Australian composer Sophie Hutchings new solo piano release “Echoes in the Valley” is out October 29th. Learn more about her inspiration, and composition style in our Spotlight feature.
Natasha Barbieri: What place did music have for you growing up?
Sophie Hutchings: It was kind of everything. There was always music blaring in my family home so it was our lifeblood really. I had an affection for it from an early age and it would feel strange to go to someone else’s place and not hear music playing as it was an atmosphere, I was so accustomed to around my family home. It was also a social hub for music rehearsals with my older siblings and also my father and his work mates. It was always about food and music at our place.
Natasha Barbieri: What sounds/artists/composers inspire you?
Sophie Hutchings: Strangely, the sound of birds really inspires me. I find it hugely meditative…For me nothing beats being outdoors in the middle of nowhere preferably near the ocean hearing the cacophony of birds singing. It breathes musical life into my headspace. I could listen to them for hours on end. Of course, there’s a lot of music I find inspiring too yet I think that occurs and influences me in a more hidden subliminal way and I listen to such a huge variety from Tuareg music, to Indian Ragas, Classical Persian, Electronica, Ambient and of course there’s some beautiful modern composers out there that are part of my musical collection. All this assimilation of emotions and sounds blended somehow find their way to you.
Natasha Barbieri: As you began to compose did you have a moment when you discovered your sound?
Sophie Hutchings: I never really had a kind of epiphany at all. I think my style of playing has always been and felt the same since I was a child but of course it gradually develops over time and you form a growing relationship with it.
Natasha Barbieri: Do you write music with a specific story in mind, or is it more abstract moments you are trying to capture?
Sophie Hutchings: Sometimes but mostly, I don’t have a story in mind, it’s more so a very strong sense of feeling and that feeling communicates itself through the music then the music tells me a story and I tell the story from there.
Natasha Barbieri: Do you enjoy the recording process and can you separate yourself enough from the projects to you enjoy the end result?
Sophie Hutchings: I mostly love the writing process but I’ve learnt to love the recording process with a little more experience. Both are totally different. I find the writing process really pure and cathartic, however seeing things come together in the recording process is really satisfying and meaningful.
I usually enjoy the end result more so if step away from it for a bit. Most composers and musicians will relate that listening to mixes very fresh can do your head in and it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole of meticulous pickiness. When you step away and listen with fresh ears you can listen with better perspective and feel the mood and emotion engulf you as a whole which is the best part. I can tend to get quite teary at that point.
Natasha Barbieri: What is the inspiration behind your “Echoes In The Valley” album?
I’ve always spent a lot of time exploring the outdoors and that kind of environment I know has a huge influence on my headspace and my approach to music but it’s always then been taken back home or to the studio… I wanted to somehow combine the two at the same time and with it being such a strange complicated year I thought it timely to strip back all the layers to the bare minimum. I wanted to take a step back from the contemporary world, so I took some skeletal demos recorded on my iPhone and headed to the mid north of the Australian tropics about ten hours’ drive to a remote rustic natural location I’d not been to before then allowed this natural environment to complete the story. The focus for me was all about finding solace in simplicity and exploring the tension between isolation and beauty. A basic rustic timber studio nestled in the crook of a dramatic valley, mountains and farmland to the west, rainforests and the ocean in the distant east. At the end of each day, I’d shower outside with the frogs, cicadas and birds singing to me and go to bed with the window open. It had its challenges but the focus was drawing inspiration from this very simple yet extremely beautiful environment I was nestled in.
I think it can be human tendency to turn to more things in order to solve things in life however with this calamitous kind of year affecting all of us I think we’ve learnt to focus on what our true needs are and shift away from unnecessary wants and in some ways, I wanted this album to represent that. A mellow, uncomplicated approach, just the piano, and the valley surrounding me, hence an isolated recording in a remote natural environment. To let the space of the scenic backdrop tell a story too and naturally weave its way into the atmosphere of the pieces.
Learn more about Sophie Hutchings at her official website: sophiehutchings.com
Listen to the latest releases on our ‘Classical Crossover Discovery’ playlist.
