Andrew Bird has quite the set of ears. From his sophisticated indie folk-rock songs to his calming neo-classical works, the virtuosic violinist, guitarist, whistler, and singer has always shown a keen sensitivity to sound-craft.
On Saturday, October 14, the distinguished composer will visit UCSB’s Campbell Hall to share Echolocations: River, the second in a series of space-sensitive recordings, along with older hits. In a recent phone conversation, Bird sounded off with various insights about his most recent work and his own sound sensitivity.
I used to live near the Hyperion Bridge that you recorded under in your recent Echolocations. What made you choose it? I ride my bike along the river a lot, and first I thought I wanted to do it farther down, where it gets really deep and canyon-like, a little more apocalyptic and strange. But it proved too tricky to try to get down there. The Hyperion Bridge was the coolest and oldest bridge around there that I could find, and there’s something about those two bridges being at slightly different angles, and the sort of elliptical shapes where the arches let a little light in ….