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10 thursday.april 17,2008 BICKFORD & McENTIRE: A NEED TO TELL STORIES Randy Bickford of The Struggle™ and Heather McEntire of Bellafea are tuv area musi cians who take their songuni ting seriously. Both artists' bands hair toiled for the past three years, meticu lously crafting new albums. The results of all this hard work will be on full display this weekend as both records see their local releases. Staff writer Jordan Lawrence talked (at length) with Bickford and McEntire in an attempt to discover the process by which the artists deivlop their songs. Diversions: How does the writing process start for you? Heather McEntire: 1 have all these unused words, so I just keep those in a folder next to my typewriter. Lately we've been writing songs that have a little more space that allow me to get a little more busy on the guitar. Randy Bickford: i think ★ Strip Down MM Everything 1/2 Off • $3 Cover "Old School Video Game Night” Various Draft Specials Tea & Trivia • $3 LITs ~ Karaoke * $6 Rude Earle Pitchers 4 . __________ * VMMNV A Live DJ ■ B Great Specials expf xifjtce He u&m& ia itu/kat A ** jjJLr-' |u ■* w- >ll ♦ ■ i-1 i. ‘■•if |LJ 3 I ~ l).i^ I j i I' uh;i nat to toe in targ. uhen !|su can afford it riqtit non" ii fc v .'iFlc.f T\\-k ~ |.f* all my songs start with phrase, usu ally a musical phrase, and that will give birth to a lyrical phrase. It will kind of accrete. More stuff will kind of stick. The two are tethered together, and I’ll slowly work through what I'm trying to say. Songwriting is like sculpture for me. I’ll start out with those two things and just keep working at it. I'm kind of a slacker about a lot of things, but that's the one thing I'm really obsessed about. Just making sure that every line is dis tilled until it’s like it were carved out of rock. Dive: Where do you feel the inspiration comes from? Heather: For me, I have such a sense of urgency in what I'm doing. I had a rough year. And so there's a lot of inspiration, emotionally. I always feel this urgency to doc ument. and then getting to a point where you can’t revise anymore. Lyrically, I just sit in front of a typewriter. There's something about writ Diversions ing on a typewriter. It almost edits itself. I’m very conscious of word choice and space and syntax and all that. Randy: Maybe because it’s so final. Like. “Bam!’’ words are on paper. Heather: 1 think people need to tell their stories. I try to dedicate myself to that theory , which means a lot of staying at home, writing. Randy: Language is always the thing that inspires me. The different meanings, the different connotations of words just gets me going. When I read lyrics by someone else and I see a cool line break or something, that messes with your expectations. That gets me excited and it makes the song go forward. Vou can say so many things with language. It's so free. You're not nailed down to one interpretation. I love that. Dive: So it’s more of a chal lenge than an expression. Randy: It's an expression of something in the back of my head that I don’t know I'm trying to express until it comes out. Heather: I think one of the most challenging aspects is making it so it’s not like a diary. I've been trying to focus on being a little more cryptic lyrically. I’ve been kind of focused on spirit. DELIVERY 91 ?: 9 i 8 i? 78 HOURS Mon-Wad 4pm-3am Thursday: 4pm-3:3oam 306A W. Franklin St. Fri & Sat: 11am-3:3oam J3C aa U H Sun: 11am-2am 11 T3TOO OFF~~! If HOME MONTH LREGULAR_MENLLPRICEj SMALL 1-fTBi PIZZA ANY SPECIALTY PIZZA * owsJoa or AMY 2-ITEMI PJ2ZA waunßitMTwawwaißaiß WWW BELLY BUSTER uriaunm-w * CHOOSE * FOR M7.M URGE 1 -ITEM PIZZA CHOOSE ) FOR *tt.M + URGE POKE V STM CHOOSE ALL • r 4119 + 6 PEPPRONI ROLLS *l4“ 1-ITBH PIZZA *7 PEPPERBNI WINGS +lO WINGS ANDgEEMRER I5 BUFFALO WINGS 15 MNE LESS