There’s something special about walking into a gig with no prior knowledge about who you’ll be seeing. Last May, I walked into The Lexington with only a name: Allegra Krieger. In the days leading up to the show, my friends spoke highly of her, praising her songwriting prowess. Expectations were set, and going in blind became all the more exciting.
That night, it was just Allegra and her guitar. They proved to be a dynamic duo of pure emotional expression, working together to effortlessly silence a room. It was safe to say that my expectations were exceeded. Yet, I was left wondering, “why hadn’t I heard this beautiful music sooner?” The answer was that I simply hadn’t looked hard enough.
Now based in New York, Allegra Krieger has been writing her way through much of the United States with an ephemeral transience, her stories told insightfully through her songs. Since her 2017 debut ‘Circles’, Krieger has crafted her own Perennial Philosophy through her records. Marked by intelligence and growth, she open-heartedly faces universal truths and seeks to understand her existence within a malleable reality.
Today, CLASH got to know Allegra Krieger; where she’s going, where she’s been, and reflections on her newest album, ‘Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine’.
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For new listeners, can you share a little bit about yourself, your musical journey, and how you would describe your sound now?
So I live in New York City now, and I grew up between Pennsylvania and Florida. I started playing music sort of in the classical realm. I played classical piano for a little bit, and then into my early teens and young adulthood I started writing more poppy songs. I learned how to play the guitar and was just doing that for fun. After, there were a couple of years of me moving around in a little bit of an aimless way. Then I was working this one job in South Carolina, I saved up some money to record a record, and I came to New York where I had some musical friends who helped me make that record. Then I kind of just stayed here and kept playing gigs, and that’s what I’m doing now, but on a little bit of a different scale.
What was the transition out of classical music like?
I don’t think I was super into classical music as a kid. I really loved playing the piano and I remember wanting to write songs on the piano or play. I brought in a Beatles songbook once and my teacher was like “nah”. So of course it was the classic “ugh, I don’t wanna practice piano”, but I’m very grateful for that now, as most people who are begrudgingly playing classical music as a kid. But I think the transition into more contemporary music probably happened because I danced a lot too. I remember I took a dance class and we learned a dance to the song ‘Sleep To Dream’ by Fiona Apple. I remember that being a moment for me, and just surfing YouTube. YouTube was big with the related ‘things that you might like if you’re listening to Fiona Apple’. I think that the music that I listened to changed and then, you know, it grows as you get older by being inspired by other songwriters, a kind of natural development.
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Who would you name as your top influences?
This is a good question. I don’t want to put them in numbers, but a really big influence for me is Elliot Smith. I think that one is a hard one to get around. I still remember the first time I listened to Elliot Smith and that being a huge moment for me, and I still listen to his music all of the time. So it hasn’t gotten old for me. I’m honestly very influenced by my peers in New York. I think that’s probably where most of my growth as a songwriter happened. One of my very good friends Miriam Elhaji is one person. She makes very expansive mystical folk music, and is just an insane performer. There’s this person cross-legged who makes just really sick music. This band Eyes of Love is another one I love, Frances Chang. Those are just a few names that I can think of off hand. I had my core inspirations like Elliot Smith, Lucinda Williams I love. Jeff Buckley was a big one for me when I was younger. But then, just being a musician and playing shows with other people has also been very formative for my songwriting.
I feel like the music scene here has a lot of different pockets, and I maybe float in-between a few of them. From when I moved to New York, my songwriting has changed a lot, I think. I would attribute it to being inspired by lots of different kinds of music and people that I met here.
You can really hear that change from ‘Circles’ to your music now.
Oh my god, it’s so funny listening back to some stuff, like that little album from 2017. Because I was like, “I’m a troubadour!” You know, I played with a bunch of jazz musicians so it was a very folky, jazzy sound, kind of before I knew what I was doing at al. Not that I know now, but there are certain levels of confidence and self-security that I have now that maybe I didn’t have then. But it is funny to listen back and sort of mark those moments.
