http://mierichardson.com/

One of my closet friends and longtime collaborators, Mandy...

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:39:00 -0400

One of my closet friends and longtime collaborators, Mandy Mandelstein visited me in Boston a few weeks ago, and while she was there she shot a short video documenting some of the work that has gone into my new album The Protector.

The album will be released in 3 parts, and the first part Wicked Ways will finally be arriving in June! Check out this cool little video to hear a sneak peek of one of the tracks, as well as get a behind the scenes look at what has been happening!

Thanks to Mandy and Hooplaha.com for created this video and supporting my project! :)

Becoming The Protector - Episode IV

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:12:00 -0500

I present to the world “Becoming The Protector - Episode 4”. This is the biggest and best-est video entry yet.

I originally planned to release 4 new entries, but in a fit of fun and determination decided to group the last 5 months into 1 new entry, and BOY IS IT HOT!

You’ll see footage from the Mietown Motown sessions, some footage from my “Evening of Fear” showcase, plus a bunch of footage from our last two studio sessions recording the Wicked Ways EP!

Watch it now, and get excited ‘cos I’ve got plenty hot stuff on the way!

A Photo From Last Night's Studio Rendezvous

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:02:04 -0500

Studio success last night! “Magic” sounds incredible, and we’ve got some great ideas for what’s to come next week. Including kazoos. I’ll be posting some video updates super duper soon.

Back In The Studio Tonight!

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:34:39 -0500

Tonight we are going back into the studio to continue work on the first “Protector EP”. It is called “Wicked Ways”. The recent decision to release the album in two parts means I will able to share some of this fun whimsical-discolectrik-circus-pop with the world even sooner! I’m getting super excited. Tonight we are working out some bits on two nearly completed tunes called “Magic” and “Kerosene”. “Magic” is looking like the first choice for a single at this point! It’s a fun quirky pop song that’s a little bit carnivale.

In the word of updates, I will posting 4, yes FOUR new Becoming The Protector video diary entries within the next two weeks. A breakdown of each is below:

Episode 4 - Footage and Material from the Orchestral Mietown Motown project I did with Paul Dougherty back in November.

Episode 5 - Footage and a live performance from my Evening Of Fear showcase in Austin, TX that happened back in December.

Episode 6 - Lots of footage that I will be taking TONIGHT at the studio while we bring “Magic” and “Kerosene” to life!

& Episode 7 - Even more studio footage from the session will be holding next week as we continue recording the “Wicked Ways EP”.

Lots of new exciting stuff coming up, and the new tunes are right around the corner! I’m aiming for a May release here in Boston, with a little release and listening party in Austin, TX sometime before I may the big leap into MARRIAGE in June!

Stay in tune for tons of awesome stuff!

A Decision Regarding The New Album

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:57:00 -0500

After careful consideration, I have come to a new decision regarding the way in which I will be executing and releasing the music from my current project “The Protector”.

About 8 months ago, I was ready to release an EP of sketches from the project called “Prophets Become Protectors”; however, I ultimately decided to shelf that idea and instead put my focus into working to discover the sound for the album. This task proved to be much more difficult than I expected. “The Prophecy” was easy, it all came so quickly, but this project wasn’t clicking quite yet.

Upon arriving back to Berklee in last August, I began to make plans to do a live orchestral session project with a very talented friend of mine. Our plan was to go into a studio for a full 12 hour day and knock out 2 songs from the album with a full orchestra. This project did indeed happen, and it is still taking shape for a release of it’s own.

My more recent revelations are the ones that have led me to a decision about how to record and release this album.

In December, I played a show where I played through the music of “The Protector” in its tracklisted order - Just myself and a piano - solo. To say this show went well would be an understatement. The reaction I received for days to come after the show was completely uplifting and exciting. The friends and listeners who came seemed to be just as excited about the music as I had been while writing it - It really did help breathe life into the project when I was beginning to doubt it’s viability.

So now in the last 5 days, after careful thinking, I have come to yet another decision about this release that will wipe out all previous plans.

“The Protector” is no longer an album - It is instead a collection of two or three EPs. In the end I may release them as the intended whole, but for now I will focus on them in groups. In the last 2 days I have had a total burst of direction and mapped out nearly the whole entire first EP - Just in time for a studio day next week, where we will hopefully get 2 songs done.

So… Here’s the new plan. I’ve got a couple studio days coming up, and I’m working hard on finishing the bare bones before then. My plan for the next 3 months is to lock down 5 songs (which I have already chosen, and 1 of which is 80% complete) to release as “The Protector, Pt. I - Wicked Ways”.

The songs I have chosen for this EP I’m calling “Wicked Ways” embody some of the darkest moments within the songs of “The Protector”, and I thought it would be a great way to begin “the releasing” of the new material.

So, jump on board and get excited, because I intend to release some of this music I call “whimsipop” very very soon - In fact, I have decided to release the first single, “Magic“ a lot sooner than I thought I would be doing.

