Sempervirens is a song about ancestry. It grew during a time of heavy moving in my life, both physically and emotionally. From the Latin semper (always) and virens (flourishing, green), it conjures images of the ceaseless line that interweaves and connects all humans.
Most of my songs start with the culmination of new experiences, exposure to new knowledge, or quick growth, and Sempervirens was no exception. Not long after I had uprooted my life and moved to Banff to be near my partner, my outlook changed quite a lot. For the first time, really ever, I was an incommutable distance from my family and friends with no reputation precluding me. During that time I was actively seeking connection and legitimacy in my being. Moving to a place largely populated by young folks from around the world completely changed the regular setting within which I was operating. Being that so many people in Banff are on two-year visas, it was also a bit tricky to really forge relationships with those who have lived there more permanently, as getting close to people who would inevitably be moving on had wearied most over the years.
From the first days of living in Banff I was writing music. During the first two weeks I was living in the basement of an Inn looking for a job and a house, I wrote two songs (quite a feat for me). Being in such an otherworldly national park was certainly influential, but I think what really triggered it was such a big pivot in my life. In moments of big change I find myself evaluating the way I view and approach the world. Thoughts can be worn into beliefs that can become habits without good reason, so shedding what isn’t helpful to oneself in these moments can be a very liberating experience. Frightening and dizzying, but liberating. Thankfully this uncertainty was fruitful both in state of mind and songwriting inspiration.
As the weeks rolled on, I travelled back and forth to Lethbridge to see family and friends and to get away from the constant traffic in Banff. I have a hard time listening to music in the car for the entirety of road trips, so I took to podcasts, or just nothing at all, for a long while. On these trips I listened to many enlightening things including Song Exploder, where artists talk about the creation of one of their songs; Broken Record, where Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell speak with artists about their journey and body of work; the TED Interview, where TED lecturers dig further into their knowledge on a subject; and, of course, TED Talks. During one early weekend drive to Lethbridge I heard something that has changed the way I view my place in the world and history: The Power to Think Ahead in A Reckless Age by Bina Venkataraman. So began gears turning. (Listen to it here).
I have mentioned my love of Yuval Noah Harari’s take on the world in posts prior. During my time in Banff I read his second book, Homo Deus, about the future of humankind from which this telling quote was lifted:
“This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies. Of course this is not total freedom – we cannot avoid being shaped by the past. But some freedom is better than none.”
It was Harari’s first two books that gave me a jumping off point and what really brought Venkataraman’s TED talk into context for me.
The last piece that fell into place was through another unlikely source: Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. In a dreamy state of half-attention around the hour and thirty minute mark, I caught a quote while Scottie and Madeleine are in a forest in California. Madeleine makes a reference to the trees:
Scottie: What are you thinking about?
Madeleine: Of all the people who were born and died while the trees were living.
Scottie: Their true name is Sequoia Sempervirens—always green, ever living.
At this point, everything came together.
Within a few days I had created a demo and was playing the song live for the first time (here is a recording of the first performance at Beatnik Salon in Banff).
After the pandemic hit, it gained wider context. With so much time to think and start new activities, priorities shifted, and all of this influenced the way that this song was recorded for the full release. People on both sides of my family started tracing our ancestry, some of which stretched back for the better part of a millennium. This song has been on a journey since it’s conceptualization, and I am so excited to finally share it with you on February 25th. Pre-save here.