So you’re a few albums in, and it’s been a little while since you released ‘Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine’. How does it feel having it out to the world?
It feels good. That album happened very quickly. I recorded it in a couple of days and I didn’t have that much time to sit with it after. So I recorded it, went on tour, and it was done. I mean, I always love the feeling after a release. Just because it allows a creative space to open up and a pace of moving forward. And yeah, I feel great that it’s out. I think after every record, I’m like, “alright, I’m gonna do the next one this way, in a very different way”, and it makes me feel excited of making music. I think the process of actually releasing the album is not my favourite. I’m happy when it’s over. I know that it sort of lingers throughout the touring phase, but I feel excited to move on to the next chapter. Not that this is over.
This is maybe only the second record that I’ve done where there have been things happening. Most of the other ones were self-released, or through a very small label. Pretty chill. With this one, there’s a lot of focus on things that I don’t like to focus on. Primarily just like, my album and my music. It gets very loud in here, you know, so it’s nice to get back to creative space. And to tour, because I really enjoy touring too.
What was the inspiration for ‘Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine’?
Let’s see, it was written over a two year period. I think compared to my last record ‘I Keep My Feet on the Fragile Plane’, that one, to me, felt very small. Kind of like, in my apartment, in my job, in this new phase of my life. Walking to work, walking home, that kind of thing. And focusing on smaller, domestic energies. Really dialling in to smaller moments. I think this one has a little bit of that focus because my life’s pretty mundane for the most part, but maybe a more of a bigger theme of existentialism or asking bigger questions to myself. I think it’s also a lot darker than some of my other records.
Both ‘I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plane’ and ‘Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine’ are pretty existential titles. They’re very unique, and encapsulate everything in your music so well. At the same time, you can’t pinpoint exactly what they mean. How did those names come about?
Totally! It’s funny, ‘I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plane’ actually just came from two songs on that record. ‘Low’, where I say “I keep my feet on the ground”, and then in ‘Lingering’ I say something like “I wanna go to the fragile plane”. I felt like that record had this duality of wanting to be firm, rooted and grounded in my every day life, but also with some cosmic influence as well. So I was just like, “I keep my feet on the fragile plane”, I’m rooted in unreality or something. It doesn’t make sense that much to me. This person came to a show once, he was a mathematician. He said, “so, explain to me what you mean by fragile plane.’Cause when I think of a plane, it is not fragile.” I thought that it was really funny, because I was like, “I actually don’t know! Just something that I pulled out of nowhere.”
Yeah, that’s sort of where I came from. Just imagining you’re living your life, but you’re upside down or something. ‘Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine’ is generally the same idea where I took a lyric from a song, ‘Art Of The Unseen’. With ‘infinity machine’, when I was working at a bookstore, “infinity machine” was on a random page in a random book. I remember being like, “infinity machine, that’s cool.” ‘Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine’ is just the mechanisms that are moving, that you’re not fully seeing or in touch with, but are constantly moving and keep everything moving forward. Whether they’re positive or negative or light and dark, and how those things can be really beautiful even though they can all be ugly and hard. That’s where that came from. I was also very bored at work for ‘Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine’ and had this paper of all the different options that I had written down. It was just something fun to play around with.
Thinking about the new record, there are a quite a few big, more sonic arrangements that still retain really personal narratives. How did you navigate balancing a larger sound with sensitive lyricism?
I think the songs on this record aren’t ones that get overpowered by either the guitar parts or the lyrics. I chose the songs are ones that felt really good to play live, the ones that had an energy that was more propulsive and made more sense with a band. It happened kind of naturally. It’s rare that I play with a band, so I was using the few opportunities that I had to sort through these songs and see what felt best. Also, my band is the most sensitive group of musicians. I remember the first time I played with my drummer, Will. He is a ripping, incredible drummer. Just amazing. Very frequently, a drummer will try to catch every time change and make a lot of sound. Will was so minimal and so sensitive to the songs. He was listening to see what they needed, and I think he just thought that they didn’t need much. I think all of my bandmates, especially on that record have that sort of sensitivity to the songs. Which is really meaningful and impacts the music in a positive way. Yeah, they’re great.
