Kate McCandless has been performing under the moniker She Speaks In Tongues for a decade now; but new record DOMESTIKA, released last Friday, is her first completely solo effort and it’s the most intricately personal album we’ve heard in a long time. Gorgeously inspiring and intimately engrossing all at once, it is a spiritual experience that is desperately needed given the current climate. We caught up with McCandless over email, to learn all about this deeply personal project and the interesting circumstances that led to its creation.

KM: Kate McCandless

Your new album Domestika was recorded in a single day, with one take per song, with just your voice and your loop pedal, (except for the last track) after 8 years of working on the songs. What prompted the immediacy of the recording after such a long gestation?

KM: This project was fraught with many ups and downs, fits and stops. I had attempted to record several times leading up to that moment 8 years later, while also trying to figure out what the work wanted to BE. At first I wanted to try collaborating to add beats and texture, and I did that with friend and sound artist Nigel Harsch. The end result was the EP FEELKYAH, released in October 2019. I was pleased enough with those tracks, but I couldn't see proceeding that way...it kept feeling like the work wanted to be something else. More raw, and bare bones, and minimalist. I was also running out of time, energy, and money and balancing a life with a new child with special needs, and mental health struggles.
When I went into the studio with engineer Steve Marek, who has experience recording music with loops, at first we tried recording a scratch track of the whole song with all the loops and then recording each loop one at a time, so we could better control how each loop sounded. This was a torturous process for me. Just grueling and stifling. And time consuming.
After trying that for a few songs, I finally communicated to Steve that I wanted to try just recording the songs, one after the other, just as I perform them live, so I could retain the flow and energy that I bring to the music when I perform. After several attempts and noodling with the mic and pedal, we finally hit some kind of magic flow. There's a tarot card like this, the 8 of Wands. Just ZOOM! BAM! All flowing in the right direction. After we did one song, I just kept going, knowing that I needed to trust this flow of energy. At this point, I had been performing and rehearsing the songs on and off for 8 years. I knew them backwards and forwards. So it all just came. I didn't want to stop until we were done. I think we took like a 15 minute break between but that's it. I walked away from that session feeling like: "I have it." But I still intended on going back to the studio to record the loops one by one. Then the coronavirus hit, and I relistened to the tracks and was like: "these are enough. They're more than enough. This is the work." I asked Steve to master them and he was really able to get the most out of each track. 
As far as the timing of the release, the whole development of this music felt like a kind of channeling of messages I was being asked to bring forward. Time after time I wanted to move forward with this project, and it and/or circumstances kept saying "not yet." Just a lot of weird, mystical things went on with the development of this work. Like how it's called DOMESTIKA and we're all stuck in our homes; and that, for some reason, I felt the need to create a breath loop in each song and made a song called “OXYGEN,” and this virus is attacking the lungs. Just stuff like that. Not to mention the social justice elements. It just felt like now is the moment for this work to be shared. And after all those years, I really needed to be free of it at last.

You mention in the bandcamp liner notes that this record was inspired by the music of Bjork and the feminist themes in her work, and how you named the album after a working title for her record Vespertine? What do you find most inspiring about the iconic Icelandic artist?

KM: God, where do I even begin? I mean first, she is just such an inspiring artist. So singular. So from her own point of view and the beat of her own drum. So forward thinking and calculated, yet deeply intuitive. And just Bjork's voice and singing alone is enough to knock me over with awe and inspiration. She follows her instincts. She's connected to Nature. She's a Mother. She's an innovator. She's powerful and sensual, tender and fierce. I love how she thinks outside the box. Her albums Vespertine and Medulla in particular have had such an impact on me as a person and artist.

Which song on Domestika has the most loops and did you build them all live as you were recording?

KM: Well, first, every song was built with live loops. That's how I perform and that's how I ended up recording them. As far as which song has the most loops. God, I don't know! It's possible that a lot of the songs have about the same amount of loops because one has to be careful with the dynamic of the song with this kind of minimalist method or else things get too fraught and muddy too soon. I guess “Invisible Labor” probably technically has the most loops because things get really, really intense and layered at the end. I imagined the end as some kind of witchy channeling or spell cast by Mother Nature! “Make it Right” might be the next contender, as it has a lot of loops but hopefully still retains its structure for a good while before things get intense.

You've been performing under She Speaks In Tongues for ten years now. Is it ever difficult to keep the same project going through life's ups and downs?

