Saturday, 14th July, 2007
I had just decided to drop out of college in Perth and I was back in Jakarta. I was having these major freak-out sessions in my room that no one in my family had any idea about. I was seriously feeling lost. I felt like I had to try to hurry up and find something else to do. Then one Sunday at church I performed a song I had written back when I was still in boarding school. At the end of the service this guy offered me a deal to record my song at his studio. Soon, I held the CD of my first ever recorded song in my hands. I took it home, put it in my stereo and listened to it. I couldn’t believe that was my voice and my guitar coming out of the speakers.It was in that moment Jen Pitch knew exactly who she was. The half Indonesian, half Australian singer-songwriter was born in Jakarta, but travels between both coasts on a regular basis. For the longest time I felt like I was more Australian than Indonesian but these days, I feel like I’m exactly fifty-fifty, explains Pitch, I get quite upset when people tell me I act more Australian. Currently, she’s back on Indonesian soil hard at work on her debut release. Here on Indizoo, Jen posted three tracks from her series of demos entitled, Blood Red Lily. The quality of recordings shines through immediately. I recorded all of the songs in Indonesia, Jen says, I got all my songs recorded [there] for the price of recording one or two good quality demos in Australia. It’s the simple premise of less is more. It’s just a voice and a guitar, expressing lyrics about relationships, love and self worth. I really want to write a song that people will nod their heads in agreement to. Something that’s almost like an anthem. Something people will belt out with you during a concert.Listen along as she shares with us the stories behind Indizoo’s featured songs:Only OneI’m very fascinated by lovers who stay together for years and years. I love seeing old couples that are still in love. That their physical beauty has faded but they still see the same beautiful person they met all those years ago is so wonderful to me. These days, relationships fall apart too easily. As soon as the butterflies in your stomach have settled the spark is gone. So many people give up on each other just because they want the honeymoon stage of a new romance. People talk about wanting to grow old with that special someone, yet as soon as they start to fight with each other they’re unwilling to fight for the relationship. I wanted to write a song about how it’s not easy – relationships aren’t supposed to be. PainI used to have a friend whose boyfriend didn’t treat her well. I was so protective of her and was so mad to see how she was oblivious to it all because she loved him. I wanted to write a song with the ending I wanted. Consume Me I’ve got this thing about writing love songs. I really don’t like it. I think it’s easy to write a love song because love inspires us all. That’s what this song is about: you sit there trying to write the next number one single and you’re frustrated and annoyed at how you can’t get anything out. Then suddenly you meet this person who opens the writing floodgates and this love song pours out and you write it in ten minutes flat. Every time I perform it I cringe at how mushy it is. But I do love this song. It even affects me when I listen to it on the radio. I forget I wrote it and think, Aaw. Sweet, then I come back to myself and think, Man, that is so lame. For Jen though, it doesn’t matter what story or point is behind her music. It’s what a person can take from her work that grants it importance. “I don’t think it really matters as long as the listener is inspired by the song,” she says. So listen, think, and find inspiration in this rising young talent.
