(upbeat music) ♪ The world is turning ♪ ♪ The clocks are turning ♪ ♪ The minutes burning ♪ ♪ Faster than we make the plans ♪ ♪ We make the time, now we take the time ♪ (laughing) - Welcome everybody, you know our first Friday is always dedicated to the National Parks Arts Foundation, Artisan Residence. And today we're gonna chat with Rachel, Mari, Kimber, which I wanna say Marie and all kinds of different names with that because that's kind of an international kind of name, right? And she's from Wales. And she's gonna be in Saguaro National Park which is one of the newest residencies through the National Parks Arts Foundation. And it's exciting because, you know, Rachel actually lives in Arizona, but she does come from Wales. And this is interesting. We've been doing a lot of shows about Wales lately. And back in the day, when I lived in England as a young girl, people kind of looked down at Wales in a weird way. And I wanted just go like, screw that. Good people come from Wales and so do good musicians and artists. So welcome Rachel, how are you? - Thank you so much for having me on the show, Lisa. I appreciate it. - Am I allowed to say that about what happens between England and Wales? Am I right in this or is it just like in the '80s? Something went on, what was that about? - I would say that that was accurate to the time. Like in the '80s, yes. I mean, when I was growing up, there would be like jokes about English and Welsh to do with sheep usually. - That also was Scotland, Scotland. - Right, yeah. - But it was considered friendly rivalry, but I never got it, I never understood it. - Me neither, I was just a kid. - So it was something that I think was thrown out there. - But this is interesting because Wales is beautiful. It is extraordinarily like beautiful. And that's what I remember as a kid when I was relived in England and we toured Scotland, Wales, we went everywhere. And I just remember your homeland is being extraordinarily beautiful and green and lush and the castles, I mean, the castles. But the castles have like, you know, I don't care what country you're in. When you go to a castle or a castle, now my language is gonna change. I'm gonna go back to how I used to speak. You know, that's like a diverse history, right? That is complicated. Let's put it that way. So it's really interesting. So I'm just fascinated about you being in the States. - Well, funnily enough, if you were English, you'd say castle, but if you're well, or if you're from where I'm from, Cardiff, you'd probably say castle. - Oh, really? - I'm Catholic, see. So it's a different accent. - Wow, really? - Yeah. - So I've always said castle being in South Africa and Kenya is my upbringing. And then a little bit of England was castle. And now here, castles. And now you're, oh, wow. I love this. - The Taff. - Yeah. - The Taff runs through Cardiff or Cardiff, depending if you're putting it on. - Cardiff. Oh, so maybe you're closer to like the Boston side of language. In this country, like, they would say castle. Is it a castle? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just like all confused now, but this is great. I love this. - There's so many accents. - But that's humanity about what was like, how places were settled. And, you know, I love this stuff. I love it. But what brought you to America? - Oh, long story short. - Yeah, you're in Arizona now. Like, you're a far away from Greenland. - Yeah. - But Greenland, so like I should say. - Well, long story short is that I was discovered by a gentleman who was a music producer and he managed my earlier career and we recorded some albums. And then we got married. And then we moved to the French West Indies and then we moved to, then we had a baby and then we moved to Canada. And then after five years in Canada, we separated and he moved to Arizona. So I ended up moving to Arizona so that we could raise our daughter together. - Wow. I love this. This is the story. This is awesome. Travel. So your child has got to have a wonderful background of travel. - Yes, and views from both of us. She's very fortunate like that. Her dad's an incredible music producer and had a career in it. So she's been influenced by everything he's listened to, everything he's produced. And then she's got me with all my musical instruments and that's awesome. And it's awesome to have that balance. You know, as you're touching on, you know, that is awesome. So now you're in Tempe, Arizona. And now you applied for the Saguaro National Park Residency through the National Parks Arts Foundation, which I think they are incredible. And you haven't done the residency yet. So everyone will catch up with her later on this. But this is the thing. We love to get the before after if we can do it. But at least let people know who are these artists going into these residencies. You're in Tempe, Arizona right now. What made you say, I want to go for this residency that's not too far away? - Well, this is a crazy story. My friend and she runs an AV company called Lightning Wonders. Arizona, maybe, maybe. And she found the advert for the residencies and said, "Oh, Rachel, why don't