Q&A with THE SILVER LAKE CHORUS – Talks New Album, A Shout Out From Sia, And Their Upcoming Show at The Troubadour!

THE SILVER LAKE CHORUS performs choral arrangements of indie music and exudes both the edgy, independent spirit of Silver Lake and the heart of community choral singing.

TSLC’s upcoming album, produced by Aussie crooner Ben Lee, features rare and new tracks written exclusively for the chorus by the likes of Sia, Aimee Mann, The Bird and the Bee, Tegan and Sara, Ben Lee, The New Pornographers, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), John Roderick (The Long Winters), The Flaming Lips, and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver).

TSLC regularly performs live in and around Los Angeles and can also be heard singing the theme song for the SNL feature film MACGRUBER as well as backup vocals on Andy Samberg and Akon’s single, “I Just Had Sex.”

You can buy “Wreckage,” written by A.C. Newman (The New Pornographers), and “From the Snow-Tipped Hills,” written by Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and the rest of the album on iTunes here .

The Silver Lake Chorus will be performing at the Troubadour in Los Angeles with Ben Lee on Friday, July 17th.

All Access Music writer, Nicole DeRosa got a chance to catch up with soprano singer, Heather Ogilvy of The Silver Lake Chorus and find out more about this awesome group!

Hi there Heather! How are you today? What’s on the agenda today besides our interview?

I’m great! It’s a happy day – we’ve just put out our music video for Ben Lee’s song “Overboard” this morning, featuring lots of uplifting imagery, so I’ve been sharing it around.

So, first things first, The Silver Lake Chorus recently covered Sia’s “Salted Wound” and the uber talented singer even gave you guys a shout out as well on her Facebook and social media! What was that like for you guys to hear her “sing” your praises?

It was incredible! Working on our version, we let the spirit of the song guide our arrangement choices. We really focused on tapping into the emotion of “Salted Wound” as we layered vocals and other lush sounds.

“To hear Sia’s enthusiasm for our choral version makes it feel like the project has come full circle. It’s wonderful.”

For those that are not familiar with The Silver Lake Chorus and its history, how did it all come about?

We initially started over five years ago as a group of folks who wanted to get together for the pure love of singing. After only a few rehearsals, Ben Lee was invited to hear us one night by a friend in the group, and was inspired as we were rehearsing our choral version of Beck’s “Lonesome Tears”.

He brainstormed that we could get current artists to contribute never-before heard songs for us to arrange in choral fashion. It was such a thrilling idea, combining our love of current music with our love of choral singing. Everyone in the group was immediately on board, and we’ve been happily making “indie choral music” ever since.

TSLC has worked with so many talented artists including Ben Lee, The Flaming Lips, Ben Gibbard, Tegan and Sara and Justin Vernon to name a few. Who would you love to collaborate with next?

Hm, that’s a tough question! We’re still periodically pinching ourselves having worked the songs for this album.. But off the top of my head, if I had to extend the dream, I’d say contributions by Bjork, Sufjan Stevens, Sylvan Esso or Kimbra would be pretty thrilling.

Is there still an open audition and spots available in The Silver Lake Chorus?

“We hold auditions on an as-need basis and will announce any future auditions on our Facebook page and website, www.thesilverlakechorus.com. Feel free to contact us through our website and we’ll keep you in the loop!”

The Silver Lake Chorus just released a self titled debut album available now on iTunes and Amazon with never before heard and rare songs by The Flaming Lips, Ben Gibbard, Tegan & Sara and Justin Vernon. I have to ask, what was it like working with Wayne Coyne of TFL? What was the songwriting process like?

The Flaming Lips sent us a rarely-before heard recording of “Heavy Star Moving” which featured lots of vast synth sounds. We were given free rein in our interpretation, which was an incredibly freeing process!

We started with the vocal arrangement, opting to keep it feeling like a slow odyssey. Then Ben put us in touch with a brilliant producer and arranger, Tony Buchen, who, together with our music director and leader Mikey Wells, helped flesh out the arrangement with a string quartet. I love that our version borrows the trippy vibe of their original track, but presents it through a chamber, choral filter.

I understand TSLC has a playlist on Spotify. How did you pick the songs for that?

We have 20+ incredible singers in the group who have equally great taste in music, so when we make our Spotify playlists, we each offer up some of our own individual inspiration. The playlists are such a fun way to share our favorite music and to get to know everyone in the group more personally, as we all contribute to them!

What was the first album you bought for yourself?

Oh, no! Haha, it was Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl”. We actually asked everyone in the group this question and posted the responses on our Instagram (@tslchorus). There were some real gems, MC Hammer, the Rocky soundtrack, and of course Michael Jackson among them.

What was the first song you fell in love with and why?

Going all the way back, I would probably say the lullabye songs my mom used to sing to me when I was a baby.

What’s on tap next for TSLC? What are you most excited about for this year?

“I can say, without a doubt, that we are all most excited to finally be able to share this music! It’s been a long time coming, years in the making, and a total labor of love. We are so happy to share these songs with the world. We are looking forward to more singing, performing and sharing.”

To learn more about The Silver Lake Chorus and find out about upcoming performances, visit them HERE .