News
1/12/12 Now I'm trying to record. Feeling bashful about it, or just hoarse from the dry wind. Trying a cover song.
6/10/11 I have been taking a respite from recording music. If I staged the songs from "Bird's Dream," I would need a lot more people to join me onstage, and I'm not ready to do that. So I have been doing other art-like things that I really enjoy.
Bio
J.
Firth-Herbert,
a.k.a. Fiji Mermaid, is a songwriter residing in
Sacramento, California, who is receiving positive responses when
singing
at various venues.
J. sang in choir in high school and in
college, studied voice, and
after college played keyboards in
a Nineties punk/psychedelic/noise band
that gigged sporadically in San Francisco. She
discovered the benefits of
singing and playing at low volume when she moved
into a quiet living space in SF,
left the band, and became a
singer-songwriter person.
She writes all her own music based on various kinds of
relationships, birds,
dogs, and other creatures, and internal dialogues. Her music
combines folk, classical
and electronic elements, to name a few.
Her inspiration was
in getting forced out of her magazine writing and editor job
and deciding to "forget popular culture." She wanted to write
about sun and
moon, nature, and her own feelings. She started to write when she
had a job that began at noon, so she could stay up very late with
her keyboard and a Fostex.
By day she entered data on bounced checks for a large corporate
bank,
while listening to Indonesian music and Just Intonation music.
Then songs just began appearing in her head, so it was a matter of
taking them down.
Since that time
Fiji Mermaid songs have been played on several free-form and college
radio stations. She has performed at various venues, including
the
Mission Creek Music festival in San Francisco.
Instruments:
Classical guitar, voice, a variety of keyboards
Influences: Lots of music(s)
Releases:
One 5 song EP, released 2001, "Fiji Mermaid";
One lp, released 2005, "Green Pond"
Lp released 2010, "Bird's Dream"
"Fiji Mermaid" songs have been put
on rotation at WNYU 89.1, KFJC 89.7, KUSF 90.3, and KCSB 91.9.
"Green Pond" was aired on several college radio stations.
The lp charted in top new releases at KALX, and got airplay on KCRW in LA.
Fiji was featured on "Finger on the Pulse" new music show in SF and interviewed on
air at KUSF. As well as other things happening.
"Bird's Dream" songs were aired for several months at
experimental station KFJC, in Los Altos Ca. Other college stations aired songs as well.
Major radio stations airing included commercial radio KCRW in Los Angeles, KALX and WFMU.
Eventually every song from the album was aired.
Links
- Collected Sounds Review of "Bird's Dream"
SF Bay Guardian blurb
SF Bay Guardian mention as part of "Future of Folk"
East Bay Express mention in a review of Vetiver
Some reviews of a song on garageband.com
Nephilius reviews of Fiji Mermaid EP and Green Pond
Collected Sounds' review of "Green Pond"