Check out the artwork for “Wicked Ways” up above, and stay in tune for release dates and a sneak peak video diary entry with lots of footage of what has been going on the last 3 months.

This is happening, for real.

Live Austin Show Dec. 30th

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:25:11 -0500

AN EVENING OF FEAR

D E C 3 0 T H 2 0 1 1

MIE’S HOME / ATX 8PM

b r i n g f r i e n d s

new album ‘n new music

The Solstice War Defined

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:30:20 -0500

A couple months back, I typed up a light overview of my trilogy project The Solstice War, and I thought it would be cool to share it here for anybody who may be interested in reading it.

Below are a couple excerpts from the write-up. If you’re interested in reading more, you can download the full pdf write-up below.

“The Solstice War is a musical journey in three installments that mirrors the maturity and creative processes. While the three installments are laden with concepts, morals, and messages; the ultimate purpose of each individual piece is to solely function as a musical album that can (and will most likely) be seen as a standalone work”

“The story of The Solstice War is told through the medium of traditional ABA’ sonata form : The Exposition (X), the Development (D), and the Recapitulative Reprieve (R). The creative process is executed through XDR, and the 3 chapters of the solstice war also each take on one part of the XDR form.”

“The Protector is the second installment of The Solstice War. It is to ultimately be presented as a 10 song album that represents the execution of the creative process; and, within war, the physical battle. The Protector takes on a heavier tone and statement than that of The Prophecy. While the music of The Protector will follow a story format in certain live performances (a follow up to it’s predecessor), the album also works as a standalone commentary on internal warfare. The Protector is a journey through fear, and how we battle and conquer all sorts of fear. This being so, each song on The Protector represents a different fear, as well as a relationship that most heavily reflects and relates to each fear.”

Download the full write-up here.

A Note About Oslo

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:48:00 -0500

A few weeks ago, I went into the studio to work on an incredible session with a full orchestra, recording two of the new songs from The Protector with my very good friend and extremely talented arranger, Paul Dougherty.

The week prior the session, I posted a write-up about one of the songs we’d be recording for the musicians I’d be woking with, as well as for friends to read. It’s kind of an in depth look at the sort of creative process I’ve been working with while writing the music for this upcoming album.

I thought it would be fun to post it here on the site for anybody who might be interested in reading up on it. So, with no further ado…

A Note About Oslo

So, in less than a week I will be spending a full 12 hour day at a studio here in Boston hashing out two tunes that have been put together in a collaborative project with a very talented arranger, and friend of mine, Paul Dougherty. This session is slightly experimental in the way it’s being run, but that is exactly the spirit I want to follow in recording the songs that will be part of my new album “The Protector”.

Under the directing of Paul, we will be recording two new songs (“Hello Apocalypse” and “Oslo”) with our own little orchestra; and we’re doing so with a bit of a motown spirit - It’s more like recording a live session - everybody recorded together. My current intention is to eventually release these two songs as a free EP. An adventure will ensue do doubt.

I thought, in preparation for our big day, that it would be interesting to post a little bit of backstory into the creative process I experienced while writing “Oslo”.

First and foremost, Oslo is not a love song. It is rather, a tragic love story.

I thought it would be interesting to set the story in Oslo, which is an incredibly urban and modern hub surrounded by the beauty of Scandinavian Nature. The Mountains. The Ocean. The perfect place for an urban American to travel to feel the familiarity of a big city, surrounded by something less familiar and slightly more “mythic”. And that ultimately became a direct reflection of the characters. An American man, entranced by a strange and beautiful Scandinavian woman.

But Oslo isn’t about them. It’s about spontaneity vs. order. And ultimately these two characters represent spontaneity and order. Her being spontaneity and him, order.

I have a strange relationship with spontaneity and order. I feel like my art and my craft require me to understand and utilize spontaneity in one sense, but in the other sense I don’t feel that I fully grasp it - and in many ways, reject it. I seem to be more driven by order. My morals, my faith, my everyday habits - all driven by unrelenting order. In a sense I think I fear spontaneity - and I think I fear it because it seems ultimately destructive. However, I also wonder if it’s possible that my life could one day crumble beneath me because I do not allow myself to leave behind my life of obstinate order to find the equilibrium of the two: The middle ground.

Musically, Oslo is a whirlwind of modal mixture. Major key ideas that either blink or swell with moments of minor tonality. Major tonality representing spontaneity, and minor representing order.

The song begins in a stable major key, but glimpses of minor moments become increasingly apparent as the musical story progresses. Spontaneity and order fighting each other to take lead.

It’s strange. I place more weight on order in my own everyday life, but I chose to represent it with minor key ideas. Why? I’m not fully sure. And looking back on it, I’m especially not sure why I did this, when I decided that my female character would drown herself in a final moment of major tonality.