you go for one of those?" And I was like, "What's that?" I'd never even heard of it. I didn't know it existed. And then I read online about the stay in the park and I thought, "What a wonderful opportunity." And I have a very, very strong affinity with nature, with animals, with just the natural world in general. It's almost the driving force in me. If I'm feeling sad or down, I'll take myself to the forest and then I'm happy with Larry. - I've got three and we're all back to normal. - Exactly. Yeah, it's true what they say about forest bathing and grounding and nature. And ever since I was very little, I would hear birds outside my bedroom window and I would mimic them and I would listen and mimic and Black Bird, for example, has hundreds of different tunes. So there's never a dull moment. They're always changing it up. And you can also hear in Bird Song how the great classic period where you'd have orchestras and Mozart and Bey Oven, all those great classical composers, they took all their inspiration from Bird Song and nature, mostly Bird Song, I mean. So the idea of staying in a park and being able to completely immerse myself in the natural sounds of the desert was just like, "Dream come true." - Oh my gosh, yeah, I'm trying to hold myself back while you were talking 'cause I'm so excited about this. So like the mockingbird is like my bird. - Yeah. - Right? Because that's what the mockingbird does. It mocks everything. My nickname from growing up in Africa and Kenya, they try, this is one tribe woman called me Casuku, which is my nickname, which is a parrot because I copied and mimicked and I'm a singer. So like I copy, like I can copy any sound. It's weird. But it's weird. It's weird, but Casuku, I always thought, we always thought was, "Oh, because you can sing." It's not. Casuku, the parrot is mimicking. - Mimicking. - And so, and my spirit bird is the mockingbird. It's which is a mimicry, right? The mockingbird mimics. - Right. - I love that you talk about these birds and when you're in Saguaro National Park, I am so excited for you because of the birds that you will experience. You have the thrasher, the brown, you've got the brown build thrasher. You have got, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. So, you've got flickers. You've got woodpeckers. I mean, you already know all this stuff. Come on, you already know these birds that are gonna be there. You've got, oh my gosh, there's the little yellow ones and I'm not, I'm just like freaking out 'cause I can't remember their name. These little ones are so cute and so sweet. They're like morbiders, but they're not. But honestly, the birds, and when you go to Saguaro National Park, there is a space that you can sit in a Ramada and they will all come to you and I will send you this information before we go off this chat after this podcast 'cause not everyone should know about it. But I will send it to you. I mean, it's there for everybody, but it is a special place where the birds come and gather and you will hear them and you will just enjoy a day of that. There is rattlesnake so too. So, I'm just letting you know. But you play the cello. - Yes, I might. - So, I wanna talk about that because that is an earth instrument to me that's deep connected to the earth. - Yes, it's a heart-force instrument. It's the instrument that's quickest to mimicking, funnily enough, the sound of the human voice. - Oh, wow. - And it's my intention not just to absorb the birds' song and produce it, if I can, with my mouth. Like, and things like that, you know, the little. - Yeah, yeah. - But also to find ways of expressing it on the cello. Maybe not just birds, maybe other animals too, but to interpret the, taking in all the senses of the natural world. - The vibe. - Yeah, through my instruments, like if I did see a rattlesnake observing the way it moves and what it feels like, and then maybe sliding around the cello, you know, that kind of thing. So I don't know whether the idea of it will be different from the reality of it, but I'm excited to find out. - This is exciting. It's exciting, 'cause you already know the desert, right? And you've played in France, if you have a band you play with, right? - Oh, well, I play cello for a band. So that's different from what I do with my own compositions. And so I also song, right? And like you were saying, and play guitar. So I use my instruments and my voice as an instrument, and I compose songs. But I also, aside that, I play cello for a band called Black Forest Society. And they're based up in the Verdi Valley. So we have done gigs around that region as well. And that's a wonderful experience. Very similar feel and timbre to the songs that I produce, so kind of that woodsy, earthy vibe. Yeah. - Oh, I like that. I'm a Virgo. I like the earthiness. Bring it. Bring it. That's good. So doing this residency, did you go in while you're not there yet as we record this? So I want people to know you're about to go there, and hopefully we'll get to catch up with you afterwards. Going in, do you have any ideas of what you want to do? Because I am gonna say this, it's probably gonna change, I'm just gonna say. 