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» member profile:
phenix records
» genre:
Rock >
Rock Unplugged
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Hemlock Smith
» label: unsigned
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Hemlock Smith
Julie
uploaded on
12/31/06 @ 07:37 AM
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viewed
2,164 times
duration
04:51
category
Music
description
Clip of the title 'Julie'
available on 'Umbrella Fitz & Gerald' album.
available on 'Umbrella Fitz & Gerald' album.
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Michael Frei (Songs and Vocals):
Born in 1966 in the German part of Switzerland, he discovers the French language at the age of 10 when his family moves to Montreux.
An only and solitary child, he reads and writes a lot. The shock of a new culture only increases his feeling to be « different » from the other kids, and so he tries to express his alienation through poems and songs. Maybe because none of the two languages he’s confronted with is really his own, he naturally chooses English when he starts to write pop tunes.
Since 1984, he’s played in a bunch of rock bands, first as a drummer and then, unavoidably, as a singer.
His first serious project, KÃ FKÃ CiTy, is born in 1989 when he meets Jacques Bevilacqua, the guitarist who has been with him ever since. The band makes two records, tours in Germany and Switzerland and splits in 1994.
He then starts to write words for other artists, tries to make a living and, in 1998, forms another band (Greenhouse Effect) that is still active today. Hemlock Smith is his solo project, planned for a long time.
The first album, released in 2002, is a collection of weird pop songs, built upon loops and enriched with ambient sounds and noises.
The new record though, scheduled for a 2006 release, is an attempt to play simple songs in a simple fashion, to capture the groove and magic of a recording session, often on the first take. It was mostly recorded over a 5-day period and embraces new influences, like folk, soul and jazz, that hadn’t been apparent in his music before…
He lives in Lausanne, Switzerland, is married and father of two.
Born in 1966 in the German part of Switzerland, he discovers the French language at the age of 10 when his family moves to Montreux.
An only and solitary child, he reads and writes a lot. The shock of a new culture only increases his feeling to be « different » from the other kids, and so he tries to express his alienation through poems and songs. Maybe because none of the two languages he’s confronted with is really his own, he naturally chooses English when he starts to write pop tunes.
Since 1984, he’s played in a bunch of rock bands, first as a drummer and then, unavoidably, as a singer.
His first serious project, KÃ FKÃ CiTy, is born in 1989 when he meets Jacques Bevilacqua, the guitarist who has been with him ever since. The band makes two records, tours in Germany and Switzerland and splits in 1994.
He then starts to write words for other artists, tries to make a living and, in 1998, forms another band (Greenhouse Effect) that is still active today. Hemlock Smith is his solo project, planned for a long time.
The first album, released in 2002, is a collection of weird pop songs, built upon loops and enriched with ambient sounds and noises.
The new record though, scheduled for a 2006 release, is an attempt to play simple songs in a simple fashion, to capture the groove and magic of a recording session, often on the first take. It was mostly recorded over a 5-day period and embraces new influences, like folk, soul and jazz, that hadn’t been apparent in his music before…
He lives in Lausanne, Switzerland, is married and father of two.
Why this name?
“My songs are often very bitter and sad, so “hemlockâ€쳌 seemed to be a good word. As I am also a secret person, I was looking for something that would express that my emotions are well guarded and not often allowed to get out in the open. “Locksmithâ€쳌 came to mind and the name of the project is a (safe?) combination of those two words.â€쳌
Do you play live?
Yes... mostly in Europe... Belgium, Switzerland...
but we'd like to play anywhere...
but we'd like to play anywhere...
How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
By allowing bands like us to make their songs
available to the public.
available to the public.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
Well... not any contract...
Band History:
Hemlock Smith is the project of singer/songwriter Michael Frei, who is currently living in Lausanne, Switzerland. Somewhere between rock, folk, pop and jazz, he tells some dark tales, but with the distance of irony and the weary warmth of a man who has lived them. His soft voice is a song of night, sometimes just a murmur, a relic from a distant dream.
After a first record (A secret life, 2002) , which has gathered wide critical acclaim and has been distributed in Europe and South America, the long wait is now being justified by the arrival of the second album, « Umbrella Fitz & Gerald » (to be released in September, in Switzerland and Benelux), because it’s a small treasure box full of odd pop songs, a mixture between methodical construction and orchestrated hazard.
Recorded almost totally live by a quartet with a jazz and pop focus, several added elements (like a string quartet or a blues dobro) make this a very personal, diverse and original experience. The record has been mixed in Los Angeles (by Husky Höskulds, who has worked with Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello, Solomon Burke, among others…) and masterised in Paris to guarantee optimal sound quality, dynamic and width.
In concert, Hemlock Smith is a quartet, also featuring Jacques Bevilacqua (guitar), Fabrizio Di Donato (keyboards, vocals) and Gérald Rochat (drums), and they always seem to manage a balance between subdued poetry and absolute rage. The music gains added strength through images from swiss creators and moviemakers that are projected simultaneously, creating a very particular universe.
After a first record (A secret life, 2002) , which has gathered wide critical acclaim and has been distributed in Europe and South America, the long wait is now being justified by the arrival of the second album, « Umbrella Fitz & Gerald » (to be released in September, in Switzerland and Benelux), because it’s a small treasure box full of odd pop songs, a mixture between methodical construction and orchestrated hazard.
Recorded almost totally live by a quartet with a jazz and pop focus, several added elements (like a string quartet or a blues dobro) make this a very personal, diverse and original experience. The record has been mixed in Los Angeles (by Husky Höskulds, who has worked with Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello, Solomon Burke, among others…) and masterised in Paris to guarantee optimal sound quality, dynamic and width.
In concert, Hemlock Smith is a quartet, also featuring Jacques Bevilacqua (guitar), Fabrizio Di Donato (keyboards, vocals) and Gérald Rochat (drums), and they always seem to manage a balance between subdued poetry and absolute rage. The music gains added strength through images from swiss creators and moviemakers that are projected simultaneously, creating a very particular universe.
Your influences?
Mark Hollis, Talk Talk, J.J.Cale, Tom Waits, Talking Heads, ...
Favorite spot?
Lake Geneva... what else ?
Equipment used:
Guitars, keyboards, drums and vocals
Anything else...?
Visit our site : www.hemlocksmith.ch
Leave a comment here and on our myspace :
www.myspace.com/hemlocksmith
Leave a comment here and on our myspace :
www.myspace.com/hemlocksmith