A SERENDIPITOUS DREAM TAKES ‘FLIGHT’
AS AUSTIN-BASED SINGER/SONGWRITER KING JULIA AND DRUMMER MUSIC READ JOIN FORCES AS ‘FIFTH NATION’
With the annual South By Southwest music conference and legendary festivals like Austin City Limits, it’s never truly a surprise when incredible musical stories emerge from Texas’ independent music mecca. But the serendipitous, creative, romantic and ultimately spiritual connection of singer/songwriter King Julia and drummer Music Read at a house party there on March 1st, 2009 just might be the most exhilarating and inspiring yet. Becoming fast friends, then lovers and collaborators as the cool and mellow, jazzy soul rock duo Fifth Nation, the two quickly holed up in the studio to work on their emotionally compelling debut album FLIGHT.
Less spiritual folks might see the coming together of these two compassionate souls and powerful musical forces of nature as incredibly lucky random chance, but it’s clear that for whatever the reason, they have come together to cultivate bravely unique and compelling music. Proving that sometimes these transcendent connections cannot be explained or forged by mere words, the two performed together before they ever even spoke.
After moving to Austin and playing in bands that did everything from reggae to heavy metal, the U.K.-born, well traveled Music was working as a roadie for a company based in Laredo that contracted with tours by everyone from Merle Haggard to Ludacris and Akon. On the Greyhound back to Texas from his latest gig, he had a strange dream haunted by a mysterious female presence. The day he got back to Austin, a friend called out of the blue and invited him to a house party. Julia, who grew up in New York and studied at UC Santa Cruz, had recently dropped out of college and moved to Austin to focus on her music career. At the party, her friends urged her to get up on stage and perform some of her original material.
The minute she launched into a melody, Music instinctively took the stage, sat at the drum kit and played along. She had been looking to start a band from the moment she got to town, and had particular problems finding a great drummer. Music gave her the groove and, within days, a partnership in which to flesh out her growing catalog of songs—and her musical dream. Julia had written a handful of the eleven tracks on FLIGHT before she met Music, and he helped develop their sound.
“We have a wide range of musical influences,” Music says, “from Julia’s love for Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and Lauryn Hill to my passion for everyone from Dave Brubeck to Led Zeppelin, Common, Talib Kweli and other hip hop acts and obscure punk bands. In creating our sound, we’re inspired by jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, rock, punk and hybrid styles.” Julia adds, “Because we are both from different parts of the world and bring so many different experiences to this partnership, we are able to come together to make something beautiful, emotional, organic and original. The songs on FLIGHT truly represent the heart of what we are trying to convey, which is about loving and being open, genuine and honest with ourselves and our audience.”
The band's sonic expression of their environmental consciousness can be heard in “Ocean,” which Julia wrote while studying biology at UCSC -- she sings her love for nature and the majesty of the Pacific while reflecting on our microbial ancestors, evolution and the natural physical forces of earth. The hypnotic and emotional “Thanks For The Gametes” contemplates her own conception and the mysterious origin of life, and how each individual life perpetuates life on earth. She wrote the moody and seductive “Far As Sky Can Tell” when Music was back out on a two week roadie gig; the song describes the strength of their mutual feeling from the beginning, the feeling that their love is eternal. Although the tracks take on different themes throughout FLIGHT, and some are not specifically romantic, they are all based on love in some form. Love is the theme and the resounding message.
The duo’s philosophy can be captured in the story of the origin of their group name, Fifth Nation. In the dawn of the twentieth century, the great chief Hiawatha united six scattered Native American tribes into the Iroquois Confederacy, in order to bring peace and order to the Americas. The Mohawk Indians were a wise and self-sufficient tribe, skilled in growing their own food and building their own houses; Hiawatha recognized them as the Fifth Nation. They had a matriarchal society and deeply respected their ancestors and their progeny -- they kept history logs that went back seven generations, and they planned wisely and carefully for the future. Most of their music was very rhythmic and consisted primarily of drums and lively singing. The similarities between Hiawatha's Fifth Nation and the twenty first-century love story of Julia and Music were striking enough for the couple to find familiarity in the name. Thus they were Fifth Nation.
