Syrinx Effect Releases First Full-Length LP: A Sky You Could Strike A Match On

Syrinx Effect Releases First Full-Length LP:
A Sky You Could Strike A Match On

Syrinx Effect’s Kate Olson and Naomi Siegel consider A Sky You Could Strike A Match On to be their “pop” album. Their first full-length vinyl release features a slight departure from their previous ambient, improvised, and experimentally constructed EPs. The tunes on A Sky You Could Strike A Match On are closer to jazz standards or folks songs, with recurring composed melodies separated by layered improvisations. Naomi’s composition Redwood Cry, for example, is marked by a haunting melody that transitions into a raucous trombone solo, back to the melody, and then on to a flowing and placid soprano saxophone improvisation. The track ends with a return to the melody, much the way a country tune would reprise the chorus one last time.

Both Kate Olsen (soprano saxophone) and Naomi Siegel (trombone) originally hail from the Midwest: Kate spent her formative years in Wyoming and Michigan, and Naomi was raised in Illinois and graduated college in Ohio. Their band Syrinx Effect, however, was born on the West Coast in Seattle. They met at the renowned Racer Sessions, a weekly, all-ages improv jam session. Their music has always been built from the combination of improvised and composed sections, and this latest release is no exception. Each performer demonstrates prowess, thoughtfulness and virtuosity whether taking a solo or playing a supporting role.

This is a uniquely personal record for Naomi and Kate. Both women were living and working in Seattle while writing the material for A Sky You Could Strike A Match On, but the album is a combination travelogue and scrapbook. From the skittering of a crab on the Hawaiian island of Molokai to the sounds of a water gun fight in the hot summer sun, each track recalls the travels or musings of its composer. Naomi’s Gretta Returns to Dream imagines the inner life of a happy chicken, and Kate’s Bottomfeeders is an homage to delicious denizens of the deep, like catfish and lobster. As the band started in Seattle, it will continue to grow and be influenced by Naomi’s new home in Missoula, MT. Syrinx Effect looks forward to bringing this new album to entirely new audiences, close to home and abroad.

Kate and Naomi often write music independently, bringing fully-formed tunes to rehearsal with each other, and they use the rehearsal studio as a creative space to refine and flesh out their ideas. On A Sky You Could Strike A Match On, their third self-released album, they also invited drummer/producer/recording engineer Eric Eagle into the mix. Eric was instrumental in the polishing of each track for its eventual release, and created the majority of the drum sounds in the studio himself. Kate’s composition The Bankrobber Song features Eric at the drumset, cuing tempo changes and breathing life into the New Orleans-style group improvisation at the end. The music was recorded in 2016 and 2017 primarily at Eric’s studio, Skoorsound.

Eric’s contributions in the studio also gave the duo new ideas for live performance. The sounds that Naomi, Kate, and Eric created in the studio, from hand claps and glass bottles clinking to bass drum and snare hits, can now be triggered during the performance of each song. The album opens with Naomi’s composition Cameronathon, which starts with an open groove that the band adapted to live performance with a combination of live tambourine and triggered studio sounds. It was this innovation that spurred the duo to seek a support grant from Seattle’s 4Culture. They were awarded a generous grant, which has given Syrinx Effect the freedom to finish the record and release it independent of any record label.

The music on A Sky You Could Strike A Match On often defies categorization. It’s jazz-ish, but it’s not jazz. The melodies sound like folk songs, but trombone and soprano saxophone are there to replace the trademark plaintive vocals and twangy guitars. Each track has an electronic element, but the sounds come from acoustic instruments. The inspiration for each composition is rooted in a synthesis of the beauty of the natural world and the dichotomies of city living. Syrinx Effect’s website calls the music “interstellar folk punk jazz.” This album delivers on all counts.

Syrinx Effect Press:

“Utilizing looping, distortion pedals, and a laptop, the two women create varied landscapes of sound—forests, skylines, desolate plains—populated with sympathetic voices, their instruments bending and slashing to achieve an expressiveness usually reserved for strings.....playful, unpredictable, and, most important, just plain interesting.” —Mark Baumgarten, Seattle Weekly

“... dreaming music... it just happens to occasionally chatter and fling about in its sleep.... lovely melodic lines, perpetually intertwining and unraveling, inspire more liveliness than an ambient hush can contain.” —Dave Sumner, www.birdistheworm.com

“... the two artists have created a sound and a world that is all their own, and have provided the listener with a musical journey that is not only aurally stimulating, but life affirming. Outstanding!” —Stefan Wood, www.freejazzblog.com

“The genius of the music lies not so much in the performance of it — which is captivating, anyway — as it does in its conception. Any musician can go get these toys, but Syrinx Effect knows how to use ’em.” —S. Victor Aaron, Something Else Reviews

For more information visit:  www.syrinxeffect.com