Jennifer Haase
My musical realm of knowledge continually grows thanks to social networking. Singer/songwriter Jennifer Haase is the latest example, having been introduced to her music via her Twitter account. This September will mark the release of Haase’s latest album, No More Invitations. It was interesting to talk to an artist like Haase, given that she recently walked away from Corporate America to commit fully to her musical career. We discuss that transition, as well as the fundraising effort for her upcoming release and her overall approach to her music.
Tim O’Shea: How long has your upcoming album been in the works?
Jennifer Haase: It was spring 2006 when my record producer Mike Leslie and I shook hands with a plan to start this record together. If we’d known then what we know now, ha! It’s been 4 amazing, enlightening, tumultuous music-making years with him and my recording engineer Robert L. Smith. I told Mike recently that I feel like this project has weaved itself into the fabric of our lives.
O’Shea: Which has been harder, raising the funds to make the album or recording the album itself?
Haase: Making the album has been much harder on me than the fundraiser. The Boys (Mike & Robert) can confirm that I’m sometimes prone to impatience and bouts of self-doubt. With perhaps a teensy hair-thin sliver of perfectionism when it comes to my singing voice. Barely detectable beneath my joyous song-recording rapture, of course. A-hem.
O’Shea: You became a full-time musician this past January, quitting your day job. Were you more happy or scared that first post-Corporate America morning?
Haase: Very much both. I was deeply excited about taking this leap of faith and knew it was the right time for me to go. But I had no idea what I was doing and still don’t. I was full of fear and still am.
O’Shea: How much advanced planning/streamlining your life expenses/setting money aside did you have to do before quitting?
Haase: Ha! None. Absolutely none. Oh, I’d been thinking about leaving the day job for awhile, but I was socking every dime I could spare into this album so I had no savings to speak of. Things started happening with my singer/songwriter pursuits that made it clear I couldn’t continue to do both jobs. I needed flexible recording and writing time. I needed to travel for gigs and sessions on short notice. I took a breath. I closed my eyes. I jumped. Right now I pay my bills writing custom songs for special occasions and just started working with a NYC-based music publisher to co-write some songs with/for their roster.
O’Shea: Guests on the album include Rosanne Cash and Stephen Kellogg–how did you decide to utilize their talents most effectively on the album? What other musicians are working with you on this new release?
Haase: I was driving to therapy one afternoon, listening to the demo of my song “Oneonta” and had one of those “Aha!” epiphanies that make it hard to keep the car on the road. I knew I wanted Rosanne to sing with me on one of the songs, but suddenly this was the one. I called Mike, all breathless and rattling this idea into his voice mail, and then sat through therapy thinking about nothing but how I was going to con Mrs. Leventhal [Cash's husband is musician/producer John Leventhal] to do it. I wasn’t trying to utilize her talent effectively, I was just working from instinct and acting from the heart. I adore Rosanne, who’s been an amazing mentor to me, and wanted her guest vocal to be very sisterly. I think we nailed that and hearing her voice with mine still makes me weep with joy. Don’t tell her I said that. Very embarrassing.
With Stephen, it was a similar flash of clarity while listening to the demo, but I knew I wanted Stephen’s voice on “3,000 Miles” pretty much from moment one. Stephen & I co-wrote a song together called “Another Midas Story” back when we met in Rosanne’s songwriting workshop at The Omega Institute in 1997. So I already knew how wonderful Stephen’s voice would work with mine. When we were finally ready for his vocals, Robert sent the song file to Stephen’s recording engineer pal John Shyloski. One April day in CT when I couldn’t be there, John, Stephen and Kit Karlson (from Stephen’s band The Sixers) all knocked out Stephen’s guest vocal with Kit adding a surprise and ultra-lovely part on keys. What they sent back to us still stuns me. So beautiful.
My dear friends Patty Ocfemia and Gretchen Witt added some b-vox on “As the Record Spins.” This album also features Denny McDermott on drums/percussion. Some keys & string tracks from Gary Schreiner. David M. Patterson on a few songs for lead guitar and mandolin. And our own Mike Leslie on bass, lead guitar, backing vocals and some pretty pings on the glockenspiel, too.
