ONE AND APART: A JOURNEY COMES FULL CIRCLE
(scroll down for English)
One and Apart var landet i min skrivebordsskuffe og kunne ligeså godt have ligget der for evigt. Men der var for mange gode optagelser med for mange gode musikere, til at det skulle ende der. Helt i albummets ånd blev det en længere rejse og ironisk nok en tilbagevenden til begyndelsesstedet.
Ok! Kronologi…
Jeg begyndte projektet ”One and Apart – a Year of Exploring Home and Belonging” - tre år efter jeg var flyttet til USA. Jeg skrev om mine oplevelser og udforskede hvad ”hjem” er og hvad det betyder at høre til noget sted.
Fra oktober 2014 til september 2015 bloggede jeg månedligt en ny sang med et ledsagende essay, som var baseret på den allerførste tid i Californien, de første oplevelser og indtryk. Den første tid var en følelsesmæssig rutsjebanetur. Jeg var faldet pladask for Californien, men sommetider blev jeg overvældet af en enorm hjemvé eller skyldfølelse. Men mest af alt var tiden kendetegnet ved forunderlighed og eksistentiel undren.
Som tilflytter står man med et væld af nye udfordringer og man lærer helt nye sider af sig selv at kende. Man forundres over sig selv og verden. Der er ting man er nødt til at lære forfra. Man får sig et par lektioner i ydmyghed. Verden er ny og ens sanser skærpes helt usædvanligt.
Alle disse oplevelser og grublerier er tematiseret i sangene, der fremstår som en cyklus af begivenheder, der i virkeligheden kan forekomme mange gange i løbet af et liv. Man længes ud. Forlader sit trygge hjem. Udforsker. Farer vild. Finder guldet. Længes hjem. Og finder hjem igen. Og så kan det hele begynde forfra.
I første omgang blev sangene indspillet i San Luis Obispo og produceret sammen med studieejer og -tekniker Damon Castillo. I SLO lærte jeg et væld af musikere at kende og det var sjovt og spændende at få deres take på musikken med deres ikke-danske ører.
Idéen med at skrive en sang per måned var givende, fordi jeg gav mig selv så meget tid til musikken og til at komme i dybden med teksterne. Men den lange indspilningsproces påvirkede projektet sådan, at de individuelle sange og lydbilledet strittede i flere forskellige retninger. Det var svært at få projektet samlet til et helt og sammenhængende album.
Årene gik og idag føles det næsten som om albummet bare lå og ventede på, at jeg vendte hjem til Danmark igen. En vinterdag åbnede jeg så “skrivebordsskuffen” og lyttede opmærksomt til “det glemte album”. Det jeg hørte var intensitet og nærvær i sangene og et særdeles omhyggeligt indspilningsarbejde. Jeg genkendte i musikken eventyrlysten, håbet og drømmene ved at lande et nyt sted. Jeg kunne mærke de åbne vidder og suget ved alt det fremmede - samt ikke mindst den store kærlighed til det der blev mit andet hjem, Californien.
I 2021 kontaktede jeg Damon Castillo og jeg spurgte min mand Mark Davis om han ville være co-producer på færdiggørelsen af albummet. Med friske ører gik vores trio i gang med at samle albummet til et hele. En del indspilninger blev føjet til i Danmark. Mix foregik oversøisk sammen med Damon Castillo i real-time via avanceret teknologi. Endelig er vi nået i mål med albummet - og jeg er i mål med en rejse. Ringen er sluttet. Albummet er min hyldest til mit liv i Californien, men også en måde at sige farvel til det på. At finde hjem og høre til er en universel oplevelse, som vi alle har del i, sammen og hver for sig - One and Apart.
- Karoline Hausted, Januar 2023
ONE AND APART 2014-2023. A JOURNEY COMES FULL CIRCLE.
One and Apart had landed in my desk drawer and might as well have been sitting there forever. But there were too many good recordings with too many good musicians for it to end there. True to the spirit of the album, it became a longer journey and, ironically, a return to the starting point.
Okay! Chronology...
I began the project "One and Apart – a Year of Exploring Home and Belonging" - three years after I had moved to the USA. I wrote about my experiences and explored what "home" is and what it means to belong somewhere.
From October 2014 to September 2015, I blogged a new song monthly with an accompanying essay based on the very first time in California, my first experiences and impressions. In the beginning it was an emotional roller coaster ride. I had fallen head over heels for California, but during the summer I was overcome with a tremendous sense of homesickness or guilt. But most of all, the time was characterized by wonder and existential wonder.
