Project Description
In Brief With:
JAMES VAN CUYLENBURG (Lead Singer/Songwriter)
From THE TEALEAVES
Interviewer: Kelsey Hentschel
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So, first of all, how did your career in music begin?
I formed The Tealeaves in 2008, but have been playing music since I was old enough to sit on a piano stool.
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Was there a specific time or event that you could pin point when you decided that music was something that you wanted to make a career out of?
Watching Billy Joel concerts on VHS as a kid, and The Beatles Anthology in the early 90’s was enough to light the fire.
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How did the band form?
I started learning guitar as a 20 year old, having played piano since I was a toddler, and naturally started to write simple folky songs, strumming away on this fun new instrument. Quickly, an album’s worth of songs appeared, and a vision of a male/female shared lead vocal, with a rich backing of harmonies and folk-friendly instruments. Luckily, some talented friends agreed this was a good idea.
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Your 10th anniversary shows are scheduled for Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd June. What can fans expect from the shows?
The most ambitious shows we’ve ever put on. Our third album has delved into some orchestral arrangements, so we’ve invited all the players to join us for the launch. There will be 14 musicians, plus special guests, featuring Strings, Brass, Percussion and a Grand Piano on top of our usual indie-folk stylings.
These shows are also advertised as the album launch for your third body of work. Is there a date for the official release.
We’ll release the album on the nights of the launch, and put it up on bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes and Amazon the following day.
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What are the themes explored on this new Album?
In the 5 years since our last album was released, a number of the band (including myself) have started families, so naturally many of the songs explore themes related to the natural change of perspective that occurs when so much of your energy is dedicated to loving and raising a human person.
Themes of acceptance, coming of age, growing older, even a lullaby, with words adapted from William Blake’s poem, “A Cradle Song”, speaks of the immense love of a child, and the knowledge that they will have to face the world and lose that innocence one day. The title track (The Wolf and the Girl Child) is a fable/folk tale about a girl who runs away from home, but becomes friends with a Wolf who helps her find strength to overcome her fears.
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Do you think your music is continually changing? Do you actively try to mix it up?
We have a central ‘sound’, with a focus on melodic music and a strong focus on harmonies, but we do try and push ourselves to evolve. Our first album was very innocent and folky, where our second album leant more into a indie-rock feel, and was perhaps more melancholy and reflective in tone.
This new album explores aspects of both of those sounds, but adds layers of complexity through the arrangements, with orchestral elements adding to the textures and richness of the sound.
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What’s your favourite song that you have ever created?
I think Rest in Time, a song on our second album that I wrote after my grandmother passed away, is one I am most proud of. I like the melody, and the meaning behind the song is quite emotional for me to listen to at times.
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With such an extensive discography behind you now, do you find it difficult to curate your set-lists?
For the 10th Anniversary / Album Launch shows, we’ll be putting on a two-act performance with an interval, to allow us to play all our favourites from across the three albums, but yes, in future it will be hard to choose!
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What is something you would like to achieve career-wise that you’ve never done?
A great dream would be to have a song played on a tv show or movie, or perhaps to play support for a big act that we love, like Midlake or Fleet Foxes.
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How does the writing process go for a The Tealeaves? How do you collect inspiration?
This album is very much a collaboration, with many of the tracks co-written with our bass player, David Prideaux. Dave and I have been emailing each other melody ideas for years, so when the time came to put this album together, I gathered my favourites and starting coming up with some lyrics ot make sense of them. But for both of us, it’s always melody and feel first. The emotion that the melody creates steers me towards where the words will lead.
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Do you take into consideration how you’re going to play your live show when recording?
Not so much, the focus and priority is very much the recording. This can make things tricky when it comes time to play live, hence why we are inviting 14 players to try and replicated what we’ve produced together!
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What one song would you recommend someone listen to if it was their first time listening to?
The opening tracks from our three albums are a good place to start. Barefoot and Beautiful on album 1 represents our folky sounds, A Poison Tree on album 2 is our best example of harmony laden-indie rock, where Like that Here on our new album is a big, melodic production featuring every instrument we could get hold of.
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What are your goals for 2018?
To release this new album in style, celebrate 10 years together, apply for some festivals, and later in the year, release a live dvd/bluray concert. Should be a fun year.
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AMNPLIFY – KH
Studying a Bachelor of Business, specialising in Music Industry! At just 24, Kelsey has years of experience across multiple sectors of the music industry, gaining valuable insight into this world! Kelsey joined the AMNplify team upon returning to Australia from her time living in London. While abroad, Kelsey collaborated with Sony Music UK, and an array of independent artists. Kelsey has been globetrotting since the age of ten, coming up on twenty-four countries, and counting! It’s been a struggle for us to keep her in one place! Kelsey has a vast passion for music. As she would say, “Music commands ever facet of personality”!
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