'Cause everyone we've interviewed has always changed what they thought they were gonna go into, has like, well, now that we're in it, we wanna do it this way, which is beautiful. And the National Parks Arts Foundation is so cool about that. They're like, that's the point. You're an artist, you need to create what you need to do and do how you need to do it. And we've been working with them for years on this, on the podcast and everything, and it's like, they get it, they get it. And I think that's beautiful. So I know you may have an idea, but what is that right now for you? - Okay, so my idea is to be immersed by the natural world, probably for the first week, and then to like really digest it, and then transform it into music and to produce that music and record that music. However, that looks, and it could be as simple as recording on my phone, doing lives for YouTube, or I could go into a program on one computer and set up a microphone and attempt to do a decent recording with different layers and just see what comes out. But my intention generally and my purpose in life is to heal people through music. And I feel that the natural world is the best resource for healing people. And so to add my human sound vibration to that and bring that as a healing tool for people, I feel is where I'm headed, what my intention is. - So when you were in Sabara National Park, you know, there was the East and West part of the park, right? There's two sections that you can experience this. And one actually goes up into more of a mountainous area. So there's two different topographies to experience. Have you looked at that as something for getting different sounds, for different vibrations? Because I find sound is a healing mechanism, right? - Yes. - And like Nancy and I, Nancy, my mom, who runs all of this with me, we were listening to music the other day, and I'm like, that's against my chakras. I have to turn it off. And she's like, what? (laughs) It is. There's certain things that just don't go, you know? - Yes. - And that's okay. And maybe it goes for somebody else's, but music does go with, I don't, I cannot really explain it well, but I do know that our chakras and our physical body and our spiritual body and music align. - Yes. - And don't align if it's not good. - Yeah. - For us in particular. So what I was going, that's not going, and I've had it happen a few times where I'm like, that is actually not good for me right now. And I don't know, I don't like-- - I would probably veer towards the mountainous side of the park, 'cause I love mountains. I love mountains, lakes, and trees, is my thing. But I think it's important that I also challenge myself, is it the east side, where it's more desert-like? Is that right? - Oh, yes. Yes. But it's also a valley and it's lush. I've been there in those snow. It's amazing. It's amazing. So as a musician going into these different places, I think you're gonna get all different kinds of sounds, like that are different, and you're able to get different species of birds and slightly different. You'll get road runners in both, right? Because it's still in the Sonoran Desert. But when you go up into the east part, it's gonna be a little different, just a tad. Depends on how far you go. So that's what I'm saying. It's like, it could appeal to people in a different way, depending on where you are. Do you think that in your music, ever when you write or know? - Yes, I do. I feel that, if I look at my body of work so far, you can tell that it's me and it's my songwriting style. But the different influences you can hear throughout, and they're so varied. I can write rock songs. I can write pop songs. I can write classical songs. I can write a series of songs. And all of those styles are kind of all blended in. So, and generally I think people really enjoy my music, but there are some people that just don't like my voice or for whatever reason. So, you absolutely might resonate. There's a resonance. And some people are like, wow, I love your voice, I find it so healing. So, you can be drawn to what's right for you and the frequency for you as well, so. - Yeah. I think it's exciting about you going into, like the park itself and creating from there and looking at the natural sounds, because we wouldn't have music as we know it without those natural sounds, right? Isn't that a huge part of it? And so, it's like an ancient being that comes through you in a way of how I look at it. - I'd love to speak to that, because in the last probably, I don't know, five or 10 years, I've gotten more attuned to my spiritual world. And I meditate and go into a different mode in my channel. And with my intention to go in the parks, I want to tune in with the earth and the spirits of the earth and to also interpret that within what I'm doing. And I feel like this will really help me connect with native Arizona, which as you know, at least there is vastly different from Wales. And the green and the moisture and the constant rain is the absolute opposite. So yeah, to really tune in with the desert and produce something that feels honoring of this