In Conversation With - Michael Baker
Anglo-French artist Michael Baker has released his new album ‘Salt’, he took a moment to talk to us about his childhood home, and how the release came together.
So your album ‘Salt’ is out now, how does it feel?
Leading up to an album’s release can be really nerve racking, I spent over 2 years working on ‘Salt’ and the feeling before people get to hear it a similar feeling to stage fright. Definitely a rollercoaster of panic and excitement. But once it’s out it’s a beautiful feeling. It feels like you can finally let go of all the perfecting and just let it be what it is.
How does this album differ from your debut - ‘Dust & Bone’?
Dust & Bone was my first Album, and was wanting very much so to experiment with big soundscapes and layers. This album was 6 musicians, recording live in one room with barely any overdubs. I wanted to capture something intimate with no click tracks, and with all the musicians moving together during the recording. There will be a documentary about this album coming soon so keep your eyes peeled!
The early stages of ‘Salt’ started in the studio with Dan Brown and Oliver Baldwin, but you decided to head to Brighton to self-record and produce. What made you decide to that?
While these early sessions with Dan and Oli were really promising, I felt I needed more time to develop the songs than I had scheduled in the studio. I headed back to Brighton to rehearse the songs with the band, and decided to record and produce the album with my long time friend Ed Martin, live in the room with the whole band. Oli (Aldous Hardin, This is Kit) then agreed to mix the record and gave the songs a whole new dimension (as well as inviting Jack White’s pedal steel player Maggie Björklund to play on the album too). Everything worked out pretty perfectly.
It was recorded in your childhood home, how did your parents feel about this? Do you feel being in that environment helped create a different style or vibe?
So I discovered that my childhood house would be empty for a few weeks while my parents were in the process of moving out, so we stripped it out and moved our own recording studio in, with begged and borrowed equipment from wherever we could source it. All 6 of us crammed in, drank a lot of wine, got a little stoned, and played all day and night for 2 weeks till we got most of the album recorded and in the bag. That house meant a lot to me, my family had been living there since before I was born, so it was emotional when they moved out. Being able to make this album there felt like an incredible way to say goodbye; another amazing memory in the home that held so many for me previously.
What would you say are the key themes and influences in this album?
I was getting back in love with a lot of John Martyn and Cat Stevens albums at the time. I was also discovering Big Thief who have since become one of my favourite bands of all time, they are the perfect blend of dreamy folk with elements of grunge that pull in and out of their sound.I think there are clear influences to my music from musicians like Ben Howard, Nathaniel Rateliff and Bon Iver, but also bands like War on Drugs who I saw in the middle of making this record. Their guitar interplay is just beautiful and they manage to bring an energy whilst still hitting you in the feels. I grew up listening to Bob Dylan, John Martyn, Cat Stephens, Leonard Cohen so I think there is a big range of music that has influenced me throughout my life.
As for key themes, I write quite cathartically and often don’t really realise what a song is about until its finished. This whole album for me is about mental health, the ups, downs and melancholy in between. Often that strange sense of sadness, even when you’re surrounded by the best people having the best time, it can feel haunting. A lot of the songs are about accepting your state of mind, realising that you can feel sad even in the best of times. By understanding it, and being open, you stop blaming yourself or trying to fight it. Ultimately becomes a lot easier to deal with. That has been a long process for me, and it was actually looking back through the songs that allowed me to understand that transition I was going through.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
Its the choruses in my track ‘Claire’ for me… ‘You have a little rope to climb to be escaping’ ‘and I have a little rope to climb to be escaping’ Its about the of space between humans and how beautiful and important that can be.
Now the album is out there, what next?
I’ve written album three! I’ve got a great opportunity to work with some amazing people coming up and I think the songs are a progression from anything i’ve done before. Ive got some very exciting things happening under wraps and hopefully will going into record it very soon. Watch this space!