Abbey Blackwell’s new album, Big Big Motion, sounds straightforward at first, but at some point, a few songs in, it begins constricting like a warm, enveloping sonic catharsis. She has played bass for loads of great artists, but now at the front of her own band (she worked with Ronan Delisle, Evan Woodle, Stephen Moore, and Trevor Spencer on Big Big Motion), her songs bloom into something special and memorable.
Big Big Motion will be out on September 13. Pre-order it HERE (including a special native grass & wildflower seed mix edition that includes a digital download!).
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I always like to start at the beginning. What are some of your earliest memories related to music and sound? Was there a lot of music around when you were growing up?
My dad plays guitar and sings, so the country and rock ‘n’ roll classics were always floating around, either being played by him or on the stereo. I distinctly remember my sister and I would spin around in circles in the living room to particularly lively songs on the stereo and then collapse on the floor, laughing.
What prompted you to pick up an instrument and start playing? You play a lot of instruments, so I’m really curious what was your first?
I was, as many kids are, highly encouraged to play piano at a young age. I think I started around 5 and took lessons for a couple years but only did the bare minimum. I distinctly remember being very scared for the concerts, dressed in a frilly dress, hoping I wouldn’t play a wrong note, knowing that I would.
I was very lucky and went to schools that had very strong music programs, so many kids around me were playing music. If it wasn’t the “cool” thing to do (I am a proud orchestra dork), at least it was what a lot of kids did. In 4th grade, band was an option, so I picked up flute since it had a pretty sound and you held it all weird out to the side. I think around this time I started playing guitar, primarily learning Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and, most importantly, Good Charlotte songs via tab in my room. But when in 6th grade my band teacher asked if anyone wanted to play bass in the jazz band after school, I thought, “Sure, why not? My dad can teach me.” So I raised my hand and that was that. I had a very cool bright blue electric bass from Kennelly Keys. The last phase began in 8th grade, when I found out that to be in the jazz band in high school you had to be in the orchestra, and to be in the orchestra you had to play the double bass. Thus began my orchestra journey which was my main focus through undergrad.
When did you start writing your own songs? Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?
I started by writing instrumental music during my Master’s program around 2018. I had never written anything before then apart from basslines for already-written songs, and I had believed that it was not my lot in life to compose. But being back in school and playing with top-notch musicians pushed me to noodle a bit, eventually writing a bunch of songs that I played with my instrumental trio Rae. Around that time I found my acoustic guitar and started playing around, sitting in the backyard in the sun type of thing. I don’t remember exactly the first song I wrote, but the first couple were kind of twangy. I didn’t have much history of listening to songwriters in the way that I do now, so “country” was a sound that I could latch onto easily and make something that fit. I think I played one show with some of those songs pre-pandemic, and I’m glad because they aren’t very good!
So you’ve got a new record coming out, Big Big Motion. It’s your first record where you’ve combined a full band and your songwriting like this. How did this process evolve and what inspired you to take this approach for this record?
Well looking back at my song notebooks and calendars, from the end of 2021 into mid-2022, I think I hardly touched the guitar due to other bands’ tours and recording, plus the end of a tumultuous relationship that zapped creativity. But at the end of it, I came out strummin’. Almost all the songs I wrote after that point for about a year were strummy with a beat of sorts, unlike the finger-picking approach I had leaned on previously. I didn’t have the full-band sound in my head for these songs right out of the gate, but after a few in a row that were strummy with lil hits n stops, I started to get the picture.
Speaking of the band – can you talk a little about the band members, how you came to work with them on this record, and generally what the experience was like recording these songs with them?
