We last caught up with Emily Zuzik a couple of years ago - see here - and since then she's been one busy girl, both on and off the stage. Now, she has a new album about to drop, and some great exposure through collaborations and TV. Time for a quck catch up ...
Photo by Linus Gelber
Indie Sounds: You have a new album - The Wild Joys of Living - coming out this month. You're always serving up something different, so what can fans expect this time?
Emily Zuzik: While I tend to mix it up a bit, I really wanted to serve up a more live, rock-sounding record. If you've seen my band show lately, you know that it's a bit more raucous than the recordings I've done previously. I began with the idea of doing a well-done live album with minimal overdubbing, but then ended up getting into production with Wes Hutchinson. We really grew the songs into these epic and dynamic tunes. Sometimes quiet, sometimes, as I like to call it, stadium rock... But overall, I think this is the most organic record I've done.
IS: Tell us more about making the album. Where was it recorded, and who was involved in its creation?
Emily: First and foremost, this is a band album. What I mean by that is while I wrote most of the material solo (with two songs co-written with Wes, and one with Boston songwriter Tom Glynn), the songs as they are presented are a truly collaborative band work. I'm so damn lucky to work with such talented and wonderful people like Wes, Brian Killeen and Ryan Vaughn - the Rockwood Dream Team!
We worked out all these tunes before stepping into the studio, which I've never personally done before. We recorded the basic tracks and some overdubs with Chris Cubeta at Galuminumfoil Studio in Bushwick, followed by more vocal tracking and mixing with my old producer (from You Had Me at Goodbye) Josh Kessler at Bushwick Studio. Wes was producing the record, but as anyone whose worked with me knows, I always get involved. I'm lucky though, because Wes and I have very similar thoughts on parts, mixes, overall direction and feel. We talked a lot about it before we got to the mixing part and sent mp3 ideas back and forth for the vibe.
Buy The Wild Joys of Living at CD Baby.
Download The Wild Joys of Living from iTunes.
IS: And when and where is the CD release party? What do you have planned for that?
Emily: Thanks for asking, Pete. The CD release party is Saturday, June 25th at The Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street, at 11 PM. I'd advise folks to get there a little before as Tall Tall Trees is on before me and my set is being recorded for Sirius/XM Radio's show, From the Living Room to the Loft.
As far as what I have planned for it, you can imagine I'll be excited and ready to rock! I haven't done the brownies in a while. Maybe I will cook up a batch and bring them for snacking audience members. Really though, we're planning to have a night of it. I'm so excited about this record and these songs. The fact that I get the chance to play them live with my band at Living Room and have it recorded for the radio... I'm so grateful!
IS: Now, you are also featured on the latest album from Moby, Destroyed. How did that collaboration come about, and what did you contribute?
Emily: I met Moby initially when he was auditioning singers for a blues rock band that never came together. He contacted me later to see if I'd want to sing on a tune of his, and after that, we tried some co-writing. As it works with Moby, he'd give me completed compositions and let me write lyrics and melodies. One of those demos we did was The Low Hum which is on his record, Destroyed. I sang the tune. I wrote the melody and lyrics, and funny enough, the song seemed to capture the entire theme of his record, which he states is "broken down melodic electronic music for empty cities at 2 a.m." He didn't tell me that was the theme of it before I wrote the lyrics, so clearly the composition really captured that idea and I was inspired to go there.
IS: You've also been heard on TV recently - on a new series called Love Bites. What was that about?
Emily: I work on a lot of commercial pitches for Rock Salt Songwriters with a great friend and composer named Art Hays. He and I got a call for covers of particular tunes, one of which was The Pretenders Message of Love. I've been told my voice reminds some people of Chrissy Hynde in the past, so we chose that one to cover with a bit of a bratty punk feel to modernize it. NBC liked it, and after about a million back and forths, we got word that they wanted to use it for Love Bites. I'm psyched to hear something I sang actually play on TV on such a big network. I really hope it leads to more commercial singing and music writing for me because I enjoy doing those kind of studio projects.
IS: So all that is enough, but I suspect you'll be involved in some other projects to keep you busy. What's in the plan?
Emily: OK, so I just got word that some older Leftfield collaborations with UK act Joe Sizzlax are coming out on June 14th, and a dubstep collaboration I did with London-based REFIX is out on July 19th on XY Records. I'm working on some cool tunes with Art Hays for a digital release later this year. I'm planning to move to Los Angeles in the fall, but before I do, I'll be playing the BK Indie Music Fest in September at Littlefield, with many of my former AKI is the Glue bandmates. I figure it's a great way to go out!
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