Gold Coast musician and producer Cold Ghost brought in the new year a little differently this year by releasing a rework of Andrew Tuttle’s song; ‘Nobody’s Home (There’s Always a Crow)’.
The alternative folk artist, whose real name is Fletcher Babb, was contacted by Tuttle – a Brisbane Banjo composer, to pick a song from his 2022 album ‘Fleeting Adventure’.
The last track on the album seemed to speak to Cold Ghost, who said it “stood out as a song that had the potential framework for a Cold Ghost song to sit inside, yet beyond”.
Tuttle gave Cold Ghost permission to create the remix with complete freedom, which complemented Babb’s two strengths: his lyrical flare and a creative production process, he explained.
“It becomes another extension of song writing – you can get super creative with production and have a lot of fun.”
Tuttle’s original song provided merely a framework for Babb, in the form of sound design in the shape of bird songs while the Tuttle’s Banjo maintained the song’s structure. Cold Ghost added in vocals and was accompanied by Dan Booth on the electric guitar.
Tuttle respectfully gave Babb the nod of approval to release, ‘Nobody’s Home’ as a Cold Ghost song and it has certainly ignited a desire for more sound design work in the future.
Due to Covid-19, Babb was isolated many times over 2022 which allowed him to knuckle down and work on the project and he soon found himself writing a song within a song.
He described how he followed his instincts with ‘Nobody’s Home’ and the creative process leant itself to something of a grieving exercise for Babb who received news of his uncle’s death just as he began the song work.
His close relationship with his uncle meant the passing hit him hard but he used that pain as a strategy to process the pain, heal and subsequently enabled the song to grow into something meaningful.
“It's probably the most personal song I have written in that respect, and it was a natural song that came out very quickly and very organically”.
The song was borne from Babb’s recollections of visits to his uncle’s abode, where he would knock and call, as the door often remained unanswered, he knew that his uncle was inside. The song reflects these memories and moments of stillness, almost an ode to his uncle.
The reimagining was released on 1 January, 2023, and has been well received on streaming platform Spotify, notably his most popular song to date.
The pair first connected in 2021 when Babb released an album, which piqued Tuttle’s interest, but it was just last week that the duo sat down properly, as the song was created remotely.
So far, no shows are planned for 2023 as Babb confesses at this stage, he is yet to work the song for a live performance - but he has a few things in mind for future projects with Tuttle.
‘Nobody’s Home’ has already give way to another project that Babb is working on, HOTA’s Art Keepers. The song was used as part of his submission to the program and of the 130 project proposals, four artists were offered the eight-month contract, including Babb.
He and three others were offered a space and a contractual salary at HOTA to develop their ideas with the aim of exhibiting or performing their work in 2023.
Babb’s piece will encompass his love of storytelling through music as he explores the Nerang River through sound and song, and deep dive into the history and the flow of the Gold Coast’s largest waterway.
As well as the work with HOTA, Fletcher is in the throes of teaming up with national organisations, APRA AMCOS and Accessible Arts to design a deaf and disabled song program for musicians and song writers alike. Babb, who is completely deaf in one ear, said he has never put himself in to a category, but it has been an educational process to get involved with the initiative.
Those interested can view the Art Keepers progress via Babb’s Substack; he aims to have the performance finalised by June 2023.
‘Nobody’s Home’ is available on the usual platforms.
