Talk/Play/Collaborate Q&A: Jenna Macrory and Calum Walker
As part of their Talk/Play/Collaborate Showcase Day, we chat to Creative Duo Number 2, Calum Walker and Jenna Macrory, about their experience working together, the importance of collaboration in music and what advice they’d give to our next creative duo.
What were your reasons for signing up to Talk/Play/Collaborate?
Calum: “I liked the look of the application process. There was a list of 5 or 6 topics on the list and one of them jumped out at me. I had a lot of thoughts and observations to make about the situation at that time. From where I stood there was a focus on the many negative impacts, but I wanted to talk about some of the positive things that some maybe hadn’t considered.”
Have you ever thought about collaborating with another artist before?
Jenna: “I have collaborated with a few artists over the course of lockdown. I think it’s really easy to, particularly for producers, sit in a room alone making tunes. I think the accessibility this presents is great but for me I find collaborating an incredibly fulfilling way of sharing the beautiful process of composing while also creating music which would be out with my capabilities as a solo artist.”
Jenna performing at The Stove Network as part of traditional trio, Reidhle.
Coming from two very different creative backgrounds, how did you manage to meet in the middle for this project?
Calum: “We’re from different backgrounds but we’re both open minded and diverse musicians. We have different things that were especially interested in, and it was good to have conversations about the project and work out something that we could be excited about. That can be hard to do when you’re collaborating and you have to be willing to compromise, but this time it was very easy.”
Were there any creative arguments?
Jenna: “No, Calum is incredibly easy to work with and I think we hold our work to similar standards which always makes the collaboration process easier.”
Technology being the means of facilitating this collaboration, do you feel that it allowed you to effectively work together?
Calum: “I think so. A lot of my previous collaborations would usually involve working remotely at some point. The way we approached the workload was an adaptation to the technology and its limitations. After we discussed what we would do, we started trying out ideas and sharing our work back and forward and the project built up that way. That seemed to work out well.”
“It’s really important to keep your mind open whilst working with another creative, and not become fixated on your own ideas. If you’re not too precious about your ideas, really interesting things can happen through collaboration.”
In your opinion, how important is it for the sake of our art to come together and collaborate?
Jenna: “Such a big part of music is about bringing people together. When we can’t gather we assume that music can’t bring us together but it can still unite us. I see collaboration as a way of sharing the experience of music although instead of experiencing it as a front facing output such as a gig we are experiencing the joy of it it as a back end operation in the form of composing. I think particularly during lockdown collaboration is my favourite way of sharing in the joy of music. From a compositional aspect I think collaboration just generates better music, it prevents you from going stale. I’m a big believer that you can only come so far on your own. We are social creatures after all.”
Have you enjoyed yourself? What specifically have you taken away from this experience?
Calum: “Absolutely. I do feel more confident about collaborations in general. It’s not always in a composer's nature to be freethinking and loose with control but it is really important. I also feel more confident about what is actually achievable when facing a tight deadline. When we started the project we only had a couple of weeks to complete it. I worried that we would struggle to produce something substantial, as we both have busy schedules and sometimes I spend months finalising compositions. But we didn’t let that hold us back. We went for it and didn’t let the constraints dictate the result.”
Calum performing with his band, Turbyne.
How important is it to keep being creative during these unprecedented times?
Jenna: “For me it’s a necessity. Music carries me through the best and worst times of my life and that hasn’t changed over the past year. Staying creative has been a massive outlet for me. To take it one step further I think it’s a great way of keeping a routine. If you want to survive lockdown you need some form of routine and for me having scheduled time that is allocated to music has really helped pass the days.”
What's one piece of advice you would give our next creative duo?
Calum: “It’s really important to keep your mind open whilst working with another creative, and not become fixated on your own ideas. After I’d done an early draft of the project, I was quietly confident that it was just about all there. Of course it wasn’t. Jenna took it and had completely new ideas about what could happen with the material and that set us on an entirely different path. It was something different, and a lot of my early ideas weren’t going to work. But there were all these new ideas to explore, most of which I wouldn’t have considered, and the result has been something that’s really exciting. If you’re not too precious about your ideas, really interesting things can happen through collaboration.”
“Such a big part of music is about bringing people together. When we can’t gather we assume that music can’t bring us together but it can still unite us. I see collaboration as a way of sharing the experience of music although instead of experiencing it as a front facing output such as a gig we are experiencing the joy of it it as a back end operation in the form of composing.”
Are there any classic examples of creative collaboration that have inspired you?
Jenna: “I don’t even know where to start answering that! There are so many great examples of collaboration that I love but I think the common theme surrounding them all is that they cross genres. I feel about music the way I feel about conversation. Good conversation doesn’t come from people that have all the same opinions and expertise as you, I don’t think those echo chambers are very beneficial and the same goes for music collaborations. The best collaborations are the ones that do not abide by the constructs of genres and are not afraid to cross borders.”