Watchglass

Janice: Gina, I'm listening to your work as I write. Tell me about your inspiration for your songwriting?

Gina: Hmmmm, inspiration can be a tricky thing to pin down, as often it is just a subtle, wispy thought or different perspective on something. And the something might be anything, even including the mundanities of life. But then having noticed this perspective it is then a matter of letting that become a truth for me and then the song lyrics are a way of illustrating and expressing that perspective in a (hopefully)vibrant and aesthetic way.

Sometimes a song is built around a single line that comes to me when I hear Mark's music. 

The way Mark and I write, is that he sends me a fairly complete song for which I supply the lyrics and vocals. Sometimes on listening to the track, a line of words will suggest itself and then I create a scenario around that line. 

For example, on one of our latest batch, as I was listening to the track over and over, the words, "Take me in the morning and we'll waste all afternoon" was the opening line that came into my consciousness and flowed really well with the music. I was kind of "stuck" with that line and so I made up a story about an otherworldly being who visits a mortal woman(in fact now I think about it, this idea possibly crept in from a from a book I had read earlier by Patrick Rothfuss where a man was taken by a faerie - Wise Man's Fear). 

 I don't necessarily think a listener would hear the same story that I had in mind but there is usually some mystery in the creation to make other interpretations possible. At other times I have a clear idea on something and I'll write a set of lyrics before hearing any track, such as was the case with Eons Romance. I was taken up with the idea of a love affair existing over eons (based loosely on the movie, Zorro)and so this became a one-verse song, for which I then asked Mark if he could create an "ethereal" type song without a verse/chorus structure. 

 Mark is a 3-D modeling artist and every now and then he'll send me a scene he's made and these have also suggested lyric ideas as the scenes are usually full of story potential. This is how the song Heaven's Lake came about, which is on the upcoming album. As far as the subject matter that usually gets turned into songs , it is most often the intricacies of relationships or individuals and their personal strivings - the best parts, the things dreamed of, the difficult parts, the sad times, and any one of the smallest things that can occur with a person or between two. 

 I once saw a bloke standing on his own drinking a cup of coffee and I was struck with his desires for his day which went with that coffee and so became a song about it. I'm fond of positive outcomes. Any sad songs I write will have at least a glimmer of better times ahead, which is what I want and hope for anyone who listens. 

 Janice: Would you describe your singing and writing as influenced by folk music? If so where do those influences come from? 

Gina:  This is quite difficult to ascertain. It possibly is influenced by folk music - Joni Mitchell, The Incredible String Band, Simon and Garfunkel and especially Bob Dylan are all folk artists that I grew up with and I loved those records and still do, but I was also a child of Abba and Top 40 pop music. Listening to the top 40 on the local FM radio every Saturday afternoon throughout my teen years was one of the highlights of my week, as well as compiling tapes of songs recorded from the radio. 

 I think my secret dream was to be a singer the likes of Chrissy Hinde or Blondie. But my lyric writing now seems very much my own and not really attempting to be like anyone else, though I will occasionally look to other artists lyrics to see if what I have written is comparable in quality or to see if I can “get away with” something that seems unusual.

 In these cases I’ll look to any number of songs I’m familiar with including most any folk pop I may have heard on Triple J radio or perhaps Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell… 

 As far as singing, I’m trying to just be me and exploring my vocal range and dynamics to express things and hopefully be lovely to listen to. This is always a work in progress and a great joy. 

 Speaking for Mark now, the way he puts it is that he listens to a wide variety of music and musical styles and he likes to borrow bits and pieces from all of it. In this way the songwriting continues to

 evolve as he hears new things and rediscovers old things that he can bring to the songs. 

This is one thing I love about working with Mark, is that I do get a wide variety of styles and tempos to write to which is great for inspiration on different song topics. I mean any song is always different to any other, but I find that Mark is very open to experimenting. Also, having guitar as one of his main instruments means an even wider scope of variety of sounds and styles. From the very beginning I knew I had found my musical match with Mark. We have written and recorded now, since we began only five years ago, probably around 200 songs. I’ll have to count them up one day, but the main thing is that we are creating in the present and getting music out to ears that want to hear it.

Watchglass is an unsigned Sydney music outfit that began in 2017 as a four piece band. All were seasoned musicians but for the vocalist, for whom Watchglass was a vessel in which the right ingredients were mixed and made MAGIC happen. She had only ever wanted to be a singer, perhaps in a covers band, had only ever written one song when she was 10 years old, but Watchglass launched her into a full-fledged vocalist and lyrics-writer. Mark (Em) and Gina were profuse in their output, As well as live -playing regularly, they released at least one album per year.

The tracks here are from the debut live-recorded album of the original 4-piece and the present. The sound has evolved with the natural inclinations of creatives who want to experiment and try new things. We hope you find something to connect with and enjoy. was 10 years old, but Watchglass launched her into a full-fledged vocalist and lyrics-writer. 

Bandcamp:

https://watchglass1.bandcamp.com/follow_me