Cabin Fever Orchestra makes Neoclassical music and works with AI to make visual art. It’s an ongoing art project led by composer Graeme Cornies.
We sat down with this talented music artist to learn more about what makes him tick, his approaches to the creative process and much more in this exclusive interview with TAGG!
The new single, ‘No Reason To Change’, beautifully blends pop with orchestral elements. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind this fusion and how it came together?
Thank you! You know, blending pop and orchestral elements wasn’t so much of a plan in this case as it was a reaction to what I was hearing at an intermediary stage. Usually, when I’m just cataloguing the idea as an audio note-to-self, I’m not really focused on what the track might sound like fully produced. At one point this song was going to have only guitar and vocals, but once I had recorded those things, I started hearing the outline of a string section in my head and followed an improvisational trail of breadcrumbs until I arrived at the arrangement you hear on the track. The blend emerged organically from playing around in the sandbox with the track until something novel happened, but it wasn’t a part of my vision for the song at the outset.
Graeme, you’ve mentioned that your pop and orchestral compositions are usually very different. What was the biggest challenge in merging these two distinct styles into one track?
I think it can be somewhat easy to wander into melodrama when combining pop music and orchestra, so I was trying to avoid that. A lot of the time orchestra is used in pop music precisely for that feeling of heightened stakes – for the added drama or for the sense of epic largeness that orchestral instruments can provide. Personally, I was hoping to make something that sounded more vulnerable, to communicate the underlying message of the song, and used a small ensemble to keep things sounding intimate. I think another major difference is that when I’m making orchestral music I’m usually giving my listener a melodic focal point from within the orchestra, but in a pop tune like “No Reason to Change”, the focal point is the vocal line, allowing the strings to play a supportive role – ideally heightening and deepening the feelings expressed in the lyrics.
The theme of ‘No Reason To Change’ is about unconditional acceptance despite imperfections. What personal experiences or reflections led you to explore this concept in the song?
It seems like love is the one thing we all need. We all crave it. Bad things happen when we feel a lack of it. Still, so many of us feel unworthy of it as we are – thinking consciously or unconsciously that if we could just change something about ourselves or achieve something specific, then we’d to be worthy of it. But building loving connection seems to require vulnerability – the old phrase – “If we want the rewards of being loved we must submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known”. “No Reason to Change” is a track about gradually letting others into our inner worlds, dropping our defences in favour of mutual vulnerability – the kind that allows us to feel genuinely seen and known. It’s a song that conveys that we don’t need to attain perfection – that we can be loved for who we are, uniquely, in this very moment. It takes courage to allow those we admire to see the imperfections we often try to conceal, but vulnerability seems to be the price of admission if love is what we want.
You worked with talented collaborators like Joshua Van Tassel, Drew Jurecka, Ben Trigg, and Bruno Migliari. How did their contributions shape the final sound of the track?
Their contributions really brought it all to life. My demo may have been the seed idea, but each of them cultivated the piece with their own unique musical voice until it grew into something that felt new to me. Joshua’s parts helped me see the mix in a different light and I reshaped things accordingly, and the live strings added the kind of emotive depth and humanity that the message of the song needed to shine through.
The song encourages vulnerability and openness. What role do you think music plays in helping people embrace their flaws and connect more deeply with themselves and others?
A lot of great art lets us see from the point of view of the creator. I think when we listen to music we’re often listening to artists with the courage to be vulnerable with an audience – saying things they feel they can only say in song, or say better is song, saying some of the things we don’t generally say out loud etc. I think music can often nudge us towards greater self acceptance when we feel understood by an artist we’ve never met. We can feel less alone with our troubles, less misunderstood and perhaps more connected as we see bits of ourselves in others and bits of others in ourselves.
Graeme, you have over 18 years of experience in television soundtracks. How has your experience in composing for shows like Paw Patrol and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood influenced your approach to writing pop songs?
“No Reason to Change” was pretty specifically influenced by my work in television. After more than a decade of reinterpreting Fred Rogers’ material for a new generation while writing songs for “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”, one consistent theme emerged time and again: the idea that we can be loved for who we are. That was one of Fred’s core messages, and I’ve often thought that this message applies not only to children but to adults as well, who sometimes need to be reminded of the same sentiment. My writing partners and I have written literally hundreds of songs for that show over the last ten years, and that experience has been so valuable – for all of the musical practice, with all of the team work that has nudged my songwriting in directions that have contributed to my growth as an artist, and for how many of Fred Rogers’ sentiments have been a presence in my life as I became a father.
Orchestral music often brings a sense of grandeur and emotion. How did you approach balancing the intimate, heartfelt message of the song with the large, sweeping orchestral arrangements?
In this case I think keeping the ensemble small went a long way. It also allowed the character of individual players to shine through vs hearing the sonic averaging that comes with many many players playing the same part. I was also careful to not put the pedal to the metal immediately, with an arrangement that begins in an almost shy, tentative way, gathering steam as the song builds to a climax.
‘No Reason To Change’ reflects a synergy between pop and classical elements. How do you hope this unique blend resonates with listeners across different musical preferences?
I always hope that what I do connects with others, but I have abandoned trying to predict how my work will be received. I just try to trust the idea that, if I like it, there will probably be some like-minded and like-hearted people who will hear what I hear in it. I’m following my own internal metrics for quality instead of trying to please an imagined audience. So I try to keep from hoping for anything too specific, outside of hoping for connection between my work and the audience.
The recording process started simply with guitar and vocals before evolving into a full-bodied arrangement. Can you take us through the journey of how the song transformed during the production process?
Yeah – as you mentioned, my initial sonic sketch was simply guitar and vocals. I sent my work-in-progress to composer/producer Joshua Van Tassel, who added piano and a variety of intriguing new sounds crafted from my initial demo recordings, but in the process of making stems for Joshua, I began to hear apparitions of a string line in the gaps of the vocal line. I pursued that while Joshua crafted his parts, and once I had a full string arrangement, I asked Drew Jurecka to play violin and viola. Drew has also been a valuable collaborator with Cabin Fever Orchestra. After we had his performances, it just made sense to complete the arrangement with Ben Trigg on cello and Bruno Migliari on double bass. It unfolded rather organically in that there was no intention or grand vision to write a song that blended these things. Still, I’m glad we arrived there. That blend made this one feel special for me.
What message do you hope listeners take away from ‘No Reason To Change’, and how do you envision it impacting those who hear it?
I hope people hear the love that we put into crafting it and that the message resonates in some way. As I mentioned, I try to abandon hopes that are really specific about what others will take from it, but “No Reason to Change” felt like a meaningful musical snapshot for me. Most of my work feels like a time-capsule of a sentiment – something that I can listen back to and re-feel some of the feelings of that earlier iteration of myself – like a scent that brings back a flood of memories. I hope “No Reason to Change” helps people feel their own feelings with depth, in the same way that this song mined those feelings for me while recording