“The fact that things happened for us the way they did, and that we are doing this together, makes every day thrilling and bursting with pure love energy. We put every drop of our effort into the tremendous task of growing as independent artists. And no matter whether we rise or fall in this journey, our love continues to grow. We will continue to share our emotional experiences and reach our goal with every performance, to inspire the audience to tap into this positive, infinite universal energy."
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SKOPE Entertainment --> Review by Jimmy Rae I picked up on Richardson’s impressive vocal performance right away as I listened to the record. Julia had a very powerful presence due to her voice that personally blew me away. Her vocals were definitely in charge as she electrified the listening audience. She also sang with much heart & conviction as I picked up on a sultry/sensual/seductive/spiritual side to Julia Richardson. This singer/songwriter could sing to a mood by really tapping into a particular emotion. She also added some extremely solid & crisp guitar playing along the way. Just as the talented Alicia Keys adds her catchy & memorable “New York” line on Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind”, Julia R. is doing the same thing here. The element of voice & singing alone really plays a crucial part on Flight as Richardson takes the songs to another level vocally. This Julia Richardson is some artist and one to watch out for! Now, I can’t forget about Music Read who supplied the fresh beats for the entire project. Particularly on the title track, “Flight”, Read really seemed to shine at his drum set with a very flavorful, hip-hop beat. He really added a rock-solid flow to go along with Julia’s superb singing ability. And with a first name like Music, how can you really go wrong! These two compassionate members have joined forces here to create one powerful & distinct sound. What you have here is one non-stop flight straight to the top! One of the central, overlying themes throughout the album is love. You get a very peaceful feeling along with a covering of warmth as you listen to Flight. These two musicians really play up the feelings card as they bring an overwhelming sense of well-being to the stands. Pure life energy is what Fifth Nation brings you without all that extra filling. This tag team makes it a point to be true to themselves as artistic human beings and also to be real to their fans/listeners. What you get in the end is sheer honesty with an overlap of devotion that is all put together beautifully by Julia and Music. For more on Fifth Nation and their new release, Flight, SKOPE out www.myspace.com/fifthnationmusic. |
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ROCKWiRED iNTERViEWS FiFTH NATiON
CREATiVE SPARK
KiNG JULiA AND MUSiC READ OF FiFTH NATiON
TALK TO ROCKWiRED
ABOUT THEiR DEBUT CD FLiGHT
PUTTiNG MUSiC FiRST
AND PROMOTiNG ONENESS WiTH THEiR SOUND
iNTERViEWED BY BRiAN LUSH
This could be the beginning of a beautiful musical partnership! Singer/guitarist KING JULIA abandoned her pursuit of a degree in Biology and shifted her priorities toward songwriting – a practice she had put on hold due to practicality. The British-born MUSIC READ’s feel for percussion was first felt when he heard MICHAEL JACKSON. After traveling the world and the seven seas as a military brat, READ settled in Austin, Texas – a town famed for its embrace of all kinds of music. At almost the same time, the California-based JULIA felt a pull from the Eastern direction. The City of Austin not only proved to be the ideal nesting ground for their musical ambitions. It also proved to be the ideal backdrop for the burgeoning romance between MUSIC and JULIA. As FIFTH NATION, the sparks – both musical and romantic - are captured on their debut CD FLIGHT – a wicked brew combining JULIA’s stormy delivery and earth conscious observances with MUSIC’s exhilarating percussion. “It was exciting to work with someone who is so talented.” says KING JULIA of working with MUSIC READ “It put the music on a whole other level and made it grow. The songwriting process between us is very organic and exciting and it continues to evolve.”
ROCKWIRED spoke with KING JULIA and MUSIC READ over the phone. Here is how it went.
This CD is great! Very moody!
JULIA: It’s very moody, yeah.
Now that it’s out there for people to hear and the all of the work that has gone into it is behind you, how do you feel about the finished work?