As a migrant, you are faced with a multitude of new challenges and you get to know whole new sides of yourself. You marvel at yourself and the world. There are things you have to learn all over again. You get a few lessons in humility. The world is new and one's senses are heightened in an unusual way.
All these experiences and musings are thematized in the songs, which appear as a cycle of events that can actually occur many times in a lifetime. You are longing. Leaving your safe home. Exploring. Getting lost. Finding the gold. Longing back. And find home again. And then it can all start over.
Initially, the songs were recorded in San Luis Obispo and produced with studio owner and engineer Damon Castillo. In SLO I got to know a lot of musicians and it was fun and exciting to get their take on the music with their non-Danish ears.
The idea of writing a song per month was rewarding because I gave myself plenty of time to write the music and to delve into the lyrics. But the long recording process affected the project in such a way that the individual songs and soundscapes went in several different directions. It was difficult to get the project together into a complete and coherent album.
The years passed and today it almost feels as if the album was just waiting for me to return home to Denmark. One winter day I opened the "desk drawer" and listened carefully to "the forgotten album". What I heard was intensity and presence in the songs and some very thorough recording work. I recognized in the music the sense of adventure, the hope and the dreams of landing in a new place. I could feel the wide open space and the thrill of all the strangeness - and not least the great love for what became my second home, California.
In 2021 I contacted Damon Castillo and I asked my husband Mark Davis if he would co-produce the completion of the album. With fresh ears, our trio set about assembling the album into a whole. Some recordings were added in Denmark. Mixing took place overseas with Damon Castillo in real-time via advanced technology. Finally, we have reached the goal with the album - and I am at the goal of a journey. The ring is closed. The album is my tribute to my life in California, but also a way to say goodbye to it. Finding home and belonging is a universal experience that we all share, together and separately - One and Apart.
- Karoline Hausted, January 2023
ONE AND APART - TRACK BY TRACK & CREDITS
A Year of Exploring Home and Belonging
In 2011 I moved from Denmark to California. It’s been a journey both outwards and inwards. Needless to say it has brought up many questions and opportunities to explore the idea of home. What is home? Where is home?
One and Apart is a cycle of songs that reflect upon these questions and my experiences of immigrating. The songs were first published once a month from Oct 2014 to Sept 2015 - each accompanied by a short story.
Some songs are based on recordings and diary scribbles from my first year in Los Angeles. Others were written in retrospective looking back at the events with new eyes.
1/ ON MY WAY
Departure without fear. Imagining a new life, a new beginning - blissfully unaware of the feelings of homesickness that will later arise. A “Here I come my love!” serenade sung from the fastest of airplanes in the highest of skies.
Written and recorded in California August 2014
+ additional recordings 2022 in Denmark by Mark Davis & Karoline Hausted Guitar and bass: Albert Sanudo
Tenor & Baritone Sax: Aaron Wolf
Drums and Percussion: Abraham Robles
2/ INITIATION
Crossing the threshold. Arriving in a new country. A wedding in November. Of ritual and mystery. Entering the deep state of liminality. In the witnessing eyes of family an initiation takes place.
Written and recorded in California August - October 2014 + in Denmark August 2022
Violin: Brynn Albanese
Bass: Damon Castillo
Guitar: Albert Sanudo
Drums: Abraham Robles
Vocals, Piano: Karoline Hausted
3/ BELONG
Unexpected feelings of homesickness, sadness and guilt over having left. It feels like drifting and floating in a no man's land between and betwixt languages, customs, names and identities. Easy to get lost in. Will this place ever feel like home?
Written and recorded December 2014 in California
Drums & congas: Abraham Robles
Bass, guitar: Damon Castillo
B3 Organ: Kristian Ducharme
Vocals, piano: Karoline Hausted
4/ PARKEN
Life is a strange mix of feeling euphoric at the beauty and the many new experiences - and feelings of loneliness and emptiness. Daily walks in the park reflecting on the place, the others and all our strangeness. Still an outsider of communities. But easy to ride on a rush of happiness, the beauty, the colors, the sunshine and the adventure. This tune called for reminiscence of Scandinavian fiddle music.
Written and recorded July 2012 + October 2014 in California
Violin: Brynn Albanese
Piano, other keys, vocals: Karoline Hausted
5/ CIKADERNE
As a newcomer one has status as an immigrant and no work permit. It is a struggle to maintain identity. Sleepless, endless nights. Only the sound of the crickets. Follow them through the warm night all the way to the ones you miss. Realizing gratitude, knowing love brought me here. Insisting that there is a meaning to it all.
