We got to know the Brooklyn born indie band Paging Doctor Moon back in February. At that point the group had only released two singles.
Just a few short months later and PDM has dropped their debut album, Lost My Body.
This 9-song LP is a personal and thorough look into the audio diary of Kirsten Hiebert. She was kind enough to open up a bit more and answer a few questions about the project and where it’s headed:
Nick Teal: When did you start writing music/playing instruments?
Kirsten Hiebert: “Music has always been my favorite thing. My dad plays piano, so I have been singing since I could speak. I started writing songs around 2009 and I taught myself how to play guitar and piano in college.”
NT: Is this the first project where you’ve recorded songs?
KH: “It’s not! I taught myself how to self-record and made two EPs before ever playing with a band. Then I recorded a live EP with fourteen studio musicians in 2019 for my last project, Kirsten and the Pretty People.”
NT: Where did the name Paging Doctor Moon come from?
KH: “Doctor Moon is a character on my favorite show, Doctor Who. He is a therapist that a little girl created in her imagination to help her better understand the herself and the world around her. That’s what music does for me, so I’m Paging Doctor Moon every time I write a song.”
NT: Do you prefer recording or playing live?
KH: “I love them both in different ways, but my favorite will always be playing live. There’s nothing like it.”
NT: Were you performing regularly when shows shut down in March 2020?
KH: “Yes! We had gigs booked every month through the end of the summer and unfortunately had to cancel all of them.”
NT: How did you pivot your career to adapt to that massive change?
KH: “We had been workshopping most of these songs for a few months in preparation for a summer full of gigs. Barely anyone had heard the music yet. When everything shut down, I realized that people might never hear the songs if we didn’t record them. I felt like we just had to do it. We decided to record in upstate NY with Julian Giaimo and made our first album. We can’t wait to play these songs live someday.”
NT: Who are a few of your influences that may surprise your listeners?
KH: “I listen to a lot of avant-garde instrumental music and music in other languages for inspiration.”
NT: How long was the writing/recording process for Lost My Body?
KH: “I wrote the songs between March of 2019 and March of 2020. Morgan, Michael and I workshopped all of the music weekly from January-March of 2020. We recorded over two weeks in the summer of 2020. Julian Giaimo played bass and keys, produced and engineered the entire record in his beautiful home studio.”
NT: Do you already have new finished material or do you prefer to wait a while after release to start a new project?
KH: “We have a bunch more songs in the works, but nothing recorded yet! We have plans to get together to write over the next few months. This definitely won’t be the last.”
NT: Do you have any advice for newer artists?
KH: “Be picky. Only work with people that lift you up and inspire you to be better.”
Listen to Paging Doctor Moon’s album, Lost My Body:
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