I first heard Imogen Heap on that Frou Frou song "Let Go" on the Garden State soundtrack. I didn't know who she was though, I just listened to the song ad nauseum while I was in Paris -- I was feeling lonely and sad and the song was oddly comforting and just beautiful. For some reason I never tried to listen to any of the other Frou Frou music.
Fast forward several years -- a few days ago I was feeling uninspired by the 20GBs of music on my laptop so I turned on Pandora to my Damien Rice station. At some point Frou Frou came on and I decided to look it up. I'd heard Imogen's name before but had never really listened to it. I decided to download some of her music and was instantly hooked. When I hear a song I really like I'll put it on repeat in iTunes until I get sick of it -- it kind of drove my college roommate crazy. Luckily I live alone now, so I started listening to "Breathe In" by Frou Frou on repeat, occasionally listening to some of the other Frou Frou/Imogen Heap songs.
When I first heard Frou Frou years ago, I wasn't sure if the singer was a male or female -- there's an androgynous quality to Imogen's voice, but it's also so ethereal. The layers in the music are also just so rich. I did what I do when I get obsessed -- I started "researching" on the Internet. I found Imogen's Twitter and discovered that in a couple of days, she would be screening her documentary at the CMJ Film Festival here in New York. The documentary is called Everything In-Between: The Story of Ellipse and chronicles the making of her Grammy-winning 2009 album Ellipse. The process took three years and 380 hours of footage were edited down to 90 minutes. Both my brother and I enjoyed watching the documentary immensely.
There were a few things I really liked about it. Firstly, when you listen to Imogen's music, you can hear all of the layers that are there, but it's not always apparent what's going on in them -- it would be difficult to try to dissect what she's doing at any given point. It was cool to see what kind of instruments and non-instruments (the banister of her staircase, for example) she used for the tracks. She plays instruments I didn't even know exist! I especially liked when she played the glass cups and this instrument (not sure what it's called) that is basically a bunch of nail heads that when rubbed play different pitches.
Another thing that's amazing about Imogen is that she writes, records, and produces herself. There aren't a lot of people who do all of that, plus perform their own stuff. The film starts with the transformation of the playroom of her childhood home into a recording studio, complete with a huge console. I liked seeing how she spliced together different vocal takes and created the layers. It was interesting to hear her manager talk about how she sent him 30 different version of Tidal alone. It was also cool to see the in between process, when she was just fiddling around on her iPhone with her piano. It made me want to go buy a mic and hook up the MBox my brother gave me, but he told me that if I tried to do what she did it would sound like crap!
I also really identified with her creative process -- the ups and the downs, things taking way longer than you expected, feeling alone and sad a lot. It was poignant to watch her go through all of these feelings so openly. It was amazing how candid she was and how carefully she documented the whole process. The documentary really is a window into how she works, and it was really inspiring. Afterward my brother asked me if I thought I could spend three years working on something like that, unsure of the outcome. I'm not sure what the answer to that question is.
The documentary also makes you feel like you are getting to know her. She is quirky and really cute in the movie. I loved how she was always wearing something different and loved her outfits. Her parents and some of her musician friends are interviewed on camera, as well as her helpers. She talks about her new car and passing the road test. I also loved seeing her perform on camera -- she is so badass, especially on the piano.
She spoke a little before the film and answered some questions afterward, and was kind enough to take pictures with me and my brother before rushing off to Maine for a conference. It was funny because she seemed a little shy in person after seeing her be more open in the film, but then again, she probably meets a lot of crazies. She is a statuesque 6'0 (I'm 5'7) and looked very elegant and pretty in a black sheer dress (by a Finnish designer, she told me). When we were posing for the picture I started to give her a hug and then kind of withdrew because I didn't want to be creepy but then she hugged me back and said it was okay. I love her! In the movie you can tell she is kind and in real life she was very sweet as well.
The movie was quite late, started at around 11pm, so by the time we left it was around 1am. My brother and I both immediately purchased Ellipse. I'm trying to decide which track is my favorite but as her mastering dude said, it's one of those albums that you have to listen to multiple times to absorb. My early favorite is Bad Body Double. I hope she comes back to New York so I can hear her play!
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