WISHING WELL — by Holy Matter
"They’re on another planet so you just have to walk away…”
Holy Matter is the pseudonym of Leanna Kaiser, a musician, experimental filmmaker, and music video creator living in Los Angeles, CA. Holy Matter’s new single is Wishing Well, which combines classical guitar, Shangri-Las harmonies, a wonderful Motown-esque bassline, Farfisa organ, and a 1960s Maestro Rhythm Jester drum machine, all to glorious effect. Here's the captivating video...
Originally from St Louis, MO, while living there Kaiser co-founded the ambient duo Frances With Wolves with prolific rock n’ roll songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andy Kahn (Cyanides, Shitstorm, Future Junk). Together FWW toured the country, opening for Wet Hair, Mount Eerie, Xiu Xiu and many other bands. In 2021 they released a collection of home recordings entitled Fruits That You'll Never Know via their label Nighttime Records.
Kaiser's first show as Holy Matter found her opening for Weyes Blood at Floating Labs in St. Louis. After a stint touring in various bands, she began studying experimental film, scoring her own films along with Kahn, and eventually moving to Los Angeles to study at CalArts’ prestigious MFA Program in Film/Video. During her time at CalArts, she became further interested in recording, eventually coming to manage the film school's recording studio.
Kaiser spent the next several years continuing as an ambient improvisational artist, performing her work using loop pedals, guitar, voice, and keyboard. All the while she stayed busy making music videos for artists such as Allegra Krieger, Dean Wareham, Big Search, Jack Name and Papercuts, while also working as a film projectionist.
Leanna Kaiser on Wishing Well:
“This was a rare instance of knowing exactly how I wanted a song to sound as I was writing it, and it actually turning out identically to how I heard it in my head. I kept thinking about this restaurant I went to as a kid called The Wishing Well, which had a faux stone well in the middle of its wood-paneled dining room. I imagined this song playing in that dingy room over some crappy 70s restaurant speakers. I knew I wanted a sort of burnt orange tropicalia vibe, and Andy Kahn had gotten a 1960s Maestro Rhythm Jester drum machine that I immediately knew would be perfect for the song. I love finger-picked classical guitar and drum machines together. I paired those with on-the-edge-of-dissonant Shangri-Las harmonies… bursting with energy and then saying 'oh well'. It was really important to me to have a strong Motown-esque bassline that was a super groover, and Andy did a great job…it’s my favorite element of the whole song. I recorded most of the track at my apartment, had Andy send me a few parts, and then on a trip to St. Louis we laid down the live percussion and the Farfisa with Matt Stuttler at the Sinkhole. It was my first time recording there, and one of my first times recording in a studio period, and it was such a great experience. The lyrics are about the dissolution of a crush on a too cool person; when you can see so many reasons that someone is right for you, but you also know they’re on another planet so you just have to walk away with a sigh…”
I never knew how much could hurt you
I never knew how to make you cry
I never knew how love could hurt you
And why
Jealousy versus wonder and desire to define
What he brings to me is clear inside my mind
But I’m not gonna be
Not gonna be
Never gonna be
Someone could who could change him, no
When I see him out in the courtyard
The moon is full but I just walk away
‘To everything, there is a season’ they say
And I’m not gonna be not gonna be never gonna be
The one who could change him, no
(Lyrics © Leanna Kaiser 2024)
Leanna Kaiser on the Wishing Well video:
“I have always wanted to film at Huntington Gardens, one of my favorite places in LA. I was thinking of the statues as having this unspoken dialogue between them and being stand-ins for envy and social drama. A common theme in my film work is doubles, and I imagined this burnt orange dark dress Holy Matter as being a statue-esque omniscient presence watching over the scene and invoking some sort of spell on the naive Holy Matter in the Gardens. I really love fake plants and fruit and was thinking about Yeats with his golden apples of the sun and silver apples of the moon. Danielle came up with that brilliant glass fan close up that set the tone for the whole scene, which my friend Yun helped us set up in my backyard.”
Wishing Well credits:
- Words and music by Leanna Kaiser
- Produced by Leanna Kaiser
- Mixed and Mastered by David Glasebrook at The Garden Shed - Oakland, CA
- Engineering by Leanna Kaiser, Andy Kahn and Matt Stuttler
- Executive Producer: David Glasebrook
- Recorded at: Park Drive in Los Angeles, CA; The Sinkhole - St. Louis, MO; Andy’s House - St. Louis, MO
- Leanna Kaiser - vocals, classical guitar, electric guitar, Farfisa, percussion
- Andy Kahn - electric guitar, bass, Farfisa, percussion, drum machine
Release date: June 7th 2024 (out now)
Bandcamp: https://holymatter.bandcamp.com/track/wishing-well
For more information please contact…