land. - Well, what's so cool about, you know, we're recording this right before you go in, right? And then as this airs, you're pretty much gonna be there. And you, so where our national park goes through what we call five seasons. And you're at this point of beauty in a different, you're gonna see, oh my gosh, it's so exciting. I mean, I don't really care what season or day it is in our national park. There is beauty. You get up there in the morning, you get there at four or five in the morning and watch it really happen. It's insanity. When you see the sunrise come up, you even think there's gonna be a glimmer of a cloud, you get your butt up in the morning and you get out there, and I don't care where, get out there and just do it. It is insanity. Like what you experience, I got into a crazy, I get insane euphoria over this park. Like, I mean it, like I can't sleep the night before knowing I'm going out on a hike in the morning. - Wow. - That's how insanity, like I mean it, like when I talk about insanity, hello, here I am. That's it. That's how beautiful in the morning and you see how the saguaros, and then you start seeing all these changes of colors. The colorization changes that happen in that park. All, and color and music go together, right? You will hear it when you're there and you will hear if you just sit still, you will hear everything change. You will hear it all. I can't wait for you to do this. I'm excited. And the cello is amazing because what you talk about, and there are artists that have gone out there and among the saguaros and played. So I'm wondering about you doing that for like, just playing and recording, playing the cello among the saguaros. I don't know if that's legal or not. I'd love to. I went with that. I have a feeling there are, there's, people have done it and you should. I don't know if it's legal, but hopefully we can get ourselves in trouble, right? Same as on the air. But... Well, I find that it's possible. If it's possible, I'll do it. Well, I think plants like music. Oh, yes. Yes. I think they do. They're not trees, but they're kind of close. Probably look at them, you know? So in Tempe, you do still have saguaros around you out there, right? Yeah. So you kind of have that connection. But this is a lower elevation, the Sanoron Desert that has this biodiversity that is not so city-fied. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'm looking forward to being in a place that's not so city-fied for sure. I can't wait for this. I'm so excited that you're doing this. Like, it's cool. So are you going to take your guitar with you out there? Like... So I'm basically going to take everything. I'm going to take my guitars, plural, because they're in different keys. My cello, my flute. Oh, so multi-instrumentalist, we're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. So the flute, okay. So what inspired, let's talk about this, because you're a multi-instrumentalist, because the flute has like this amazing different sound than like your cello. You're going into the roots and the earth with the cello. Flute is like Happy Bird. Whoa, here I am. Yeah, it's... Air instrument. Ah, that was... Flute I have is a native flute. It's a wooden flute. It's actually from Canada. It's a Canadian native American flute. Oh, yeah, it's great. And so, how do you choose what you're going to play for what? Is it about the feeling? I feel like I get to hold. It's like I was telling you about channeling, and I get into a certain mode. If I meditate and I empty myself, I become an empty vessel to channel. And I just get told what to do. And there's often the case when I'm writing. If I write an actual song, because I can write pieces of music and soundscapes very easily, I'll just start something and it'll like impulse or intuition or a mixture of both, and I'll just start layering things. And it just ends up being a whole orchestra. But if I'm actually writing a song, that's got a lot more structure to it. And when I do that, I can still have moments where, if I'm not empty vessel and something's coming through, it will write itself literally. Have you had that experience? Sure, absolutely. I'm laughing because, yes, it's weird. It's magical, it's funny. I know, does that, does that, I'm not trying to be, it's just, I don't know how to explain it in a human form. I don't know how to explain that. The channel is a good word, right? That could be like a focus. It's like a radio station really, isn't it? Yeah, it's like a tune in the title. It's a focus. Focus is the best way I can put it. It's like a focus, but like, yeah. But all I know is it gets wonky and interesting, because I'll go into other places, but it's focused. It's like a down, there's either the download or like, I'm going to take you on a journey, you did not know what you were going to go into. So I don't know how to do all that stuff, but it happens and it's frequent and it's weird, but it's cool. So it's cool. Yeah. That's, to me, in nature, when you go out and you really just sit and listen and stop everything, the phone, the ends, and you can't use your phone in the park