H. Kink — the new collaborative art-rock duo made up of multi-talented singer Lisa Rieffel and actor-musician Timm Sharp (Enlightened, Undeclared) — is on the verge of releasing their debut album, Wish I Were Here, — due out Aug. 16 on iTunes, Spotify and all other digital outlets.
The ambitious, genre-defying LP features a lush 12 tracks that find the band exploring a range of themes — from hope to friendship to heartache — in a fusion of pop, rock, electronic, country and more.
We recently caught up with Rieffel, where she discussed her collaboration with Sharp and the process of writing and recording H. Kink’s aforementioned debut album Wish I Were Here. See below for the exclusive premiere of the album’s track “Kill All The Rats,” which Rieffel wrote through angry tears in the wake of a trusted friend’s betrayal, and scroll down for our complete Q&A interview the H. Kink frontwoman.
Laurie Fanelli: Congratulations on the upcoming release of Wish I Were Here – Does the album have an overriding theme either lyrically or musically?
Lisa Rieffel: Thank you! There’s an obvious theme of musical lightheartedness, and whimsy, woven throughout — as a bit of a built-in antidote to some of the more depressing lyrical subtext.
LF: I love the incorporation of playfulness into each song whether it’s about frustration, anxiety or betrayal. Why did you want to pair difficult emotions with infectious pop melodies?
LR: Yes for sure, I’ve always gravitated toward wildly depressing songs. When I’m alone, it’s Anne Murray all day baby. She’s the head chef at the Upbeat Depression Cafe. When I was a kid, my mom walked into my bedroom and I was listening to “Seasons in the Sun” while burning the boobs off my Barbie doll. Super super cool stuff. Ever listened to that song? It’s f*cked up. The song is sung by a character on his death bed, singing goodbye to everyone he ever loved. Fun stuff!
LF: How do you approach songwriting? Do you collaborate as a group from the very first note or do you each bring your own ideas which evolve into the final product?
LR: It’s really pretty varied, sometimes there’s lyrics first, that I’ve jotted down in a journal, or perhaps bouncing around in my head. And I fit them into an instrumental track that Timm (Sharp) has bounced over my way. Other times, we’ll be together and I’ll hum him something and we build it right there in the studio. I’ve recorded hundreds of songs for over a decade with my close friend Luke Tierney, and he produced a lot of the songs on this record. Luke and I have a shorthand in his studio, and so often times, we can get the bones together for several songs in just an afternoon. And you know what they say… the bones are the money.
LF: What was it like recording at Wendy & Lisa’s Treehouse? I felt a bit of a B-52’s vibe in “No Whammys.” Is the title a nod to the group’s 1983 album Whammy!?
LR: Haha… I somehow missed the B52s, I think I was more of a Wham! girl… but shoutout to Cindy Wilson, she had the eyes!
The title is a nod to … do you know that the little red ‘Whammy’ dude on Press Your Luck? Well, he was actually co-created by the director of the best John Cusack one-two punch ever — One Crazy Summer / Better Off Dead. And the other co-creator was a dude named Bill Kopp, who lives near us in the valley (818 baby!). And one time Bill gave my daughter a drawing lesson and then gave her an original animation cell from Better Off Dead… she has no idea what that means, but its sick. No Whammys, stop!
Aaaaaand… Henson is 1000% haunted. But not in the traditional sense… in the best possible, most creative sense of the haunt. Why is haunting always a negative thing? I feel like the spirits of a hundred thousand blessed vibes are trapped inside the walls at Henson. Wendy & Lisa have a bungalow studio there, they call it The Treehouse, and boy o boy is that place fantastic. Aside from all the gonzo wild equipment there… Prince’s Grammy for Purple Rain was just chilling on the shelf above the couch where we sat during sessions. Just … watching us. Like Elf of the f*ckin’ shelf. And that was about as surreal as it gets.
LF: Wish I Were Here is so engaging, I can hardly believe it’s your debut. How long have you been working on the album.
LR: That is tremendously nice of you to say! The album was a nugget in my brain back in 2016. Like I was saying before, there were bops and noodles and lines bouncing around in my head for some time… but I didn’t have an outlet to exorcise them. I was getting wildly depressed, because I felt like I could scream at all times, but nothing would come out. Then one night at a party, I ran into Timm, who had been in an early early incarnation of my old band, Killola … like 10 or 15 years ago… and he mentioned that he’d been recording a bunch of music ideas that “probably nobody would ever hear,” — and I thought to myself wholly holy sh*t schit, this might be serendipity. The album took its time coming together, which is okay by me, because the process is truly the most special and enjoyable part of all this.
LF: Will you be touring in support of the release?
LR: For sure, I’m getting some of my friends together now to get a live set going. More on that later!
LF: What’s next for H. Kink? Are you already plotting your follow-up to Wish I Were Here?
LR: Right now we’re concentrating on the next two videos, from this album, and we’ll go from there! Who knows, maybe!
LF: Is there anything else you’d like to share with Eponymous Review readers?
LR: Yeah! Take time to check out new bands, follow lots of people online, expand your circle, take naps, watch small movies before Disney kills them all, be nice, make art, even if you think it’s totally impossible, tell other people about the art you like, be kind to one another, and um, if you can, hire more female filmmakers.
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Wish I Were Here drops on Aug. 16. Keep up with all things H. Kinks at the band’s official website and follow the group on Twitter and Instagram.