Interview: Band Of The Week - Heidi McCurdy - Page 2

But I also studied by listening to people, so along the way I would listen really attentively to my favorite artists like India.Arie and Erykah Badu and Stevie Wonder. I’d eat that stuff up and listen to an album until the whole thing was practically memorized. So by studying things that you love about what other people do you incorporate them into what you do.

Are there any other significant influences that you have?

I would say Bonnie Raitt, I really like her singing style. I had a dream about her last night so I think she was meant to be included in this conversation (laughs). Bjork is another major influence.

And then there are smaller things along the way, like when I heard Nelly Furtado’s “I’m Like A Bird” I thought that was such a cool mix of styles and really innovative. I like certain kinds of pop and R&B mixed with a moodier sort of style. Such as the TLC song “No Scrubs” the lyrics are kind of funny and silly but to have that almost Middle-Eastern melody combined with r&b, that was new idea to me that I really love. It sparks all kinds of ideas in my mind as well.

I can see that in your album where you have world influences, like Irish folk and Middle Eastern. I gather that’s where you got such influences from.

Yes, not always consciously but they get in somehow before they come out. Also, with my early bands, we did a lot of African based music.

You seem comfortable in so many genres…the soul the pop, folk and jazz. What type of music do you feel most comfortable singing?

I really like it when I have the freedom to mix it all up. What’s most fun is singing my own stuff. Most artists feel that way because that’s your baby, that’s what you’ve created, that’s what you’re sending out to the world. When people receive it positively it’s one of the biggest thrills you can have. I love doing jazz as well because there’s so much freedom and you’re expected to mess around with it, whereas when doing something more pop you’re expected to present the song in the way they are familiar with it. But I like to bring the freedom of jazz into the other stuff as well.

Speaking of you own stuff, how do get inspired to sit down to and write your own music? Is it more of a deliberative process or does it just come to you?

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