India Arie
INDIA
India.Arie - Singer/Songwriter
By: Dominick A. Miserandino
India.Arie is known for not only being a beautiful singer, but a brilliant songwriter as well. But what goes into writing one of her songs? They are certainly a bit more elaborate than simple love songs. What is her writing process like?
DM) It’s been a little while since your last album. Why was there the gap between the last one and this one?
IA) It started out as taking a break. I was really, really, really, really tired. Then it turned into working on my album.
DM) You call this “Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship.” Does this imply there’s a Volume 2 ready to go?
IA) There is a volume two. It’s not ready but it’s pretty far along in the process.
DM) Did the delay recharge you a bit?
IA) Well, the albums are born out of the desire to want to touch people. All these songs are about myself. When you listen to these songs, …
With the release of the song “Video,” I found out about how much I have in common with the listeners. I heard the fans reaction and saw how it touched them. I’ve tried to make music that connects with people. I know that there are people who appreciate that and others who don’t. I read an article where this woman said, “The problem with India’s music is it’s too heavy and you can only take it in doses.” I’m not trying to please everybody, I just try to make music for myself; I try to show the emotions I’m feeling and going through, and the listeners can feel and connect with that.
DM) Does it make it harder to write so close to the heart?
IA) It makes it hard at times but for me, it helps me be in touch with my emotions to actually write that way. If it wasn’t for that I would hold everything in.
DM) Is it therapeutic in a way?
IA) (laughs) In a way, it really is. This album has affected me more profoundly in that way than the other two. In my other two there are songs and things that I wanted to say and in saying those things I learned more about myself and the things I was going through. This has been more therapeutic. This album has had more of an impact on me in that way. Because it was more about the healing process when a relationship is over. It has really helped me to understand things for the sake of wanting to write about it; I let it all out. I really started to understand what I felt more and more.
DM) It sounds like it was draining in a way, letting it all out.
IA) Yeah, but I think that’s the case for any artist whose emotionally attached to their art. It’s draining. You’re giving of your actual self. That’s it. That’s the fun of it.
DM) It sounds like you enjoy the songwriting process in that you can get your feelings and explore your own feelings too.
IA) I love the songwriting process. Outside of that part I love melodies; I love calibrating with people. I love experimenting with instruments and sounds. I love when a song is done, and you can relax and look at it. The recording process is not my favorite.
DM) I would think the recording process is the culmination of the work.
IA) For me the culmination of the work is singing it in front of people. For me the recording process is very mentally taxing.
DM) I almost expected you to say the reverse. The songwriting being mentally taxing in releasing all of those emotions.
IA) I consider the writing a release more than taxing. Letting stuff go is a feeling of letting yourself go. That’s a good feeling. For me, the production is taxing. All of my stuff, first hand, made to fit the song. It’s kind of like a person who makes the fabric and then makes the garment.
DM) It’s a lot of work to go into it?
IA) Yes, it’s a big burst of fabric in one puzzle, the garment is another puzzle. Figuring out where to put the garment on is another puzzle. Then it’s like a 15-piece fashion show. It’s a big puzzle on top of another puzzle on top of another puzzle. I love the outcome, it’s probably the most rewarding part, but it’s not my favorite part.
DM) It sounds like you have a particular way you want to get the songs out. Do you ever get frustrated when it’s not expressed in the recording process like you feel?
IA) Less than it being a wish, it’s finding a way to express the emotions through sounds. Sometimes it takes a long time to get the emotions through sounds.
DM) When you go into the recording process it sounds like you have it all in your head of what you want it to sound like.
IA) I don’t know if I have it my head but I have the emotion in my body and I know how I want it to feel. And then it’s trying to translate an emotion into a sound.
DM) It sounds like the frustrating part is that you’re going into the recording process saying, “I know how it’s supposed to sound, but this ain’t it yet.”
IA) (laughs) Exactly, and sometimes it’s saying, “This ain’t it” for a long time. Maybe eight months for one song. That’s why it took two years for this last album.
