Lisa Crawley returns from prestigious Banff songwriting residency with ‘Wedding Band’

Melbourne-based Kiwi singer and songwriter Lisa Crawley shares the video for ‘Wedding Band’, a fictional story about a girl expected to ‘settle down’ instead going travelling to escape small town mentality. After travelling the world, the girl finds herself back home and in the depressing situation of singing in the wedding band at her ex’s wedding.

The DIY video reflects the narrative of the song, featuring largely self-shot footage filmed in Melbourne and on holiday, resulting in a charming, vintage-style clip.

‘Wedding Band’ was written at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity in the Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Canada, during an artists residency in March. Selected for the residency by Banff all-star songwriting faculty, Crawley spent time writing and recording in her ‘artist hut’ in minus fifteen degree weather amongst the picturesque mountains, snow and native animals. The track was recorded at the state-of-the-art Banff Centre Recording Studio with Canadian producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, Handsome Furs).

The song has a nostalgic Motown feel combined with dark chamber pop hooks and instrumentation. Crawley’s narrative vocal evokes a unique sense of darkness combined with humour and honesty. The track features Fats Kaplin (fiddle and steel player for Jack White/Beck), as well as Canadian musiciansGraydon James (The Young Novelists) and multi instrumentalist and songwriter Kev Corbett.

“‘Wedding Band’ was recorded at The Banff Centre’s state-of-the-art recording studios as part of an artists residency I had earlier this year,” Crawley says. “The facilities were amazing – they had everything we could have thought up there, including timpani’s and tubular bells. However, after travelling I had zero budget for a video and a lot of footage from weddings, so I took a very DIY approach and did it on my own.”

“I’m really happy with how it all came together – it certainly gives insight into the less glamorous side of gigs that most musicians are exposed to a lot of the time.”