April 10, 2017

Sun Sessions with Conor Emerson

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“I think of myself as your childhood imaginary friend come to life. When I am writing and recording music, I try to synthesize organic and natural sound, like actual sound from nature, as well as sound from space I am in, closing drawers and shuffling papers, like getting textures from that and then reorganizing and repurposing them in a way that takes them out of their original context. I don’t know where I exist musically but I just like to make music whenever I can.”

Conor Emerson is a professional conversationalist. He literally talks to people (namely, international students looking to improve their English) for a living.

Watching this video, it’s not hard to tell: so much of his music is inflected by the oft-ignored serendipity, the colloquial magic that hides in the nooks and crannies of our everyday conversations (he studied the theory of communication and rhetoric at Syracuse University, too). Take the second song in this video; his rambling cascade of floating phrases and passing images in “Maps Were” were all made up on the spot.

Add to that loquacity an equal passion for sounds experimental and earthy — he cites the Books, John Fahey, Tenniscoats, and Joni Mitchell as important creative reference points — and you’re greeted with a thoughtful brand of post-folk weirdness that, on every listen, offers a little something new.

This is the first video in a series of Daily Sun/Fanclub Collective/WVBR/Electric Buffalo Records collaborations, called Sun Sessions. Many thanks to all of the people and organizations who have made this possible and are so committed to the sounds the amazing people who pass through our lives manage to create.

Musician
Conor Emerson (Vocal, Guitar)
https://davidberrylandowner.bandcamp.com/releases
https://soundcloud.com/davidberrylandowner

Set List
“Roger Tory Peterson, Author of Eastern Birds”
“Maps Were”
“Come Telling”

Credits
Videographers: LeeAnn Marcello and Anika Exum
Video Editor: LeeAnn Marcello and Anika Exum
Audio Engineer: TJ Hurd
In collaboration with Electric Buffalo Records and Fanclub Collective