KM: Yes and no. For me, it's about the work. The vision, the idea. So if I have an idea that fits within the SSIT container: feminist, music sampling, playing with nostalgia, social justice, vocal looping, then I'm going to do it one way or another. Because I HAVE to you know? I still have some SSIT ideas I can see pursuing. But I don't feel tied to keeping SSIT going just because, at least not anymore. There are a lot of other things I like to do and that are priorities for me. And I'd love to do other music projects/collaborations apart from SSIT. Writing is my other love, and acting, and my spiritual practices, my home and family life, nature, community, self care, and healing. Creativity takes many forms and knowing myself, I will always be creative. 
That being said, yes it has been difficult to "keep things going." These past 8 years have had many ups and downs personally and creatively. The key for me has been learning to really be in tune with my own needs, energy, and rhythms and create my practice around that. And not feel the pressure to "keep up the momentum" or document my process on social media, or hold project deadlines and expectations on myself too harshly. Just give myself permission to go at my own speed. Fiona Apple has been a real inspiration to me in that regard! As it turns out, I need a lot of space in my life; for self care and rest and wandering and my other priorities/values. And I'm a parent which requires a lot of time and energy. NO SHAME, NO PROBLEM, right? I've found it's all creativity with the right intention. So it's been a recalibration act over the years. At first, it was really frustrating to feel like I wasn't always able to pursue my goals in my creative work the way I'd like to, or to just not have the same energy that I used to. But now I think I've found balance and peace and it feels really good.

Your instrument is purely your voice. When was the first time you discovered that was all you needed to create your own work?

KM: The first time I played around with a looping pedal I was tremendously empowered. It was like the first time I could take these ideas I was hearing in my head, these creative impulses, and immediately let it come out of me, as opposed to attempting to communicate it to another musician. That was probably around 2012. My first album, gloria, GUITAR I played around with vocal looping in almost all the songs, but the work was centered on having a rock n' roll band in order to tell the story I wanted to tell.
With DOMESTIKA, I took my vocal looping to a whole other level, making every song vocal loop based. That process of songwriting was incredibly important and empowering for me. To find a way to do it on my own and in my own way and time and really dive deep with making from very little. There was so much I got out of myself that I didn't know I could do.

Because of samples contained in your work, all your recorded material is available for free on bandcamp, and you ask for donations through venmo, paypal, or patreon. How has your experience been with what is essentially an honor system for your art?

KM: Well, in short, it's a real pain in the neck!
Way back, when I was working with my full band, we were asked to contribute some songs for a mixtape release. We tried to put one of our songs on there that had plenty of song references, and the tape production company was like: "uh...did you pay for the rights of these songs?" We knew then, that it probably wasn't worth the risk of getting sued to charge for the music. That was a real bummer and presents an additional obstacle for an already challenging medium. At some point, I just surrendered to it. I don't like it, but it's what I feel I have to do. At some point, I would love to raise funds on Kickstarter or through a grant so I can actually pay for the rights of the songs, so I can own them and release on more platforms like Spotify and Apple Itunes. And finally charge directly for my work! For now, I can only do what I can do and ask for donations. I solely fund my projects. ME. That's it. And I only earn cash for my work through my live performances. Since that's shot for a while; and really,I can only perform so much as it is, especially with this kind of music that requires so much energy, I only can earn a little bit at a time. Another big reason why this project took so long to release!
So if anyone out there knows Bjork personally, and/or is looking for an artist to sponsor/fund, here I am friends!

Since Mother's Day was this past weekend, and you are a Mother, how has parenthood changed the way you view your art?

KM: This album was my bloody valentine to Motherhood and all the wisdom, and bruises she gave me. It's been no picnic. It's hard to explain...it's in the work. But I guess if I could describe it I'd say becoming a Mother changed me. The transition and the aftermath was traumatic for me, though not without joy. I didn't really expect DOMESTIKA to be so much "about Motherhood," but it just turned out that way. It was my postpartum project. A space where I could show up, you know? and process all these deep, dark feelings and find hope and healing. Given the nature of the looping work, it can create an almost trance like vibe in the room when I'm writing and practicing. Like the room just fills with cyclical sound. It became spiritual. There were actually times where I needed to stop because the energy in the room felt like I had called in something and it kinda freaked me out. I kept imagining my mother's ancestors and their stories as I made this album. I kept feeling like I was bringing forward something of theirs that needed to be told.
I really resent this thing we call  "postpartum depression." Postpartum depression is related to the change in hormones after giving birth. This other depression, this depression that lingers and crushes Mothers' spirits for months, years; is related to a real void in communal support, acknowledgment, ceremony, and systemic structures that make parenting a sustainable, manageable, life giving work. It really is supposed to be a village that makes this happen. So many mothers are just isolated and alone, struggling, not knowing what to do and feeling like failures. Grieving by themselves, feeling abandoned and ignored. And, I might add, not getting paid for their work in childcare and housework and just expected to keep this "thing" going without support? Hence my song “Invisible Labor,” inspired by that one Bjork line in her song “Family”: "show some respect."  The rest of the words are my own.