👀 LIL LOOK 👀 ft. SHIP SAYS OM
WE TOOK A LIL LOOK INTO A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SHIP SAYS OM
- the project of Jenny Gillespie Mason, the singer and multi-instrumentalist known for Sis and the Lower Wisdom. Her new release, Dream Journal, is a six-track suite of ambient, folk-leaning pieces that draw on shamanic, Celtic and global traditions, channelling the depth and solace of a psychedelic guided-therapy playlist.
Recorded at home over just two days in a free-flowing, improvisational process using whatever instruments, found sounds and samples were at hand, the collection captures emotional landscapes that move between the everyday and the transcendent — reflecting how domestic life and spiritual exploration merge in the work of a true seeker-musician.
After I take my kids to school I usually head into my office/studio. It overlooks our yard and redwood trees and the Oakland hills. Through the open windows I can hear birdsong and it’s very peaceful. I’ve been writing for an album under the Ship Says Om name. I’ve completed three songs and now I’m planning to write a bit on my acoustic guitar, as those first three songs are very full, lush, and I’d like to find something a bit more open and quiet for the next batch of songs. You can see my dog Charley asleep in his bed!
On the way to Candela, which is about a 16 minute drive from my house in Berkeley, I put on Music for Airports (Live) by Brian Eno. I’d never heard it before, but a few people have compared Dream Journal EP by Ship Says Om to this record. It’s totally beautiful and haunting and perfect for this grey drizzly Northern California day. I’m so into it it’s making me a bit distracted as I drive…
I end my office/studio time before it’s time to help the kids for bed, by going over some emails from a friend who wants me to collaborate with her on a project. Her name is Emma Lucia and she’s sent me some bare wordless vocals that I’d like to start experimenting with tomorrow. I’m just getting into listening a bit more and replying to her email about getting started.
After I do some “puttering” in the studio, which was basically just tightening up an acoustic instrumental I’d written the day before and playing it a few times, I gather up some artwork that I’m going to take to Candela Fine Art Printing in Oakland to scan and make some prints which I’m planning to give as gifts and offer on my website. I am always working on some kind of drawing or painting. For me, it’s a way to show my children I’m an artist as I can do it at our kitchen table while they are doing their thing around me.
Later after I’ve fed my kids, helped them with homework, made crepes with sugar and jelly for dessert and taken my dog out..I practice my new acoustic piece which is tentatively titled “Shaped by the Blows”. I wrote it during a day in which I seemed to be receiving a “blow”, a difficult emotional situation, but I could feel it was for my highest good. I think the way the piece flows mimics that feeling of being torn up a bit, then opening to the greater meaning.