I guess it’s because I didn’t want a suicidal death to decide the fate of the story for the listener. I instead, think that I wanted it to feel like one last grand gesture. And ultimately, I think a major key covers more ground in delivering a “big” finish. I wanted the finish to feel bewildering, maybe even saddening - I guess I wanted it to feel epic.

I’ve always been taken with epic stories. To me, epic stories come in two forms: Firstly, epic in the sense that the story is vast in terms of characters, it’s setting, and the mythology created to support the story; or secondly, epic in the sense that it revolves around a single idea that has several different things happening that resonate with a deeper meaning - a moral, an emotion, or an ideal.

Creating an epic story in a three and a half minute song form is difficult, so it only felt natural to go with the latter version of an epic story - and with that in mind, let the music represent the characters, emotions, and meaning.

The lyrics are simple, and they need to be. Giving too many details made the song too confusing. Trying to relay emotions through the characters ultimately made the song feel daunting and laborious.

So I went with a simple story. Man finds woman. Man spends summer with woman enraptured by desire. Man leaves woman but promises to return to her. Woman goes crazy alone and drowns herself. Simple indeed. But I still needed a few decent moments of small but specific lyric choices that would give the characters more depth and direction:

Her hair isn’t blonde. Her hair isn’t golden. It’s flaxen. A yellowed grey color with a translucent quality - Possibly noting she may be wise beyond her years - or maybe just lending a more mysteriously quality to her. Maybe even suggesting she could be an illusion.

They wake in the mornings surrounded by fog. A looming foreshadow of the Norse woman’s final demise.

The wind in the fall points him home.

The lyrics in the chorus change each time. I found my heart in Oslo. I left my heart in Oslo. I lost my heart in Oslo. On this note : He leaves her, but he losers her.

In my final thoughts I will return to the last moment of the song. A beautiful heartbroken woman submerging herself into the sea - to be swallowed in and carried away.

But I struggled with why she was ending her life. I’ve narrowed it down to two possible reasons:

Firstly, she is bewildered, and in a final act of spontaneity ends her life to end her pain.

Or secondly, she walks into the Sea (where they met) one last time, to wait for him in the afterlife.

I don’t want to decide. You can.

As far as spontaneity vs. order, all I can conclude is that I am uncertain if they can fully exist on the same plane. It’s push and pull - and in some cases one or the other. In my life at least.

I’m unsure if I’ll ever experience both equally. However, I can say that Oslo seems to mirror my own fears of what I could lose by continuously choosing order over spontaneity.

And ultimately all because I fear spontaneity.

Fear. Fear. Fear. We’re constantly surrounded by it.

- Mie, November 2011

The Lyrics

I’m from the South, where the sun always kisses your skin

When you open eyes in the morning

So I never thought I would fall in love by the Northern Sea,

But the waves seduced me

Down by the beach, on the docks, I saw her flaxen hair

As it danced in the wind

And then she turned, and she caught my eyes with her crystal gaze,

And called me to her

I found my heart in Oslo

By the ocean, off some broken road

She took my hand

Said “Darling stay, Don’t go”

We spent the summers entwined, alone on the briny beach

Greeted by foggy mornings

Then fall came along, and I felt the wind blowing West

Calling me back to my home

I left my heart in Oslo

By the ocean, off some broken road

I wiped her tears

Said “Darling, I must go”

So I left with promise to return by the end of spring

But went I came back to find her, she had been swallowed by the sea

I lost my heart in Oslo

By the ocean, off some broken road

She wiped her tears

Submerged herself below

Progress From The Studio!

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:15:06 -0500

A few weeks back, I went into the studio to record two songs from the new album with brilliant arranger and friend Paul Dougherty, as well as our very own orchestra! It was an exciting day, and I can’t wait to get those sessions out there for the world to hear!

I’m working on the fourth entry of my Becoming The Protector video series (which has tons of footage from the 12 hour studio day), but I most likely won’t have it done for a couple more weeks. Until then, here’s a sneak peek at what’s to come!

Magic Is Coming This Weekend

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:17:00 -0400

As annual tradition follows, I will be releasing a new song on November 6th.

This year’s song is not a finished song though! Instead, I have decided to release an early sketch of song called Magic that will be featured on my upcoming album project The Protector.

I recorded the sketch in one take with an old tape recorder I found in a closet at my parent’s house. I thought it would be cool to test out the acoustics of the house with some of the new songs. My parents have a 7 Foot Steinway grand piano at the house (mine mine mine), and the sound is just incredible in the room that it’s in. I wasn’t expecting much, but I actually liked the sharp but full sound that the tape recorder captured.

I thought it would be fun to put out the original sketch of the song, so that when the album is fully finished I will have released different documented stages of some of the songs off of the album. My vision for the finished project is so drastically different from this piano/vocal take, that I think showing off the differences between the two could ultimately give the song two different lives.

So… This Sunday, November 6th, I’ll be posting the Magic (Original Piano/Vocal Sketch) on my bandcamp page for all to hear!

May the era of The Protector reign!