sonicdrifter

The Recollective is comprised of 5 individuals – and though we are one unit we are also a composite of smaller friendships. Over the years it has been our pleasure to both discover and leverage the chemistry that results from those various combinations. In this month’s Sonic Drifting post we express those relationships in sound. Each member of the Recollective was assigned another member and asked to submit a song that most represented that person. What follows is a closer look at our collective personality as told by the members themselves.

Chaela

Jeremy: She’s not a rich girl but in our first long drive together from Glens Falls, NY to Buffalo we listened to Graceland and now this song always makes me think of Chaela Herridge-Meyer.

Song: Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes
Album: Graceland
Artist: Paul Simon

Nina

Chaela: Back in 2010 Nina and I were on the road in the sweet mountain town of Asheville, North Carolina. We went to a dance hall in a tiny town selling hot dogs and potato chips, hiked the appalachian trail with a 90 year old woman, drove into Cherokee land, learned to contra dance, and how to spell the word “holler” for note taking in interviews. Nina loves music that makes her heart light up, and when she’s dancing or tapping her feet, everything around her is brighter. I know I am. This song reminds of those pungently sweet spring days in Asheville.

Whitney

Nina: This song reminds me of Whitney for so many reasons. First and foremost we played this on the road a LOT. Often we’d find ourselves on a highway in the middle of nowhere blasting this song. And secondly there’s something about the pace that reminds me of WHL. The song starts out slow and melodic and then builds and builds until, towards the middle, it abruptly changes and becomes energetic and urgent. It’s almost two songs. My friendship with Whitney took some time to build. We were interns at StoryCorps together. I had a complete friend crush on her and somewhere into our time on the road together we became the sort of friends that I had envisioned….and energetic and urgent friendship. I leaned on her for many things. I hope that she might always lean on me. OR as the song says, “I don’t care just where you go as long, as long as it’s with me.”

Carl

Whitney: I thought I’d have to choose a hip hop song for Carl, but I kept coming back to this one. Although he loves his complex mixes and samples, I think deep down Carl is a classic soul, a philosopher who values both truth and dreams.

Jeremy

Carl: While in StoryCorps, Jeremy and I never ended up on the road together. But one thing everyone who hung with us individually knew that we’d have in common, was a love for music. It was true. I chose this song because not only was it an immediate connection between the two of us being that we are both serious Nina Simone fans, but Jeremy’s steadfast vision and no-nonsense demeanor remind me of Nina’s persona. His influence on me over the years has been wider and deeper than he knows. This song is just the start.