NEW HAVEN REGISTER ARTICLE

the friday november 16th edition of the new haven register... and i got a full-page article ABOUT ME. check it out below or link to their website:

Wesport’s Porter coming to a Borders near you
By Patrick Ferrucci, Register Entertainment Editor

WESTPORT — Porter Singer is a Border’s Books and Music favorite. Considering that the Wesport resident will perform more than handful of times at stores all over New England, the nationwide chain seems to understand what makes the 24-year-old performer’s songs so precocious.

But, some folks just don’t get Porter Singer’s music. She is now in the process of recording her debut CD, after several demos, but things didn’t go so well at first. Let’s just say prospective producers didn’t see songs like the delicate and nuanced “Like The Turtle” the same way Singer did.

“I met with a few people that were interested in working with me,” explains Singer, who performs simply as Porter. “They would listen to my music, say they’d like to be a part of it, but then wanted me to conform to their motto, to the way they make music. One guy wanted me to record to a click track because he said the beat has to be consistent. That’s not me!”

One of Singer’s most easily recognizable characteristics is the way her songs discard traditional song structure, forgoing the classic verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus structure, with her piano parts coming close to matching the intricate movements penned by Tori Amos. It’s another thing engineers tried to kill from Singer’s tunes.

“Yeah, one guy started by saying he really liked everything,” she continues, “but then said he wanted it all to be standard song form. He clearly didn’t understand my music. Then he got mad at me for being inflexible when I said I wouldn’t do it. That’s when I decided I’m going to do it myself and see what comes of it.”

Luckily, Singer has plenty of experience recording. A music major at Brown University in Providence, the artist worked mostly with making and recording electronic music, which gave her experience with the software necessary to record a disc by herself.

“I’m doing the recording at home, so I don’t have a lot of the equipment I had in college,” she explains, “but that’s not a bad thing. I do a lot overdubbing and layering on my songs, but nothing as sophisticated as the things I did at Brown.”

But while in school, Singer actually didn’t perform her music. She’s been writing songs and poetry since middle school, but didn’t start playing out until she returned from a long trip around the Pacific Rim just after graduating from school.

“I was gone for four months,” says Singer, who grew up in France, but whose parents moved to the Nutmeg State when she went to college. “I was by myself, and I was surfing, hiking and doing things I wasn’t used to. Things would come up and I was like, ‘Yeah sure, I’ll do it.’ I was never that way, but on the trip, I kind of became that person who says, ‘Yeah, let’s go surfing. Who cares about the jellyfish?’ After that, when I got home, going out to an open mic didn’t seem that intimidating anymore.”

Through her father, Singer scored a meeting with the songwriting team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, the duo responsible for such Elvis Presley hits as “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock” and The Coasters’ “Yakety Yak,” among many other hits. The legendary duo’s thoughts on her music made Singer even more determined to perform around and get songs out there.
“The meeting was really motivating,” Singer says. “It was so exciting to sit in a room with those two. And when Jerry said he liked my lyrics, that’s so flattering. It made me start getting serious.”

Singer then began calling local venues, some in Connecticut, some in New York, just looking for a chance to perform. Since then, she’s played around both states and began to earn a following. It’s one that should continue to grow once she finishes her debut album, on her own, of course.

“I’m actually really happy that I didn’t end up working with anyone,” Porter says. “I started back in January, and because of the process, I really didn’t start (until a couple months ago). It’s such a good thing. I’ve gotten so much better as a musician since then.”