anyway. Yeah, that's what I'm excited about, honestly. But you can just ingest. Yeah, as a self-employed musician, I really don't know how to take time off or how to stop. So I think this is an opportunity for me to just clear some space and just stop and be and be present and just absorb. Wow, yeah, that's kind of hard. Yeah. Yeah, especially when you just constantly go. I think I'll find that in their lives that they just go. And what about being as a woman, too? How do you think about these kinds of opportunities for women? Have you seen them before, like for women? Like you're saying your friend found this, but have you ever thought of it before this? No, I hadn't and it's funny. I hadn't even thought about it as being female. I just feel like I happen to be female. Yeah, yeah, because there's other artists here like, we've all been trying for this and then like for women, it's been harder and, you know, not for with National Parks Arts Foundation is very open, you know, versus they're not like, oh, you have to be male or female or anything. They're they're they go through a wonderful, judicial process that, you know, when you're selected, you're selected and if you don't get selected, still try again, everybody. I always bring that up because you may not be selected, but I think this is exciting about you going because I mean, you're seeing all these different terrains and in your travels. Do you ever feel a connection between Wales and also Arizona, just even in the nature with the birds? Um, what does it matter if you don't? I know, honestly. Yeah, it is so different. It's that different. Oh, yeah, I've visited other states in America and Pennsylvania was absolutely akin with Wales in so many ways that it like brought us. Yeah, I agree, I agree, I agree. But Arizona, when I first moved here and because it wasn't really out of choice, it was more out of kind of, that's where I was taken. Yeah. It actually took me, I feel the first five years to make peace with living in the desert. It was a very heart-nailing environment for me and I didn't like spiky things. I didn't like being overheated. I'd much rather be cold and put a jumper on or a hot chocolate. Jumper, did you just say a jumper? Yeah. Oh my gosh, I haven't heard that for years. I love it, I love it. I love this, tomorrow I'm going to have a phone chat with all my friends from England and South Africa. We're all going to laugh about that because they say jumper. Like grew up saying jumper. No, it's sweater, everybody. Yeah. So in terms of that, it really is very, very opposite from my upbringing and everything I've ever known and it wasn't something I chose. So I really did make peace with it. But the way I made peace with being in the desert was to explore different parts of Arizona. And the first time I really kind of felt my heart opening up to the desert was in the Verde Valley with all those beautiful big cottonwood trees and, I mean... Water, that river. What's here on the green? It's like, but the magic of the saguaro, the fruit that it blossoms is just phenomenal. Someone, one time, gave me a piece of dried saguaro fruit. And it was a very unique, one-off, amazing experience. And it tasted like fruit, like fruity, berry, but some kind of subtle-burn caramel berry. It just blew my mind that something that looks so obtrusive is actually the most long-suffering, arduous, incredible plant that produces so sweetness. There's a great metaphor of life in there, that the harder the path, the sweeter things can hold. Well, the saguaro is amazing. And we're losing them, which is sad. We're losing them through climate change, just like Joshua trees and then people shoot them and do all kinds of stupid stuff. And so I think the more the arts showcase them, it's important. Not everybody's going to be able to experience the saguaro, but there is a sound that comes from them. And you will find it. I know you will. Well, it's just like a tree, right? A tree moves and you hear a bending. Right. You will find the saguaro has that sound. You just have to take the time. Well, now in the ears. They do move. They do move and have a sound. Now I sound wonky and everybody's going to go like, "You are really weird after this conversation." But a saguaro has a sound because it moves. Anything that moves has a sound. And it's up to us. You can't put your hand on it, obviously. But even if it's like you're seeing it move and you have it in your head, there is a sound. And I'm very excited for you to be out there. And September is going to be a good month. You're in that tweener time of seasons and things will still be in bloom and also changing up. So ours will be changing up. Not saguars as much as the ocatios and things like that will start to move. Yeah, you're going to be in a different season set in between. So the other thing that I've been learning since coming to Arizona is all the various medicines that these plants bring. Like the detour. What a ball. Yeah, there's that one. But I mean, I was thinking of when you said not saguaro, the other one. I was talking about Josh, there's like, there's all the, there's the Mormons