JULIA: I feel wonderful about it. It came at a very cool time in both of our lives. We met, fell in love and just went straight to work on it. Of course we could’ve spent some more time on it and fixed up whatever imperfections that there may be but for me, it captured a moment in my life where I was really in love and really exhilarated by the music that we were making. I’m so happy that we got to make that together and that people are responding so positively to it. It’s allowing our budding career to thrive and take off. It’s a really, really wonderful thing.
In listening to the CD it does sort of have that freshness and immediacy to it. The partnership feels new, the romance is new and the music has a newness to it.
JULIA: Definitely! We didn’t struggle too much with it. We just wanted to put it out there. We knew that the spirit of the work would show through in the recording and we knew that it would allow us to connect with an audience. That was our goal.
You guys are based in Austin.
JULIA: Right! I grew up in New York and I went to school in California where I studied Biology at University of California Santa Cruz. I moved here in January. MUSIC isn’t from here either but he’s been here for a few years.
MUSIC: I’ve been here off and on for a few years and I’ve played in a bunch of different bands.
And where are you from MUSIC?
MUSIC: I was born in England but I spent my life traveling around all over creation. My mom is from Britain but my dad is American and was in the Military so growing up, I traveled a lot.
What drew you to Austin?
MUSIC: I moved here on my eighteenth birthday right after high school. I didn’t even walk down the aisle for my high school graduation because I didn’t care about the graduation part. I just wanted to play music. For my birthday, my dad bought me some luggage and was like ‘See you later son!’ I had a plane ticket ready and everything after having saved up the money for it.
How bout you JULIA? Why Austin?
JULIA: I was studying Biology at UCSC and in the middle of my third year, I just realized how important music was to me. I had come to realize that music is my identity it’s not merely a part of me. It’s who I am and I needed to focus on that instead of dividing my time between that and Biology – which I was enjoying but it really wasn’t who I was. I dropped out of school with a year to go and I moved to San Francisco and spent a few months there but I wasn’t really feeling the vibrations. I was always in my room and practicing writing but the city wasn’t for me. It wasn’t really the environment that was conducive to what I was trying to do which was to be an independent artist. I felt like I needed something different. As soon as I opened my mind up that idea, Austin popped into my head. I had heard so much about it yet had never been there myself. My Dad told me a lot about it and he is a musician. I was told that it was a great music town and I love the idea of traveling and experiencing new places and new people. I moved four moths later. That was about a year ago now.
How did music begin for each of you?
JULIA: For me, it started when I took piano lessons at five and then my dad taught me guitar when I was eight. I learned my first few chords and it just took off from there. I was pretty much self-taught from that moment on and started writing my own music. I wrote and produced my own album when I was sixteen. Music was always a really big part of my life until it turned into a hobby when I was in school instead of a profession. Now it takes up all of my time.
MUSIC: I became a fan of MICHAEL JACKSON when I was three years old and living in England. From then on, I was really into dance music and I really started to identify with drumming. I would listen to a song on the radio and start doing beats to it. I would also do human beat boxing for all of the kids who were in to rapping. When I was fourteen or thirteen I was playing my first drum set. Seeing a friend of mine with his own drum set motivated me to get a job and save up the money to buy my own drum set. I started playing there and I never stopped.
Talk about the genesis of this project.
JULIA: Me and a few of my friends had spent the day painting and hanging out and one of my friends had gotten a call to go down to this house party. There was going to be a band there so we went down there. I saw MUSIC for the very first time and I didn’t want to talk to him at first. I was a little intimidated. There was some great food and there was a great band on stage. The woman who lived there got on stage and said that she was going to open up the stage for anyone that wanted to play. I just went straight over and borrowed a guitar. As soon as I started to play, MUSIC came up onto the stage and started playing on the drum set. That was how we met. It was an instant musical connection. We played a couple more songs and afterwards, we agreed that we would play the next day. Everything was so instantaneous. Everything progressed musically and romantically. A couple of months later, we were already living together and recording in a studio.
How does songwriting happen between the two of you?
