Hungry For More

Melissa Ferrick

Hungry For More, Music. 3:05

Interview by L. Valena
June 27th, 2023


Let's start from the top. What was the prompt you responded to?

I was to show up at a restaurant and eat a meal that was being made for me, but I didn't know what it was. The vibe of the day was just so great because it was raining, it was hot; these are the things that come back to me when I'm writing. I didn't know where I was, and I'd never been in that area of town, so everything was unfamiliar. I get a little nervous when I go somewhere I've never been before, but I wasn't anxious this time because I know you and I was excited about this. When I got into the restaurant, it was so dark. There were so many people in there working, but it was quiet, which was also weird. It reminded me of the security of a dark, cool bar or restaurant on a day when you just want to get away from it all.

Jay [Jeremy Kean] sat with me the whole time, and I wasn't expecting that. He probably felt a little bit like I do when I write a song for someone and I play it for them the first time. You know, you’re nervous. You want them to like it. I was asking Jay questions about the dish before I started eating it, talking about people that we had in common. He was like, “Can you hurry up and eat it?” [both laugh] I know what that feels like. I know artists who, when they send me a demo or anything, want feedback right away. I want people to give me feedback right away too, because whatever we’ve created is like our baby, you know?

Exactly! How did you feel about the dish itself?

I thought I was going to be alone when I ate it, and I wasn’t, so that changed the experience. I needed to monitor my reactions rather than having a quiet, private experience on my own. What it evoked was what I would do on a blind date, so I wrote the song by personifying the dish. The song is waiting for my mystery guest to arrive and then they show up. When you’re on a first date, it’s hard to be yourself. So the anticipation and excitement of it, of the creator of the meal being there, took over my experience in a way that was as penetrating as the flavors themselves.

Interesting.

And the experience of the room. There were a lot of people. They were cleaning, polishing silverware, and setting things up. It wasn't distracting, but there were a lot of things going on. I’d thought the experience would be something very solitary, and it was not at all.

I’d thought so too. I love that people kept coming up and talking about what was going on.

Yeah, and I knew that I wasn't going to know what I was walking into. I just thought, “Wow, this is a whole thing!” It was really fun.

Cool. So how did you get started on your piece?

I didn’t write anything that first week. I didn’t even have a minute to work on it. I had been thinking about it the whole time, of course. You know, any creative person has these projects that we circle around. So I was letting it marinate and process, and then I sat down to write it, thinking “I have to write this song for Bait/Switch.” I don't usually write like that. When I write, I mostly write in flow. I don't do the things you're supposed to, like morning pages and stuff. I just marinate and think about things and remember things, and then I just write it.

I usually write lyrics first, but this time I picked up the guitar first, which is highly unusual, and I got the riff of the chorus. Then, when I wrote the lyrics, I just started from the beginning. That's a really good way in for me, which is to use this technique of writing down exactly what's in front of me. I do it a lot to get to where I need to be. I started writing down the description, which was from the moment I walked in. I sat down at a table for two, which suggests that someone else is arriving, and I was facing the bar. It’s a technique of being really descriptive and trying to get the listener into a space that they get to decorate, but I’m telling them the parameters. I'm giving them the skeleton of the house, basically.

I knew it was chive flowers and chili oil, and I really wanted to use those together because of the alliteration, but they're so different. And it just didn't fit in my mouth when I was singing. I thought of singing “…with chive flowers in your hair,” but I wondered, “Is there another way to say that without saying you are really a person?” That’s the first time that you get clued in that this might be a person, even though it's not. I really wanted to use something different than hair. I wanted it to be something that would still cause the listener to not really know if it was a person or not. But I couldn't come up with anything, so it was just one of those times when you have to keep going and then maybe come back to it. I could have tried “chive flowers everywhere,” but that didn't seem right for the plate. They weren't everywhere; it was a very small plate. It was very succinct, you know?

And I got the chili oil later, with “You leaned in and kissed my cheek,” which I love because it was about the fork inside my mouth, with the food touching the inside of my cheek. I was very proud of that verse. “And then came the heat/ Up through my body/ You are mesmerizing/ You leave me hungry for more.” I like that whole part. I feel like that part is really meditative and I'd like to work on that more.

That's awesome. It reminded me of something you said while you were eating. At some point, you said, “What do you mean this isn't going to be on the menu? I'll never be able to eat this again?”

Exactly! Yeah, which is like leaving a person hanging. And also, it was such a small portion! I thought I was getting a huge four-course meal! [Lu laughs] I didn't eat lunch, waiting for this thing. It doesn't matter, it was just hilarious. It was a classic setup. “Be careful what you think. It’s not gonna be what you think.”

You never know though!

Mmm-hmm.

Can you say a little bit about how this song relates to the rest of your work?

There's a song of mine called “Weightless And Slow” on a record called “Still Right Here” that this song reminds me a little bit of. It has kind of a Robbie Robertson vibe to it, which I really like. I think it has a sensuality that a good handful of my songs have, like maybe a Robbie Robertson or Sade smoothness to them, wateriness to them, but with my voice. You know, it's not yelled, it's not that kind of expression. It's like being on a boat during a calm sea.

Nice.

There's no bass on it, which I thought was going to bother me, but it doesn’t. Also, this is the first song that I have fully recorded, edited, produced, and mixed all by myself in Pro Tools. I used loops from a downloadable outside source called Splice. So I became a member of Splice, and downloaded loops, and dragged them into Pro Tools, and edited them, and increased the BPM. I spent probably three full eight-hour days recording the demo. I didn't realize that Natalia Zukerman would be here the day that I finished writing it. She listened to it, heard these background vocals, and said, “Oh my God!” I asked, “You want to sing on it?” It's totally, totally great. Natalia is like a love of mine, you know? And that's the first thing we've sung on together since “The Truth Is,” which came out in 2013. So we hadn't sung on a recording together in ten years.

Wow, that just gave me goosebumps!

It was such a gift for me, too.

I love that. And congratulations on you doing the whole thing yourself. That must be so empowering.

I think I will release it. I sent it to the record label and they love it. I am going to put a bassline on it, though. And I don't want the vocal to be doubled everywhere. I listened to it this morning, took one of the vocals off on all the verses, and I think it sounds a lot better. I'll send you versions as I work on it.

One more question. Do you have any advice for another artist approaching this project for the first time?

I guess my advice would be to let it be what it wants to be. I thought this was going to be a punk rock song when I ate the food, and I think that it was informed by meeting Jay and seeing him and feeling his energy. The plate was pretty spicy, and he’s very spicy. He’s got tattoos everywhere and he looks like a punk rock dude. The dish was like this explosion because the chili oil really kicks you after you eat it. Then when I wrote the song and the vibe came out and loops came in, and I started playing this riff and I put a shit ton of reverb on my voice, I realized this is vibey sexy, not punk rock sexy. This is like wooing a person by the ocean at night. So there was a huge shift in what this song wanted to be. What I thought it was going to be while I was eating is not what it wanted to be when it came out of my hands. I had to just trust that. So, I’d say, let it come to you and whatever it is, honor it. This is an opportunity to express outside self installed boundaries because the spark is coming from someone else’s heart.

Call Number: M76FD | M78MU.feHu

Melissa Ferrick has released seventeen albums over the last twenty-five years and has won numerous awards for songwriting, production, and performance. On August 15th, 2023 Ferrick is releasing their first single in eight years, Black Dress, via the venerable Kill Rock Stars Records. Melissa is regarded in the industry and by their peers as one of the most prolific, generous, and hardworking people in the business.