Mary Fahl – in a her new solo career as a singer – seems bound and determined to undo the myths that hovered around her when she served as lead singer for the acclaimed underground cult band “October Project.”
In fact, nearly everything reported about the Hoboken resident during those five years appeared to be in error. Reports claimed she was a classically trained singer; she is not. Media built her into a goddess of Goth, a figure admired by followers of the vampire movement; she claims she was much more mainstream than that.
“I could see where people might get that idea,” she said during an interview last week. “I did not have a lot of money. I had one black dress I wore all the time, and I had black dye to color my hair. I wore that same dress for every performance and every video we did. I suppose it had a vampirish look”
Even printed descriptions about her tend to misrepresent her, with one published write up claiming she had “a pale complexion, dark hair and piercing eyes,” and that she appeared “as otherworldly as an elemental spirit of air and water.”
She has dirty blonde hair, a hearty laugh, and bright cheerful eyes. Rather than the moody figure cult fans have painted her as, she sees herself as much more down to earth, the product of an Irish-German family that made her seek more simple emotions.
Perhaps adding to this misperception were the kind of songs she had to sing with October Project, with metaphoric lyrics designed to provoke thought, not so much emotions. And one or two of the songs did attempt to evoke images of Anne Rice novels.
“I remember I had a hard singing those songs,” she said. “I used to have to picture scenes in my head so I could get emotions into my singing.”
This explains part of her ability to create such overwhelming power in what she calls “the big ballad,” and with the release of her four-song CD Lenses of Contact, she continues to make lie of the myths surrounding her previous incarnation. Those who want to learn more can see her perform at The Bottom Line on Friday, June 8.
A long and winding road
A Hoboken resident for the last 10 years, Fahl claims her pet dachshund is more famous than she is in the neighborhood, as people call out to him whenever she takes the dog for a walk.
Fahl grew up in Stony Point, N.Y. in a large family. Her father, an accountant, commuted to New York City. After high school, Fahl went on to study Medieval literature at McGill University in Canada. Her field of study was hardly a practical one, but one that may have lent a little to her myth as a goddess of Goth. She actually wanted to be an actor, and after college, she went to New York City seeking work. In the 1980s, she went to Holland and found that doors began to open for her, not in acting, but in music.
She began to sing in some of the clubs. Her string of jazzy performances kept her fed, before she wandered to Amsterdam, Sweden and eventually Portugal.
“Then it was time to come home,” she said. “I had to do something with my life so I decided to go back to school.”
She thought about getting into natural healing and signed up for a medical program at Columbia. “I was set to go when I met Julie Flanders on Fifth Avenue, and she wanted to know if I wanted to go to a party,” Fahl said.
Flanders, a lyricist, found out Fahl could sing, and introduced her to the other members of what was to become the October Project.
Despite the critical acclaim the October Project received – and the praise Fahl got with every review – she felt constricted a little by the band.
She was singing lyrics meant to be metaphoric, not emotional, and it took a great deal of work and much of what she learned as an actor to wring an emotional performance out of them.
After two albums, October Project lost its contract with Sony.
Out on her own
In June, 1996, after an amazing ride that brought her close to success, Fahl found herself out of work, out of money, and more than a little scared.
She decided go out on her own – or, at least, take a greater role in creating the material she would perform, gathering people around her that would enhance that sound and help her learn the craft of songwriting.
“Songwriting is a lot of work,” she said, but she said with the help of people like Ramsey McLean and Bob Riley, she began to create.
Her songs come out of her life, not out of metaphor. They tend to be more direct and passionate. “I’m not trying to be profound,” she said. She said that one influence is Joni Mitchell.
“I’ve been told it’s not hip to do things show tunes do, but I do them,” she said.
She tends to start with the music, working out the melody on guitar or in her head, and her co-writer McLean doing most of the lyrics.
She released a four-song EP – not because she lacked the material for a full CD (she says she has tons of songs, some as good or maybe better than the ones she released) – but because of lack of money.
She also chose to hire some of the best musicians, because she wanted to do it right. If she’d gone lower-budget, she might have come up with full CD that lacked the great sound this one has.
The recording features seasoned professionals such as Glenn Alexander, Shawn Pelton, Tony Garnier, Glenn Patscha and Scott Healy on Piano.
“Lenses of Contact,” her debut solo recording, was produced by Jeffrey Lesser – whose other producing credits include Lou Reed and the Chieftains.
Music has numerous influences
Although people make numerous claims as to whom she sounds like — comparing her often to Annie Haslam of Renaissance – Fahl thinks she has a unique voice. Critics call her voice “smoky” with a wide range.
“I don’t think I sound like anyone else,” she said. “I have a big mouth and I have a big voice.”
She admits being influenced by numerous performers and that she grew up in a house that played show tunes on one side of her and jazzy classics like Joni Mitchell on the other.
In truth, her voice in this CD has the rich textures of Annie Lenox with the soulful power of Julie Discroll. Indeed, her tunes have a very Celtic flavor.
Production – especially the piano – comes straight out of Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” album, and Fahl presents a similar breathy style of singing that can be found on Joni Mitchell songs. While Fahl lacks Mitchell’s incredible range, her voice does not grow thin the way Mitchell’s can at times.
Like Mitchell, Fahl has written anthems for emotional experiences, with a similar personal appeal as Natalie Merchant’s solo efforts. Indeed at points, Fahl gives us vague echoes of the Eurhymics ballads such as “No more I love you.”
To celebrate the release of her debut solo CD, Lenses of Contact (Rough Mix Records), Fahl will be appearing in concert at The Bottom Line in Manhattan on Friday, June 8, 2001. The early show is at 7:30 p.m., the late show at 10:30 p.m. This is part of a tour that will take her to Boston. She said tours have been largely local, no more than a three or four hour bus ride, taking her as far south as Washington, D.C., with future plans for Louisville and Pittsburgh. Shows, along with the encores, tend to be about an hour and 20 minutes. She said her songs cover a large emotional landscape.
“I like to think I’ve taken my audience to many different places, giving them emotional songs, and songs that aren’t too serious,” she said. “I want people to get a full meal with many courses.”