MUSIC: A lot of the songs are songs that JULIA has written. She’ll play it for me and both of us will work on it until it becomes what it becomes. With the new material, I’m taking more of an active role in songwriting with lyrics. The newer stuff is really balanced because both of us are writing together. With the older songs, I tended to just come up with the best drumming for what she already had written.
JULIA: That was an exciting thing for me too because I had always been a singer-songwriter and had never really played in any serious bands at all. It was exciting to work with someone who is so talented. It put the music on a whole other level and made it grow. The songwriting process between us is very organic and exciting and it continues to evolve.
What songs off of the album stand out for each of you the most and why?
JULIA: I think ‘COULD YOU EVER?’ has got to be one of my favorites because of the dynamics of it. It starts very light and then it just builds and gets heavier and then there is this beautifully moody chorus and the bridge is really rocking. It’s a very fun song to play so to listen to it is like ‘Yeah, I love playing this song!’ I’m always reminded of how fun this song is to perform when I’m listening to it. ‘FAR AS SKY CAN TELL’ is another favorite of mine. MUSIC and I had met two weeks before I had written that song and he was roadie-ing A-KON and MERLE HAGGARD and a bunch of other big acts down in Laredo, Texas. He was gone for about two weeks. And it gave me enough time write that song which is about us. It’s the first song I had ever written about the two of us.
What kind of place are you guys coming from as songwriters?
MUSIC: We’re coming from a place of love and a place of oneness.
JULIA: The music crosses themes and genres but ultimately everything is coming from a place of love and that is what we are trying to do. That is what we freely express in our music and that is what we are constantly trying to bring to the audience. The most important thing about this career for us is to bring the love and get a lot of people to feel the oneness. In any moment you can feel it but in the moment of a musical performance, the music and the audience is all one. It’s a beautiful thing. What we are trying to promote is unity and love and progress and all of those strong, powerful things about life.
What would you like someone to come away with after they’ve heard this CD?
MUSIC: That they are motivated to be creative and a consciousness that they are all a part of a world community.
JULIA: A feeling of inspiration and a sense that they have been uplifted.
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Fifth Nation. |
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“Thanks for the Gametes” is a vocal-heavy track, with instruments entering into the equation during all the right places; while little more is present here than a guitar and light percussion, the resulting track is substantive and compelling. The band gives the instrumental side of things a little more time in the sun with “Far As Sky Can Tell”, a track that is one great example of the band’s dynamic nature. Where the different elements in the track (vocals, drums, guitars) may seem to be working at cross-purposes at first blush, Fifth Nation is able to create something beautiful out of a noisy din that threatens to engulf the CD.
The band’s composition goes in and out of focus in a way that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats, while not seeming disjointed in the slightest. “Could You Ever” has a very slinky, breathy sound to it that gives Fifth Nation a very distinct sound. The multi-layered approach that the band takes during this track takes on eighties gothic, jazz, and even seventies rock genres. The vocals are hauntingly brilliant, working both as a narrative and harmony-bearing instrument here. “Future” represents an oddity in music in that it is a late-album effort that challenges even the opening salvos in terms of overall quality and scope. This leads to a hard-hitting and intense little track that will stick with listeners well after the song (and the rest of the album) wraps up. Fifth Nation has done everything that they could conceivably have wanted to do on “Flight”; they have established a bold, unique sound, they have linked it to previous masters in music, and they have continued to impress throughout the entirety of this album. If you would like to hear a new take on music, go and hear what exactly Fifth Nation is trying to do; I think you will appreciate “Flight” as much as I did. Top Tracks: Thanks for the Gametes, Fate Is Nothing |
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The Fifth Nation CD, Flight, starts off with what sounds like ordinary modern vocal jazz fare, but then meanders through a surprisingly interesting mix that stays jazzy while touching on hint of pop and rock. The gifted singer has a great voice that's equally adept at both the sultry and the powerful, though I'd like to hear add a few more tricks to her arsenal, as she sounds more than capable of doing so. The guitarist and drummer both have solid chops and seem tightly locked in with each other, providing a solid, tasteful backing groove for the vocals. The lyrics are at times poetic, romantic, and even socially conscious without ever getting political or preachy. |
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