Band Meeting – Hejira
Hello! Thanks for taking the time, I know for sure that Totnes will be warmly welcoming you on the 2nd May.
We’re all friends here, how about you stand up and introduce the band and what you play?
Hello…Pete Oxley standing here! I’m the guitar player, arranger and bandleader of Hejira.
How long have you been together in this format of a 7 piece band?
We’ve now been together precisely 3 years, 3 months, 24 days, 7 hours, 16 minutes and 28 secon…no, 29 sec…no, 30 sec… oh, damn it, I’ll never be able to answer this properly.
I can’t help noticing your pretty heavily into Joni Mitchell – what’s the appeal?
Well spotted! Although we are absolutely NOT a ’tribute band’, that’s what we do: play the music of Joni Mitchell! The appeal for me stems from a long-love of Joni’s music since hearing ‘Blue’, several decades ago, and being blown away by her unique songwriting. Unique and beautiful – in equal measures. When, a couple of years later, I got to hear ‘Hejira’, I was totally smitten!
I’m struck by how sympathetic Jana’s voice is with Joni’s – was that just lucky or did this require developing?
Jana is an exceptional musician. She’s a properly trained classical flautist and pianist and is totally on top of the guitar duties required for this band. Oh – you were asking about Jana’s voice! So, on top of all that, Jana is an amazing vocalist that – in my view – does ‘her own thing’, but shares a lot of Joni’s qualities: she has a rich tone and sings spot-on in tune, like Joni!
I understand Joni loved messing with the traditional tunings of instruments, does half the Hejira set, involve knob twiddling!?
By ‘knob twiddling’, may I assume you are referring to ‘tuning knobs’? Joni has used more than 40 different tunings over the course of her career; we keep it down to a mere 39. No – only kidding! However, I think that Jana will be using about 6 different open tunings over the course of the show.
Joni Mitchell’s music seems to have a constant appeal through decades of musical fashion, why do you think that is?
Joni is a ‘one-off’! Back in her folky days, her melodies were already extravagant, gorgeous and memorable. This, coupled with a very personal take on harmony made her stand out among her peers. By the time she had written ‘Hejira’, Joni was revered by musicians from all musical walks. Joni could write a ‘3-chord song’ that sounded so much more expansive than what you’d see on paper! For example, check out the title track of ‘Hejira’: this is a 3-chord song (with 2 other chords for the interludes between each verse) that sounds cinematic!
The other massive appeal is Joni’s lyrics, of course. How can someone 23yrs old write ‘Both Sides Now’? Or ‘A case of You’? etc.! The album ‘Hejira’ is rife with killer lines in all of the songs!!
Are you tempted to sneak in any of your own music into live set performances?
Erm…this has been known to happen! Depending on the set list, there may be times when guitars have to be re-tuned, so an instrumental interlude can certainly occur!
With seven of you and all that gear, I presume you have a 8 wheeled pantechnicon – are you concerned about parking in Totnes?
You all remember, dear readers, how Emerson Lake and Palmer used to travel with three articulated lorries, right? Well, whilst we are, needless to say, aiming for such grandeur, we are currently travelling in a fleet of Robin Unreliables.
Do you interpret the music or do you re-produce the recordings we would know already?
Good question! So, with ref. to my saying earlier that we are not a ’tribute band’ I can expand on this a bit now. To varying degrees, I’m arranging the music to give it our own colour and soundscapes. With a 7-piece band, I have a lot to draw from…and I’m really into having a broad palette of sonic textures. With Ollie playing soprano sax, tenor sax and bass clarinet, that’s already a huge range of sounds available to me. Then we have Jana giving the ‘foundation’ of the soundscapes with the open tunings, plus myself, adding ‘colours’ and lines on a regular-tuned guitar. Adding to that, Chris plays piano and also synths, with all sorts of sounds and Dave on bass is such a great player, I can incorporate melodic lines, counter-melodies with the sax etc. to great effect. Then, not only do we have a great drummer in Rick, we also have percussion, which also significantly ‘colours’ the soundscape. Sorry about all the mixed metaphors there!
But, N.B.: One thing I never mess with in the arranging is the melodies! If you come to a gig knowing ‘Just Like This Train’ (for example), that’s the melody you’ll hear and know, despite whatever it is I’ve done with the orchestration. I retain a huge amount of respect for the original work! My little self-imposed challenge is to create that balance where everybody in the audience will absolutely recognise the song, whilst making subtle orchestration tweaks and occasional re-harmonisations, to give the song our own identity.
Would there be any other musical artists (apart from your own) you would consider taking on?
Well, now that you are asking: One of the instrumentals that we play tends to be by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, two of the members of Joni’s great band for the ‘Shadows & Light’ tour! This always seems appropriate – especially if we play ‘James’, dedicated to one of Joni’s long time friends and colleagues, James Taylor.
Come on folks, what’s not to like?!?
Hejira will be performing in the Civic Hall on Saturday May 2nd – Tickets Here