WINGS ALL 5 = ca.W |i4-pgYnui i4’ cinnamon swat [ Dive: Does it ever become an issue that maybe you’re putting too much of yourself out there? Heather: Y’eah. I think that’s what’s humanizing about it. Especially in a small town. I mean, my ex lives right over there. But I think you have to throw that out the window and let the song be. It’s not really about you; it’s about these emotions. You’re not the only person that’s gone through them. Randy: The personal, thera peutic part of it, that’s only one facet. There’s also, you know, challeng ing yourself and trying to do differ ent kinds of styles and do different things. Heather: This is really inter esting. I like talking about this. Keep going. I think I might redefine every thing I’ve thought about this. Randy: You can’t say that there’s one intention that you have in writing a song. For me it’s trying to do some thing interesting with language, trying to express myself, trying to proride some kind of meaning that other people can relate to. Otherwise, why are you putting it out there for people to hear? Dive: So then what do the PARTICIPATE IN THE 2008 HEAVLJV/AJ SENIOR CAMPAIGN FOR CAROLINA! While the senior marshals endorse !■- ■; "' '"' l’lT^ Carolina for Kibera (CFK), Q/^ROLINA gifts made by seniors to any 4' University fund count toward campaign participation. if P-O'Hi 3 J^ r If we reach our goal of 30.5% H|c ciass participation (1,1 51 donors), rBRITU an anonymous donor will give * $25,000 choose to give to CFK David '69 ■IVr ■■ Br m/ ™ fl nn ana Becky Pardue wn match ; ,r W t,?A i Jjßp gift S' tor $1 up to 525.000 - • ; • ' •••■:•• ..: : ": ' . .;••■ .: |B|| * .fl doors of opportunity for students, the community and the world. HA A"H kl ■HjCj I’l I[C| to CFK which serves more than 20.000 people a ( | year through the Tabitha Clinic, a Youth Sports Program, Taka ni Pater (Trash is Cash) and the Ail donors will r*civ < Class of 2008 cc* Binti Pamoja center helping young Kenyan girts Oonors of S2O 08 or mow will (iso rece.ve • yp We know there are many ways you can spend Tr hml ipei pm to wear on truest graduate robes These gifts are exclusively available r 9 r $20.08. Why not feel good about where you through th. 2006 S*n,or Camp*,gn tor C.rol.n. jp#f>d 2008 Maf^,ajs BoT I ] DTH/AlllE MUIUN Superlative songwriting is the weekend's star as both The Stragglers and Bellafea release new albums at Local 506. Friday and Saturday, respectively. best songs do? Is it an emotional response from somebody , or some thing that makes someone go, “I can’t believe they did something so awesome?" All of the above? Randy: It’s all of the above. It sounds like a cop-out, but that’s the cool thing about music. There’s someone you can like that’s got great lyrics, like Leonard Cohen, and then there’s somebody else Heather: Who can play the perfect jazz chord. Randy: Yeah, something that’s not verbal at all. | I&tOMG mti ♦ | • Day Spa Atmosphere • Brand New Ultra High Pressure Beds | • Medium Pressure Bed and Booths 3 TANS • Customized Sunless Airbrush Tanning fur •Open 7 Days a Week I Cm fin I • UNC Students show your i v • U.UU UNC ID for a discount I|| | | : 105 A Rams Plaza • 968-3377 iEhr Daily Sar flrrl Heather: I think everyone has the potential to create. It s just the people who can really chisel it all down and really work on their craftsmanship. When I know I’ve finished a song, it s like the snapshot. I can store the snapshot. Maybe it takes you three years to finish an album. Maybe it takes you three minutes to finish a song, but when that picture is done, and you can show it and feel like this is that element, this is that song, that's when I know to stop. Contact the Diversions Editor at divert unc.edu.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 17, 2008, edition 1
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