream.sweetlandopera.com for just $14.99 and you’ll be able to watch both tracks of the opera. I hope that anyone who reads this takes the time to stream the show, because The Industry needs the support in order to be able to keep creating important and innovative art.

Photo by Pete Agraan

Thanks for reading about my experience in this production. Hope you’re all healthy and safe during this insane time in the world.

REVIEWS OF SWEET LAND

NY Times:

An Opera about Colonialism - Joshua Barone

Wall Street Journal:

A Journey Through History - Heidi Walesman

LA Times:

Triumphantly moves online - Mark Swed

Sweet Land's striking visuals

'Sweet Land' astonishes - Mark Swed

Yuval Sharon and The Industry

LA Weekly:

Unmanifests Destiny

Opera Wire:

A Mystifying Work - Gordon Williams

*all photos above by Pete Agraan, unless otherwise noted

N . E . O .

The N.E.O. (New Explorative Oratorio) Voice Festival was so much more fulfilling and creative life-giving for me than I ever could have imagined. To be honest, I expected I wouldn’t be exploring a lot of new concepts, as the directors of the festival are my dear friends and collaborators already, and I thought I knew most of the tricks up their sleeves. I thought wrong. David Harris, Laurel Irene, and Fahad Siadat brought so many insightful ideas and exercises for us to play with as festival participants. Every morning, we’d start with an exploration into our minds, and then into the vocal sounds we could make together. I had one of my most memorable musical experiences I’ve ever had on the first day that we did that. It was like everyone in the room was as open to receiving each other’s sounds as they possibly could be, and in turn able to offer their own sounds freely and sensitively. We created something beautiful in that moment. Of course, we went about 15 minutes longer than was intended, so the rest of the day had to be slightly pushed back. It was worth it, though. The days were long and full of a lot of education and intense focus, but I felt fully engaged throughout. I couldn’t believe how much singing I was doing - and this festival overlapped with the end of hell prepared! Somehow, on the Wednesday of the festival, I was able to pull off singing in all three of the ensembles that performed in the concert that night - C3LA, HEX and the FCCLA octet Laude.

I was a composer fellow at this festival, which is still amazing to me. It was only a few years ago that I started feeling comfortable calling myself a composer. I also performed a lot at the festival, of course, as all the composers did, but I’m really proud of the piece I wrote that became part of the large work we created at the festival called “The Origins of Creativity”. My piece was called “You Told”, and it featured my friend David Saldaña as the soloist - I worked one on one with him during the week developing gesture work that he could do as part of the performance. Luckily, he has a lot of dance experience, and was able to juggle the challenging vocal solo with the movement! This was my first time writing for men’s chorus and organ, and it was a very fun challenge. You’ll notice that I’m singing with the men as well - all the composers were meant to sing on their own pieces so they could be there to workshop it with the singers during rehearsals.  Here is a video of the piece - it’s the first time I’m sharing it! Hope you enjoy.

The thing that really affected me more than anything in this week-long festival was not the insane amount of vocal exploration, the amazing performances I got to witness, or the composing prowess of my fellow, uh, fellows - it was the human connections I made with people from around the country and world. I made new friendships that I learned so much from in such a short amount of time! It’s amazing what improvising and singing and creating can do to form a deep bond between people. I’m so thankful for this experience, and I can’t wait for the next opportunity I have to work with (or just hang out with) these wonderful people!

Lastly, here’s the video Laurel made that sums up the entire festival experience.. You’ll hear my voice quite a bit throughout! You’ll also notice that I become quite a bit taller during a specific sequence of the video… :)

Some links to just a few of the friends I made (their music):

Nyokabi Kariuki

Leah Ofman

Claudia Hinsdale

Sarah Grace Graves

hell prepared - a kabbalistic ritual exorcism

I’m deep in rehearsals for an experimental theatre piece called hell prepared, produced by theatre dybbuk. I get to sing both improvised and written music, act, and perform shadow movement with a wonderful cast of both new and old friends. The experience has been intense and exciting, because the work is incredibly dense. I’m still not fully able to explain all the elements of the piece, but it explores a relationship between a Rabbi and his wife, and their confrontation with the spirit of their past and their fear of the future of their congregation. It is inspired by a dramatic poem called "Tofteh Arukh," written in the 17th century from within the Jewish ghettos of Italy by rabbi, poet, and mystic Moses ben Mordecai Zacuto. The entire score of the piece is vocal, which is really exciting for me. It’s composed by my friend Fahad Siadat (awesome human who is a great composer and performer), in collaboration with Michael Skloff (he wrote the theme song to Friends!). I’m very excited to share it with everyone - the first performance (of six) is on July 26th. Get tickets HERE.

Katy Cruel: A Play with Songs

I had such an amazing time acting and singing in Katy Cruel: A Play with Songs a couple weeks ago. I met some incredible people who are also amazing actors. It was my first time with speaking lines in a production since I was a teenager, but it was so much fun, and it just made me want to do so much more theater work.

I think we really brought the audience into the experience of the American Revolution from the perspective of these characters who were hiding out in the woods, trying to avoid the fighting and just to survive as best they could. O-Lan Jones, our director, was such a joy to work with. I’m hoping to do more work with Overtone Industries soon!