I knew right from the start that I wanted to work with the guys who made the Rae record with me. I’ve played with Evan Woodle (drums) and Ronan Delisle (guitar) for years and they have such an intuitive way of playing and interpreting fairly bare-bones ideas that it’s always so easy and inspiring to work with them. We had one long rehearsal I believe, trying out different approaches to the songs, expanding sections, adding breaks, etc, and then headed into the studio to record with Trevor Spencer, who also engineered the Rae record. I love working with Trevor because he’s an agile producer who can gently steer you in the right direction. We tracked all of the full band songs together live in a day or two and then I brought Stephen Moore in to add keys and some sneaky trombone. Once again, Stephen is a masterful musician for whom I can just let the tape roll and he will make something magical happen.
What surprised you or was unexpected about working on these songs in this way?
Maybe I wasn’t surprised, but I did enjoy letting others take the reins at times, going with their ideas to fill out a section that I had allowed to stay too static or the inverse. I generally have a particular sound in mind when writing i.e. all of the background instruments on My Maze. Especially after I’ve sat with a song for as much as a year before going into the studio, I’ve heard it a certain way for so long. It’s important to let go of what I had expected it to become or even how I had wanted it to be, allowing for something even better to happen.
How did ‘time’ become a thematic throughline on the record?
I hate to say it but I’m obsessed with time, and it keeps cropping up everywhere. I keep leaving it places and can’t remember where I’ve put it. But really, this record was written mostly on tour or in the brief windows of being home in 2022. I was painfully aware of how quickly a week, an hour, a day whispers by without much attention being paid to it. Writing on the road was an attempt at taking control of my time, to show myself that I had made some contribution, if only to my notebook.
Is there a particular story behind the name, Big Big Motion? I can’t explain why, but the more I listen to the record, the more the title makes sense to me.
That makes me happy to hear! There isn’t a story per se, but there is a track called “Big Motion” on there — barely a song, hardly over a minute — which I wrote on an off day on tour in the Texas desert. One feels so small out there on the dusty plains, nothing to look at except shades of rock and cactuses. Driving through the desert, going show to show, even just living all felt like one big circular movement, not really making headway, just moving along. One foot in front of the other. I think the title and the whole record are a reflection of how small it all seems, juxtaposed against the big big motion of time – against the backdrop of the hum of the planets.
What were some of the biggest challenges you dealt with in writing and making this record?
Tracking was a blast, but knowing when the mix and master were done was tough. The levels and blend could always be tweaked a bit more to make things settle a bit better, but at a certain point I stopped asking for revisions and decided what we had was what needed to happen.
Do you have any shows/tours planned around the album with the full band? What’s your favorite thing about playing these songs live?
Fun fact: We haven’t played these songs live outside of recording! Though when we were playing them in the studio, it was such a joy to feel the molten energy that those guys bring to the music. We have an album release show on 8/28 at The Sunset Tavern in Seattle which I am very excited for! I’ve never fronted a rock-ish band before so it will be a party to be sure. I have some solo sets in Alaska in September and a couple in Seattle but solo (scope my website for more info on shows). Ronan lives in LA while the rest are in Seattle, so it’s a bit of a rigamarole to get the band going, but I plan on doing a West Coast tour early next year with the whole crew, so keep your eyes peeled!
To close, as always…what are some of your favorite sounds in the world?
Big big question! It always seems to come back to natural world sounds: trees creaking in the wind, hummingbird “ts ts” -ing, birds chirping at 4:30 (especially the Swainson’s thrush — what goes on inside that bird?!). But what always makes me smile are the unplanned, unreplicatable, perfectly timed chimes, beeps, or words that happen in tune with a song or a phrase. A little serendipity goes a long way for me.
Foxy Digitalis depends on our awesome readers to keep things rolling. Pledge your support today via our Patreon or subscribe to The Jewel Garden. You can also make a one-time donation via Ko-fi.
Thanks so much for posting this! I loved her bass playing with Alvvays, just read that she’s no longer with the band. But it’s great to discover her solo work – such a distinctive sensibility.
A great interview, very inspiring ! Abbey Blackwell is a great person and a great musician, I can’t wait to listen to her album!