Written 2012/2014 and recorded December 2014 in California
Violin: Brynn Albanese
Cello: Bob Liepman
Vocal, piano and other keys: Karoline Hausted
6/ DUST DEVIL
The hot summer burns and blinds. Let’s take a drive through the desert. A dust devil is a phenomenon you soon will become familiar with. Be careful to whom and what you are drawn towards. It takes time to integrate. Be patient.
Written and recorded July 2015 in California + 2022 in Denmark
Electric guitar: Mark Davis
Bass: Damon Castillo
Prepared piano, synths, bells and bottles: Karoline Hausted
Drum programming: Karoline Hausted and Damon Castillo
Sound manipulation: Mark Davis
7/ UNLEARNED
Learning things from scratch sometimes leads to frustration. But realizing one must behave in the new world with great patience, humility and a positive outlook. Actually enjoying the role as "the newcomer". Meeting the new world as a child with curiosity and without prejudice. Your new community holds you.
Written and recorded February 2015 in California
Spanish guitar: Damon Castillo
Background vocals: Wendy Liepman, Mark Davis
Vocal, piano, clay flutes: Karoline Hausted
Drum box and percussion design: Damon Castillo and Karoline Hausted
8/ HEAR YOUR HEART
In certain parts of the year the mocking bird gets an inescapable drive to sing all through the night. He sings his heart out. So do I. I gather my creative vein is intact and was never compromised. I might belong to a "floating place” and this is partly in music. This is my true home.
Written and recorded May 2015 in California + August 2022 in Denmark
Vocal, piano, synth strings: Karoline Hausted
Guitar and bass: Damon Castillo
Drums: Abraham Robles
9/ DREAM TOWN
The big, wild, dirty, scary city. And all its deadly freeways. There is a dreamlike and ungraspable tinge on reality here. Reflecting on own choices, the other “Angelinos” and "city destinies". It is not easy to put your roots down if you are asked too big a compromise and to sacrifice your own values.
Written and recorded March 2015 in California + Feb 2022 in Denmark
Electric rhythm guitar: Mark Davis
Electric lead guitar and bass: Damon Castillo
Drums: Søren Poulsen (recorded by Søren Bigum)
Vocal, piano, synths and chimes : Karoline Hausted
Sound manipulation: Mark Davis
10/ KEEPING THE WOLVES AT BAY
The first job and a noticeable shift in identity. Taking part in community. Getting closer to and entangled in other peoples mind sets. Going below the surface. Looking with astonishment, fear and fascination on different ways of living..
Written and recorded April 2015 in California + August 2022 in Denmark
Drum programming: Damon Castillo and Mark Davis Electric guitar: Damon Castillo
Acoustic guitar, vocal: Mark Davis
Vocal, piano, bass, xylophone, other keys: Karoline
11/ HOME AND THE SEA
Here is the paradox: that it has been difficult, and yet easy to feel at home anywhere. Home can be “liquid”, in motion, states of happiness, recurring memories, the important relationships (new and old, they are all helping to create us) music and creation - sometimes a lonely, but indestructible home. And home is with my love. A month later we leave the city.
Written 2014-2015 and recorded July 2022 in Denmark
Vocals, piano, bass, organ & string arrangement: Karoline Hausted
Strings (violin, viola, cello) performed and recorded by Pete Harvey at Pumpkinfield, Scotland, September 2022. www.pumpkinfield.co.uk
TAK! THANK YOU!
Endless gratitude and love to the musicians involved. Thanks for your time, talent and stellar performances. Thank you, Damon Castillo, for creating such good vibes at Laurel Lane Studio. Thanks for your impeccable professionalism, skills, instrumental contributions and good calls. And thanks for sticking with the project all the way to the Finale Chord!
Mark, my love, thanks for hours and hours of work. For listening, supporting and inspiring. Thanks for your creative ideas, musicality and playfulness.
And thanks for “making” me come to California and live with you. It’s all your fault! ;)
A huge thanks to the following that have financially supported the album project:
STATENS KUNSTFOND, KODA KULTUR og AUTOR.
Thank you my beloved family for your love and support. Thank you California, my new friends and family, for receiving me and making me feel at home. Always in my heart.
- Karoline Hausted, January 2023