Annie O, our East Village music maven, brings the best musical acts of the day to The Standard, East Village's Penthouse for The Annie O Music Series.
On Wednesday, May 17, Annie O's bringing NY's Jesse Marchant to the Penthouse. He's about to release his first full-length album since 2014, and Annie connected with him to talk how it all came together before he showcases it on our stage. It involved leaving the city for a while.
On Wednesday, May 17, Annie O's bringing NY's Jesse Marchant to the Penthouse. He's about to release his first full-length album since 2014, and Annie connected with him to talk how it all came together before he showcases it on our stage. It involved leaving the city for a while.
Annie O Presents: Jesse Marchant
Wednesday, May 17, 7-9PM
The Standard, East Village Penthouse
Free with an RSVP to AnnieO@StandardHotels.com
"Every Eye Open" from Jesse Marchant's 2014 self-titled album
ANNIE O: You're based in NYC. How did that inspire the new album?
JESSE MARCHANT: I think it blocked me in some ways, but also afforded me a connection to some of the things that I wanted to say, in another. I can't explain my relationship to city life and seclusion, only that they are both indispensable to me to live in a balance. I've lived in NY for quite a long time, and I love it here very much, but I do often need to leave.
It seems that there was something you were trying to put to bed. Did you succeed in that?
I suppose I put a lot of things to bed on my last record, yeah. I think that I'm always doing that in writing; it's what compels me to make an album, to collect all the things that have been happening to me and around me, and mull through them to make something become more clear.
With your last release, you put out a beautiful video trilogy starring Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Abbott. How did that come about, and do you have plans to do something similar for the next album?
I do, yeah. I'm a big admirer of film, and I like to collaborate in making videos after the album is done, as it serves as an alternate creative outlet when the other has been tapped. Several of my friends are filmmakers, so I'll be collaborating with a few of them on this next go around. Chris and Amanda are both very old friends and supporters of my work, as am I of theirs, so it was natural to include them in a video where there were to be people.
What are your biggest sonic influences?
Records that I like. I can't say too specifically. They range from jazz records to hip-hop. Sometimes it's just fragments of a recording. Film scores and classical compositions. Bits and pieces of things.
What are your touring plans this summer?
None yet, but a few possibilities that might solidify.
Are there any songs by other artists that you currently have on repeat?
The first track on Flotus by Lampchop I had to stop listening to as it wouldn't leave my head. Still comes around. I don't do the song on repeat thing, typically, just put on a whole record. DAMN a lot lately, and Dylan's Shadows in the Night. Also, Reconciliation by the Building.
How would you explain your writing process?
I spend a few years collecting song ideas from playing guitar and piano, then pick about 15-20 that stick and begin writing lyrics for them, usually over a condensed period of a few months. It creates this huge burden of writing, but also allows for themes to cross over from song to song, and make for a unified piece, I suppose. If I could complete one song at a time here and there, and just collect them to make an album, I think I'd prefer that. It just doesn't happen for me that way most of the time.
Fondest touring memory?
Having the day off from tour in New Orleans with friends the day the Saints won the Super Bowl.
What can we expect from your show at The Annie O Music Series?
I'll be performing mostly songs from the forthcoming album with my band. We'll put together a nice arc. The new album is direct and dynamic, so I think it will translate vividly live.