O’Shea: You’re the child of musical parents, do they make an appearance on any of your new songs? How much did your parents shape your knowledge/appreciation of music?
Haase: I didn’t work with either of my parents on this album, but I would love to add their talents to my recordings someday. Mine was a very musical house growing up and my parents had a tremendous influence on the shaping my musical self. My dad was the lead guitarist for a Nebraska country-western band for many years. Dad’s in his 70′s now and still can’t walk buy a music store without wanting a new guitar. He was always shushing us to hear a great guitar lick on the radio. My mother is a singer/songwriter and plays more gigs than I do with her singer/musician husband, Gene, in Colorado. Mom shaped my songwriter heart. She is very much the love of lyrics side of me.
O’Shea: Here’s a recent tweet of yours: “I need this today RT @psjoneswritesbest way 2 cure #writersblock is 2 leave whatever you’re trying 2 write alone & go write something else” How much do you use Twitter to bolster your confidence in yourself as well as in challenges you may face?
Haase: I do a lot of networking on twitter and the way that’s paying off certainly does bolster my confidence. A web radio show host found me there and now regularly spins my songs (The Wrecking Ball Radio Show with @mystic23). You found me there, thank you! I’ve raised making-of-the-album funds from some of my generous twitter followers. And I’ve become part of a really fun indie singer/songwriter community there, too.
O’Shea: No More Invitations is your second independent release–how has your music changed since that first album?
Haase: ‘No More Invitations’ is a bit more grown-up and bold in theme, overall. It’s a bit sexier, a bit darker and comes from such deeply-felt stuff. I ended up writing a handful of these songs in the middle of recording this album. I’d just moved to the country from NYC and was purging some heartache and depression right into the sound hole of my 6-string. But thankfully there was a lot of lightness and twinkle-eyed spark rising out of me, too. From the pile of songs I was writing then, “Oneonta”, “Rescue Dreams”, “New Pink Sweater” and “Beautiful Man” made the album cut. Maybe a year later I wrote “As the Record Spins” and added that song to the new mix, too. The first album was simply the first songs I’d written. This 2nd album has been writing itself along the way.
O’Shea: You recently wrote “This room in Norwich was teaching me a very valuable lesson as I finished my set with some of the best and most appreciated applause I’ve ever received. Never judge a small town UK pub by its cover. And never underestimate anyone’s ability–no matter their age or location–to enthusiastically cross a musical bridge.” How much do you find touring helps you to tighten your material and/or gain greater confidence in your performance abilities?
Haase: Performing is challenging for the mediocre musician side of me, but it brings out my entertainer side in a fun way when I allow myself to relax and enjoy it. I love to tell stories and crack jokes and connect in-between songs. And, yes, performing always points out where a song needs polish, definitely.
O’Shea: [As we already discussed] you also write wedding/special occasions songs upon request (as documented here “In addition to writing songs for my own albums, I love writing songs for other people to give as gifts and use for special occasions.”), do you think those efforts is another indirect way to make potential listeners aware of your recording career?
Haase: Yes, I ask custom song clients to listen to my own album songs as more samples of my writing style. They often say “I want my song just like THAT one, only–you know–happier.”
O’Shea: How did you decide to have Mike Leslie produce your album, what made you want to collaborate with him?
Haase: I met Mike through a mutual drummer friend, Blake Hepburn, at a gig he played with their rock band Citizens of Contrary Knowledge. Excuse my French, but Mike is a fuckin’ awesome player and I was really impressed. Months later, I hired him to play one of my own gigs in Brooklyn and for some reason I kept going to Mike for advice during the planning of it. What songs, what rehearsal studio, etc. He directed me so naturally and comfortably. He complimented my writing and my voice and showed such a deep passion for great songs that was wonderful to be around. Again, no formal assessment of how to utilize his many talents, I just knew instinctively that here was the record producer I’d been looking for. Mike is really creative and hilarious and loves nothing more than “playing with tape recorders.” He’s the calm to my storm in that studio, in spite of the fact that he sometimes forgets who’s the boss of this thing. She being me, Mr. Leslie, thank you very much.
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