BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
When an artist is streamed more than 29 million times, it tells you something about what listeners are craving right now. And Sophie Hutchings’ successful new release Echoes in the Valley tells us the world is craving calm — or, in the composer’s words, “room to breathe”.
The Australian pianist and composer chose to abandon the chaos of a pandemic world, and isolate herself in the Byron Bay Hinterland. There, surrounded by nature, she wrote and recorded music for solo piano that would bring solace to her and her listeners alike.
Sophie, congratulations on the success of your new album Echoes in the Valley. I’m going to jump straight into things with you: why do you think this calming and atmospheric music is resonating with so many listeners right now?
I think the world has felt so much weight over the past 18 months, it’s important to find some sort of reprieve and room to breathe. This kind of music can carry you to that place. It enables you to put things on hold for a moment in time, which is so important.
We’ve suffered from so much anxiety and lockdowns, and this music unleashes all of that. It’s like the music has a language of its own that channels a certain pensive reflection that enables one to sit within oneself, which even previous to now has always been a human element that we need to tap into. And this type of music is the perfect friend for that.
You spent time finding this “room to breathe” in the beautiful Byron Bay Hinterland. What took you to this part of the world?
The location became a huge part of what I wanted the music to represent. I knew it would play a pretty monumental role in shaping the overall experience.
I spend a lot of time outdoors, and those kinds of spacious surroundings have an influence on my headspace, and almost act like a pathway to making music, but it’s always then been taken back home or to the studio. I wanted to somehow combine these two worlds into one place.
It’s been such a complex and strange time in history too that I wanted to try to do something that was completely opposite to what the world was going through, and then transport the listener into that space through the music.
Why did this location inspire you to make these “echoes” as you’ve called them in the title?
The focus for me was all about finding solace in simplicity, and exploring the tension between isolation and beauty.
It was a very basic rustic timber studio nestled in the crook of a dramatic valley; mountains and farmland to the west, rainforests and the ocean in the distant east. So it was extremely beautiful, yet also quite isolated and a very simplistic setting.
I wanted to do something as organic and stripped back as possible. So in a way, the environment became a gentle mouthpiece or quiet driving force behind the music, which enabled me to slow down and leave space for this natural environment to complete the story.
It was a way of allowing the natural world to speak louder than humanity, and so it became a conversation between myself and the environment, which was then channelled through the music.
You were originally going to record this music in Berlin — and instead found yourself bathing in an outdoor shower, sleeping on a futon, and recording in that rustic timber studio!
Very rustic, slightly imperfect, but extremely tranquil and beautiful. It was extremely different to any other recording environment I’ve been in. It very much felt like camping, which I’ve done so much of and feel very at ease with.
I had a little cabin that was perched on the top of the valley. I’d wake early in the morning to a cacophony of birds, which really is music to the ears. I’d make a stove-top coffee, and sit out on the deck overlooking the valley, and allow a little time to take things in and put me in a certain mindset. I’d then walk over to the little timber studio, which was just up behind my cabin so a very short stroll, and spend the day recording the pieces.
Then I’d go back to my cabin, have a glass of wine and a make a nice mezze plate of falafels, breads, dips, and sit out on the deck and kind of just allow the music of the day to kind of settle within, alongside the rustling of wind through the trees and bird song.
It felt quite liberating showering outside surrounded by frogs, and just looking over the valley. I’d go to bed with the window open and listen to the natural soundscapes, which is nice for someone who isn’t the greatest sleeper.
Yes, you’ve written music about insomnia in the past through Love & Keep. Reflecting on the experience of Echoes in the Valley, do you feel it was just as therapeutic or helped you achieve that sense of calm you convey to your listeners?
Yes I did. It was a very peaceful and tranquil environment to be in. Fortunately, I was able to stay on a few days after the recording just to reflect on the experience.
Isolation for many can be a difficult thing — but when it’s chosen, I feel as though you can find an interior solitude that can be quite therapeutic. I think having the privilege of being able to embrace that environment in such a fragile, traumatic time in the world allowed me to capture a certain emotional energy, and have a moment in time documented through the music, which felt unique and special.
I think that’s all part of the fragility in the music that floats in the air, and is conveyed in a timeless fashion that listeners will always be able to stop for a moment in time and relate to.
You very specifically chose to limit yourself to solo piano. Why was this level of restraint important to you, and what does solo piano ‘say’ that would be muffled through the addition of other instruments?
Music conveys so many feelings, and I absolutely love musical layers. Yet, there’s something very peaceful about just allowing solo piano to speak on its own, and I always enjoy returning to it after a much fuller album. It’s the kind of music that doesn’t demand your attention yet still emotionally resonates within. In this form, it’s very subtle, spacious, and gentle. There’s a quintessential quality to the sound that always has a place for reflection and comfort.
Do you have any parting words for us?
For a fairly flamboyant, outgoing character, my music has always been the more introverted side of me. And earlier on. I struggled to share it with people. Even now, I have my moments. However, through these experiences and the relationship that has developed over time with my audience, they have taught me to trust and believe in what I’m doing. I appreciate them a lot, and they’re beautiful feedback. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.
There’s no language barriers with music. It’s a universal language, and sharing and connecting through music is special. That often gives you the incentive to keep going.
Listen to Sophie Hutchings’ music on her website, and stream Echoes in the Valley on your preferred platform.
Images supplied. Credit: Luke Dubbelde.