I’ve had a few different iterations of bands and this one has been really fun to play with. I’m doing my first proper band tour coming up starting this week, which is a little bit cuckoo because I’m not ready. We have a little bit of a different band arrangement, but having confidence in them makes it so much easier.
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What does ‘Art Of The Infinity Machine’ mean to you at this point in your career?
I always wanted to do this kind of record where it’s live band and a little more expansive. I’m really excited to tour it. I’m hoping to play as much as I can this year. In the meantime I’m working on another record. I feel like ‘Art Of The Unseen’ was a jumping off point. The next record I’m self-producing, and I think it just gave me the confidence to play live, and also to own my sound and my ideas. Just to keep making more music, really. Career-wise, I never really know. It’s so hard to know and predict what’s going to happen. So I’m keeping a foot in my day jobs in New York and I’m going to balance that out for as long as I can.
What has the process of self-producing your next album been like so far?
I’ve been really lucky in the past to work with Luke Temple. I’ve worked with him a few times and he’s such a positive energy in the studio. He’s helped me with the idea that you are what you are, you make what you make, and your ideas are the best ideas because they’re yours, and they’re your music. In addition to collaborating with the people that you choose to bring in, which can enhance it so much. For so long I didn’t have that self-assuredness around my ideas being correct. It’s a fear of making a mistake or something. I’m really excited to experiment a little bit further with the recording process. My bandmate and my partner, Kevin Copeland, who is a great producer and has a recording studio is helping me with the tech side of things because I’m not good with that. It’s nice to have the space to focus on creating rather than “oh yeah, three days in the studio, gotta get it done, it is what it is, period.”
With your tour kicking off soon, how do you feel about bringing your new songs to the stage now that listeners have had the opportunity to sit with them?
I’m really excited and curious to see how these shows will turn out. I’ve been playing a lot of these songs live for a while, mostly solo. So I’m really excited to play with a band and have a bigger sound. It’s always such a special feeling. I really felt this at that show in London, where you have no expectation, and then there are people in the audience who know the words to your song in London. That’s crazy to me. I’m just excited to play out for people, it’s my favourite part of being a musician. I’m looking forward to it a lot.
Are there any songs that you’re particularly excited about expanding on with the band?
One of my favourite songs to play live is ‘Came’, because that’s a time where we can go off a little bit. As a guitarist, it’s a fun opportunity for me to improvise a little bit. I really love playing that one live, it’s one that I’ve been playing for a while, but it’s a totally different energy when I have a band behind me. ‘Into Eternity’ is also a really special one to play live. That one wasn’t even going to be on the record. But I went on this tour with Katie Kirby and I was playing it for most of the set. I had a lot of people connect to that song, so I enjoy playing that one.
It’s a really exciting time for you. Will we be seeing you over in the UK anytime soon?
I hope so. I don’t know for sure, but I’m hoping next spring. Next year for sure, but I don’t know when. That last tour in May was a learning experience for sure. Touring solo is always much easier, especially when you’re just accountable for yourself. You’re just like, I’ll sleep anywhere, whatever. If I’m ragged and tired, it’s okay. It would be different with a band because you’re responsible for other people’s wellbeing.
With that tour, it was really interesting to see where people showed up. It was a super positive experience and I’m excited to go back. I love Europe and I love travelling around there, so it was like a dream come true honestly.
What can we expect next for your musical direction?
Having the live shows be a vessel for the songs has always been important to me. I really appreciate listening to music, when it’s intimate and you can feel it in the room, and in the people around you. And the newer tracks that I’ve been working on are a little bit more experimental. There’s a little bit more going on. I’m thinking a harm, some string sections, there are some drum machine moments so far. I’m very early into the making of it, but I’m just having fun with the freedom of being able to make it however I want to. That’s a very exciting feeling to me, and you know, moving slowly. So we’ll see.
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‘Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine’ is out now.
Words: Kayla Sandiford
Photo Credit: Tonje Thilesen
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