tea, there's. Yeah, the Mopee is amazing. Really is. I recall being shown it and being handed some and keeping it and having that tea when I got home. And I think it cured an ailment that I had at the time. Day Torah, day Torah, which please don't go and do this, which is Jimson weed. That is a, the belladonna is amazing. And so we had a good endero on our show years ago and Nancy, my mom, you know, this is when we lived outside Joshua Tree National Park and she was out in the garden and she just did something with her back and she ended up having to crawl back in. Now we live in the desert. When you're crawling through the desert, you know, you're already getting your hands and some kind of spines are getting in there. And she came in, she's like, I flung my back. And the couldn't darrow had been on our show and he had written about the different medicinal things you can do from the different plants and day Torah, which is the belladonna or Jimson weed was one of them. And he talks about just using it in the bath. She's like, well, it's what we have on hand. She did put herself a stiff drink of whiskey or was bourbon or whiskey, one of the two. And she got in the bathtub and we put those leaves, not the flower, the leaves. - Okay, the leaves. - Into the bathtub. She got out of the bathtub, no problem. Stood up, walked out, was fine. And she was like, I am the most relaxed and happiest human being. I'm like, you know, she didn't smoke it or anything. Please do not smoke the Jimson weed, you might die. But she walked out of that bathtub like you wouldn't believe. Got up. Anybody with a back problem knows to be able to stand up is like night and day. - Yeah, wow. - I didn't think about the leaves. I know that the flowers, apparently if you touch them, and you touch it, you can go blind if you touch them. But they also, even if you are by them, their presence can give you really strong dreams because they're very connected with dream time. - That's probably why I was like a little happy. And the desert all the time. We had them all over our property. Well, I think they're the most beautiful plants. And there's like those angel trumpets, trumpet flowers that hang down, they're all the same family that I think they're gorgeous flowers. And people don't think that they exist in the desert. When you get to Saguaro National Park, it's like this whole other world that's different than Tempe. You will find flowers. And this is what is so beautiful. The desert parks have flowers and they're little small ones or just different than what you would think. I can't wait for you to go there because they all have a sound. I think every plant has a sound. Do you sing to plants? - Oh, yes, often. - So I'm not, I'm not insane. - No, I mean, if you think about it, a plant isn't it? It's alive. So, I mean, we're alive, but the plants are alive. So they have, they have a life force. And that life force responds to human interaction. So yeah, I have a plant all around my house and I sing to them. I talk to them. Sometimes I'd say, "Good morning." Giving them some water. I'll say, "Here you go." And I'll stroke at least. - I can't wait for you to go there. I can't wait. I want to hear. I want to know, like, did you play the flute for this plant or the cello for this one? I mean, I think there's something beautiful about playing the cello in the desert. Like, actually sitting down and playing it in the desert. In a wash. You have to be in a wash. - Wash, okay. - Okay. - I know you're looking at me like, "Why?" - I will put that on the list. - Because it's cooler. It's cooler. It's cooler and it's calmer. You'll have a better sound. You won't be up in the real big wind thing. But if you're in a desert wash. - That does, Lisa. That makes a lot of sense. - I'll send you some links of where to be. Like, honestly, I know that part so well. I'll send you links of where to go. But, like, honestly, just cool. Like, there's certain places where you could just sit up and play. And I swear the birds will come. I know. - I love that. - And butterflies. Because you'll still be there in the end of the butterflies. Oh, yeah, you will be awesome. You're in a good space. I'm excited for you. - Thank you so much. - Well, thank you so much for joining us. And tell everybody how they can keep up with you online. - Online, I do put out live videos on YouTube, which is Rachel Murray-Kimber-Live. So if you look at my live channel on YouTube, that's a good resource. Or on Instagram, I think I'm at Rachel Murray-Kimber. So it's R-P-H-E-L-M-A-R-I-K-I-M-B-E-R. - And website? - RachelMarryKimber.com. - There you go, everybody. Keep up with Rachel there. And thank you so much. And keep up with the National Parks Arts Foundation and National Parks Arts Foundation.org. We love them there. It's so exciting what they do. And we love that you are on the show and what you're doing. Thank you so much. - Thank you for this opportunity. Very much, appreciate it. ♪♪ ♪ The world is turning ♪ ♪ The clocks are turning ♪ ♪ The minute's burning ♪ ♪ Faster than we make the plans ♪ ♪ How do you make your time? ♪ ♪ How do you take the time? ♪
